Trade from Wrigley Wax and Redemption Card from Dutch Card Guy

I've been blogging about baseball cards for a few weeks now and reading other blogs to get ideas for my own posts and learn more about potential traders out there. I'll admit up to now, I've been jealous of my fellow bloggers, who've posted about trades they've made and the cards they're received.

Now I'm proud to post my first gift and my first trade!

Yesterday's mail brought a letter from the Netherlands and a small bubble mailer from Michigan. The Dutch Card Guy kindly sent me a 2012 Topps Prime 9 redemption card. I just hope the only card shop in my area--Cards-R-Fun--will redeem it. Thanks so much, Jeroen!

Next came a package from Paul over at Wrigley Wax. On Valentine's Day, I posted about my goal of completing my dad's 1974 Topps set and Paul responded that he had a lot of cards to help me. Yesterday, they arrived--two stacks of 64 cards total sandwiched between two plastic card holders and wrapped in easily-removable painter's tape (a great idea by the way). When I posted the card numbers I needed, I had no idea which players would be on them, and I was surprised by the number of star cards included (or at least players who had respectable major-league careers). Here are the highlights:

Two Hall of Famers--Harmon Killebrew (#400) and Rich "Goose" Gossage (#542)--as well as Manny Mota (#368), Cardinals third baseman Ken Reitz (with chewing gum bubble) (#372) and outfielder Jose Cruz (#464), and Bucky Dent's rookie card (#582). What's the deal with the off-center photo of Gossage, Topps?

Three Hall of Famers--and one who should be soon--Phil Niekro (#29), Frank Robinson (#55), Jim Palmer (#40), and Joe Torre (#15). Jesus Alou, the youngest of the three Alou brothers (Felipe and Matty) and troubled slugger Dick Allen (#70) complete this group. I especially like the Alou and Niekro cards; I'm not sure what's happening to Torre on his card!.

One Hall of Famer in this group: Tony Perez (#230), the great Cincinnati Reds first basemen of The Big Red Machine days. Despite having over 400 career home runs, Darrell Evans (#140) remains outside the Hall of Fame. Jack McKeon (#166) shows him in his first season as a major-league manager with the Kansas City Royals in 1973 at age 42. Last season, thirty-eight years later, he was manager of the Florida Marlins at age 80!

I really do appreciate your help, Paul! I've been putting together some Cubs cards to send your way this week. With his contribution, I now need just 149 cards to finish. If anyone else can help me complete my 1974 Topps set, please check my want list and send me a comment or email.

Getting Back into the Game

Now that I have my own card collecting blog, I've been reading a lot of fellow bloggers' work out there and adding their sites to my blogroll, getting ideas and learning what folks are working on. I've also discovered there are more guys like me who are getting back into card collecting after 20-plus years away from it, such as Ryan's Pitch and a few others.

For me, one big reason I lost interest was being overwhelmed by all the different manufacturers and sets that were available. When I started collecting back in 1987, there was Topps, Fleer, and Donruss. Those were the "Big Three" and each company produced one set per year (plus traded or update sets)--easy to keep up with and financially feasible to find all the cards and create team sets. Then came Upper Deck and Score, both of which brought simple designs and quality photography and elevated collectors' expectations about what a baseball card could be. The result was the "Big Three" producing their own higher-quality cards with names like Bowman, Bowman's Best, Stadium Club, Fleer Ultra, Pinnacle, Topp's Finest, Leaf, Emotion, Studio, Upper Deck SP...ugh. And of course those premium cards came at a premium price. It was just too overwhelming and expensive to keep up with them all, so I stopped buying them. All of them.

"The Big Three" manufacturers--Topps, Fleer, Donruss--in 1987 B.C.
(Before Cardmageddon)

I take that back: I stopped buying new cards and stuck with the vintage ones, working to complete the old Cardinals sets from the 50s, 60s, and 70s that I had started with my dad. And that's what I've been doing the last 10-15 years.

