Topnotchsy
Featured Contributor, The best players in history?
- Aug 7, 2008
- 9,473
- 248
Crazy to look back at a year, especially one as intense as this past year was for me. Lots going on in the personal life, and was forced to sell a lot to provide a hobby budget, but looking back, I was able to acquire some absolute centerpiece items for my PC.
1) I want to try and sell items that are in the collection which are not a focus. Over the years my focus has shifted and I've accumulated items that I don't get much joy out of owning. I'd like to sell those. I upped the selling significantly this past year, some due to necessity and to fund some new purchases as some things shifted in my personal life.
One big step for me was starting to sell lineup cards in team lots. Buying massive collections from John Hirchbeck, Tommy Lasorda and others, I've accumulated thousands of lineup cards. Selling the $20-$50 ones individually was near impossible at real volume, so I would simply hold. I started packaging team lots of 10-25 cards and selling them at a significant discount off market price and for the first time, I've been able to move a few hundred.
2) Items that chronicles steps of Jackie Robinson (and other major integrators') journeys before they made the Majors.
- Was able to purchase a program from the 1946-47 LA Red Devils, where Jackie Robinson played basketball in the offseason before he made the Majors
- Was able to purchase a Type I photo of the 1941 Baltimore Elite Giants with Roy Campanella. Campanella didn't have nearly as many pre-MLB stops as Jackie so there are far fewer items out there. Glad to grab this photo.
- 1940 UCLA baseball ticket from a game Jackie Robinson played. I believe this is the earliest baseball ticket for Jackie Robinson known.
3) Find at least 1 significant lineup card collection (happy to pay a finder's fee for anyone who connects me to someone and a deal is made). Love the research and the hunt.
- Bought a collection from umpire Tim Welke. Not huge but roughly 80 lineup cards. In the past I usually bought large collections sight unseen, but they wanted a lot for each, so I did my research up front and picked out the ones I was most interested in. I paid up on some, but got some really great pieces.
4) Find more lineup cards from significant games. It's been over a year since I acquired a World Series lineup card. Also always looking for debuts, milestones and vintage lineup cards.
I didn't get the massive lots I've found in previous years, but found some incredible individual cards.
- Lineup cards from Lou Gehrig's 2000th consecutive game played (top 3 coolest items in my lineup card collection)
- 1996 World Series game 3 (Yankees 1st win of the dynasty)
- Rickey Henderson final career SB
- 1973 World Series game one dugout lineup card (Willie Mays final career start)
- 1935 St Louis Browns lineup card signed by Rogers Hornsby
5) I have narrowed my WWII-baseball focus to a number of areas: Baseball played in Europe, the All Star Series that were played, and anything related to black players who fought in WWII. This year I also added a focus on vintage photographs of some of the biggest ballplayers in the war (Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Hank Greenberg. I would still love to find a WWII-related Larry Doby item among other WWII-baseball items.
- I was able to find a small number of really nice DiMaggio and Williams photos, including one of Williams in the pilot's seat of an airplane from his pilot training.
6) Hoping to find the remaining tickets from 9/11 I don't have, at least 1 ticket from a game that Jackie Robinson played football at UCLA (1939 and 1940), a Dec 7 1941 ticket (Pearl Harbor)
- No progress here in some time.
7) I've been slowly working on the 2000 Fleer Greats of the Game Autograph set. I got most of the SP's and would like to find a nice lot that helps fill in many of the lesser ones I don't have.
- I added very little to this collection and traded one (Nolan Ryan) in a deal for some lineup cards.
1) I want to try and sell items that are in the collection which are not a focus. Over the years my focus has shifted and I've accumulated items that I don't get much joy out of owning. I'd like to sell those. I upped the selling significantly this past year, some due to necessity and to fund some new purchases as some things shifted in my personal life.
One big step for me was starting to sell lineup cards in team lots. Buying massive collections from John Hirchbeck, Tommy Lasorda and others, I've accumulated thousands of lineup cards. Selling the $20-$50 ones individually was near impossible at real volume, so I would simply hold. I started packaging team lots of 10-25 cards and selling them at a significant discount off market price and for the first time, I've been able to move a few hundred.
2) Items that chronicles steps of Jackie Robinson (and other major integrators') journeys before they made the Majors.
- Was able to purchase a program from the 1946-47 LA Red Devils, where Jackie Robinson played basketball in the offseason before he made the Majors
- Was able to purchase a Type I photo of the 1941 Baltimore Elite Giants with Roy Campanella. Campanella didn't have nearly as many pre-MLB stops as Jackie so there are far fewer items out there. Glad to grab this photo.
- 1940 UCLA baseball ticket from a game Jackie Robinson played. I believe this is the earliest baseball ticket for Jackie Robinson known.
3) Find at least 1 significant lineup card collection (happy to pay a finder's fee for anyone who connects me to someone and a deal is made). Love the research and the hunt.
- Bought a collection from umpire Tim Welke. Not huge but roughly 80 lineup cards. In the past I usually bought large collections sight unseen, but they wanted a lot for each, so I did my research up front and picked out the ones I was most interested in. I paid up on some, but got some really great pieces.
4) Find more lineup cards from significant games. It's been over a year since I acquired a World Series lineup card. Also always looking for debuts, milestones and vintage lineup cards.
I didn't get the massive lots I've found in previous years, but found some incredible individual cards.
- Lineup cards from Lou Gehrig's 2000th consecutive game played (top 3 coolest items in my lineup card collection)
- 1996 World Series game 3 (Yankees 1st win of the dynasty)
- Rickey Henderson final career SB
- 1973 World Series game one dugout lineup card (Willie Mays final career start)
- 1935 St Louis Browns lineup card signed by Rogers Hornsby
5) I have narrowed my WWII-baseball focus to a number of areas: Baseball played in Europe, the All Star Series that were played, and anything related to black players who fought in WWII. This year I also added a focus on vintage photographs of some of the biggest ballplayers in the war (Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Hank Greenberg. I would still love to find a WWII-related Larry Doby item among other WWII-baseball items.
- I was able to find a small number of really nice DiMaggio and Williams photos, including one of Williams in the pilot's seat of an airplane from his pilot training.
6) Hoping to find the remaining tickets from 9/11 I don't have, at least 1 ticket from a game that Jackie Robinson played football at UCLA (1939 and 1940), a Dec 7 1941 ticket (Pearl Harbor)
- No progress here in some time.
7) I've been slowly working on the 2000 Fleer Greats of the Game Autograph set. I got most of the SP's and would like to find a nice lot that helps fill in many of the lesser ones I don't have.
- I added very little to this collection and traded one (Nolan Ryan) in a deal for some lineup cards.
