Buyback Franken-set: Molly & a Completed Page

It's been over a week since I added any buybacks to the franken-set project, so let's dive in tonight with another ten.  Some good star power this evening as well, time to get down to it!

1979 Topps #24 - Paul Molitor

Usually I save the best of the batch for last, but tonight I'm coming out strong with one of my favorite recent buyback pick-ups.  Molitor's rookie card came in the 1978 set of course, but that was a multi-player rookie card, making this Paul's first solo Topps flagship card!  I love the sunny photograph here of one of the more under-rated hitters in the history of the game (if it's possible to be under-rated as a first ballot HOFer that is).  '79 Topps isn't a favorite of mine by any means, but this particular card I love.

I ponied up a whole $3 for this one, plus a couple bucks shipping, because I figured it could anchor spot 24 in the binder for good.  Will that be the case though?

Bob Allen's 1967 card already sits in slot 24.

Did you expect that one to end any differently?  I'll be surprised if that fantastic Molitor buyback is ever ousted from the binder.

1990 Topps #133 - Ricky Horton

Next up, a '90 Topps buyback.  Can never have too many of these since I'm attempting to complete an entire set of them in addition to the buyback franken-set.  In this case Ricky Horton goes into the franken-set because he represents my first #133 buyback, and the franken-set comes first.

2006 Topps #477 - Chan Ho Park

Here's one I hand-picked recently from a seller with a ton of buybacks available at what amounted to about 30 cents per, maybe less.  Why this particular buyback?  Because I was an impressionable 11 years of age when Park splashed onto the scene in the mid-'90s.  Even though this is a later career buyback it's got a ton of nostalgia value for me.  Does it make the binder though?

This multi-player RC from '77 Topps stands between Chan Ho and franken-set glory...

...and Park mows it down!

1973 Topps #178 - Don Rose

I really enjoy the '73 Topps release, but Don Rose here is a far cry from the best the set has to offer.  Rose didn't actually pitch in the Majors in 1973 either.  It's probably going to take an empty slot for Don to have a prayer here.

Unfortunately for him I've got a more interesting Angels buyback already occupying slot 178.

Don never stood a chance.

1969 Topps #272 - Ed Stroud

I really like the look of the '69 buybacks from this year's Heritage product, but Ed Stroud's blacked out cap kinda kills the look of this one if I'm being brutally honest.  It's a shame too, this would've been a solid card if not for that.

Had this great '59 Topps Jerry Lumpe buyback in slot 272...

...and there's no way I'm evicting Lumpe in favor of Stroud here.

1988 Topps #204 - Paul O'Neill

This is a nice one, picked out from the same seller as the Chan Ho Park above.  I'm not sure if this counts as a rookie card strictly speaking, since Paul had cards from other brands like Donruss or Fleer prior to 1988.  I do believe it's his first Topps card though, which is cool.  Paul is a member of the Hall of Very Good, having won five World Series and an AL batting title among other accolades.

This record breaker subset card from 1981 Topps has been resident in slot 204 for a few months now.

As much as I enjoy a card with not one, but two, Expos on it, I'm going with the O'Neill in this case.

1959 Topps #22 - Al Smith

Here's a beat-to-hell 1959 Topps Al Smith buyback.  We've got everything from rounded corners to creases to paper loss going on with this card.  Al was a 3x All-Star who actually wrapped up his career with the Red Sox in 1964.

Already had this Charlie Smith in pocket 22 of the binder.  The obvious star of the show here is the fantastic New York World's Fair shoulder patch.  No way I'm pushing this one out of the way for Al Smith.

Sorry Al.

1990 Topps #78 - Mike Flanagan

Another 1990 Topps buyback here.  To me, this is a set of extremes, with some really good looking cards and some really poor ones.  I'd consider this the former, not the latter.  This is a new number for the franken-set project as well, funny that the only two new numbers in this post are the two 1990 buybacks.

