2015 eBay purchase: the Mechanical Michigan Milestone Man

I showed off a beautiful pair of Tigers cards I picked up on eBay over on TMV tonight, but just in case you didn't see that post (or even if you did!), here's the highlight that's appropriate for putting on display over here:

Charlie Gehringer 2007 SP Legendary Cuts Inside the Numbers Cuts auto (#52/60)

This is my first non-manufactured hit of the HOF Tiger, and I'd be hard pressed to do better!  I'd wanted a cut auto of Gehringer for the longest time, but the ones that had appealing designs were almost always too expensive.  Not so this time as the seller's BIN of $40 was plenty reasonable for me, and I think you can see why:  Charlie's "Chas. Gehringer" signature is as beautiful as always, the cut window fits the whole thing comfortably ("...he said, as Topps studiously ignored him while designing another overpriced crap product"), and the old-fashioned look with the MM's photo ties everything up nicely.  This is a card I'm gonna cherish for a long, long time, and then some!

So, I deployed the "milestones" tag, why come?  Well friend, there's two reasons.  First of all, ol' Charlie here represents the 1500th total hit in my Michigan Sports collections.  Considering where I was just a few years ago when I started this blog, much less way back when I created TMV, this just blows my mind!  Don't forget to check out those collections with the links to your right towards the top.

The other milestone of the day concerns posting totals; yep, after three years and almost three more months, we at TMM have finally hit our 500th post!  That I took so long to get here is a testament to my laziness and ability to be distracted easily, so I'd like to thank the other blogs, TV, shiny objects, and loud noises, without which I wouldn't be writing this today.  Or, well, that doesn't make a ton of sense since without those things I would be writing this today, I'd just have way more posts under my belt.

As usual when reaching a milestone like this I'd also like to credit Jeff of My Sports Obsession who's contributed his fair share of content, especially his excellent Michigan tumblr photo features.  Thanks again for chipping in content sometimes, Jeff--that makes you just as much of a laziness enabler as the things listed above.

And thank you to the few of you that follow this blog that has a more specific and audience-limiting focus that my other one.  GO BLUE!

I'll be back soon with some fantastic trade package hauls, some loot from COMC, and the remaining new PCs I need to show off.

2014 eBay purchase: more fun with Lund

About a month ago I showed off the first four cards I was able to purchase for my Don Lund PC and now I'm back with another I'm even more excited to post:

Don Lund 1953 Topps RC

Finishing off the trio of Don's vintage issues for me is the best of the bunch, his '53 Topps RC.  This beaut is the oldest card of any player in my Michigan Baseball PCs and I'm thrilled to have it, vintage wear and all.  I paid a fairly reasonable $13.50 for this copy which was in good enough shape as far as I was concerned.  I went extra large with the scan today so you could get a good idea of what it looks like, with the typical rounded corners and some creases, plus a few other flaws.  But the collector in me asks "Who cares?" because it's a fun part of history to own.  Just check out that beautiful artwork on a classic Topps design, plus the fierce Tiger logo!

Now that I've knocked this key card off Lund's list I can say I own five of his eight issues.  The remainders might be a bit tough--a Gold parallel of his '94 Topps Archive card (which I haven't found at a reasonable price) and two versions of an autograph from 2003 Heritage, one of which is numbered to 54, and both of which I've never seen for sale.  No problem, I'm up for the challenge.

So here's to another fun eBay pickup, to vintage, and to yet another Wolverine/Tiger double-dipper!

2014 COMC purchases: Dave and Don

After showing off some Steve Boros pickups on Friday I decided to go back to the vintage well today with two more guys:  Dave Campbell and Don Lund.  I introduced both guys in a post a couple months ago, and at that point all I had was Campbell's RC.  Luckily COMC proved to be an excellent source--as always--for adding to my PCs:

Dave Campbell 1970 Topps

As I said, my only previous Campbell card was his '69 Topps RC, but he'd appeared in three seasons for Detroit by then.  The following season he was a member of the Padres by virtue of a trade that brought pitcher Joe Niekro to the Tigers.  Here he is with San Diego on his second-year Topps issue; he wasn't included in that year's OPC set as it didn't include all the Topps high numbers.

Dave Campbell 1971 O-Pee-Chee and Topps

This is the first of three straight pairs of Campbell's OPC/Topps issues I picked up.  Fortunately they were very low numbers (#46) so I didn't have to pay through the nose for expensive high numbers!  The OPC version has a lot of French writing on the back which makes it much easier to distinguish the two.

Dave Campbell 1972 O-Pee-Chee and Topps

Dave's 1972 cards include stats from his 1970-71 campaigns with the Pads, and those were the only two seasons during his career in which he appeared in more than 100 games (154 and 108, respectively).  Don't be shocked, then, that they were his two best seasons.  Once again the OPC version has some French text on the back, plus the very helpful "printed in Canada" notation.