I'm getting back into the card-collecting game mainly to fill in my existing sets from the 80s and 90s (while easing my way into the 2000s) and encourage my 13-year-old son to collect. Every week or so, I'll stop by Wal-Mart (the only place in town where I can find them), buy two jumbo packs and two regular packs of 2012 Topps cards, and sit down with him and open them and compare what we have. That's the best part for me: seeing his interest in the hobby. And yes, like his old man, he mainly collects Cardinals cards, but he likes the Golden Moments ones too with DiMaggio, Mantle, and Musial.

The Bearded One, Mr. 600 Homers, and an Ex-Cardinal

A brief review of the 2012 Topps cards: I like them. The design is simple and not distracting, and the team logos are a nice touch. (I don't really like designs in which the name is spelled out.) The photography is great and the white backs are easy to read (compared to the gray ones back in the old days). I really like the 1987 design minis and could see myself collecting all of them, even the non-Cardinals. (I've yet to see one for the Cardinals though.)

Minis!

Most Wanted

The Top 10 St. Louis Cardinals cards I need to complete sets (in no particular order):

Red = Either trade or purchase is in transit

Updated 3/1/12

1. Any Allen and Ginter's Cardinals--I love these cards! (The only ones I have are 2007 #26 Jim Edmonds; 2006 #146 Mark Mulder; and 2008 #173 Rick Ankiel and #287 Chris Carpenter).
2. 1991 Classic #39 Ozzie Smith
3. 1990 Classic Series 1 (Blue front) #18 Ozzie Smith
4. 1990 Score Dream Team #3 Todd Zeile
5. 1990 Score #233 Ken Hill
6. 1991 Topps Traded #1 Juan Agosto (gray back)
7. 1991 Topps Box Card #0B Willie McGee (with Dwight Evans information on back)
8. 1989 Bowman #432 Joe Magrane
9. 1993 Bowman #488 Dan Cholowsky
10. 1975 Topps #202 Ken Boyer MVP

Name Change

Since the primary cards I collect are St. Louis Cardinals, it just seemed right that my card collecting blog should reflect it. So I've changed the name from Books and Baseball Cards to St. Louis Cardinals Cards with a brand new address. I'll still be collecting books, but I may shift that focus over to another blog. Thanks!

Trade Bait

For the last 10 or more years, I've been away from card collecting. So my trading pool is significantly more shallow than many other traders out there for newer cards, especially the autographs, relics, and other specialty cards.

If you're looking for mid-70s to early 90s, I have a ton of cards gathering dust that many traders might need to fill their want lists. If you have specific needs, please let me know and I can see what I have. Maybe we can work out a trade!

Cards-R-Fun in Nashville

Today I took a trip to one of the few--if not only--card shops left in Nashville, Tennessee: Cards-R-Fun. I had been to their old location on Trousdale Place several years ago, which wasn't far off I-65 and easy to reach. I remembered it being somewhat disorganized, but still a great place to find practically any kind of trading card you might be looking for. (Mark Aubrey visited the old location a few years ago and posted about it.)

Today, the shop is located beside a Firestone Auto Center at 16125 Old Hickory Blvd., harder to access than the old location but still worth the trip. I thought I'd stop by for an hour or so but ended up staying four hours instead! The location may have changed, but the shop is just like I remember it: floor-to-ceiling sports memorabilia and boxes stacked upon boxes of trading cards everywhere. For a first-time visitor, the layout can be a bit daunting. It took me a minute or two to get my bearings because there's just so much stuff! There's no rhyme or reason to how the boxes of common cards are arranged: football can be mixed with baseball or hockey or Nascar cards. The boxes aren't sequential either, so the want list I had scribbled on a few index cards was quickly discarded as I began working on boxes in one corner of the shop, thumbing through the cards looking for St. Louis Cardinals.

At the end of the day, I had 150 cards from various years and sets, and the price was only about $25.00! John, the owner of Cards-R-Us, is very helpful and his prices are very affordable. I would definitely recommend visiting if you're ever in the Nashville area. I was only able to conquer two shelves on this trip, so I'll be back again when I have more money and more time!

Seeking Potential Card Traders

Thank you to Mark Aubrey for the nice mention on his blog tonight! After two days of being "live" with my new blog, I now have three followers. Thanks for your interest!