Best of all, this one completes a page as well!  The highlights of this page are the two '67s up top in my opinion, but don't overlook Ted Kubiak's "hair wing" at lower left either.

1969 Topps #273 - Ron Willis

Tonight's penultimate entry is Ron Willis' '69 release.  This one has a weird, dreamy quality to it, I think from the photograph being a little washed out or blurred.  A nice enough looking card, I like that there's some baseball activity going on in the background there.

I think I like this '68 Dave Johnson more though, and it's already in slot 273.

It pains me to reject a card that says "Cards" on the front, but so be it.

1973 Topps #224 - Bill Lee

Last card for tonight, and it's a real winner for this Red Sox fan.  I'd love to complete a run of Bill "Spaceman" Lee buybacks that represent his entire career at some point.  I think this is at least the third one that's popped up since this project began.  I really like the photograph on this card too, certainly interesting as far as portrait shots go.

In a clear example of just how difficult it's becoming to make the binder, this card is not a shoe-in by any means.  Check out what's blocking Bill's path:

A '72 Topps World Series subset buyback featuring Brooks Robinson Davey Johnson.  Ouch, I really hemmed and hawed over this one.

In the end, even this die-hard Sox fan just had to go with the '72.  It's alright though, as Lee's '70 Topps RC is still a critical part of the franken-set, even if this '73 now resides in the reject box.

That was a good little grouping if you ask me.  Two new numbers for the project courtesy of 1990 Topps, one of which completed a page.  The Chan Ho Park, O'Neill and Molitor cards strengthening the set on top of that were the icing on the cake.

Thanks for spending a few minutes of your valuable time to read my buyback ramblings!

Franken-set Progress: 609/792 (76%)
1990 Topps Buyback Set: 65/792 (8%)
"Rejected" Buybacks: 473
Total Buybacks in Collection: 1,147

Catching Up with Mark Kaz

I recently rekindled the back-and-forth PWE trades with my longtime friend Mark Kaz, formerly of the blog This Way to the Clubhouse.  Life and work (some good, some not so good) have been conspiring to keep me from posting the contents of Mark's last PWE, but today provided a sign that it's time to get off my butt and get this posted.  The sign?  Yet another PWE in my mailbox.  From Mark.

So, with that being the case let's look at the contents of what is now the penultimate envelope from Mark!

Coming out strong with a brand new addition to my ever-growing Xander Bogaerts collection!  A new Xander card pretty much makes any package a winner, but even more so if the card is an obnoxiously shiny one like this fine example from last year's Bowman Platinum set (an Ice parallel if you're curious).  Xander just moved up another spot on the Red Sox all-time hit list, which means another "Bogaerts Tracker 2018" post coming here soon.

With no offense to Mark in the least, here's a much less exciting card from 2009 TriStar Prospects Plus.  While I'm grateful for any new card I receive in trade, sets like this one are the bane of the team collector's existence.  I don't mind saying this because I'm positive that Mark, being the Mets super-collector that he is, can relate!

Because of the time that I was away from collecting during high school, college and beyond, I almost completely missed out on Pacific as a brand.  That makes getting cards like this one in trade extra nice.  Very cool Dirt Dog RC here, with the portrait photo inset within the baseball printed on a clear acetate-type material.

No, I didn't forget to size this scan correctly, what you're looking at here is a Topps Mini card.  I never seem to run across these in the wild (I want to say they're an online exclusive or something?), so I'm pleased Mark was willing to shoot this one over to me.

Here's a unique one, from a set so high-end the base cards are serial-numbered!  I guess Mark has a fancy side!  I feel bad for the poor sap who paid triple digits to bust a box of this stuff ten years ago, but will happily welcome this card to my Red Sox collection now.

All of the cards that Mark included in this latest batch were great, but there's something extra significant about landing a plain old average, everyday base card from a Topps flagship set that you were missing as a team collector.  Love it.

I went through a brief phase in 2011/2012 where I was accumulating as many Adrain-Gonzalez-as-a-Red-Sox cards as I could get my hands on.  Somehow I never acquired this one though, a Game Changers insert from 2012 Finest.

