View My Accomplishment... My FIRST Completed Page from 1963 Topps Baseball, Oh the Joy!!!!! Plus a Shout-Out to Captain Canuck, Hell May Have Frozen..

...over. Apparently blogger limits the number of letters in a title. I can't believe I didn't figure this out sooner... The 1963 Tribe trade-bait cards I promised are being pushed back a day because of this breaking news... I finished a PAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My very first completed page of 1963 Topps!!! Cards numbered 46-54 are safe in the binder… It’s funny (to me) because my first page includes my first 1963 Topps card, #46 of Tommie Aaron. Although I have posted this one and said I wished it was a card of ANOTHER Aaron, I really like this card and this is the one that made me fall in love with the design of this set. I have of this card now, too if there is any interest in the other Aaron brother…

The second card I owned from 1963 is also on this page. It was the 10th card in my mini-super-collector Billy Pierce collection. Bill Pierce is my favorite pitcher from the 1950’s and somewhere along the line I decided to become a Billy Pierce collector. Maybe it’s because he ended his career with 1,999 strikeouts, maybe cuz I liked the blog that sponsors his BR page, maybe he was just an amazing pitcher…

Unlike the Tommie Aaron card that made me love this set, the Pierce card is my least favorite BP card ever. I can’t put my finger on it, but there is something I don’t like about this card. Anyway, like it or not it sets smack dab in the center of my first completed page! Also included in this page are card #47 of Senators outfielder Don Lock, #48 of Indians manager Birdie Tebbets, a card which I have a dupe of, and card #49 of Cardinals shortstop Dal Maxvill. Card 50 of Pierce comes next, followed by card #51 of George “Two Bats” Alusik, Boston second baseman Chuck Schilling (I have a dupe of this one, too) and card #53 of Dodgers pitcher Joe Moeller. The last card in the binder is number 54 of the Rookie Parade. It features Cubs outfielder Nelson Mathews, Cards pitcher Harry “Never Heard of Him” Fanok, Yankees pitcher Jack Cullen and White Sox pitcher and 2 sport star Dave DeBususschere. So there ya have it, my very first completed page!!!
My '63 Topps list is up-to-date, check it out! I have amassed about 20 duplicates from this set and I am looking for another ’63 Topps chaser to trade with, so get in touch with a Troll. I love this hobby! Vintage RULES! Oh, as an end note – should you glance out the window and see a pig fly by, don’t be afraid… After making him wait for two (yes 2!) YEARS, I am FINALLY shipping out a package to Captain Canuck, the King of the Great White North… The package isn’t sealed yet, just in case there are any vintage Braves he wants to add to the pile. With the Captain in mind I added a couple of cards to this post… A short printed team card, #509 featuring the Milwaukee Braves, card #46 of Tommie “Not Henry” Aaron and card #414 of Ty “I Misplaced My Hat” Cline. Ty Cline spent 5 seasons with the Braves; he played in 348 games and hit 1 home run for them. This is the same Ty Cline immortalized in the '71 Topps set for scoring the winning run in the NLCS for the Reds... Now like I said earlier, the Captain gets first dibs, then dayf, then it is a Braves free-for-all! Oh, just for the heck of it I am ending this post with a 2010 Topps card (WME-1) of a FORMER Brave, Mr. Babe Ruth. To the Captain… I know it is VERY hard to believe, BUT the package is somewhat ready, I bought the Canadian flat-rate-priority stamp and it is READY to go… I just feel like it needs a few more vintage cards in it…Captain, if you are reading this post, let me know if there are ANY cards I can add for you... If you are not the Captain, but are reading this post and somehow aren’t familiar with the Waxaholic, you can find him right here! His site is the official blog for insanely hot soccer chicks, need I say more? Oh, while I am pimping other blogs, you MUST read Play at the Plate tonight (and every night)!!! Less hot soccer chicks, but word on the street is that he has some pretty nice vintage cards posted up, so check it out and tell him the Troll sent ya... A huge thanks goes out to any and all who helped me out with cards to go towards this set and towards my first complete page! I REALLY love this hobby!!! Go Rays! Troll out.

The Joy of a Completed Page - 1965 Topps Edition...

Greetings Trollites!!! I have waited a LONG time for card #170 and it is FINALLY home in my binder!!! Yep, page #19 featuring cards #ed from 163-171 is packed full of vintage goodness. With this one full, pages 1-22 are filled, it is a good feeling… I love this hobby!!! Thanks to all who helped me get this far!!! Go Rays! Troll out.

The Joy of a Completed Page - 46 Year Old Short Print Edition...

First off. Sorry about the "no posts" last night. I worked a VERY long double shift yesterday and fully intended on putting together a month's worth of posts in one night. Small problem. I couldn't get internet outdoors anymore like I did last year. I didn't bring my handy dandy USB LAN adaptor thingy and just couldn't get online, so I wrote a couple of posts in Word, but they need some work before they are ready to go. I am trying to get my Jeep back up and running today, so I am a little busy, BUT I didn't want to go all day without a post, SO...