As I emailed to Mark, I'm new to online card trading so I'll need help getting started from more savvy collectors like yourselves. He advised me to post my want lists and give potential traders an idea of what I have to offer in exchange. I'm working to complete my St. Louis Cardinals team sets that I started way back in 1987 when I was 16 years old. There are links to my want list posts in the upper left-hand column of the blog. As you can see, most of the cards I need lie between 1948 and 1975. But I'm also looking for more current cards as well; I stopped collecting about 12 years ago and there are LOTS of Cardinals cards I also need between 1998 and 2011, too.

I recently organized my father's 1974 Topps cards to determine which ones I'm missing so I can create a complete set. If anyone would like to part with some of these cards, I'd be very interested in trading.

As for what I have to offer, I have boxes of cards ranging from a few 1974 Topps to cards all the way into the early 1990s. If you have specific needs, let me know which ones and I can see what I have.

I look forward to exchanging emails and bundles of cards with many of you over the coming months!

St. Louis Cardinals Want List (1948-1969)

Below are cards I need to complete sets:

1948 Bowman
#17 Enos Slaughter
#36 Stan Musial
#38 Red Schoendienst
#40 Marty Marion

1949 Bowman
#24 Stan Musial
#40 Red Munger
#54 Marty Marion
#65 Enos Slaughter
#79 Ron Northey
#95 Howie Pollet
#111 Red Schoendienst
#126 Al Brazle
#158 Harry Brecheen
#174 Terry Moore

1950 Bowman
#35 Enos Slaughter
#36 Eddie Kazak
#71 Red Schoendienst
#72 Howie Pollet
#88 Marty Marion
#89 Red Munger
#90 Harry Brecheen
#180 Harry walker
#207 Max Lanier
209 Johnny Lindell

1951 Topps Red
#47 Tommy Glaviano

1951 Topps Blue
#6 Red Schoendienst
#7 Gerry Staley
#14 Red Munger
#21 Billy Johnson
#28 Harry Brecheen
#30 Enos Slaughter

1951 Bowman
#10 Red Schoendienst
#34 Marty Marion
#58 Enos Slaughter
#85 Eddie Kazak
#86 Harry Brecheen
#121 Gerry Staley
#122 Joe Garagiola
#157 Al Brazle
#166 Stan Musial
#194 Peanuts Lowrey
#228 Cloyd Boyer
#263 Howie Pollet
#264 Don Richmond
#265 Steve Bilko
#300 Hal Rice
#301 Tommy Glaviano

1952 Topps
#19 Johnny Bucha
#38 Wally Westlake
#56 Tommy Glaviano
#65 Enos Slaughter
#68 Cliff Chambers
#76 Eddie Stanky
#79 Gerry Staley
#91 Red Schoendienst
#165 Eddie Kazak
#196 Solly Hemus
#220 Joe Presko
#228 Al Brazle
#242 Tom Poholsky
#263 Harry Brecheen
#287 Steve Bilko
#334 Vinegar Bend Mizell
#378 Les Fusselman
#386 Eddie Yuhas
#398 Hal Rice

1952 Bowman
#30 Red Schoendienst
#62 Joe Presko
#107 Del Rice
#160 Eddie Stanky
#196 Stan Musial
#232 Enos Slaughter

1953 Bowman Color
#17 Gerry Staley
#32 Stan Musial
#49 Eddie Stanky
#53 Del Rice
#81 Enos Slaughter
#85 Solly Hemus
#101 Red Schoendienst
#115 Cloyd Boyer
#140 Al Brazle
#142 Larry Miggins

1954 Bowman
#158 Stu Miller
#190 Joe Presko
#206 Steve Bilko

Opening Night for 2012 Topps Cards

Tonight after church, I drove to Wal-Mart and picked up two standard 12-card packs and two jumbo 36-card packs of the brand new 2012 Topps Series One cards. When I got home, I let my son Braden pick one of each type pack and we opened them at the same time. It was a cool experience and reminded me of opening a brand new pack of cards with my own dad. It's been a while since I've bought him any cards, so I was surprised when he spent a few minutes spreading his best finds out on the coffee table and placing a few into his album.

Of course the Cardinals cards are the ones we're really looking for and together we netted three standard cards for Yadier Molina (#174), Jon Jay (#258), and Kyle Loshe (#26), as well as a 2011 World Series Game 6 card for David Freese (#291).