Dave Campbell 1973 O-Pee-Chee and Topps

The Padres are well represented in the Hall of Ugly-Ass Uniforms, and here's one great example courtesy of the 1973 sets.  '73 also turned out to be Dave's final season on the West Coast as he was traded to the Cardinals mid-season.  There's an interesting difference in this pair, by the way:  the cartoon on the back of the Topps' card has text that was drawn while the OPC card clearly used type instead.

Dave Campbell 1974 Topps

St. Louis wasn't Dave's final career stop as just two months after that deal in '73 he was flipped to the Astros for former ROY Tommie Agee, who played the final 26 games of his career with the Cards.  Campbell, meanwhile, got into nine games with the '73 Astros, then 35 more the following season before hanging 'em up.  I don't have the OPC card to go with this Topps version, but that's the last of Dave's run that I don't have!

Make it an exciting 9/10 in Dave's collection with the final piece due to arrive soon! 

Don Lund 1954 Bowman

I'm happy to finally have some cards to show off of Lund, yet ANOTHER Wolverine/Tiger.  While I haven't landed his '53 Topps RC yet--gotta find one that isn't so expensive--I did manage to start things off with this classic '54 Bowman.  It hails from the days of cards being a bit larger than today's standard of 2 1/2 x 3 1/2, and it looks great despite its age.

Don Lund 1954 Topps

Here's the former Michigan football star in his Topps issue from the same year.  I'd take this one over the Bowman since it has more going for it, including that terrifying Tigers logo!  Lund was actually signed as a free agent by Brooklyn in '45, and he was with them until the St. Louis Browns grabbed him off waivers in 1948.  The Tigers purchased him the following year, and he was with them for a few games in '49 and again in '52.  1953 was his best campaign as he appeared in a career-high 131 games, but it was back to normal in '54 with just 35 appearances, and then he retired.

Don Lund 1991 Topps Archives 1953

With two of Lund's three vintage issues secured I went after his modern cards.  First up is this reprint of his '53 RC out of the 1991 Topps Archives set--yep, they made that product that far back!  It's a bit annoying for me that I don't have the actual card to pair it with, yet, but I will as soon as I can.

Don Lund 1994 Topps Archives 1954

Here's another Archives issue from a few years later, and four decades after the original's release.  Obviously I do have the original '54 to go with this one, and the reprint does a pretty good job of capturing the vintage version, but I'd go with the latter and its true cardboard-ness any day!

This was a good start for my Lund collection as I now have four of his eight cards.  Besides the aforementioned RC, I'm lacking a gold parallel of the '94 Archives, then a couple autographs(!) out of 2003 Topps Heritage, and those should be fun to chase.

It was fun having more vintage stuff to show off, but I'll go back to modern cards in my next post to close out this latest purchase.

2014 COMC purchases: Boros ain't boring

I'm happy to have a couple more trades to cover very soon, but I figured if I didn't post my COMC stuff before much longer it would just languish in my scan folder, so here we go!

Today I've got cards of just one player;  Steve Boros.  I added him to my PC guys back in August, then I showed off my first vintage get of the former Wolverine/Tiger a couple weeks ago.  Since then, thanks to the magic of COMC, I've made extremely significant headway towards his collection, adding these:

Steve Boros 1958 Topps RC

The single color background here is very bland, but it's still a fun vintage RC, plus it features that fantastic Tigers logo!

Steve Boros 1959 Topps

Now THAT's better!  It's not an action shot, but the design is still an improvement over the previous year's, and this is a nice shot of Boros posed, I'd assume, in the dugout.

Steve Boros 1961 Topps

I like the '61 design as well since it's a bit more colorful.  This may be a posed shot as well, but at least it's a posed "action" shot, right?  Steve earns that "1961 Rookie" star logo in the upper-right by virtue of having played just 30 games over the course of 1957-58, by the way.

Steve Boros 1962 Topps (#62)

Ah yes, the classic wood grain design of '62.  There's nothing like the pairing of a classic card set and the "Olde English 'D.'"

Steve Boros 1962 Topps (#72) (with Bob Schafer and Jake Wood)

Steve actually appeared on two cards in the '62 set as he joined by fellow IF Jake Wood and '61-'63 manager Bob Scheffing, who went 101-61 in 1961 and finished SECOND, so I guess hooray for more playoff teams, right?  Here's the back if you're interested, courtesy of COMC:

Steve Boros 1964 Topps

This '64 issue is Steve's first and only as a member of the Cubs, for whom he appeared in 41 games in 1963.  I love the old Cubs logo on what's definitely another classic Topps vintage design.

