Continuing my recent trend of picking up vintage Red Sox, I acquired this 1952 Topps Mauric McDermott on eBay. I think everyone agrees that '52 Topps is one of the most iconic sets ever produced. Unless I win the lottery (which I don't play), this is one set I'm sure I'll never complete. Anyone with even the most basic knowledge of the hobby knows that many high numbered cards were allegedly dumped into the ocean by Topps, making this series extremely rare, desired and valuable amongst collectors. That being said, I think every serious baseball card collection should include at least one example from this classic set.When I realized a couple of weeks ago that I didn't have a single Red Sox card from this set, I decided to rectify the situation. After monitoring quite a few auctions I settled on this card. The main reason is that I've always felt a little bit of affinity towards McDermott, as his 1950 Bowman card was the first true vintage card I ever owned as a kid (sadly it has been lost over time). I ended up spending $10 and change, which I thought was pretty reasonable for a crease-free, well centered card with only slightly touched corners and great color. I might have to try to build a McDermott master collection. He didn't stick around long and played in an era when there were only a couple of sets produced each year. I'm willing to bet he probably has less than 20 total cards.
I've got a couple more vintage Red Sox posts coming, including one card that's even older than this one!
When you collect vintage, do you only go for cards in decent shape (ie. crease free, no fuzzy corners, etc) or do you buy cards that you want in any condition that are within your budget?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Jeremy. I've kind of changed my stance over time. When I first got back into collecting the only vintage cards I bought for the first year or so were PSA graded. I still buy graded occassionally, but only for highly valued vintage cards of superstars to kind of protect my investment.
ReplyDeleteOther than that I just try to buy the best shape card that I can afford at the time. I wouldn't pay out the nose for a gem mint example of a card, but at the same time I avoid one that's a creasy stained mess (unless it's all I can find or afford).
The set dictates the condition to some extent as well. When I get around to the high numbered '52 Topps Red Sox I may have to sacrifice condition a bit in the interest of cost...
It's hard to collect decent vintage on a budget. I'm a stickler when it comes to condition and I have a low budget, so that keeps out of the game for a lot of stuff pre-1970s. Sometimes I think the emphasis on defects like surface wrinkles and corners are arbitrary, though, especially if they don't take away from the eye value of the card.
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