For me, the best Cardinals card was a nice Gold Standard one for Stan "The Man" Musial (#GS-2), which highlights his 3,000 hit at Wrigley Field on May 13, 1958. It's great that Topps introduces younger collectors to superstars from the past, and even though this one was part of my packs, I gave it to my son. He really liked it.

Another old-school hero Braden found was Mickey Mantle (card #7 of course!). Again, a great way to introduce younger fans to stars from the past. Plus it's a really sharp-looking card!

There were a nice surprise in these packs. We found two "mini" cards based on the 1987 Topps set, which meant a lot to me because it was the first Topps cards I ever collected. (I remember buying the jumbo packs at the local Kroger in my hometown of Jackson, Tennessee.) They were Mariano Rivera (TM-36) and James Shields (TM-41).

Hopefully Braden and I can have a few more moments of tearing into a few packs this season!

St. Louis Cardinals Want List (1970-1990)

This are cards I'm currently seeking to complete team sets:

1975 Topps
#202 Ken Boyer 1964 MVP

1981 Fleer
#544 Mark Littell
#539 Tito Landrum
#654 Checklist

1981 Donruss
#68 Tom Herr
#69 Bob Forsch
#70 John Fulghum
#188 Mike Phillips
#189 Pete Vuchovich
#190 John Urrea
#191 Tony Scott
#307 Ken Reitz
#309 John Littlefield
#310 George Frazier
#311 Dane Iorg
#428 Terry Kennedy
#429 Silvio Martinez
#430 George Hendrick
#505 Darrell Porter
#539 Keith Smith
#550 Bruce Sutter
#580 Mark Littell
#583 Ken Oberkfell

1982 Topps Traded
#108 Lonnie Smith

1982 Fleer
#111 Steve Braun
#121 John Martin
#122 Silvio Martinez
#126 Orlando Sanchez
#128 Larry Sorensen
#132 Gene Tenace
#649 Checklist

1982 Donruss
#64 Sixto Lezcano
#120 Bob Shirley
#152 Gene Tenace
#166 Dane Iorg
#246 Larry Sorensen
#292 Tito Landrum
#316 Mike Ramsey
#343 John Martin
#372 Bruce Sutter
#404 Ken Oberkfell
#418 Steve Braun
#442 Mark Littell
#469 Silvio Martinez
#545 Garry Templeton
#588 Luis DeLeon
#615 Gene Roof

1983 Topps
#71 Steve Carlton
#451 Ted Simmons

1983 Fleer
#15 Willie McGee
#22 Ozzie Smith

1983 Donruss
#190 Willie McGee
#217 Tom Herr
#404 George Hendrick
#544 Dave LaPoint

1984 Fleer
#319 Joaquin Andujar
#320 Steve Braun
#321 Glenn Brummer
#324 George Hendrick
#326 Dane Iorg
#327 Jeff Lahti
#328 Dave LaPoint
#330 Ken Oberkfell
#331 Darrell Porter
#332 Jamie Quirk
#333 Mike Ramsey
#336 Ozzie Smith
#337 John Stuper
#339 Andy Van Slyke
#340 Dave Von Ohlen
#660 Checklist

1984 Fleer Update
#53 Ricky Horton
#54 Art Howe
#66 Tito Landrum

1984 Donruss
#13 Bruce Sutter
#625 David Green/Willie McGee/Lonnie Smith/Ozzie Smith

1985 Fleer
#219 Neil Allen
#221 Steve Braun
#223 Bob Forsch
#224 David Green
#225 George Hendrick
#227 Ricky Horton
#228 Art Howe
#229 Mike Jorgensen
#230 Kurt Kepshire
#231 Jeff Lahti
#232 Tito Landrum
#233 Dave LaPoint
#236 Terry Pendleton
#237 Darrell Porter
#238 Dave Rucker
#242 Andy Van Slyke
#243 Dave Von Ohlen
#631 Ozzie Smith
#656 Checklist

