Vintage from the Interwebs

It's not that often I find myself buying vintage cardboard. There aren't many good hobby shops nearby and I haven't had the chance to make it to a card show. This means that most of my vintage comes via online purchases, not the most cost-effective way to track down vintage needs. And since I'm pretty light on vintage in my binders now, I need it to be cost-effective. 

And what better way to be cost-effective than with an eBay coupon for a whole three dollars off any purchase. I was tipped off to this coupon through Twitter, and I very quickly decided to put it to use. This 1963 Walt Alston, which is in great condition I might add, was originally $3.15 with free shipping. With that coupon, I snagged it for a meager .15 cents. You can't beat that. 

Just a few days before that purchase, I was back on eBay searching for deals when I came across this Gilliam from 1960. I put in a bid, went to bed, and woke up to find out it was mine for just a buck. After I threw in another greenback for shipping, I was able to call it mine for a shade under subway fare. Not quite as good as that Alston but not a bad deal at all. 

There are 37 Dodgers in the 1960 set and with the addition of the Gilliam, I'm now up to 7 (18.9%). That's nowhere close to completing the set, but it's surprising that I've made this much progress to date considering the large setlist. That Alston card from above marks only the second Dodger I've tracked down from 1963, so there is certainly more work to be done there, too.  

Tracking down cheap vintage may not be an easy task, but I still find it quite enjoyable--coupon or not. 

Some Recent Vintage Pickups

For the past few weeks, most of my free time has been spent organizing my collection and creating/adjusting my want lists. I've spent considerable time creating new want lists for my Topps Team Set Project, my attempt to collect every Dodgers team set from Flagship dating back to 1952. They even have pretty pictures of each Topps design and collection stats, which I am almost certainly mentioning so you go and check them out. Or you can keep reading; I'm a blogger, not a cop. 

I've been working on this project for a while, starting it way back in 2013, but I never really made much progress or focused too much of my attention on it. I have a good chunk of the late-'80s and early-'90s knocked out, as well as the early-to-mid-2010s. But while tinkering with these lists, I discovered that I had yet to track down a card from the '50s. So that had to change.  

I did some browsing on eBay, but didn't find much for cheap right away. I decided to turn to Twitter in the hopes someone there had some inexpensive vintage they were willing to move. Enter Cards from the Attic. 

He regularly runs sales on Twitter, lots ranging from cheap vintage to expensive modern stuff. I ran across a thread with some '52s for sale, and we very quickly came to an agreement. 

  

I picked up three much-needed cards from the '52 set, as well as a 1967 Walt Alston for just $12.00 shipped--about $2.50 a card. I know very little about appropriate pricing on vintage stuff, but I was just happy to add these to the collection and mark them off the checklist. 

I have actually never heard of any of the three guys on these '52s, and based on what I've learned about them on their card backs, there's a reason for it. 

A lifetime 5.23 ERA doesn't get you very far. 

I was initially drawn to the Dodgers hat Mr.Russell here is wearing, but quickly deduced it's not a Dodgers hat at all--it's a Boston Braves hat. I suppose the uniform beneath the nameplate gave it away, but it certainly threw me for a loop at first. 

I also added this Alston to the collection, helping jumpstart the '67 set for me. I was a bit surprised to find I hadn't added anything from '67 yet, so this was a definitely a boon. 

This is just the beginning of a larger focus on vintage for me. I secured my first cards--gorgeous, albeit in rough shape--from the 1952 and 1967 sets, and that makes me a happy collector.