Buyback Franken-set: Offf the Wall Part VI - The Finale!

At long last I've come to the final grouping of buybacks that Shane of Off the Wall so kindly sent me a while back.  I had 11 left in the stack, but then I received a PWE from Shane last week that contained one more, so it'll be a nice tidy dozen to cover here today...

1959 Topps #391 - Milt Pappas

Milt Pappas seems to be one of the more prevalent subjects when it comes to buybacks, at least in my experience so far.  His '73 Topps issue is in the "rejected" box, and now this one joins his '71 release in the actual franken-set.  A really nice entry to lead off today's post, though I'm ashamed to admit I still don't have a standard version for my '59 Topps set yet.

1965 Topps #48 - Claude Raymond

Next up is the second card of longtime french-language broadcaster for the Expos, Claude Raymond, to make the franken-set.  I like this one even better than the first, since we get a closer look at not only his unique glasses, but also that Houston Colt .45s cap!  I hope this one sticks around in slot 48 for some time.

1965 Topps #144 - Ed Kranepool

Next up, a beautiful '65 Topps Ed Kranepool courtesy of 2014 Topps.  Kranepool has some solid representation in the binder now, as Shane included both his '75 Topps buyback as well as this one in the stack he sent.  I was pleased to find that slot 144 was empty, which means this card is in without contest.  If I'm being picky the one thing I would have liked to see done differently here would have been to place the buyback stamp in the dark upper left corner instead of over the bat/cap in the upper right.

1967 Topps #92 - Ray Washburn

Here's the one-off that Shane sent me in a PWE last week, and with this one I'd say the folks at Topps put the buyback stamp in the perfect place.  This card makes the franken-set as well, and is significant given that Ray won 10 games for St. Louis in 1967, en route to a World Series Championship!

1960 Topps #297 - Reno Bertoia

This Reno Bertoia is significant in that it's just the 7th 1960 Topps card to make the set so far.  Out of that subset, it's only the second one of the 2009 Topps Heritage variety with the larger 50th Anniversary foil stamp.  Bertoia was actually born in Italy, but moved with his family to Ontario to an early age.  He was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988.  This one makes the set as well, and I'm glad that it does.

1961 Topps #163 - Ed Sadowski

Ed Sadowski carved out a brief MLB career as a backup catcher in the early to mid '60s.  He was briefly a member of the Boston Red Sox, seeing action in 38 games with the team during his rookie season of 1960.  After that it was three seasons with the LA Angels, a two-year absence from the Majors, then 3 games with the Braves in 1966 to finish off his career.  This hat-less photo doesn't make for the world's most exciting card, but without another #163 buyback Ed is in for now.

1962 Topps #66 - Cuno Barragon

Though he didn't have the most notable career, this buyback of catcher Cuno Barragan (misspelled Baragon) is among my favorites from the group Shane sent.  I love that you can see the outlines of where baseballs hit against the backstop behind him.

Random baseball trivia time!  What do Cuno and the infamous Hoyt Wilhelm have in common?  They each hit a home run in their first MLB at-bat, and neither of them ever hit another!

1963 Topps #98 - George Thomas

George Thomas was an extremely versatile player over the course of his career, eventually playing every position on the diamond besides pitcher.  I always think of him as a pinch hitter and defensive replacement on the roster of the 1967 "Impossible Dream" Red Sox team.  His 1963 Topps buyback here is actually the only one in today's post that has any competition when it comes to franken-set induction.

Milt May's 1977 card was already in slot 98 of the binder.

That was an easy decision!

1963 Topps #55 - Bill Virdon

Here's another nice '63, featuring Bill Virdon.  Virdon had just captured the lone Gold Glove of his career the season prior, and had won a World Series with Pittsburgh two seasons before that.  What a nice little run of '60s buybacks there.

1959 Topps #203 - Ozzie Virgil

To close out this post, and this large lot of buybacks from Shane, I've got three more from the 1959 Topps set!  Ozzie Virgil was born and raised in the Dominican, but moved to the Bronx with his family as a young teenager.  When he was called up in September of the 1956 season he became the first Dominican-born player to appear in a Major League Baseball game.  As such, he's obviously well-known on the island, and even has an airport named after him!

1959 Topps #293 - Ray Moore

Ray Moore was a flame-throwing righty who wasn't exactly known for his control.  He debuted in the early '50s with the Brooklyn Dodgers, but by 1959 found himself with the White Sox (who made it to the World Series that year).  I'm excited to add just about any buyback from the '50s to the binder, glad this one made the cut at 293.

1959 Topps #466 - Pierce All-Star Starter

Finally, here's my favorite buyback of the entire lot, from the 1959 Topps Baseball Thrills subset.  Working on the '59 set myself these days I'm a huge fan of this subset (in fact my last post was the Ernie Banks), and I never imagined I'd be fortunate enough to be the owner of a buyback version.  This is hands down one of my favorites to date, and brought a smile to my face for sure.

At more than 60 total buybacks, this lot from Shane was by far the largest I've ever received in trade to date.  It has pushed me past the 300 card threshold in my franken-set, and has me at close to 400 total buybacks in my collection at this point.  I'm really starting to think that I might be able to complete this project someday after all, especially after seeing the smattering of high-numbered '80s and '90s buybacks in the 2017 Topps flagship release.

Thanks so much Shane!  I really appreciate you thinking of my collection as a home for these.  I managed to get another package in the mail yesterday headed your way!

Franken-set Progress:  307/792 (39%)
"Rejected" Buybacks:  83
Total Buybacks in Collection:  390