Category: My Collection Quest

1957-58 Topps “Mr. Goalie” Rookie Card

1957-58 Topps #20 - Glenn HallI took one gigantic leap forward in building my 1957-58 Topps set on Friday, when I picked up a rookie card of Hall of Fame goaltender Glenn Hall.

If anyone earned the right to be called “Mr. Goalie” it is him. Among other things, Hall played in 502 consecutive games, won the Calder Trophy, the Conn Smythe Trophy, the Stanley Cup 3 times, the Vezina Trophy 3 times and invented the butterfly style. See Wikipedia for the full list of accomplishments, which were nothing short of remarkable.

And rookie cards of remarkable players tend to be expensive–especially when from an older set. A near mint-copy of this card has a high book value of $400.

For me, buying vintage cards is always a delicate balance of lowering my standards far enough that the card is “in my range,” but not so low that I will regret the purchase later.

This card is far from perfect, but it is not horrible. The corners all have some “rounding” to them, and there’s a “dimple” above Hall’s outstretched arm.

1957-58 Topps #20 - Glenn Hall (back)The centering is not perfect, but that just adds to the “character,” right? And there is a tiny bit of paper loss towards the bottom (I did not notice that until I scanned the card).

I ended up paying $85 for this Glenn Hall rookie card. If this is the only copy of this card that I ever own, I’ll still be happy with it.

Set completion as of 7-2-2012
20 out of 66 cards = 31.8%

 

Sports Spectacular? It was OK

I went to a 3-day card show this weekend called The Sports Spectacular.

It was less-than-spectacular.

Normally, the shows in Rosemont (near Chicago) are great in March and November. But I guess this one was too close to The National. Many of my favorite dealers were absent this time. So, I found far less cool stuff for my collection than I did in March.

I guess that is OK. If you find too much stuff that you want, then you spend all your money, right? Still, I did pretty good. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the stuff I bought:

I hope to have scans up of some of my cool new cards later in the week.

1963-64 Parkhurst #55 – Gordie Howe

1963-64 Parkhurst #55 - Gordie HoweLongtime readers of this blog — and of my quest to complete a 1963-64 Parkhurst Hockey set — might have thought I already had this card. And they’d be right. The very first ’63-64 Parkie I bought, way back in 2008, was a Gordie Howe card in poor condition.

I told myself that I would upgrade the Howe after I got all of the other cards. But then I recently came across this card you see here. It has a few minor flaws — the most noticeable being the small bends on the lower corners. The card actually looks better in person — scanning something at two times its actual size makes everything look worse.

1963-64 Parkhurst #55 - Gordie Howe (back)That “wrinkle” along the top is more noticeable in the scan than in real life. And honestly, I did not notice that tiny crease by the Stanley Cup until I scanned this.

Small flaws aside, this is nicer than many of the other cards in my set build.

So, this card really does not move me “one step closer” to finishing this set, but I still feel that it is an accomplishment because it is an upgrade of the most expensive single.

Parkhurst Percent Counter: still at 59%

Being patient (and stubborn) pays off

1974-75 OPC WHA #30 - Gerry CheeversThis past week has kept me away from updating my illustrious blog. I’m getting over a back injury I sustained a few weeks ago, have been fighting a cough/cold/sore throat AND I started a new teaching schedule for summer that puts me back on mornings again.

But enough of my whining. Yesterday, I added another one of my Holy Grails to my hockey card collection: The 1974-75 O-Pee-Chee World Hockey Association set.

Now I know this set is not that hard to find. The problem is, I don’t want to pay a lot for it. In fact, I don’t want to pay a lot for a lot of things. Wait long enough, and I always find what I want at a price I want to pay for it. I’ve managed to nab a complete 1985-86 Topps Hockey set for $50 and a complete 1980-81 O-Pee-Chee set for $180.I could list many other examples, but I don’t want to sound like Scrooge McDuck.

Maybe it’s patience, but it is also stubbornness. I could have had the 1974-75 OPC WHA set for $200 at a show last year. Somehow I got it stuck in my mind that I would find this set for under $100. Usually when I  look for a set, I get it in my fool head that I can find it for less than “low book value.”

I’ve been outbid on this particular WHA set numerous times. I always bow out when the price hits $100.

1974-75 OPC WHA #50 - Bobby HullThen late last week, I won this set in EXMT condition – missing 1 common – for $59.50, shipped. The common I needed cost me $4, shipped. So, for $63.50. I’ve had a set I’ve wanted since 1989.

