30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Saturday, October 17, 2020

TWIB: Dime Box Vintage, Wax Stains, and The Little General

Another week closer to Thanksgiving break.  Another This Week in Blogging post.  Another Sayonara Salute tribute to a baseball hall of famer.  But before we get to that, let's start off with the oldest card in this post...


#1Dime Box Vintage

1958 Topps #255

Back on Monday, Daniel over at It's like having my own Card Shop asked his readers what was the oldest card they ever purchased from a dime box.  His 1955 Topps Herman Wehmeier beat out my Bob Turley by three years.

I had to do a little digging to come up with an answer to his question and when I did, I discovered that along with the Turley, I also picked up this Ferguson Jenkins rookie card for a dime too:

1966 Topps 254

It was actually part of a flea market haul back in 2015Remember when I'd hit the flea market three or four weekends a monthTimes sure have changed.


#2Wax Stained Rookie Cards

Last Sunday, Chris The Collector opened up four packs of 1987 Topps football cards and pulled a rookie card of Charles Haley that came with a nice bonus: a gum stain.

Most collectors would be bummed by a gum stain, but I try to be optimistic (sometimes).  Considering there's usually only one or two cards with wax or gum stains per pack, they're rarer than cards without them.  That's why I try to cherish the ones I come across.

1983 Topps #356

I was digging through my binder and the first one I discovered was this rookie card of Gary Anderson Anderson is a 4x Pro Bowler and ranked third on the all-time scoring list.  It's not easy to see with the red and gray background, but there's a nice brown wax stain on there.

1974 Topps #173

The other wax stained rookie card I'll feature today is this Randy JonesPadres fans know his as one of the best pitchers in their franchise historyBaseball fans know him as being the 1976 Cy Young Award winner.

If any of you want to put up your wax/gum stained rookie cards up for adoption, I will gladly provide a loving home.


#3Not So Mysterious Judge

2015 Panini Immaculate Collection Prime Swatches #41

A few days later, The Collector showed off some mystery packs he purchased from the Baseball Card Store and he asked his readers if they had any recent success with mystery packs, grab bags, or repacks.

I typically stay away from these sort of items unless I know I'm gonna get a good deal.  Back in the day, I'd often purchase mystery packs from YouTubers, because they'd guarantee certain hits or had a reputation for delivering solid value to their packs.  One of those YouTubers was Ricky Russo.

The Aaron Judge patch card came out of one of his mystery packs.  At the time of purchase I had no idea who this Yankee was.  But a year later, he took the hobby by storm.  This was the first card that popped into my head when I thought of Chris' question.

Sadly the hobby community lost a dedicated and very entertaining collector this year when RR passed away.  His generosity touched a ton of collections out there including my own.  His followers and friends were devastated, but the good news is his wife left his YouTube channel untouched, so his videos and legacy have been kept alive.


#4Chicks Dig the Long Ball

If you enjoy pitchers who aren't afraid of picking up a bat, then click hereRosenort wrote an excellent article about disliking designated hitters over on his blogCondition Sensitive.

His post inspired me to dig up some wood held by Mr. Maddux:

2001 UD Pros and Prospects Game-Used Dual Bats #PP-MJ

2001 SP Game Bat Edition Piece of the Game #GM

2002 UD Diamond Collection #378

And after flipping through my Maddux album, I discovered the oldest card I own of him holding a bat is this Upper Deck card from the early 90's:

1991 Upper Deck #115

And even if you're not ready to agree with Rosenort, there's no arguing that chicks did the long ball...


Just ask Heather Locklear.


#5The Little General

1974 Kellogg's #36

After this sentence, I'm not going to comment anymore about the number of stars we've lost in recent weeks.  It's too depressing and surreal.

1993 Norton Books #NNO

Instead, let's just remember one of the greatest second baseman to ever play the game...

2001 UD Hall of Famers Bat #B-JMo
2002 UD Diamond Connection Memorable Signatures Jersey #J-JM

1974 Topps #333

Morgan was a 10x NL All-Star, a 5x Gold Glove Award winner, a 2x NL MVP, and a first ballot hall of famer.

1975 Topps #180
1976 Topps #420
1977 Hostess #2

He was primarily remembered for his time with the Cincinnati Reds where he won two World Series rings, but today I'm gonna wrap up this post with the a trio of cards featuring Morgan wearing the jersey of the team he wrapped up his career with...

