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January 2025 Arrivals

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mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
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Excited to pick up this photo of the Cleveland Buckeyes. Different sources have it as from 1946 and others 1947. In 1947, the team lost to the NY Cubans in the ***** League World Series.

Key players include future Dodger and ROY Sam Jethroe, catcher Quincy Trouppe and others.

View attachment 361573
I was going to say Jethroe never played for the Dodgers, but decided to check if he was in their system at least. Looks like he was with Montreal for a season before the Braves nabbed him and brought him up to the majors.
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,643
5,328
Liked this Kell featuring him on a "strange" team. He seemed to be well past his prime by the time he joined Boston in 1952.

i am not questioning his enshrinement, but since it is always a fiesty topic of who belongs and who doesn't, just looking at his numbers it is a surprise he made it in. He was a career .300+ hitter and had 2000+ hits, but that isn't noteworthy in most cases. he was also a 10X all star and that doesn't mean a lot necessarily, but this was before fan voting. He was named to the squad in his final season, which wasn't all that impressive looking either.
Kell Heritage.png

A couple more AP autos. I can't pass them up when they are super cheap.
Wilkins Lucas AP Au mrm.png
 

Philip J. Fry

Well-known member
Aug 9, 2008
5,908
782
Ohio
Excited to pick up this photo of the Cleveland Buckeyes. Different sources have it as from 1946 and others 1947. In 1947, the team lost to the NY Cubans in the ***** League World Series.

Key players include future Dodger and ROY Sam Jethroe, catcher Quincy Trouppe and others.

View attachment 361573

I can’t believe the filter on this forum blocked out Kneegrow.
 

Topnotchsy

Featured Contributor, The best players in history?
Aug 7, 2008
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236
I was going to say Jethroe never played for the Dodgers, but decided to check if he was in their system at least. Looks like he was with Montreal for a season before the Braves nabbed
Sorry for the extra work. Was a mistake that I edited.
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,643
5,328
I collect this specific autograph set when I find decent deals, so I have a search saved for them. Lots of the autographs are SPs. I decided to screenshot the entire checklist about a month or so ago and glad I did. When I came upon this one with a BIN of $15. I figured that was a deal, but thought I recalled him being one of the SPs and sure enough, it's /10.

It's printed in foil on the back, but a bit hard to see as it is located within a dark blue band. the seller had scanned both sides for the listing, but can't help but wonder if they missed it? Couldn't bit BIN fast enough at that point.

Am I way too happy to find this Doerr /10 for $15 or is that about what you'd expect for a low print run Doerr auto? He is one of those "borderline" HOFers, after all. Happy to see it arrive, as it came standard trading card shipping and I am growing to distrust that method more and more. Got another one that is very late and showing no tracking info.
Doerr 10.pngScreen Shot 2025-01-28 at 6.04.38 PM.png
 

WizardofOz1982

Well-known member
Sep 30, 2017
1,819
1,707
Oklahoma
Liked this Kell featuring him on a "strange" team. He seemed to be well past his prime by the time he joined Boston in 1952.

i am not questioning his enshrinement, but since it is always a fiesty topic of who belongs and who doesn't, just looking at his numbers it is a surprise he made it in. He was a career .300+ hitter and had 2000+ hits, but that isn't noteworthy in most cases. he was also a 10X all star and that doesn't mean a lot necessarily, but this was before fan voting. He was named to the squad in his final season, which wasn't all that impressive looking either.
View attachment 361587
I think there are a couple of factors that influenced Kell's induction that we've lost looking back at it and as advanced metrics and a better understanding of the game has evolved.

At the time Kell was inducted in 1983 he was, if I remember right, the 7th 3B inducted into the Hall of Fame. 3B remains the most under represented position in the HOF to this day. For whatever reason 3B just doesn't get the glamour that other positions do. If you asked someone to name a superstar 3B what are the likely answers? Schmidt and Chipper maybe? Brooks? Eddie Mathews is a top 25 player all time but he's forgotten by most. You're unlikely to get more than 3-4 answers unlike the OF or shortstop or other more "known" positions. Third basemen are the blue collar workers of the MLB world.

