Out With The New, In With The Old - Ryne Sandberg Edition

This past year I started a new, recurring series of posts called "Out With The New, In With The Old". Basically, whenever I end up with a somewhat valuable modern card that I'm not interested in keeping, I flip it and use the money to pick up some vintage. So far I've done this three times:

• Flipped a Jordan Eberle Score short-print for a couple of vintage Johnny Pesky's
• Sent Sal from Puck Junk a PK Subban Young Guns rookie and got a vintage Phil Esposito in return
• Finally, in my best effort to date, I sold a Logan Couture Young Guns rookie that I had pulled from a hobby box and used the money to pick up 5 O-Pee-Chee WHA cards of Bobby Hull and Gordie Howe
  

For today's Out With The New post, I sold a baseball card for the first time:

This is a 2004 Donruss Studio - Studio Proofs Platinum parallel of Ryne Sandberg. I was fortunate enough to land this card in a group break just about 2 years ago now. Not the world's most impressive card in my opinion, but as you can see on the back it is serial numbered 10/10:

I figured with numbering this low it would probably attract the attention of some Sandberg collectors out there, so after it accumulated dust for close to 2 years I finally listed it on eBay earlier this month. I went with a 99 cent auction with no reserve just to see how it would do. To my surprise there was quite a bit of bidding activity and the card ended up selling for $27.50, which was better than I had expected.

The PayPal funds from this sale went to the purchase of 5 new vintage hockey cards from one of my favorite eBay sellers. Here are all 5, from least favorite to favorite:

1979-80 Topps - #150 - Ken Dryden

I'm still plugging away at one of the most, if not the most, iconic hockey card sets ever made, 1979-80 Topps/O-Pee-Chee (just working on the Topps version for now). Dryden's is one of the top cards in the set book value-wise, so crossing this one off the want list felt pretty good.

Of course, one of the things that made this set so great was the card backs. I think I can safely say they are my favorite hockey card backs of all time. The skate design is absolute genius and many of the cartoons are quite creative. Ken's, featuring the Dryden brothers waving at each other from opposing goals, is no exception.

1973-74 Topps - #1 - NHL Goal Leaders - Phil Esposito/Rick MacLeish

1973-74 Topps has only appeared on my radar recently, after I picked up a decent chunk of the set from the quarter box at the local hobby shop. This card features a couple of the decade's greats, plus it's always nice picking up card #1 from any vintage set.

If I told you that 3 players surpassed the 50 goal mark in the 1972-73 season, you might be able to guess at Phil Esposito and Rick MacLeish, but would you have known Mickey Redmond was the third? If so, give yourself a pat on the back. I for one certainly did not know that. Continuing with the theme of first cards in a set...

1979-80 Topps - #1 - NHL Goal Leaders

Like the 1973-74 set, the 1979-80 Topps set also led off with a card featuring the NHL's goal leaders. Mike Bossy was still at the beginning of his amazing stretch of 50+ goal seasons, having recorded 69 in his second year in the league, 10 more than the next closest player.

This card is a great addition to my collection for another reason though:

The joy of a completed page! While I still need around 70 cards to finish this set off, at least the first page in my binder is now complete. Now for the best two cards in the lot...

1979-80 Topps - #185 - Bobby Hull

The 1979-80 Topps Hull isn't exactly his toughest card to track down. This copy is flat out mint though, and it's the third most valuable card in the set behind the Gretzky rookie and the Gordie Howe, both of which I already have. It was the first time Bobby had been featured on a Topps card since the 1971-72 set, since he had been playing in the WHA for the bulk of the decade. It was also the final Topps card of Hull.

Another great back featuring two of my favorite things...hockey and beer! Finally, my favorite card of the 5:

1974-75 Topps - #261 - Scotty Bowman

I believe this card is the most expensive in the 74-75 Topps set in terms of book value, along with the Bobby Orr, both of which book at $30. The coach cards are one of my favorite elements in the set, and this is not only one of the greatest coaches in hockey history, but one of the greatest coaches in the history of sports period. Scotty won more games and more Stanley Cups than anyone before him (and anyone after him to date). He had already won a Cup with Montreal when this card was produced, and he'd go on to win four more (consecutive) Cups with the Canadiens from 1975-76 through 1978-79. He reached the playoffs in all 8 years that he coached the Habs, winning the cup an amazing 5 times!

That alone would have been enough to earn Bowman a place in hockey history, but he would also bring Lord Stanley's cup to Pittsburgh at the helm of the 1991-92 Penguins team. He then moved on to coaching the Red Wings where he would coach his teams to 3 more championships before retiring. Between the 1970's Montreal teams, the stacked Pittsburgh squad of the early 90's, and the powerhouse Red Wings, Scotty stood behind the bench of some of the best teams in the history of the sport.

Well, that's what a serial numbered Ryne Sandberg card can net you on eBay I guess. I was really happy with this flip, I don't miss the Sandberg at all and I've made significant dents in the 1970's Topps hockey run with these 5 cards. Best of all they are all in really good shape, and were all previously on the want list. I'm now just 22 cards away from a complete 1974-75 Topps set...I wonder what else I have kicking around to sell?

Card of the Month - December 2011

Just one day to go, I almost dropped the ball on a Card of the Month for December. After yesterday's lengthy baseball post it's back to hockey today...

