Buyback Franken-set: Angus Delivers!

Been under the weather for the past couple of days here, out of work and laid up sick on the couch.  Let's see if I can start to get back in the saddle here with a quick post to say thanks to my friend Angus of Dawg Day Cards.  I was surprised to find an unexpected small mailer from Angus in the mail last week, and inside were a handful of buybacks he tracked down for me!

I'm really having a blast accumulating these things, and my franken-set is starting to look pretty impressive in its binder.  Let's take a look at the five buybacks Angus sent along to see if they make the cut...

1976 Topps #513 - Bart Johnson

Success right out of the gate.  As I fully expected would happen, the first half of the franken-set binder is starting to fill up nicely, but the latter half has been more of a challenge.  Bart Johnson here is a nice high number at 513, and has already slid into the open binder slot.  Nice that Bart makes the cut as well, since I already booted his '75 Topps release from the set a few weeks back.

1961 Topps #174 - Ray Semproch

This Ray Semproch is interesting in that he never actually played a game for the Washington Senators.  They took him in the 1960 Rule V Draft, but he was purchased by the Angels before ever pitching for Washington.  Seems like Washington got the better end of that deal too, because he pitched two total games for Los Angeles to the tune of a 9.00 ERA before retiring.  Unlike Bart Johnson, Ray did have some competition for the franken-set:

Nelson Briles is certainly a name I recognize, whereas Ray Semproch isn't.  With that being said though, I'm not terribly attached to this '77 release that depicts Nelson with the Rangers (with whom he played less than two seasons in the twilight of his career).

I'd rather have Briles represented in the franken-set with the Cardinals and/or the Pirates since they're the two teams he won championships with.  Nelson gets the boot.

1970 Topps #338 - Paul Schaal

A career .244 hitter, Paul Schaal was known primarily for his fielding prowess at third base, though he never won a Gold Glove thanks to some guy named Brooks Robinson.  I absolutely love this card though, just a great sunny day here and you can never have too many cameos by trees on your baseball cards.  I was happy to find that I was missing a card 338 in the franken-set, because I'd hate for this one not to make the binder.

1960 Topps #438 - Jim Coker

I don't know a whole lot about Jim Coker, whose career as an MLB catcher lasted 9 years.  I do know that 1960 Topps buybacks are not the easiest things to come by though.  In fact, of the 160+ buybacks that now sit in my franken-set binder, this is just the second one from 1960 Topps.  Jim's a relatively high-numbered card as well, and thankfully faces no current competition to make the set.

Finally, my favorite of the bunch...

1969 Topps #42 - Tommy Harper

Just awesome!  This is the second Tommy Harper card to make the franken-set, the other being his '73 Topps release from his time with my beloved Red Sox.  I have to say I think I like this one even better though.  I'm a big fan of franchises of the past, the Seattle Pilots especially, so I'm pumped to welcome this one to the set.  This is just my second Pilots buyback so far, though I certainly hope to land some others down the line as this project progresses.

Angus, thank you very much for thinking of me as a destination for these buybacks.  You really added some variety to my set, and brightened my day as well.  Four of the five made the set uncontested, and even the one that had some competition won out in the end.  I really appreciate it, and will see if I can track down some more Cleveland Browns cards to ship you soon!

Okay, time to pound some more Tylenol Flu and get back to the couch...

Franken-set Progress:  162/792 (20%)