1985 Fleer Update
#19 Bill Campbell
#25 Jack Clark
#28 Vince Coleman
#123 John Tudor

1985 Donruss
#83 Ricky Horton
#327 Andy Van Slyke
#534 Terry Pendleton
#534 Jeff Pendleton (error)

1985 Donruss Highlights
#20 John Tudor
#29 Willie McGee
#38 Willie McGee
#52 Willie McGee
#54 Vince Coleman

1986 Fleer All-Stars
#2 Tom Herr
#12 John Tudor

1986 Donruss
#43 Todd Worrell
#109 Willie McGee
#181 Vince Coleman
#353 Bob Forsch
#412 Andy Van Slyke
#596 Pat Perry

1987 Fleer Update
#7 Rod Booker
#23 Bill Dawley
#65 Jim Lindeman
#71 Joe Magrane
#83 John Morris
#98 Tony Pena
#119 Lee Tunnell

1987 Fleer All-Stars
#8 Todd Worrell

1987 Donruss Rookies
#40 Joe Magrane
#41 Jim Lindeman

1987 Donruss Highlights
#36 Vince Coleman

1988 Fleer
#628 Ozzie Smith
#634 Vince Coleman
#654 Checklist

1988 Fleer All-Stars
#11 Jack Clark

1988 Fleer World Series
#7 Dan Driessen
#10 Tom Herr

1988 Donruss
#31 Lance Johnson
#234 Jose Oquendo
#263 Ozzie Smith
#641 Stan Musial

1988 Donruss MVPs
#22 Ozzie Smith

1988 Donruss All-Stars
#37 Ozzie Smith
#63 Ozzie Smith

1988 Donruss Baseball's Best
#75 Danny Cox
#100 Joe Magrane
#156 Tony Pena
#243 Ozzie Smith
#268 Todd Worrell
#299 Ken Dayley
#313 Jose Oquendo
#324 Greg Mathews

1989 Fleer
#443 Luis Alicea
#447 Danny Cox
#448 Ken Dayley
#452 Bob Horner
#453 Tim Jones
#454 Steve Lake
#455 Joe Magrane
#456 Greg Mathews
#457 Willie McGee
#458 Larry McWilliams
#459 Jose Oquendo
#460 Tony Pena
#462 Steve Peters
#464 Scott Terry
#465 Denny Walling
#466 Todd Worrell
#652 Ken Hill
#658 Checklist

1989 Donruss Traded
#43 Milt Thompson

1989 Donruss All-Stars
#62 Ozzie Smith

1989 Donruss Baseball's Best
#19 Vince Coleman
#44 Ozzie Smith
#75 Pedro Guerrero
#100 Jose Oquendo
#131 Joe Magrane
#156 Terry Pendleton
#187 Tom Brunansky
#212 Milt Thompson
#243 Todd Worrell
#268 Ken Dayley
#299 Tony Pena
#304 Ken Hill

1989 Score
#155 Vince Coleman
#259 Larry McWilliams
#265 Todd Worrell
#286 Greg Mathews
#397 Scott Terry

1990 Topps
#59 Ted Power
#82 Scott Terry
#115 Tony Pena
#312 Dan Quisenberry
#590 Ozzie Smith
#610 Pedro Guerrero

1990 Fleer
#249 Frank DiPino
#255 Jose Oquendo
#656 Checklist

1990 Fleer Update
#52 Geronimo Pena
#53 Lee Smith
#54 John Tudor

1990 Fleer Soaring Stars
#1 Todd Zeile

1990 Donruss
#29 Todd Zeile
#161 Jose Oquendo
#163 Joe Magrane
#319 Todd Worrell
#418 Scott Terry
#518 Frank DiPino
#536 Jose DeLeon
#653 Ted Power

1990 Donruss Rookies
#31 Todd Zeile

1990 Donruss NL's Best
#22 Ken Dayley
#34 Terry Pendleton
#71 Todd Zeile
#83 Ozzie Smith
#138 Vince Coleman

1990 Donruss Learning Series
#9 Ozzie Smith
#34 Joe Magrane

1990 Donruss Previews
#1 Todd Zeile

1990 Score
#134 John Morris
#233 Ken Hill

1990 Score Dream Team
#3 Todd Zeile

State of the Card Collection, January 2012

At the end of every month, I'll access additions I've made to my Cardinals card collection and determine which cards I'd like to add in the coming month(s).

