Very rarely do I check out Craiglist, and very rarely do I find anything worth dealing with when I do. I don’t know what it was, but maybe I was just in the mood. I came across a deal (to me anyway) and I scooped it up. Luckily I was dealing with a seller who wanted to get rid of things. And now as I go through the boxes, it makes me wonder exactly what kind of collector this guy was.
This is the first box in a group of three that I was able to get. All three came in these smaller cardboard boxes. Two of the three were chock full of cards and there were some interesting finds in there.
Upon opening the first box I was really wonder what kind of organization I was going to see. And then as I looked through what was in the box I was trying to get into the mind of this guy. The first box was full of team sets and special sets and the backs of hobby boxes and just some weird stuff.
The thing about this first box was, they were all in plastic boxes inside the cardboard box. Talk about organization. Well, it wasn’t that “organized” to tell you the truth.
The cards in this box were in the best shape of all three of the boxes. That’s not to say that the other boxes were really bad, but these were some of the most unblemished cards of the lot. When we talked, which might have totaled 20 words between us, he said he was just getting rid of what he collected 30 years ago. While there were some cards from the 60’s this box was mostly from 1984 through 1990. The good news is that these are the only 90’s cards of the lot. Most of the lots didn’t go much beyond ’88 even.
Some Oddities and Off-Brands
There was a group of about 30-40 cards that were all oddities and off-brands. What I found most interesting was that not all of them represented professional players. The cards above left are from TCMA and all represented the 60’s (according to the backs). The only player I knew in the group of cards I had was Boog Powell. The others all appeared to me as commons, but I’m sure someone else would recognize them.
Above left, if you haven’t guess by the front of Rick Krueger’s uniform, are players from Japan. These were the only cards I found from this set so I don’t know if it focused on American players or all players. TCMA is the brand here and it ways “1979 Japanese Pro League” on the back. Other than that there isn’t much I can tell you. According to the backs, this was Rick’s first season in the league while Leron batted .317 with 30 homers and 88 RBI in his second year in the league.’
There were two other groups of cards for “All-Time Greats” or “Baseball Legends” all from TCMA and all from 1983 or prior.
These were the more interesting of the oddballs. The two on the right are Joey McLaughlin from the Richmond Braves and Bo McLaughton from the Charleston Charlies. These were both from TCMA from 1978 and are cards for the “1978 International League.”
Now I know you see that Luis Tiant sitting there in the middle. This was a “1981 Official Minor League Photo Fact Card and was sponsored by Wendy’s but also produced by TCMA. I found this article about Luis time with the Portland Beavers. It’s actually a pretty interesting story of a guy trying to hang on and a baseball team trying to do the same thing.
The cards for the Tacoma Tigers cards are the same as the Tiant card but for the year prior. This time they didn’t have a sponsor name on the back though.
Taking One for the Team… Sets
The majority of what I found in this box were team sets. But this 1969 Topps Phillies team set was the best of the lot by far. First of, the next oldest was from 1984. So this being a vintage team set was amazing. Second, these have to be THE BEST condition 1969 cards I’ve ever seen. Not just that, they might be the cards in the best condition of this whole lot. Except for the weight of the card, they feel like Heritage cards I just opened. They must have been in the plastic holder for quite a long time.
As for the rest of the team sets, this 1987 Donruss team set is a good example of the rest of them. Going back into what kind of collector this guy was, I was trying see some kind of rhyme or reason as to why he collected certain team sets. He didn’t have a specific team each year. There were consistent teams like the Royals, Mets, and A’s. There was some consistency with regard to when these teams were successful or even close to successful. For instance, the ’86 Astros, the ’89 A’s, etc.. But there were also some that were harder to pinpoint like the ’90 Orioles, the ’89 Padres and the ’87 Rangers. I have a feeling for those cards it might have been geared toward who was part of the team.