Vet Committee's in the early 80s were tasked with trying to alleviate some of those position imbalances and if you're a voter looking at the history of the game from 1975 or so back then Kell looks like one of the top 10 3B all time to that point. He was a career .300 hitter (when that meant something to voters), was widely regarded an excellent defender (maybe the best 3B defender of his era), 10x All Star, etc. Those were all things voters 45 years ago looked at that we don't necessarily consider as foundational now.

He was also a widely popular announcer for the Tigers, the team he's most closely associated with and whose hat is on his plaque.

He has a lot of "voting points", if you will that we don't consider as valuable now as writers 40 years ago did. From an era context it makes perfect sense why he got elected.
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,643
5,328
I think there are a couple of factors that influenced Kell's induction that we've lost looking back at it and as advanced metrics and a better understanding of the game has evolved.

At the time Kell was inducted in 1983 he was, if I remember right, the 7th 3B inducted into the Hall of Fame. 3B remains the most under represented position in the HOF to this day. For whatever reason 3B just doesn't get the glamour that other positions do. If you asked someone to name a superstar 3B what are the likely answers? Schmidt and Chipper maybe? Brooks? Eddie Mathews is a top 25 player all time but he's forgotten by most. You're unlikely to get more than 3-4 answers unlike the OF or shortstop or other more "known" positions. Third basemen are the blue collar workers of the MLB world.

Vet Committee's in the early 80s were tasked with trying to alleviate some of those position imbalances and if you're a voter looking at the history of the game from 1975 or so back then Kell looks like one of the top 10 3B all time to that point. He was a career .300 hitter (when that meant something to voters), was widely regarded an excellent defender (maybe the best 3B defender of his era), 10x All Star, etc. Those were all things voters 45 years ago looked at that we don't necessarily consider as foundational now.

He was also a widely popular announcer for the Tigers, the team he's most closely associated with and whose hat is on his plaque.

He has a lot of "voting points", if you will that we don't consider as valuable now as writers 40 years ago did. From an era context it makes perfect sense why he got elected.
I mainly mentioned that because the common current feeling is that if you were not at the caliber of Willie Mays, you don't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. I am of the belief that we need more people in the Hall. The game has changed and so have the players. A Hall of Famer in 1936 can't necessarily be directly compared to one from 2025. I also love the arguments that Ruth wouldn't hit his weight against Randy Johnson or Cy Young couldn't beat Albert Pujols. We'll never know, so why even speculate?

I did want to say that when I was a kid, my benchmarks for the all time greats were spoon fed from Topps initially with the 76 Topps Sporting News Team. I loved those colorful (yet B&W) cards of all the greats like Cobb, Hornsby and 3B Pie Traynor! Pie Was THE third baseman, according to that set. Brooks was winding down his great career and Schmidt was just getting started.
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,643
5,328
Artis Gilmore
aRTIS gilmore Au.png

This years Archives set is kind of blah as far as I am concerned. Garvey is in it again, which I should be excited about, but its not a great card in my mind. Have yet to even see a gold or blue parallel. Lots of other recycled players and a bunch that I just don't care about. A big difference from that first set in 2017 that I went crazy for.

Ryan Zimmerman stuck out as a cheap option. I didn't have a certified autograph of his and he was a member of the Topps All Rookie Team that I used to cherish quite a bit. I probably won't buy many of the archives cards this year. I'll chase after a few blue /25 and might even land a couple. Nobody is screaming out to collect all of the variations except Garvey and maybe Shawn Green (also again). Fanatics needs to step up their game with some new obscure players. i'd be happy with a Claude Osteen, Rick Monday, Ken Landreaux or Doug Rau card. how about Ed Goodson! obscure and has been somewhat elusive. The mid-late 80s Dodgers are sadly underrepresented as well. I guess that is the dilemma. Maybe there are collectors of this years set that seems blah to me, but hardly anyone else would give a rip about the guys I want.

Zimmerman Arcxhives.png
 

WizardofOz1982

Well-known member
Sep 30, 2017
1,819
1,707
Oklahoma
I mainly mentioned that because the common current feeling is that if you were not at the caliber of Willie Mays, you don't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. I am of the belief that we need more people in the Hall. The game has changed and so have the players. A Hall of Famer in 1936 can't necessarily be directly compared to one from 2025. I also love the arguments that Ruth wouldn't hit his weight against Randy Johnson or Cy Young couldn't beat Albert Pujols. We'll never know, so why even speculate?