After Christmas, I purchased my first group of 1933 Goudey cards and only the second time I've ever purchased for this set. (The first was #62 Pepper Martin I found for $25 at the Nashville Flea Market years ago.) These are now the oldest cards in my Cards collection. There was a seller on eBay who had starting prices around $1 each, so I focused on the Cardinals cards and netted four out of maybe six he was offering. The ones I won were Ethan Allen #46, Bill Hallahan #200, Bill Walker #94, and Jimmy Wilson #37. It's a good start for this set, though I still have nine more to go.

Around the same time, I also won my first 1939 Play Ball card (Lon Warneke #41). Seven more left to complete this set.

In January, I decided to complete some sets where I only needed one or two cards to do it. The 1953 Bowman Black and White was fairly easy, as I already had Dick Sisler #10 and only needed Stu Miller #16 and Wilmer "Vinegar Bend" Mizell #23 to finish. Next was the 1955 Bowman, which is now done after getting Eddie Stanky #238.

Sometimes you only have five or six cards in a set that has some 20 cards, so it's just better to purchase the whole set rather than piece it together over time. That's what I did with the 1981 Donruss and 1984 Fleer sets in January.

I read on a card collecting blog (sorry, the name and link escapes me) about a 1975 Cardinals set produced by a company called SSPC. It's a simple design, but the photos look much better than what Topps was producing in the decade.

Ideally, I'd like to go back to my want lists and complete some more sets this spring, as money permits. (That's always the deciding factor, isn't it?) I'll try to create a want list in case any fellow card collecting bloggers would like to trade. I have lots of '80s and early '90s commons just gathering dust and I'd be willing to help fill other's cards needs as well.

First Post

One of my resolutions this new year was to blog more than I did last year. With sufficient inspiration from Mark Aubrey's card collecting blog, I decided to create one about my twin passions: collecting books (Civil War, Tennessee history, biographies, baseball) and St. Louis Cardinals baseball cards.

I've loved reading ever since I was a kid and always dreamed of building my own personal library and writing my own books. I've been blessed to do both (thanks in large part to my very tolerable wife!).

I'm proud to say I'm a third-generation St. Louis Cardinals fan, and my father and I spent a lot of quality time together adding to his initial collection of Cardinals cards from the mid 70s to mid 80s. I remember he kept them in a hallway closet in cardboard boxes and rubber-banded together. (This was before the age of plastic pages and card holders.) Baseball wasn't very important to me growing up; I was more interested in Star Wars than playing sports. But as a junior in high school in the mid 80s, card collecting for their monetary value became a big deal so I started buying wax packs at convenience and grocery stores (50 cents for a pack of Topps cards).

Even though the new cards were cool (especially when Upper Deck and Score joined the "Big Three" of Topps, Fleer, and Donruss), I liked the look and feel (and yes, even the smell) of the old Topps and Bowmans of the 50s and 60s. Like most fathers, mine had a story about a shoebox filled with Mickey Mantles, Hank Aarons, and Stan Musials being tossed out by his mother when he left home. So he and I decided to build Cardinals team sets together. He took me to card shows at hotels throughout West Tennessee almost every weekend and we found local card shops in every small town in the area, searching for the cards we needed to complete our sets. We'd thumb through boxes of cards for hours and my dad would show ones to me and say, "Do we need this one?" (When I was young, I didn't need a checklist on paper; I had just memorized the ones I already had for a particular year.) Although I didn't think about it at the time, I look back now 25-30 years later and memories of those trips mean the world to me. Today, I can look at a particular card and remember where and how I got it.

After I married and began raising a family, I set aside the baseball cards and resigned myself to the fact that I may never complete all those sets. The mom-and-pop card shops soon disappeared and shows became a thing of the past. Then along came the Internet and a wonderful site called eBay. It rekindled my interest in finding those elusive cards, and I was even able to afford ones I thought I'd never own--rookie cards for Bob Gibson and Steve Carlton and Stan Musial cards! Since then, I completed all Topps sets from 1953 to 1991, and now I'm working to fill in gaps in my Bowmans and 1952 Topps.

My posts will likely be once or twice a week, maybe more. I'll share stories about my book and card collections and hopefully attract some followers who will share their stories, too.