Trade Bait: Hall-of-Famer and also Boomer's Pants

Check out the goods. If you see something you like, let me know what you have to trade.

Bob Gibson:2005 Fleer Classic Clippings Cut of History Jersey

Tom Glavine: 2001 Fleer Genuine Material Issue jersey

Chipper Jones: 2011 Leaf Limited Materials

Cesar Geronimo: 2005 Topps Pristine Title Threads Relics

Roberto Alomar: 2011 Topps 60 Relics

Pedro Martinez: 2002 UD Authentics Retro Star Rookie Jersey

Al Oliver: UD Prospect Premieres Heroes of Baseball Game Bat

Hideo Nomo: 2004 Leaf Shirt Off My Back jersey

Edgar Martinez: 2002 UD Diamond Connection jersey

Rod Carew: 2007 UD Sweet Spot Classic Memorabilia

Boomer Wells: 2002 UD 40-Man Super Swatch

Juan Marichal: 2004 SP Legendary Cuts Swatches

Orlando Cepeda: 2011 Topps Glove Manufactured Nameplate

Gaylord Perry: 2005 Throwback Threads Jersey

Reggie Jackson / Ike Davis: 2009 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Back to Back Materials

So, make me an offer if you dig anything you see. My want lists are at the top of the page. You can also find the link to my trade bait page for more. I look forward to trading.

New Old Kalines

I've been hard at work adding to my Kaline player collection. A key part of that is finishing the Topps base card run. Though, likely, I'll probably never truly finish this run because of a certain 1954 card.

But a 1959 Kaline, that I can do. I snagged this one off eBay for around $5. It took a lot of searching to find this card for that price. It's probably not that amazing of a deal considering the horrendous centering issues, which I completely do not care about. This is a beautiful card. And it's from the same set as my first vintage card, a famous card I received from my dad when I was kid, and a couple decades later it would inspire this here little blog. There's a story to this, and there's, of course, the card: 

Mr. Veal is happy to finally be reunited with his teammate.

Now, I just wish these two could have been paired on this card:

Nothing against Maxwell, but Coot and Kaline against a pink backdrop would have been cardboard perfection. But this card will do. This one was right around $2, and an absolute steal. It came with a nice screw-down. 

What else? This:

1966 Kaline. I feel like I've seen this card reprinted so many freaking times, though really only in the 2011 Topps 60 Years of Topps set, and I just have a bunch of doubles. But nothing beats an original. I appreciate the uniform with the big 6 on the shoulder so much more now that it's on a piece of slightly yellowed cardboard. The condition is pretty decent, and I nabbed this one for under $4 shipped.

Slowly, slowly, I'm filling in the gaps, getting closer to that Topps run. I'm on the hunt for a destroyed 1956 that I can afford. I'll let you know when I find it, and I will find it.

There's Only One Hank...Greenberg

I've been getting more and more interested in the 1930s and '40s Tigers teams lately, and especially the ever-enigmatic, talented, heroic Hank Greenberg. What Jackie Rob did for baseball and for our country in general is, of course, one of the brightest moments of this sport's history. But I think we often forget about what Hank did for this sport before Jackie. As many of you know, he was one of the early Jewish players in professional baseball, and one of two Jewish players in the Hall of Fame, along with Koufax.

I admit that I'm a bit of a late-comer to the Hank fan club. About a year ago I watched a great documentary about Mr. Greenberg on Netflix, The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg. It's worth watching, and it really gives you an idea of how Hank had to also go through a ton of idiotic and at times dangerous racial prejudice. And he was an amazing player and a war hero and just a snazzy dude.

So, yada yada, most of you probably know this stuff. Let's get to the card: Here's my first Hank GU card. They're tough to come by, especially if you're the kind of cheap-ass collector (I'm looking at you, Dr. Vealtone (which means you're looking in the mirror (easy on the parentheticals))) who doesn't want to pay more than $10 for one card. Well, after a long wait, I finally snagged this off eBay for around $8, which is a steal if you look around.

Chicle is really hit or miss for me. I love the original vintage Diamond Stars set it's based on, but some of the art is rough. Some of the art is fantastic, too, but this Hank portrait falls in the rough category. Of course I still love it.

Worth noting, this card is a parallel with a shorter print run, only 25, and this is 01/25. So, that makes it an eBay 1/1, right? Ridiculous, I know. I'm half-tempted to resell this on eBay for a bunch more than I paid for it, just to see if it'll sell if I play up the stupid 1/1ness, which the original seller didn't do. Then I could get more Hank bats with the profits. What do you think? Stupid plan? Really, I can't lose. Any Hank card is a great card.

Vintage Bowman Tigers: Well-Loved, Maybe Too Loved

In my pursuit to finish my Tigers team sets from my favorite vintage Bowman years, I found a couple needs at my LCS.

I found this 1951 Bob Swift and the rest of the cards in this post in a box of really battered vintage. We struck up a deal for a price tag around 10 percent of BV. So, each of these were two bucks or so. Now, Swift here, besides being an awesome card of a catcher in gear, is probably in the best shape with only a few creases. But great color. Perfect to me.

Pat Mullin is worse for wear. He has one of those hole punches. I see this a lot in super-bargain-priced vintage. Maybe kids used to punch holes to hang them from string or something ridiculous like that? I have great skill in being able to see past condition flaws like this. I love this cards despite all the character. The shadowy looming stands creates a stark contrast for Mullin's practice swing. The color is still great on this card.

Last in this bunch is Mr. Fire Trucks. RIP, kind sir. This card's condition is borderline for me. Maybe a bit too much character even for me. Color fading creates the most issue for me. I care little about centering or creases or rough corners or even hole punches because those things don't really hide the design of the card. Fading, though, is a bummer, especially when it comes to art cards where color is so important. That's what these sets were all about. But, heck, it's Trucks. I couldn't pass this up. Might have to upgrade someday, but for now, it's a great filler.

Would you pick these up for a couple bucks a piece if it was your team? Where does your tolerance for condition with vintage end?

Acquiring Iconic Rookies: Vida Blue

When it comes to cool baseball names, you can't really beat Vida Blue. And when it comes to epic single seasons, it's tough to beat Vida's 1971 season when he won both the Cy Young award and MVP, just like a certain favorite Tigers pitcher of mine. 

Vida had some tough years with screwy Athletics management, and then, of course, that little run-in with nose skiing. Ah, for the days when our baseball players were just sniffing their not-so PEDs. 

But Vida looks so hopeful in his split-card head-shot, and he should be. Heck, Gene Tenace even has a respectable 15-year career on his horizon.

I acquired this card at a show for 50 cents. That's a no-brainer purchase, in my book, for an amazing pitcher who deserved at least a few more Hall of Fame votes than he got. He probably marks the beginnings of the BBWAA's prejudice against any kind of drug use. I have my own opinions on this bias, what I think is somewhat of an absurdity in a very imperfect world. Whatever your opinion, Vida's rookie is an iconic must for any cardboard collection.