Steve Boros 1965 O-Pee-Chee and Topps

Boros played in 117 games for the Reds in 1964, then two more the following year (as a defensive replacement only), so his '65 cards show him off in a Cincy uniform.  The two versions that year aren't terribly difficult to tell apart; OPC's says "Printed in Canada" on the back while Topps', of course, mentions the U. S. of A.  Based on my two copies, the Topps version also has a much brighter background on the back.  Another good looking design indeed.

Steve Boros 1983 Topps Traded

I believe I already covered this, but '83 was Steve's first of  parts of two seasons as manager of Oakland, and that year the team went 74-88.  '83 Traded is a set I don't usually hear much about, so this was a fun addition.

Steve Boros 1984 Topps

I think I also mentioned that Boros was canned by Oakland for various reasons after just 44 games in '84, but he still made it into the flagship set.  '86 is my oldest complete Topps set, hence my need to pick this one up.

Steve Boros 1987 Topps Tiffany

And what's an 80s Topps card without a Tiffany version to go with it?  Steve's 1986 Padres duplicated his '83 Oakland squad's record of 74-88 in his only season with the team.

If you counted 11 cards in today's post, first of all, congratulations, you've just completed all degree requirements for Michigan State.  You also might have guessed that I'm pretty close to completing his run, and if you did, you're right on.  Of his 16 issues I'm missing just his '86 Topps Traded Tiffany card, which I'll probably be picking up pretty soon!  

While I work on that, I'll show off more COMC stuff and trade packages very soon.

2014 Sportlots purchase #4: Kelly, Bill, Heath, Steve, and J.J.

Yep, more Sportlots pickups today, so let's get right down to it:

Kelly Dransfeldt 1999 Topps Gold Label Class 2

Just one Dransfeldt this time, but it's from the gorgeous '99 Topps Gold Label set.  Class 2 means two things:  the background is the "T" team logo, and the main image is Kelly as a baserunner (along with the inset image, which is the same on all three versions).  I have Class 1 and Class 3 already, giving me that trio, so now I'm left to work on some parallels.  I also have 21 of Dransfeldt's 45-card run, putting me pretty close to 50%!

Bill Freehan 2004 Upper Deck Legends Timeless Teams (#73)

Just one Freehan today as well, but that's sort of a theme since four of this post's five players are flying solo today.  In old Bill's case I finally landed one of his two base cards from this Timeless Teams set, this one honoring the '72 squad that lost to the eventual three-peating A's (the other is the more honor-worthy '68 team).  It goes nicely with the autographed version, which is pretty much the same card with a signature right where the year is (nice design!).  Bump the count up by one to 74 of Bill's 132 overall.

Heath Murray 1998 Bowman Chrome Refractor

Today's Refractor comes courtesy of former Padres hurler Heath Murray.  My fifth card from his '98 Bowman/Chrome rainbow leaves me needing four, including both Golden Anniversary cards (#d to 50) and the ultra-tough Golden Anniversary Chrome Refractor (just five made!).  I don't need a whole lot more than that, though, as this is my 21st of Heath's 30 issues.  Viva Refractors!

Steve Ontiveros 1995 Donruss Top of the Order

Steve Ontiveros party time!  First up is this Donruss card that looks like a precursor to the more popular MLB Showdown game.  It's slightly oddball-ish, but normal enough to count as far as I'm concerned.

Steve Ontiveros 1995 Upper Deck Electric Diamond

Electric Diamond was a parallel of a few different Upper Deck sets in the 90s, and in this case, the one-per-pack version featured silver foil, including a home plate that encompassed the UD logo.  Personally I favor the copper foil and regular UD logo of the base card, but to each his own.  Meanwhile, I still need the rarer Gold version.

Steve Ontiveros 1996 Collector's Choice Gold Signature

This one was tougher for me to find for whatever reason, but I eventually nabbed it when I saw it on SportLots.  1996's Signature parallels are a bit better than some of the other years' since the border features the same color as the signature.

Steve Ontiveros 1996 Metal Universe Platinum

Look!  It's a very slightly different version of the base card!  This is such a typical 90s parallel that...well, I dunno, but it's a very typical 90s parallel!

Steve Ontiveros 1996 Stadium Club Extreme Players Silver

Out of all the cards I scanned for today, I'm proudest of this one, because I lucked out and really got a fantastic image of the "Extreme" Silver stamp.

Steve Ontiveros 1996 Stadium Club Members Only Parallel

This Members Only parallel is decidedly less interesting, but still features a pretty cool stamp.

Steve Ontiveros 1996 Stadium Club Silver

THIS parallel is probably the most unnecessary since the Extreme Silver card looks so much better and already features silver foil.  At least it closes the book on Steve's six cards from '96 Stadium Club!  Better yet, I now sit amazingly close to Ontiveros' PC with a new total of 68/71!