I did want to say that when I was a kid, my benchmarks for the all time greats were spoon fed from Topps initially with the 76 Topps Sporting News Team. I loved those colorful (yet B&W) cards of all the greats like Cobb, Hornsby and 3B Pie Traynor! Pie Was THE third baseman, according to that set. Brooks was winding down his great career and Schmidt was just getting started.
Traynor is a another guy that you look at the raw numbers and think why. Most of the same caveats apply to him as do Kell.

It's always amazing to me that people think the Hall is being diluted by guys like Scott Rolen (arguably a top 100 player all time) or this year CC Sabathia when they're both well within the top 1% of anyone who has ever played major league baseball. The Baseball HOF is by far the most exclusive HOF there is. Even guys like Ferrell or Baines are just barely outside the top 1% and they're obvious egregious shouldn't be in the Hall guys. That just shows how hard it is to get in.

I saw an idea proposed by, I think, Keith Olbermann a couple years back that I really liked. He wanted them to reorganize the Hall into sections with the inner circle guys (the Mays, Ruths, etc.) having their own space apart from the other still deserving but not quite best of the best Hall of Famers instead of having everyone in the same space like equals.
 

nosterbor

Well-known member
Jun 20, 2010
6,279
587
Sunny Florida
I collect this specific autograph set when I find decent deals, so I have a search saved for them. Lots of the autographs are SPs. I decided to screenshot the entire checklist about a month or so ago and glad I did. When I came upon this one with a BIN of $15. I figured that was a deal, but thought I recalled him being one of the SPs and sure enough, it's /10.

It's printed in foil on the back, but a bit hard to see as it is located within a dark blue band. the seller had scanned both sides for the listing, but can't help but wonder if they missed it? Couldn't bit BIN fast enough at that point.

Am I way too happy to find this Doerr /10 for $15 or is that about what you'd expect for a low print run Doerr auto? He is one of those "borderline" HOFers, after all. Happy to see it arrive, as it came standard trading card shipping and I am growing to distrust that method more and more. Got another one that is very late and showing no tracking info.
View attachment 361594View attachment 361595
Man do I miss the REAL Donruss.
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,643
5,328
Traynor is a another guy that you look at the raw numbers and think why. Most of the same caveats apply to him as do Kell.

It's always amazing to me that people think the Hall is being diluted by guys like Scott Rolen (arguably a top 100 player all time) or this year CC Sabathia when they're both well within the top 1% of anyone who has ever played major league baseball. The Baseball HOF is by far the most exclusive HOF there is. Even guys like Ferrell or Baines are just barely outside the top 1% and they're obvious egregious shouldn't be in the Hall guys. That just shows how hard it is to get in.

I saw an idea proposed by, I think, Keith Olbermann a couple years back that I really liked. He wanted them to reorganize the Hall into sections with the inner circle guys (the Mays, Ruths, etc.) having their own space apart from the other still deserving but not quite best of the best Hall of Famers instead of having everyone in the same space like equals.
Even the very valid argument of less than 2% of the all-time MLB roster being enshrined in the Hall of Fame can't dissuade people from crying about so and so not being good enough. Horse puck! When you are better than 98% of your peers, you are the elite. There are out of this world players and there are those that are mere mortals. both can share space in the same club. I don't even need a separate section myself.

However, the Hall is losing credibility with lots of people. It's a political game to some extent and that is wrong. The unanimous vote is bothering me more and more when I think about it, because people have this exceptional power to punish anyone just because of how they feel. We can't go back and right the wrong of many greats being clearly unanimous selections, but you can stop the crap like Ichiro missing by 1 vote. That is just an abuse of a great honor to be included in the voting. Oh well, I have my own Hall of Fame anyway. Cooperstown is fine, but mine is better.
 

WizardofOz1982

Well-known member
Sep 30, 2017
1,819
1,707
Oklahoma
Been crazy busy at work the last few weeks and haven't gotten to post much in the way of pictures. it's been a good couple weeks for Helsley pickups.

