Buyback Franken-set: Stepping Up My Game

To mix things up for a change, today I have ten hand-selected buybacks.  Instead of coming from a lot, these are ten cards that I individually picked out over time on either COMC or Sportlots.  Not that there's anything wrong with commons when you're trying to build a 792-card franken-set, but these should make the binder a little more interesting...

1969 Topps #109 - Jim Lonborg

In the lead-off position is one of my favorite buybacks to date, Jim Lonborg's awesome (and patriotic!) 1969 release.  I've already talked about this one before, when I received a copy from Off the Wall cards a while back.  Why'd I buy another one then?  Well, this one was dirt cheap, and it's a significant condition upgrade over that other copy:

1969 Topps #457 - Dalton Jones

While we're on 1969 Red Sox, here's one more.  A nice shot here of Dalton Jones, who was a member of the 1967 American League champion team.  I was very pleased to find that slot 457 was open, it would have been tough to have to bounce this one from the binder.

1973 Topps #415 - Marty Pattin

Sticking with the Red Sox theme for another few cards here, we have a '73 Marty Pattin.  Marty came to the Red Sox as part of a giant trade with the Brewers (10 players exchanged!), and lasted just two seasons as a starter in Boston's rotation.  A nice enough buyback for a Sox fan like myself, but...

#415 is a tough number as far as the franken-set goes.

No luck for Marty.

1974 Topps #543 - Danny Cater

Next up is first baseman Danny Cater, who was with Boston for three seasons around the same time as Marty Pattin.  The random fact I always see posted about Danny is that he finished second to Carl Yastrzemski for the AL batting title in 1968.  Cater has some competition as far as this project goes as well:

Clyde Wright threw a no-hitter the season this card was released, so...

...he stays and Danny Cater goes.

1965 Topps #111 - Lee Thomas

Two more Red Sox before we move on, both from the beautiful 1965 set.  Lee Thomas was a slugging outfielder who played with Boston for just shy of two seasons.  He's probably better remembered as a front office guy for the Phillies in the late '80s/90s.  This hat-less portrait shot does very little for me, but fortunately for Lee he makes the binder by default as my only #111 buyback so far.

1965 Topps #162 - Russ Nixon

Last Red Sox card for today features catcher Russ Nixon.  Russ was involved in pro ball for over 50 years between his time as a catcher, coach and manager.   You really have to respect anyone who dedicates more than five decades of their life to something.  Nixon passed away last November at 81 years of age.  Like Lee Thomas, this one makes the cut in lieu of any competition.  Nice to have a pair of '65 Sox join the binder!

1975 Topps #533 - Rudy Meoli

This one I actually bought a couple of years ago now, for a couple of reasons.  First, it's just a fantastic card on its own, with a very unique photo.  Secondly, I will always be reminded of Josh Wilker's fabulous book, Cardboard Gods, any time I see this one.  A perfect card for this project, I was glad to see that it filled an empty slot at 533.

1979 Topps #132 - Rowland Office

Who doesn't appreciate a Rowland Office card?  You gotta love that smile.  I was pretty sure this one would make the cut, until I found this Jose Laboy card occupying slot 132 already:

For reasons I can't articulate very well I'm just drawn to this Jose Laboy.  I think maybe it's the background that looks like a painting, or dream-like in some way.  Anyway...

...Rowland lost out in this battle.

1977 Topps #632 - Bob Forsch/Ken Forsch (Big League Brothers)

This one was just too good to pass up, as I thought it would be a great opportunity to add some variety to the binder.  I hope to get many different varieties of subsets included by the time I finish up the project, and this Big League Brothers card from '77 Topps is just about perfect.

Dave Von Ohlen's '86 release had been holding down slot 632...

...but was immediately removed from the binder in favor of the Forsch brothers.

1989 Topps #530 - Nolan Ryan

Last card for today, and I could do a lot worse than ending with a HOFer and one of my absolute favorite players from childhood.  I hadn't yet acquired a #530 buyback, so this becomes the fifth Nolan Ryan to make the franken-set at this stage, which is the most of any single player.

All in all a pretty good batch of ten I'd say.  Five new numbers for the project and a few upgrades as well.  I'll take that any day.  Thanks for reading as always!

Franken-set Progress:  434/792 (54%)
"Rejected" Buybacks:  243
Total Buybacks in Collection: 677