What I said before about Pacific applies here as well.  There's not much going on design-wise on their 2000 flagship release here, but if you're from the Upper Deck school of "photography trumps design" there's a lot to like here.

We'll close it out with what might be my favorite card from this grouping.  How can you go wrong with a card of arguably the hottest player in the game (at least before he landed on the 10-day DL) playing ping pong?!?!  Answer...you can't!

Mark, thanks so much for the solid injection of Red Sox, and I promise it won't take me as long to thank you for the batch that showed up today!

One Card Post - Leafs Lanny

What:  2010-11 Upper Deck Toronto Maple Leafs #TOR-6 - Lanny McDonald
Where: COMC
How Much?:  $1.00

Why?:  I love the photograph on this one, don't recall having seen it before on a trading card.  Besides, I don't have a whole ton of Lanny McDonald cards from his time with the Leafs, and the card was only a buck.  Ah COMC, my online version of dollar boxes!

I'm assuming these were distributed to fans at Leafs games back in 2010?  Perhaps someone can confirm in the comments.

Buyback Franken-set: Hand-picked Half Dozen

Just a quick post today, featuring half a dozen buybacks that I hand-picked from various sources over the last year or so.  Let's see how we do...

1969 Topps #349 - Dick Williams

Coming out strong with a recent eBay pick-up, a 2018 Topps Heritage 1969 buyback of the great Red Sox skipper Dick Williams!  Dick has pretty much been a household name among die-hard Red Sox fans since he led the team during their 1967 "Incredible Dream" season.  Was psyched to be able to land a buyback of the manager, especially one from his days with Boston.

I don't usually make a habit of showing the backs of the buybacks, but the '69 manager card backs are just too cool for me to leave this one out of the post.

So, does this one make the franken-set?

Rick Camp's 1978 issue stands in its way...

...but not for long.  Easy choice there for a Red Sox fan like myself to go with the Williams over Camp.

1985 Topps #785 - Tony Armas

How about consecutive Red Sox buybacks to start today's post?  I like it!  I don't recall exactly where I picked this one up, but I remember why I grabbed it.  I was attracted by the fact that it was such a high number at 785.  My instincts were correct when I grabbed it too, as it fills an open slot in the binder and is actually the second-highest number I've picked up for the project so far.  Nice to fill in an empty pocket in the binder's final page!

1959 Topps #143 - Willie Tasby

Next up is another Heritage buyback, this one from the Sporting News Rookie Stars subset of the 1959 Topps release.  I love the '59 set, but the Rookie Stars cards aren't my favorites to be brutally honest.  Don't know much about Willie Tasby either, though he did play about half a season with the Red Sox in 1960 before the upstart Senators grabbed him in the expansion draft.

Already had this '76 Jerry Grote in slot 143.

I'm gonna stick with the Grote, as I really love the photograph on that card for some reason.  Willie Tasby becomes one of the oldest buybacks in the reject box!

1959 Topps #137 - Dick Ricketts

Here's another '59 Rookie Stars buyback; I think I picked this one up in the same lot as the Tasby above.  This is a very cool buyback because, although Dick took the mound only 12 times in his MLB career, he was a successful pro basketball player as well!  In fact, the Milwaukee Hawks selected him with the very first pick in the 1955 NBA draft.  Dick was a first-team All-American in basketball with Duquesne prior to being drafted, and his number is actually retired at the school.

Al Bumbry has been illustrating how to choke up on the bat in slot 137 for a good long while.

Ricketts displaces him though.  Two-sport pro athletes are pretty interesting to me, more so than this Bumbry card anyway.

1967 Topps #406 - Lee Elia

Lee Elia wasn't much of a player in MLB from what I can tell, though to be fair I was born a couple of decades after he hung up the spikes.  He's remained close to the game through the years though, managing the Cubs and the Phillies in the '80s.  He was a Major League coach as recently as 2008, and is still employed by the Braves organization today at age 80!