2024 Topps Update All Star Relics Platinum 1/1 - This one finishes the rainbow for this set.
2024 Topps Update All Star Relics Platinum Front.jpgRainbow.png
2024 Topps Update All Relics Black /199 - I have like 5 of these but this is the first one that's made it to me uncreased by bad shipping.

2024 Topps Update All Star Relics Black Front.jpg

2024 Topps Triple Threads All Star Game Triple Relics 2/9 - Ryan only has 5 cards in Triple Threads and this is the most common. The other 4 are all 1/1s.
2024 Topps Triple Threads All Star Patches Front.jpg

2024 Topps Chrome Sapphire Red /5
2024 Topps Chrome Update Sapphire Red Front.jpg


I also picked up a few 1952 Topps Look N Sees this week. Not sure I'm building the set at this point but I'll always add them when they're cheap.
Look and See 1.jpgLook and See 2.jpg
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,643
5,328
I have sepnt WAY too much this month, but I keep finding little gems. I made some abnormally large purchases this month, at least for me, on a single item and a group of cards from a single seller. the big hit arrived today. this completes my Raiders Hall of Famer autograph collection. I didn't think I would find an Al Davis that was in my comfort range, especially as I inch closer to the need to sell it all off. Davis was the only Raider HOF representative that I didn't have already. The team check and it being authenticated is a nice touch over a random cut or photo signature.

Until the next one gets in and hopefully I already have him covered.
Al Davis Check.png

I am also quite excited for this set of 9 oddball basketball cards. No real show stopper names, but the 1979 Handyman Clippers set (minus the Coach Gene Shue, who was the prize winner and is very scarce) is a very cool issue. Small time distribution, 3D cards and detachable coupons all make for a tricky set. There is apparently a variation I'll need to try to track down for World B. Free, who is probably one of the most recognizable names (Swen Nater and Sidney Wicks are the others). I have been trying to win a set, or even one of the better players, and kept losing. This time I got it for what I felt was a steal. Full set not pictured, but it was received. They are hard to photograph too.
Clippers Handyman Set.png

Last item I already have, but they are just too cool to pass up. San Diego MTS day pass card featuring Gwynn. He isn't named and the image is blurry in the background, but it sure looks like him. Great oddball item that was probably mostly used. They were $5 a pop in 2000.
Gwynn Scratch.png
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,643
5,328
F Rodriguez. /31. The retro Topps signed cards look as great as the originals. Big fan of certain years, especially 61, 57, 62, 67, etc.
F Rod 31.png
A dupe, but cheap and I couldn't pass it up.
R Hansen 61 Au.png
I am not sure what to think about this. Most of the cards I have seen were signed on front and in the box on the back is a serial number. This one is signed in gold in the serial number box. A mistake? A pre-production sample? May never know, but for the price it was worth it. The auto isn't great quality, but the card is unique.
Franco Harris Au.png
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,643
5,328
Gus just died recently. He was one of the big stars of the 79 World Championship Sonics team.
G Williams mrm.png

Thought I would try to win this when I saw it. I don't do much in the way of non-sports now, but have picked up randon cards in the past that caught my eye. When I was a kid, any trading card was open game when they were all cheap. Not so much anymore.

Anyway, I was stationed on a nuclear submarine while in the Navy (not this type, newer), so this is a fitting card.
Submarine non sports card + OVERDUE 78 Carty .png
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,643
5,328
Probably getting near the end of new adds for this set. This Chuck Daly popped up and got it for a pretty good price, considering I have seen only this one that I can recall.

This set can be tricky to begin with, because the regular cards have gold facsimilie autographs on them. The factory autographs are silver. The key is that a silver auto card will always be a pack pulled, because they didn't have base cards w/o facsimilie signatures on them. Bill Russell was also not even part of the base set, but his card is autographed (his first pack certified auto).
Daly AP Au.png

Also got this Webb/100. He had a couple strong seasons in an otherwise short and forgettable career, including 1 Cy Young season and 2 others where he was runner up out of 6 seasons pitched!
b wEBB 100.png
 

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