J.J. Putz 2008 Upper Deck Gold (#40/99)

It's kind of funny--I think Upper Deck pretty consistently produced Gold parallels numbered to 99 going back to around 2006, and yet the older ones are generally much cheaper than the newer ones.  Case in point:  this Putz from 2008.  I grabbed it for just $0.75 (before shipping), which seems crazy to me since I see cards from 2010 going for 10 times that much!  Hey, whatever--I'll take 'em as cheap as I can get 'em!  This is my 177th Putz of his 320 or so cards.

Stay tuned for the last part in this series pretty soon, and then some recent eBay and COMC scores!

Charlie and George were among the Greatest Hitters

I realize I've gone without posting for nearly two weeks, but I've been busy putting together my spring cleaning contest for the other blog (which I hope to have ready by today), and more importantly, enjoying the fantastic spring/summer weather that's been long overdue!

While I have plenty to show off in the form of trades and pickups from Sportlots, COMC, eBay, and more, today I have a pair of cards I dug out while flipping through things to get rid of:

Charlie Gehringer and George Sisler 1982 TCMA Baseball's Greatest Hitters

TCMA cards, and this set in particular, may be familiar to many of you.  This version came out a year before I was born, but my parents must have bought them for my brother and I at some point, and I've had them for a long, long time.  It's chock full of legends, including these two, which are among my player collections.

Both Gehringer and Sisler are in the Hall of Fame, of course, and for each that was the case especially thanks to their hitting prowess.  Gehringer, the "Mechanical Man," finished with a career average of .320 and more than 2800 hits.  Sisler was even more renown for his skills with the bat, tallying a .340 career mark and owning the single-season hits mark of 257, broken many years later by Ichiro.

These cards mark my 17th Gehringer and 33rd of Sisler, and I think they were perfect for a lazy Sunday kind of post, which will hopefully get me back in the habit!

To see more of this classic set, hit up this link to the Trading Card Database.

2014 COMC pickups #6: King of Leons

After the craziness of yesterday, today you'll be seeing one of two remaining single-player posts, this one covering 15 new pickups of Leon Roberts:

Leon Roberts 1976 O-Pee-Chee and Topps

As usual, these second-year cards are impossible to tell apart without looking at the back.  Also, Mr. Burns things Leon should get rid of those sideburns!

Leon Roberts 1977 Topps

Here's Leon in uniform #2 thanks to the 1975 trade that sent him to Houston, along with his sideburns.  As with Detroit, he played only two years for the Astros.

Leon Roberts 1979 O-Pee-Chee

Dig those old-school Mariners logos, man!  Again, this version is nice enough to denote its O-Pee-Cheeness with the logo up-front.

Leon Roberts 1980 O-Pee-Chee and Topps

And then the following year that goes right out the window.  No biggie, though, and I've always kind of liked the 1980 design for some reason.  We get a different helmet logo in this photo, too.

Leon Roberts 1981 Fleer

1981 was the last year where Roberts would appear as a Mariner since he was traded to the Rangers at the end of 1980.  '81 Fleer remains a fairly solid debut as one of the two new sets that year.

Leon Roberts 1982 Donruss

The well-traveled Roberts was in Texas for about one and a half seasons, so he really doesn't have many Rangers cards.  '82 Donruss is another design I kind of liked more than some of the others from the decade.

Leon Roberts 1982 Fleer

Meanwhile, I think Fleer took a bit of a step back after their debut release.  For whatever reason the name/position/team area just doesn't do it for me compared to the previous issue.  I've always though the older Rangers jerseys were a bit goofy too!

Leon Roberts 1983 Topps and Topps Traded

Leon was with the Blue Jays from mid-'82 to early '83, allowing him to appear in his second traded set that year.  I think I've mentioned the answer before, but do any of you remember who Toronto received from KC in return for Roberts?  He's a reasonably notable player, just not so much as a Jay.

Leon Roberts 1984 Donruss

'84 Donruss was kind of a fun design as well.  Nice job by the photographer to get this shot of Roberts with a good grip on his bat.

Leon Roberts 1984 Fleer

Roberts only had one year (and not many games at that) left in his career when this photo was taken, but he still looks pretty happy in the powdered blue unis!

Leon Roberts 1984 Topps

The thing that bugs me about '84 Topps, which is solid otherwise, is the team name, inset photo, and name/position area eating up so much real estate.  In this case, the main photo's pretty nice, though.

Leon Roberts 1985 Topps Tiffany

I think you all know by now that I include Tiffany cards in my supercollecting chases, and fortunately Roberts only had two.  They're not necessarily terrible to track down, but some sellers still manage to hoard and mark them up.  This one wasn't bad at all, though.  Shiny!

As is often the case, COMC was extremely helpful in knocking off a large chunk of one of my PCs.  I went from just six to 21 cards of Roberts, putting me at 75% of his 28 total, with more in-hand and soon to be posted.  Check out his PC for a look at the other stuff I have of him, or just a tour of 1970s-80s uniforms!