Two New HOF Autos

One of the goals I set for the 2018 collection season was to bump my total of Baseball HOF auto to 100 different players.  I started the year at 94 meaning I just need to add 1 card every other month to meet this goal.  I am starting quickly out of the gate by adding 2 new HOFers to my collection in January.

First up is this really nice looking auto of John Smoltz from 2016 Topps Legacies.  Smoltz has signed quite a bit over the last few years so his autos are fairly plentiful.  I wanted to find one that I like from a design standpoint and a good price point and this one fit the bill.  I think this is a great looking card and a great add o the collection.

The second add is another fairly recent inducted, former White Sox, A's and Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa.  Originally I wasn't sure about whether to collect managers as part of this collection.  Fairly early on I won a Dick Williams auto in a contest and decided that the managers were on.  This is a nice, shiny card with an on-card auto, probably my favorite LaRussa auto I have come across.  I really miss the Panini Cooperstown sets, I am hoping they will bring it back one day.

The total is up to 96 now, my 100 goal seems in reach although there aren't a lot of inexpensive guys left to track down.

Picking Up Some HOF Vintage

I couple posts ago I shared some finds from my LCS that I scored from the reject pile. The same LCS with that pile also has some nice bid board cards that I have been picking up. One of my targets has been vintage cards of HOFers.  I collect just about anything including an attempt to corral as many HOF Autograph cards as possible but this is an area that is fairly new to me.  I love baseball history and the cards are usually well priced so I am drawn to them.

With my set collecting, team collecting of the Giants and USC Football, and my numerous player collections there really isn't room to start a new side collection but I am going to continue to pick them up when the price is right. 

Here is a few that I have picked up over the last few weeks:

First up is a 1977 George Brett. This is about the most recent set I have been looking to pick up. I started collecting in 1979 but in the early 80s bought a 1978 vending box and built a set so this is really the newest set that pre-dates my collecting youth.  I have a few 70s sets but for some reason this set is my starting point when I think about picking up "vintage" cards.  Mr. 0.390 set me back $1.

This 1969 Joe Morgan was actually a reject pile purchase for a quarter.  As you can see it has a pretty significant crease and isn't in the best condition but I couldn't pass it up at that price.

 I already had this Gaylord Perry in my collection from 1968 but couldn't pass up another copy for $1.

This Frank Robinson set me back $3.  It is a little off center but overall in pretty nice space. It amazes me how different the borders are between cards in this set.  For s's and giggles I looked up the book value of this card and it is $30 - What a Bargain!

 This is the first of a quad of 1967 Topps cards.  This one features HOFer Lou Brock and the man credited my many for starting the fight for free agency Curt Flood. I have a move about Flood on my DVR and a book about him to read.  This card set me back $2.  I have been tempted many times through the years to go after all the vintage combo cards but never pulled the trigger.

 This very nice conditioned knucklerballer and former Giant Hoyt Wilhelm was $3. Kinda wish he was showcasing his knuckle grip.

 This Catfish Hunter was also $3.  I have several of his vintage cards. I am not sure why I am so drawn to him, might have something to do with the awesome A's uniforms.

The last of the 1967s is this Eddie Mathews card.  The Astros team name just looks wrong for this longtime Brave.  If I recall, his 500th HR came as a member of the Astros.  Again another $3 HOFer.

This final card to me was a very exciting find:

This is a 1957 Topps Robin Roberts. This card is in pretty nice shape and this is one of my favorite vintage sets.  This is another card that books for $30 and I picked it up for $5.

There was a lot of hassle, cost and frustration with the move but the combination of the swimming pool, a fairly enjoyable new job and a couple great LCSs has softened the blow.