The beauty of our hobby is that there are plenty of ways to collect. Some people enjoy opening boxes in search of a monster pull or build sets. Others dig through dime boxes in search of their favorite players or teams. I've discovered that I'm sort of the Baskin-Robbins of card collecting, because it feels like I collect 31 different things or ways.
Last week, I showed off a 90's insert I recently purchased of my all-time favorite athlete. Today I'm shifting gears and highlighting a graded vintage card of a guy I've been collecting since the very beginning:
1975 Topps #185
Everyone knows Tony Gwynn is #1 on my list, but I started collecting baseball cards before 1983... so there were other favorite players before him. One of those guys was Steve Carlton. I became a big fan of him, because I'm a fellow lefty.
This purchase was inspired by Gregory over at Nine Pockets. A few months ago, he wrote about the behind-the-scenes science going on within the photo of this card. It was well-written and interesting, but that's not what sent me on a hunt to track down this card.
As I mentioned at the start of this post, I enjoy collecting in a variety of ways... and I'll use this card and the other copies I own to explain my madness. I have one sitting in my 70's vintage binder. There's also a copy inside of my 1975 Topps Mini set binder... which satisfies the set collector within me. And there are two more hanging out in my Lefty PC.
But after staring at Gregory's copy, I decided to add one more to the collection. This time I wanted to add one to my Classic Cards Collection, which contains graded cards of cool looking cardboard. This card definitely fits the criteria. Just look at that well-cropped photo of Carlton paired with the gorgeous 1975 Topps baseball card design. It's my favorite Topps flagship regular issue base card of his from his playing days... and one of sweetest looking baseball cards of the 70's.
It took a little bit longer than expected to find a copy within my price range, but the wait ended when a seller accepted my best offer of $17. After tax and shipping, this card set me back right around the price of a blaster.
The one downside is on the back. The card is heavily off-centered. But that kept the grade down... which made the card more affordable. So in the end it worked out for me.
Well there you have it... my fifth copy of this 1975 Topps Steve Carlton for a 4th collection. Hopefully this post explains why I'll sometimes chase a card that I already own multiple copies of.
If not, just remember that the beauty of our hobby is there are plenty of ways to collect... which means you can collect the way you want... and I'll collect the way I want.
Happy Thursday and sayonara!
10 comments:
The 1975 Topps Baseball is one of my Favorite designs. I love all of the colors. I never purchased any of the minis, but I have seen them at card shows. Sweet pickup on the Carlton and I was always ok with the backs being off centered. Congrats on the card!!!
Sounds like the way I collect. Sometimes I know it is too much, but I just can't help myself.
Just imagine how good they'd look together all in the same page :)
I have loved the 1975 Topps set since first seeing and collecting a tiny part of it back in '75. I suppose that I too am a Baskin-Robins collector. I tend to flip between being a set collector and team/player collector. For Hockey and Basket ball I am a team/player collector for Baseball and Football primarily set collector with a bit of my homie team collector. Non-Sport I am also mostly set collecting for mostly pre 1990s TV & Movies followed by stuff that catches my eye and some autographs.
The 1975 Topps set is pretty epic! It was interesting to read that post on this card, so thanks for plugging that. Baskin-Robins collector, that is me too! I'm all over the place and I love the term. Good stuff!
I don't know if I could willingly get multiple copies of the same card, but that's what makes the hobby fun!
Fuji!
It was nice meeting you today at the cardshow. If you want to check out some of my stuff hit me up on IG barrybondscardcollector05. Thanks again, Jesse
That's a beautiful card. Everything about it screams 1970s.
Oh dang, that back is off-centered, but glad you could pick up another copy! Love 1975 Topps!!
rr - yeah, the 75t set design is very attractive. and i've always been that collector that focuses his attention on the card front way more than the back
johnnys trading spot - your collection is definitely filled with a variety of cards. i love seeing all of the different stuff you pick up at shows.
jon - i'm sure it would look very cool all together in one page, but unless i win the lottery and end up buying a bunch more, it's never going to happen. i do have a 9 pocket page worth of 2019 topps oakland coliseum cards though
captkirk42 - i was just talking to a buddy about how pre 90's tv and movies trading cards have really blossomed in popularity the past few years. i wanna kick myself for not chasing them down when they were much more affordable
bryan - gregory did a much better job breaking it down than me. i was really into science as a kid. these days? not so much
jafronius - i hear ya. sounds weird just typing that out "getting multiple copies of the same card"
obasj - nice meeting you jesse. your collection is impressive. some of those jordans are sweet!
the snorting bull - yeah... nothing screams the 70's like the 75t set... and the 72t set.
sumomenkoman - crazy how one side could look so nice and the other side could look so bad.
Post a Comment