This set has a lot of great cards: Bobby Hull, Frank Mahovolich, the Howe Family. But it was this card that first drew me to the set:

1974-75 OPC WHA #29 - Al HamiltonI first saw this card of Al Hamilton on the cover of a book about sports cards from the 1970s. My local library had this book, but it has since been discarded. I haven’t seen this book since I was a kid, but it was called something like Sports Cards or Collecting Sports Cards. It was written in the late 1970s–before the collecting boom– and had pictures of various sports cards on the cover, including this one.

Something about this card–really, the set–struck me as cool. It just felt, well…classy for a hockey card set. It uses a horizontal layout instead of the traditional vertical layout. It uses a portrait photo, doesn’t try to cram in 5 different logos and has a facsimile autograph.

I am psyched to have this set. I’d do a back flip if I knew how to do one (and if it wouldn’t re-injure my back). Twenty-three years, and I can finally put this one on the shelf.

Now, I have to find another set to obsess over.

Speaking of the World Hockey Association, you may remember my review of the 2010 WHA Hall of Fame set. Well, the price has been reduced from $20 to $9.95. Visit here to buy a set and help support an independent volunteer organization dedicated to preserving the history of this league.

3 more 1963-64 Parkhurst cards

I’ve been stretching out my 1963-64 Parkhurst acquisitions long enough. Time to get to something else.It also seems a bit pointless since this guy posted the entire set. So without further ado, here are cards 57, 58 and 59 in my Parkhurst set build.

1963-64 Parkhurst #64 - Dick Duff#64 – Dick Duff – This one is in awesome shape for its age.

1963-64 Parkhurst #64 - Dick Duff (back)Even the back looks great.

1963-64 Parkhurst #67 - Kent Douglas#67 – Kent Douglas – Probably one of the few “commons’ I still needed.

1963-64 Parkhurst #67 - Kent Douglas (back)The back has a “mark” above the card number, but I think I paid only $9 for it.

1963-64 Parkhurst #88 - Bernie Geoffrion#88 – Bernard (Boom Boom) Geoffrion. Last week, I posted the other Geoffrion card from the set. This card is in awesome condition – nice corners, great centering, no creases.

1963-64 Parkhurst #88 - Bernie Geoffrion (back)Fifty-nine cards down, 40 cards to go.

Parkhurst Percent Counter: 59%

1963-64 Parkhurst #63 – Red Kelly

1963-64 Parkhurst #63 - Red KellyHall of Fame center Leonard “Red” Kelly is my 55th card in the 1963-64 Parkhurst hockey set. I still got a few more of these to show off over the next few days. Plus, there is a show in Chicago coming up at the end of the month–hopefully I will be able to nab a couple of these and keep my set build going.

1963-64 Parkhurst #63 - Red Kelly (back)The back of this card is just as nice as the front–just a bit off-center and the usual discoloring.

Parkhurst Percent Counter: 55%

1963-64 Parkhurst #39 – Lorne (Gump) Worsley

1963-64 Parkhurst #39 - Lorne (Gump) WorsleyAnyone who has followed this blog for a while knows that Lorne “Gump” Worsley is my favorite player from the Original Six era. I was not alive during that era, and Gump retired before I was even born. But I’ve read his autobiography so many times (I actually own TWO copies of that book) that I feel like I would have been a big fan of his if I was alive and following hockey back then.

That said, I was extremely thrilled to finally get my hands on this 1963-64 Parkhurst card of Worsley. It’s got a bit of dirt on the front–nothing that would offend a rough-and-tumble goalie like the Gumper (may he rest in peace).

1963-64 Parkhurst #39 - Lorne (Gump) Worsley (back)Parkhurst Percent Counter: 54%

1963-64 Parkhurst #29 – Bernard (Boom Boom) Geoffrion

1963-64 Parkhurst #29 - Bernard (Boom Boom) GeoffrionWay back in March, I bought a bunch of 1963-64 Parkhurst cards.I posted some of them back then, but not all, as I got busy with school and then the site redesign. But now I have time to do regular updates again.

I now have a full deck of these, as Boom Boom Geoffrion is my 52nd card in my more-than-halfway complete set.

1963-64 Parkhurst #29 - Bernard (Boom Boom) Geoffrion (back)

Unfortunately, I’ve picked up most of the “cheapies” from this set, so now all that remains are the stars and superstars.

Parkhurst Percent Counter: 52%