30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

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Thursday, December 5, 2019

Settling for Second

Most people are familiar with Rickey's 1980 Topps rookie card, but it's not his first trading card.  He has a card in the 1977 Chong's Modesto A's set, which doesn't pop up on eBay very frequently and when it does... it typically sells for over $1,000.  I don't anticipate owning this card in my lifetime, so I settled for his second official trading card instead.

 It's the 1979 TCMA Ogden A's minor league card:

1979 TCMA Ogden A's #9

 According to Beckett, there were approximately 3,000 sets produced.  However I assume that someone out there has reprinted these, because this card can be found all over the internet and they're reasonably priced.


 I purchased mine back in June as part of a complete set on eBay for $40, which honestly seems a little too good to be true.  Whatever.  I was happy to add it to my collection.

 I actually picked it up with the sole intention of having The Man of Steel sign it at the 2019 Super World Con.  My buddy Mike was able to secure his autograph for $80.  Plus I paid $10 for Beckett to authenticate and encapsulate the autographed card.  The final price tag was $140, which isn't cheap... but the result was cornerstone card for my Rickey Henderson PC.

 Not bad for settling for second best, right?

 What are some cards you would love to have, but know you'll never own?  Are there cards that you'd be satisfied settling for instead?  If so, which ones?

 That's it for today.  Happy Thursday and sayonara!
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22 comments:

  1. Collecting CutchDecember 5, 2019 at 4:08 PM

    Honus Wagner t206 stands out. As a consolation prize for never being able to own an original I bought a 2002 T206 bat relic of Honus Wagner which features the same image as the original legendary card with a bat relic in the center of the miniature card.

    As for my Cutch collection I am still holding out hope that one day his 2005 Bowman Chrome Draft Superfractor will become available for sale. I have the 2009 Bowman Chrome and 2009 Topps Chrome superfractors with RC logo.

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  2. LaurensDecember 5, 2019 at 5:18 PM

    That's a pretty Ricky.

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  3. Brett AlanDecember 5, 2019 at 5:18 PM

    Of course I'd love to own a Wagner, but that doesn't even seem in the ballpark of reality. I suppose the one I really wish I could have is the Seaver rookie. Seaver's a guy I actually collect. And, no, I'm not interested in a reprint. Similarly I have most of Hoyt Wilhelm's original Topps cards, and while I can see myself filling in some of the missing pieces, there's not much chance I'll ever own the 1952.

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  4. SeanDecember 5, 2019 at 5:26 PM

    That really is a great Rickey Henderson!

    I'm a set builder so the only cards I truly would love to have are the ones I need to fill in missing spaces in binder pages!

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  5. sg488December 5, 2019 at 5:33 PM

    I see the auto is authenticated ,but what about the card?

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  6. The Lost CollectorDecember 5, 2019 at 7:03 PM

    Great card, Fuji!

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  7. BrianDecember 5, 2019 at 7:16 PM

    Fantastic!

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  8. RobertDecember 5, 2019 at 7:18 PM

    Nothing wrong with 2nd best at all! Great pickup for one of the greats of our generation.

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  9. NickDecember 5, 2019 at 7:19 PM

    I was browsing through COMC the other day and saw a copy of that same Rickey (not autographed, of course) for way less than I thought it'd go for. I'm guessing they were indeed reprinted at some point.

    For a long time my fantasy card was a '52 Topps Hoyt Wilhelm -- went for eons more than I ever had the budget for. But through a bit of good luck, my dad found a cheap copy for me a couple years ago, a fantasy no more. I suppose my dream card now would probably be a real Shoeless Joe Jackson of some sort. Gonna have to win the lottery to get one of those.

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  10. BryanDecember 5, 2019 at 7:27 PM

    Nice card Fuji! Sometimes consolation prizes are nice eh?

    I think a card I want that will never own is a Bobby Hull RC. I came close at a card show once, but I decided I would rather stay married then feel the wrath of my wife and my wallet.

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  11. night owlDecember 5, 2019 at 8:32 PM

    Wouldn't mind a '52 Jackie Robinson. I've got plenty of reprints of it, which I guess is settling for second.

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  12. CommishbobDecember 5, 2019 at 9:23 PM

    The 1915 Cracker Jack Chief Bender comes to mind first when I think of cards I can only wish for. Right up there is the 1959 Bazooka Billy Pierce…a SP, of course. I'd love to have a tobacco-era Ty Cobb, any of them.

    Nice job grabbing the Henderson. A great 'get' for your collection!

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  13. FujiDecember 5, 2019 at 10:10 PM

    collecting cutch - i'm pulling for you to get his 2005 bowman chrome draft superfractor.

    laurens - thank you. i totally agree

    brett alan - after seeing some fellow bloggers land some reasonably priced 60's hof rookie cards, i'll keep my fingers crossed for you and your seaver rookie card

    sean - i should go back to being a set builder ;)

    sg488 - lol. no idea. but i won't be going back and having it reslabbed anytime soon

    the lost collector - thanks!

    brian - thank you

    robert - if you ask rickey, he'd tell you he wasn't one of the greatest. he was the greatest of all time :D

    nick - yeah... that's what i'm thinking too. best of luck on a vintage shoeless joe. that would definitely be a cool card

    night owl - the 52t jackie is on my list as well. that card along with his leaf rc. i'm gonna go out on a limb and say i'll never own either. but as collectors, it's nice to dream

    commishbob - hope you're able to grab at least one of these at some point. i always enjoy seeing new chief benders on your blog

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  14. NPB Card GuyDecember 6, 2019 at 5:37 AM

    I think if you got the card as part of a complete team set, it's probably not a reprint. It's unlikely a reprinter/counterfeiter would reprint the entire 30 card set.

    There's a couple cards from the 1967 Kabaya-Leaf set I'd love to have (Sadaharu Oh, Shigeo Nagashima, Masaichi Kaneda) but it's never going to happen.

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  15. MattDecember 6, 2019 at 6:52 AM

    At $140, I'd call that a "steal!" :)

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  16. Reds Card CollectorDecember 6, 2019 at 9:14 AM

    That Henderson card is Fantastic Fuji! Nice pickup.

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  17. GCADecember 6, 2019 at 9:16 AM

    T205 Christy Mathewson. I will own one at some point, it will just match the rest of my team set and be a grade 3 or below.

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  18. Henry BlanchetteDecember 6, 2019 at 4:05 PM

    I could give a million examples, but I've always wanted a '53 Satchel Paige card. The set, and that card in particular, is beautiful, but the prices were far to steep when I saw them at The National.

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  19. Dion's IP Autos onlyDecember 7, 2019 at 2:15 PM

    Tom Seaver Rookie is out of my price range.... Already have his second year card. My oldest sons middle name is Seaver so..... there's that.

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  20. The Snorting BullDecember 7, 2019 at 11:33 PM

    That Henderson is a great card!!!

    As far as cards that I won't own, probably most of the low print run cards of Ray Lankford from the late 1990s. I have seen a few over the last couple of years, they pop up on Ebay, but they have started to get into the $100-$200 range. Seems like a lot to spend on a single card of Ray.

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  21. FujiDecember 11, 2019 at 5:13 AM

    npb card guy - i sure hope so.

    matt - maybe the greatest of all time

    reds card collector - thanks. it's a great addition to my henderson collection

    gca - that's awesome! look forward to your post on it

    henry blanchette - best of luck on getting that paige. i'll keep my fingers crossed for you

    dion's ip autos only - not too bad of a consolation prize. i do love the look of his 1968 topps card.

    the snorting bull - triple digits for a ray lankford card? that's pretty crazy. i can't even imagine a 1 of 1 selling for that.

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