30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Tough Decisions

Back in the Spring of 1976, a week before Opening Day, Oakland A's owner Charlie Finley shipped Reggie Jackson off to Baltimore.  Seven months later he was granted free agency and signed with the New York Yankees.

His seven month tenure in Baltimore is often lost in the shuffle when it comes to his trading cards, but recently Gavin (Baseball Card Breakdown) sent The Commish (The Five Tool Collector) a pair of customs, including a sweet 1976 Hostess card of Mr. October featured in Orange and Black.  If you haven't seen it yet, click here.  Gavin's customs are some of the finest around.

1976 Hostess #146

But the card that really caught my attention was the original 1976 Hostess Reggie Jackson The Commish used as a comparison.

It features Reggie in Green and Gold posing in front of the left field bleachers at the Coliseum twenty years prior to Mount Davis being constructed.

Everything about this card reminds me of my childhood.  White pullover jerseys with a giant, yellow A's patch on the player's left chest.  The pre-updated Oakland Coliseum with grass above the bleachers.  Hostess cupcakes.  And baseball cards on the bottom of boxes.

As soon as I left a comment on his blog, I headed over to eBay and found this:


The seller had it listed for $4.99 (+ $2.99 shipping).  I went back and forth for a minute or two on whether or not to purchase it, but I decided to man up and buy it.  Decision #1 out of the way.

The panel is far from perfect.  It has a large crease running through Yeager's head and smells more like cigarette smoke than cupcakes.  No biggie... I've stumbled across this problem before and it's nothing a little fresh air can't solve.

It gives me time to ponder Decision #2:

Do I cut out the Jackson or keep the strip intact?


We all know that Carmen is all about the strip.  The question is...

What would you do?

Happy Hump Day and sayonara!

13 comments:

Billy Kingsley said...

I'm a big proponent of keeping panels together. Mostly due to the fact that I split up my Sports Illustrated for Kids cards and the various promos and regretted it later. A single, loose card can be sourced later.

defgav said...

Thanks for the shoutout! That's a nice Reggie. Normally I'd say keep in intact, but it's not like the other guys are A-listers and there's a crease on Yeager, so I'd probably be tempted to cut it up.
I mean.. I probably wouldn't.. but I'd be tempted. LOL

JediJeff said...

I would leave it intact.

Then again, I have a song by Jewel in a private YT playlist, so you may want to question my opinions.

Commishbob said...

I have a couple of full panels with Orioles included. I leave them alone.


And, yup, the cards Gavin sent were pretty cool.

Hackenbush said...

I never even thought of cutting mine when I finished eating the hohos. I haven't changed. At least these days you can do the virtual cut. Remember you can always cut but you can't un-cut.

Nick said...

I echo what Gavin said: the logical side of my brain would tell me to keep it intact, but I'm sure the other part would be shouting at me to cut it up. I'd like to think the logical side would win out...

Corky said...

I will be the little devilish on your shoulder...
Cut it Fuji!

BobWalkthePlank said...

I think you keep it together. I'm all for freeing cards out of graded cases, but don't like fooling around with the actual integrity of the card.

Steve Yeager is from West Virginia!

GCA said...

I have no answer because you said strip, hump and Carmen Electra at the same time....

SumoMenkoMan said...

Leave it be! It has character the way it is.

Man said...

I would let them be because I think it really gives it context

Zippy Zappy said...

I'd cut it up. Mainly because storing that panel would be a pain.

Fuji said...

Great feedback guys. Two days later... and the strip is intact and the tobacco smell is almost gone! I'll probably keep it intact. If I ever decide to cut it up, I'm gonna practice a lot to avoid messing it up.

Strip - 9
Un-Strip - 2
No Comment -
A's Uniforms Were Sweet - 1
Distracted By Strip, Hump, & Carmen Electra - 1