How about the Joy of a Completed Page? I have finished several pages in my 1965 Topps binder - actually I have finished 23 pages. Some pages have Hall of Famers on them, some have sweet rookies, the one I posted a couple of weeks back had little pictures of 11 (should be 12, Ron Santo...) different Hall of Famers including Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Sandy Koufax and Brooks Robinson... I worked hard and spent big to finish that page and I am really proud of it. Today's page doesn't have the big names on it, but is far rarer than PAGE 1. When I started my mission in collecting this set I wanted to start at card one and work my way up 9 cards at a time. I let it be known that I wanted '65 Topps cards badly and a bunch of you traded with me and I snatched up every '65 Topps card that walked into my LCS. I also bought a few lots of cards here and there on the auction sites. What ended up happening was I got higher numbered cards than I had intended. Originally I just kept all cards numbered above 300 randomly in pages, not in numerical order. Well, my Mother-In-Law got me a box of Ultra Pro pages as a birthday gift this year so I decided to spread the binder out to include 70 pages. Enough to house cards 1-598 in order with a few extra pages for dupes. Anyway, I realized I had more short prints than I thought. To be honest, I don't know anything about the print totals in this set or what is a short print or how short printed they are.

I have always understood that cards numbered 523 to 598 are super short-printed. There are some NICE cards in there. Lou Brock (thanks Wicked!) and Tony Perez' rookie card might be the 2 best, they are the 2 best in my binder at least. Anyway, I got off track, but I am hoping that someone can tell me more about short prints in this set. On the auction sites sellers seem to tag any card higher than 300 as an SP in the description. I don't believe that. I have also been told that cards 485 (Nellie Fox) and above are all SPs. If THAT is the case, then this page I am showing today would be a legit group of 9 short prints. Anyway, any full page is pretty awesome in my book (or binder!). If these really are short prints than even better. Included on this page are card #489 Gene Mauch, 490 Earl Battey, 491 Tracy Stallard, 492 Gene Freese, 493 Tigers Rookies, 494 Jay Ritchie, 495 Joe Christopher, 496 Joe Cunningham and 497 Giants Rookies.

Hopefully someone can tell me if these are legit SPs. Either way, I am pretty happy to fill a page in the second half of the ole binder. Collecting this set has been amazingly fun for me. I love this hobby, I really do, but if you are getting burned out on it I would highly recommend chasing a Topps set from the 60s, 70s or early 80's. It will definitely get your hobby blood pumping again! Thanks for reading! As always, you are encouraged to check out my want list for this amazing set. I have passed the 50% completion point and I don't want to slow down! I love this game, I love this hobby! Back to work on the Jeep... Wish me luck... Go vintage! troll out.

The Joy of a Completed Page (and I mean JOY!!!) 1965 Topps Editon

I think I have been chasing the 1965 Topps set since I started this blog nearly 2 years ago... My goal was to start from the beginning and work my way up, completely a page at a time. Well, I never considered how costly the League Leaders cards would be and here I am with 23 completed pages in the set, but finally finishing page 1. As a word to the wise, if you are thinking of completing a set, consider how many little tiny pictures there are of Mickey Mantle in the set. His images, big or small, can be very expensive. Anyway, page 1 is done!!! I feel like I could accomplish anything now! By the by, the needs list is up to date... Thanks for reading, go rays! troll out.

The Joy of a Completed Page - Yo Mama Junk Wax Era Edition

Here is the third page I filled up from this very addictive subset... This completed page makes me laugh because I wouldn't consider liberating any of the original versions of these cards from the quarter box, but I went crazy trading for these reprints... Funny how Topps made junk wax collectable again... I just saw the sell sheet for the Updates offering and I just happed to have an opinion on it. Stay tuned... Oh, and my 2010 Topps Needs List has been updated one last time this weekend AND I put together a list for 2008 Allen and Ginter too. I JUST finished off the Pioneers of Aviation set. Actually I just organized a trade for the final card I needed to finish it off. Very excited about this one. Now my focus is the Ancient Icons, Baseball Idols, Team Orange and Worlds Deadliest Sharks. Get in touch if you can help. Go Rays! troll out.

The Joy of a Completed Page - Yo Mama Edition...

So I getting more and more organized every day. Making lists and checking them several times. I am also getting back into the trading game and I am in the process of hammering out a trade with a Mets fan and blogger, the famous blogger who runs B.A. Bennys Baseball Card Buffett. As it turns out he is chasing 2010 Topps inserts, too. HIS needs list is RIGHT HERE. Speaking of needs lists... BA Benny knocked cards off of nearly all of my lists including 2009 Topps Updates which has been collecting dust for far too long... I would REALLY like to finish this one off before 2010 U and H hits the shelves. Speaking of sets that I will probably NEVER finish - BA Benny is sending me 13 cards from 2010 Topps Heritage. That list is updated as well. I hope to get a little closer to finishing that one BEFORE Heritage high numbers come out. Anyway, this post was intended to be about the Joy of a Completed Page. While organizing cards I did in fact finish a page. CYMTO10 through CYMTO 18, beginning with 1961 Roger Maris up to the 1969 rookie of Mr. October. Apparantly your mom threw out Mickey Mantle cards quite often. He appears twice out of these 9 cards and he showed up on the previous completed page, too. So out of 9 cards you have 7 Hall of Famers with Mantle appearing twice and Roger Maris being the lone player locked out of Cooperstown. Thanks for looking and sharing my Joy and scoping out my wantlists and BA Bennys too. Next up is a wantlist for 2008 Allen and Ginter, so stay tuned... Go Rays! troll out.