Recently I've been focusing primarily on older hockey cards, but over the past couple of months I have accumulated a few Young Guns rookie cards of note. I've already shown two of the better ones in Steven Stamkos and Claude Giroux, which was actually last month's Card of the Month (can you really still get Giroux's Young Guns rookie for around $10? If so, get it now!). Those were both great additions, in fact it just so happens that as of this morning they are the two players leading the NHL in points and goals:

December's Card of the Month is the Young Guns rookie of a player who has the potential to join the likes of Giroux and Stamkos atop the NHL stat leader lists someday, perhaps in the very near future:

2010-11 Upper Deck - #456 - Tyler Seguin - Young Guns RC

Tyler Seguin has grown by leaps and bounds in his second year with the Bruins. Though he's admittedly cooled a bit after starting the season at a torrid scoring pace, he has improved dramatically from his rookie season in virtually every statistical category. It hasn't all been perfect, in fact he was benched one game for missing a mandatory team meeting on a road trip a few weeks back. Nevertheless, let's look at where he was at last year and where he's at now.

In his rookie season he played in 74 games, scoring 11 goals and assisting on 11 others, for 22 points. Not bad for an 18-year-old kid, although there were without question more impressive seasons from other rookies like Taylor Hall, who scored as many goals as Seguin had points, or Jeff Skinner, who surpassed 30+ goals and 30+ assists en route to the Calder Trophy. So far this year in just 33 games Tyler Seguin has 14 goals, 17 assists and 31 points, all improvements on last season's totals already. His 31 points are good for the top spot on the Bruins scoring chart. He's scored 3 goals on the power play this year, something he did only once last season. He's also tallied 3 game-winners so far, the first 3 of his career. Perhaps most impressive though is his improvement in +/-. Last year he seemed a bit too focused on offense at times, and his -4 on the season reflected that. This year? How about a +25 to lead the entire NHL! I know some of this is due to the fact that the Bruins play a tight defensive game and have the best goaltending tandem in the league, but I think Seguin deserves at least some measure of credit for improving his game at both ends of the ice.

The Bruins are playing some of the best, most consistent hockey I've ever witnessed these past couple of months. In the 24 games they've played since November 1st they are on an astounding 21-2-1 tear that has brought them from the basement to the top of the mountain in the Eastern Conference standings. Hopefully both Seguin and the team can keep rolling as we enter 2012...

2011 Top 20 Under $25 - #10 - 1992 Topps Factory Set

I've kind of mailed it in the last couple of times with single-card posts. Time for an image-heavy one. We're past the halfway point with my 2011 Top 20 Under $25 countdown. Here's item #10...

What is it? A 1992 Topps baseball factory set.
When and where did I get it? Early October, at a flea market with my younger brother.
How much did it cost me? $10, no shipping!

Of all the items in the countdown, this one by far contains the most cards for the money. When I saw this 792-card set available at a local flea market for just $10 I jumped at it. I knew it was a complete, mint-condition set because it was in the factory box and still encased in cellophane. At just over a penny per card I couldn't turn it down.

1992 was the first year that Topps used white cardstock for its flagship baseball set. It was also the last year for the standard card backs I had grown up collecting (although these are obviously white), as the backs would be glossy beginning with the '93 set. Oh yeah, they also featured panoramic views of baseball's stadiums (great link here), the first time Topps featured pictures on the back since the early 1970s:

It was also the first set without gum in the packs. I think the design is decent but the photography is great. The Ripken at the top of this post is arguably the best photo in the set, but there are plenty of others in the mix in my opinion. In the interest of keeping this monster sized post manageable, I'm going to just show the scans of some of my favorite cards and keep the commentary to a minimum. Enjoy! There's pretty much something for everyone in this set...

One of my favorite players, Nolan Ryan, leads things off with card #1...

...followed by some Record Breaker cards. Remember these?...

...maybe they do have these in recent Topps sets, I guess I haven't picked up enough packs to even know...

...Jon Farrell gets the award for best (or worst) hair in the set...



...this always seems to be the case with me, but I like the horizontal cards best in this set...

...see?...

...some of the early Topps cards of the stars of my youth are in this one...


...as well as some late career cards of some Hall-of-Famers...

...Sammy sure looked much different back then...

...and like most of the flagship sets leading up to this one, there are manager cards...



...Manny, Manny, Manny...if only you could go back to the Youth Service League and start over...


...Cliff won a medal I guess, not sure what for...

...I love this card of a troubled-looking Jack Clark in front of the Green Monster, one of my favorite photos in the set...

...I betcha Robbie's mom had this card displayed on her fridge back in the day...


...another great horizontal shot, I've seen those one posted many times...


...there are two two-sport stars in this set. Will we ever see one again? Probably not...



...worst shirt in the set goes to Greg Anthony hands down. This paisley and floral combination should never appear on a baseball card. From any era. Ever. Moving on...





...your latest World Series-winning manager...

...a terrible trade by the Red Sox...


...what's not to love about this card? What a great moment captured on cardboard. Not to mention a baby blue Expos jersey...

...this is one I'd put up with the Ripken that led off the post in terms of best cards in the set. There is just so much going on here...


...another one of my favorites. I actually chose this card when assembling my own custom "hobby box" this past summer...





...another beauty. Pretty close to perfection on cardboard as far as I'm concerned...


...the other two-sport star...

...John Franco signing some autographs for the Mullet Club...

...as a Red Sox fan, this card just feels wrong...





...speaking of the Red Sox, their new skipper is included...

...and we close it out with a very happy Joe Carter. He's got plenty of reasons to smile, as he was about to win consecutive World Series and hit one of the most dramatic and famous homers in baseball history to clinch the second title.

So, there you have it. Maybe not the world's most valuable set but some pretty great cards for mere pennies and one I'm happy to have in the collection. Don't worry, the last 9 posts in the countdown will be much shorter than this one!