The name of this blog is dedicated to my mother. Back in little league, my mother used to stand back behind home plate and give me that one, simple batting instruction: "get the bat off of your shoulder!"



Monday, February 20, 2012

First, and probably last Check Out My Cards purchase

For some reason, I was looking through my 1970 Topps and realizing I had only a single Angel from that year. Just one! I went online and started looking through Check Out My Cards and realized there were tons of that set in the $0.20 to $0.25 range. Granted, these are all low numbers, but still, '83 Donruss commons seem to go for that much.


  I picked up a few Dodgers, a few Angels and I even grabbed a few Astros. Nobody hugely famous, but plenty of guys I know and remember fondly from my childhood.

  The back of Foster's card says that he signed for a reported $100,000 in 1965. Seems like a pittance compared to what guys sign for nowadays, hell Bryce Harper probably made that much last week just from Topps alone. But to put 100,000 1965 dollars in perspective for you, consider that my parents bought a new house in 1965 for just under 10,000. Disgusting, isn't it? I think I bought a '94 Honda for that much.



The 1970 set is, I think, the last set to not feature a single action shot, not counting the World Series subset. Nothing but foul zone, batting cage and dugout posing here. In a way it's comforting.


Here's a trio of hurlers, Rooker, Torrez and enjoy the awesomeness that is Gene Brabender here. All time leader in Wins for the Seattle Pilots. Gene looks like someone's uncle here, or put some Dickies on him and he could be the guy who fixed your brakes last week.

Bob Moose has a big old wad of chew there. You just don't see guys chewing tobacco anymore. I tried it once. I saw some guy wrap bubble gum around wad of leaves once, and stick it in his cheek. One day in little league, I figured I would try the same thing. I had that sucker in my cheek for all of about 3 pitches and my whole world started spinning. The coach came out and I told him I was about to toss up that Big Del Burrito I had for lunch right there on the mound, and that if it was OK by him, could I please go do it over behind the backstop, away from everyone else. That was my last time trying tobacco. Momma definitely did not raise no fool.


Speaking of my last time, I don't figure I'll buy more cards from Check Out My Cards either. The initial thrill of finding cards for 0.20 went away when I ended up paying more than that per card for "packing". Forget that. $25.00 in cards was $3.65 to ship, and another $24.75 in penny sleeves. Give me a break. I'll probably stick to eBay and SportLots from here on out.
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7 comments:

  1. RobertFebruary 21, 2012 at 7:53 AM

    I wonder how Bob Watson got along playing the outfield with a catchers mitt....

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  2. RosenortFebruary 21, 2012 at 8:43 AM

    comc shipping rates are crazy high, I am waiting for a shipping special to get my cards out of there.

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  3. Anthony HughesFebruary 21, 2012 at 10:00 AM

    Robert, I didn't even realize it was catcher's glove! I was thinking 1st baseman's glove, because he was at that position most of my memory of him. lol, that's funny. The photographer probably tossed him a glove and said, ok, pose Bob! But I'm not a catcher! Smile Bob!

    Rosenort, yeah, kind of ridiculous. Probably a quarter isn't much when you buy a $15 card, but when you just bought a $0.20 card, it kind of sucks.

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  4. HackenbushFebruary 21, 2012 at 5:30 PM

    What I do with COMC is practice delayed gratification. I'll go 4-6 months, wait for a shipping special or use bulk without sleeves. I think the last time, before Christmas, I paid about 13 cents per card. Unless you only buy using free shipping (which limits your choices) on Ebay you can spend up to 3 bucks to ship just one card. I guress it all depends on your buying and collecting habits.

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  5. CaptKirk42February 22, 2012 at 9:58 AM

    I mostly get stuff from Ebay and sportlots, by the time I remember to "checkoutmycards" I have usually found them cheaper at the Bay or SL. (EDIT: Sorry this has turned into a long post) Other than shipping costs if you can't find everything you want from just one seller on sportlots is not being able to see the card you are getting. I recently got a 1968 Topps Football Stand-UP card in "Good" condition from sportlots thinking it would be a card beat to heck but still having all it's parts, well since it was a stand-up the "background" part of the card wasn't there, it was just the "used" stand-up in OK shape a little rough but still a little acceptable. I was thinking that "poor" would be a card without the background, but I guess I'm wrong in that. This type of thing is one of the reasons I don't like getting stuff blind at sportlots. I'm trying to build the stand-up set with all the cards "complete" even if some are pretty beat up. That is the inherent problem with perforated cards is getting just the "play" part of the card in perfect shape minus the trimmed fat so to speak. When I was a kid I had a bunch of those stand ups and similar gimmick cards that I of course being a kid had "opened" or assembled, ripped or tore whatever, but most didn't survive into my adult collecting years.

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  6. Anthony HughesFebruary 22, 2012 at 8:06 PM

    so far I've had good luck with sportlots, though I haven't bought anything old - I figure it's really rare to see any card under 20 years old that isn't damned near minty, so I'm safe. I haven't been brave enough to buy any 60's or 70's cards, but as I finish off this '70 Topps baseball set, I may end up getting some there.

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  7. Napkin DoonFebruary 22, 2012 at 9:50 PM

    Yep, the shipping on COMC will kill you. You should also try sportsbuy.com. Sometimes you can find good prices from sellers who also have free shipping deals. And there are usually images of the cards you are buying, at least more than what I see on sportlots. At the end of the day, I typically do better on sportlots than anything though.

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