Here’s the full list of team sets:
- 1969 Topps – Phillies
- 1984 Fleer – Royals
- 1985 Topps – Mariners
- 1986 Topps – Astros
- 1987 Donruss – Red Sox
- 1987 Topps – A’s, Dodgers, Mets, Rangers
- 1988 Fleer – A’s, Mets
- 1988 Fleer – Super Star Specials (not a team but a subset collection)
- 1988 Score – Mets, Royals
- 1988 Topps – Red Sox
- 1989 Fleer – Cubs
- 1989 Score – A’s
- 1989 Topps – Mets, Orioles, Padres, Reds
- 1989 Topps – Rookies, Rookie Cups, etc (again, not a team but a subset collection of sorts)
- 1990 Fleer – A’s Orioles
- 1990 Donruss – All-Stars (this was a subset and not a special set like the others below)
- 1990 Score – Astros, Blue Jays
- 1990 Topps – Cardinals, Orioles
If you have any ideas as to how these make sense let me know. Maybe they don’t. I imagine this is kid collecting time for him and we don’t always make sense as kids.
Sending In for All-Stars
The next biggest chunk of cards were what I think you had to send in for. If you remember those “Spring Fever” cards that came in some packs, these were what you were ordering. You basically traded 6 “Spring Fever” cards plus shipping and handling for 10 of these. These days they’d be inserts but I think now we refer to these as “Send Ins.” Then there were the Glossy All-Stars that came in rack packs, those were inserts.
I definitely remember that for the Topps cards, but I’m not sure how that works with the Donruss cards. These Donruss cards are definitely different than their other 1989 counterparts, but some of the others that were in this box were only that way on the back and with their numbering system.
Here’s a look at those that were in the box:
- 1986 Topps Mini Leaders
- 1987 Topps Mini Leaders (partial)
- 1987 Topps Glossy Send-Ins
- 1988 Donruss All-Stars (almost one full set plus almost two more)
- 1988 Topps Glossy All-Stars (partial)
- 1989 Donruss All-Stars
- 1990 Donruss All-Stars
Don’t Forget the Back of the Box
In the 80’s, hobby boxes would come with cards on the bottoms of the box. I never had a hobby box back then, but these days when I’ve seen them my dilemma has always been, “to cut or not to cut.” I think for the most part I cut. Obviously you want to cut them well and make the cuts consistently. Scissors are not always your best option. Almost all of these cut cards seem to have been done with a paper cutter or something like that. The cuts are awesome and really clean.
The other thing about these were that they were from the bottom of the box. So a lot of times they aren’t the best quality because the bottom of the box rubs on everything. Most of these are in pretty good condition. The only cards that are not the most consistently are the 1986 Topps versions that I found. Most just appear to be rubbed off.
The box backs in this box were:
- 1986 Topps
- 1988 Score
- 1988 Topps
- 1989 Fleer
- 1989 Topps
Not all of those are complete. I think the only that are close are the 1988 Topps and the 1989 Fleer.
There are two ways to tell these apart that you should look for: color and numbering. Topps cards usually apply both of those. You can see how the 1988 card is blue. The 1989 card is similar but much lighter, but I can confirm it’s not white. In 1986 Topps colored the top of the red so it’s really easy to tell. But then Topps also “numbers” them with letters instead.
At 7-Eleven Fun Is Waiting for You
The last, and maybe the quirkiest find in the box, were these 7-Eleven “coins”. There’s also another random restaurant giveaway in there too. These aren’t specific to baseball as you can see. They go along with the Sporflics-style magic motion cards. And speaking of Sportflics, there were some of those too. It looks like they are from 1986 and 87. Lastly there were some stickers from both Panini and Topps
Overall this was the craziest box of the three as far as variety goes.
What Is This Guy Into?
I really can’t get a read on this guy. Or at least who this guys might have been as a kid. The team set don’t really fall into a pattern that I can tell and the stuff that you might send in for wasn’t necessarily consistent from year to year. He definitely liked to cut up a box (and was damn good at it). And so far, he could take care of them pretty well. Let’s see if we can check some boxes…
- Organized (but how?)
- Cares about his collection
- Possibly interest in some older cards
What I’m having trouble getting a read on is his interests or focus. I don’t have a focus in my collecting, which is a problem for me. But in my case that means I collect everything. This guy appears to be jumping back and forth to team or sets or whatever. We’ll see what else we can uncover next time.