Steve Arlin's '74 Topps release previously occupied slot 406.  While I don't have a ton of attachment to either card...

...I'm going with Lee Elia.  Good chance to get a '60s buyback into the binder at a number greater than 400, that was basically the deciding factor here.

1990 Topps #386 - Julio Franco All-Star

Last card for today, a buyback from my beloved 1990 Topps set.  This was the first baseball card set I collected as a kid, so it scores a 10/10 on the nostalgia scale for me.  So much so that I've actually started a separate buyback project where I'm trying to complete this entire set in buyback form.  For me, this card also doubles as a great addition to my "ageless wonders" collection of guys who played professionally well into their 40s.

So, what's the fate of Julio here?

Well, I already had this wonderfully colorful buyback of the Big Cat in slot 386.  Works out just fine...

...as Julio slides right into an open pocket in my burgeoning 1990 Topps buyback binder!

Not a bad round today for just half a dozen new cards, as I added one new number each to the franken-set and the 1990 Topps set.  On top of that the Dick Williams card and the multi-sport star Ricketts, while not new numbers, certainly improved the quality of the franken-set binder on the whole.

Thanks as always for stopping by!

Franken-set Progress: 607/792 (76%)
1990 Topps Buyback Set: 65/792 (8%)
"Rejected" Buybacks: 465
Total Buybacks in Collection: 1,137

Sox Gaps and a Buyback

Today's post is the latest of many, many examples in the history of this blog of the kindness that so many people involved in our hobby exhibit on a regular basis.  A couple of months ago I got a very nice email from a gentleman named Travis.  He's a fellow collector who happened to stumble upon my blog and reach out.  Not only that, but he had some cards he wanted to send my way.  No objections here!

Travis ended up sending a nice little PWE that, as the title of today's post indicates, plugged some gaps in my Red Sox collection.  You'd think I would have a copy of this '86 Jim Rice by now...

...or this team leaders card from the same set, but you'd be wrong.  I guess it's possible I might have a copy sitting around somewhere in a "yet to be processed" box, but I don't think so actually.

Travis also hooked me up with some '83 Sox that he ended up with from a vending box pick-up.

Because they came from a vending box, these are in pretty crisp shape!

Amazingly, I needed four of the five '83s that Travis sent along as well.  For whatever reason I just don't have a ton from this set other than the "big three" rookies (Boggs, Gwynn, Sandberg).

I also received a trio of new '84 Topps Sox in the form of Gary Allenson...

...pitchers Doug Bird...

...and John Tudor.  Another grouping I'm surprised I was lacking, feels good to fill in some of these gaps.

The final Red Sox card is one I wasn't surprised that I was missing.  I don't have a whole lot of 1990 Fleer, even though I actually think it's a nice looking set as Fleer goes.  I should probably get off my butt and just pick up a Sox team set at some point, but in the meantime I'm happy to have some representation in my collection from Dewey here.

1984 Topps #711 - AL Active Career Hit Leaders

The final card that Travis included, and the inspiration behind him reaching out to begin with I'm fairly sure, is a sweet buyback featuring some big names!  It's hard to beat Carew, Campaneris and the straw that stirs the drink all on a single piece of cardboard.  This card was originally from the '84 Topps set, and these three were the AL active career hit leaders at the time.

Does it make the franken-set binder though?

Well, I had this multi-player rookie card from '78 Topps in slot 711 prior to receiving this package.

No way I can stick with those four guys though over the trio on the card Travis sent.  No offense to Cardell, Dennis, Craig or Roy, this is just how it has to be.

Travis, thanks so much for reaching out, for the awesome cards, and for the thoughtful note that accompanied them.  It's people like you that make this hobby so enjoyable!

Franken-set Progress: 606/792 (76%)
1990 Topps Buyback Set: 64/792 (8%)
"Rejected" Buybacks: 461
Total Buybacks in Collection: 1,131