1984 Topps Traded #82T
1985 Topps #352
1985 O-Pee-Chee #352


Rest in peace Mr. Morgan.

Well that wraps up another post.  No specific questions today, but feel free to comment on wax or gum stained cards, repacks, Ricky Russo, designated hitters, Heather Locklear, and of course Joe Morgan.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

15 comments:

Big Tone said...

Joe Morgan was one of if not my favorite announcer. It wasn't until after I got older,with the help of Youtube, that I was able to see him in uni actually playing the game. My first memories of him were as a kid when I'd watch Baseball Tonight and Sunday Night Baseball.

Big Tone said...

RIP

Jeff B - Wax Pack Wonders said...

Pitchers hitting ftw.

acrackedbat said...

ever considered building a gum stain set? surely someone has done this. Maddux hitting!!! These are fine cards!

Brett Alan said...

Maybe a gum-stain Frankenset?

I feel as though I probably commented on this at the time, but, DANG, a 1966 Hall of Fame ROOKIE from a dine box? That's crazy.

Matt said...

That's a beautiful Judge!!

The Lost Collector said...

For right or for wrong, I always felt Joe Morgan had it in for the late 90s Yankees, who appeared on Sunday Night Baseball quit a bit. It felt like he challenged their place in the game and that they weren't "The Big Red Machine." I know that many fans feels that national announcers are "against their team," so I'm probably overreacting.

To my knowledge, I've never gone through a dime box...so I don't think I can answer the first question.

gregory said...

That commercial with Glavine and Smoltz is gold. As for gum/wax stains, I totally don't mind them -- especially if they appear on the back of a card. It's fun to flip through the pages of a completed set from the 1970s or '80s and find a couple of examples, just to increase the nostalgia factor a little bit.

Chris said...

1. How on Earth did you get a Fergie RC for a dime?!? Awesome find!
2. Check your mailbox.
3. The Judge relic is an awesome "mystery pack" prize. I'm a sucker for Immaculate hits, and while I'm bummed that there's no (licensed) Immaculate baseball or any hockey to speak of, my wallet is relieved!
4. That was a fun commercial. I remember it well.
5. I'm glad you mentioned Morgan (Don't think anyone else did) but I hope we don't have to do this again for a long time.

Fuji said...

big tone - local radio guys were praising morgan on his announcing. i mainly remember him for his years with the phillies... and kinda with the giants. i didn't realize he was one of the greatest of all-time until after he retired

jeff b - i agree

a cracked bat - no, never thought of it, but it would be quite the adventure. if i didn't have a bunch of projects already going on... i'd probably consider it. for now, i'll just focus on the rookie cards.

brett alan - the frankenset would be a great project. just not sure i have enough to get things off the ground. plus... not sure i'd actively try to buy gum stained cards. any blogger who decides to do this would probably get a lot of support from other collectors though.

sport card collectors - thanks. it'll always remind me of rr.

the lost collector - morgan and the yankees kind of remind me of joe buck and the giants. no dime boxes? when the pandemic is over, come out to the bay area and i'll take you a card show. there's almost always at least one dime box in attendance

gregory - i totally agree. but while digging out the anderson and jones, i was kinda bummed that i didn't have more gum/wax stained specimens in my collection. :(

chris - the fergie was back when i'd find some really fantastic deals at my local flea markets. these days there are way too many other guys out there i'm competing with. thanks for the pwe. i saw it yesterday, but haven't opened it up yet. that's on today's agenda. yeah... i've had my fill of tributes. let's hope there aren't anymore any time soon.

Jongudmund said...

I love cards with gum stains, just like I love vintage cards that have obviously been handled and loved. They seem more authentic.

SumoMenkoMan said...

Say it ain’t so, Joe. Sheez, this is truly sad. I wish cards still came with wax stains. Love the old wax packs and gum!

Baltmoss68 said...

Maddux has a cool SLU in a batting pose. Might be the only pitcher to get that pose.

RIP Joe Morgan. One of my favorites

The Diamond King said...

That Maddux/Johnson card is amazing!! Love pitchers hitting.

Fuji said...

jongudmund - and since we're in the minority, gum stains usually equate to a better price if we're attempting to buy a card

sumomenkoman - sure glad you didn't have to text me any bad news this week #knockonwood

baltmoss68 - that's pretty cool. i'll have to keep my eyes out for that one (or at the very least a copy of that card). thanks for the heads up

the diamond king - thanks. the good news is you can find that card for $3 to $4 if you're patient. maybe even less.