What I Didn't See at the National

I didn't see the Kellogg's football ruler, which I've never seen at a show.

I also didn't see the any of the following -

factory sets before 1979.

advertising items or cereal boxes.

1971, 1972 1974, 1975 - 1978 baseball sets.

Roberto Clemente cards from Puerto Rico.

Japanese Kellogg's cards.


I also only saw 1968 Topps 3-d cards at one table.  That dealer only had two cards.

Sunday at the National

Lots of people had 1971 Kellogg's cards on display.  Most looked like the cards shown below.

Like most cards that I saw today, the ones above had lots a curl and some cracking.  

I bought the cards shown below at a few different tables.  It was a nice mix - Cubs, White Sox, some nice 1970 and 1974 cards that are hard to find.  

I'm always in the market for Ruth and Gehrig cards when they are $5.  I think that I picked up two Ruths so I'm now wondering where the other one ended up.  It's probably with the 1974 Rose that missed out on this picture.  

Looking through dollar boxes was fun.  I bought some cards I needed for the 1961 Topps set.  I also just bought a few things that I liked.  Then I found the unopened pack with Gary Nolan from 1973.  

I bought two nice football cards from 1971.  The color is a lot better than the poor picture that I took.  The only PSA card I picked up was a great-looking Rick Monday from 1971.  I just couldn't resist it since it looked amazing.  Again, I'm too lazy to take a better picture.

Friday at the National

I got to the National on Friday.  I kept my plan and spend just less than two hours in the room.  I managed to at least walk past each table except for those in the corporate area.  Did I see everything?  Of course not.

I was hoping to go today, but I got home at 2:30.  I didn't want to hurry through the show again, so I will go Sunday without major time restrictions.

The picture below shows all of my purchases other than eight Sportscaster cards.

The Crawford cards are a bit blurry, which I've seen a lot with that card.  The Jenkins looked great.  The Stop N Go cards are nice - I need Cowboys for an extra set.  The 1971 football cards aren't great but I'm working on VG sets since I can't afford nice ones.

The Jenkins card looked great when I bought it.  I put it in a bag without any card saver or top loader.  When I looked at it again tonight I saw all of these cracks.  I don't think I missed them yesterday.  Is it possible that the card cracked in one day?  The card was not in any holder when I bought it either. 

I did see more Kellogg's cards than usual at the show.  Tomorrow I should have more time to see what remains.  Highlights - I was a 1971 football set that looked great and there were two unopened packs that I found so far.  

What Happened at the National Today?

I just got home so I think I will check online to see what people have to say about the National.  I don't expect to read anything about Kellogg's cards, but I will check anyway.

I've got my ticket and my two-hour time limit for tomorrow.  I've been too busy to think about it until now.  Now I need to get ready to race through the show.

I bought a nice item on ebay yesterday.  More about that if/when it arrives.

More About the Weather

I am sitting on a balcony watching/listening to one of the loudest storms I've ever witnessed.  Lots of thunder, lightning and now heavy rains.  It's great when you are on a balcony, but I don't enjoy it as much during a run, a bike ride, when caddying as a kid and when there are things to do.

Here are a few nicknames while I keep thinking about sprinting through the National for two hours on Friday.

Thunder - Andre Thornton

Louisiana Lightning - Ron Guidry

How have I yet to get his picture in here?

The Human Rain Delay - Mike Hargrove

Sure, I've mentioned these before, but that's what I've got on my mind today.   Hargrove and Thornton were teammates in Cleveland.  Too bad that Thornton and Guidry weren't teammates.  Wait, they were all-star teammates in 1982.

Who won lightning or thunder?  Thunder had 2 homers against lightning in 61 plate appearances.  The .137 average and five RBIs also favors lightning as thunder hit .254 for his career.

What Would Be Atop Your List if You Were Going to the National

I expect to spend the entire day at the National on Sunday.  At that point I'll be looking at left-overs and over-priced stuff.  I rarely look through boxes of commons at card shows but I might do that in search of some 1961 Topps cards and some Kellogg's cards.

What hard-to-find cards would be the highlight of your trip if you were heading to the National?  It doesn't need to be a Kellogg's card, but I'd love to hear what people can't find.  Without looking at any of my lists, I would be extremely excited to find a 1970 Kellogg's football ruler which I know nothing about.

Kellogg's Factory Set Dilemma

I've got a bunch of factory sets.  Unfortunately, most of them are from 1979 - 1983.  Some are sealed and some are not.  Some are even in the original mailing package which is still sealed.  I prefer the entire mailer sealed to increase the chances that the set is unopened.

Most people seemed to write the year on the packages.  Some years are easy to identify without the years due to the mailing information, the size and/or other markings.  Does anyone have detailed information on all of these?  I would love to gather three sets of pictures for the factory sets - one with the mailer showing the back, one with the mailer showing the front and one with the set that is packaged inside the mailer.

If anyone has photos that they can send along for the earlier sets that would be great.  There are many that I have never even seen listed on ebay.

This picture fits none of the categories.  

Wikipedia's History of Baseball Cards

Wikipedia's use is always debated at school.  But for other stuff, hey why not get an easy read.  Here is what they have to say about baseball cards including Kellogg's and Hostess cards.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_card

It's always good to learn something about your favorite cards, teams, players, different times in baseball history, etc.

Now What About the National?

My Friday window for going to the National is shrinking.  It looks like I've only got from 10:00 - 12:15 now.  Should I even go?

I could try to get there early and see if anyone has an extra VIP pass to get in early.  That worked before when lots of people knew me and mostly my son when he was under the age of 10.  That was always fun because there has always been a small amount of kids at the show.

To complicate if further, on Saturday I'm with a group where I won't be in charge.  That means I might not even get back in time to go on Saturday at all.

All things considered, I will probably need to go for it on Friday and just hurry through because Sunday might be my only other chance this year.

I know that I should be grateful that the show has been near me so often, but I've gone a lot because I don't mind driving, I only work part-time in the summer and I don't really spend much when I'm there.  Believe me, I would like to spend, but I only do so if the price is right.   I had fun last year even though I was only there for a few hours.  I didn't buy much.

Hobbies That Cost Me Sleep

My card collecting rarely costs me sleep.  A few times I stayed up late because an auction was ending on some Kellogg's cards.  Really, only a few times.  Usually I just put in a bid and I am done with it.

I wouldn't stay up late for an individual card like this Rose, but I might do so for a large lot of cards or something unique like an uncut sheet.

I do lose sleep when the National is out of town since I've always driven to the event.  Last year that was definitely the case as I started the day in PA, went to the show in NJ and then drove for six hours after the show.

Liking golf, track and the Tour de France makes this week fun.  It also makes it difficult if I wake up in the middle of the night because I'm likely to turn on The Tour or The Open which means I end up not getting back to sleep too quickly.

The National - One Week From Today

The National opens a week from today.  Sure, I rarely get many Kellogg's cards when I am there, but one never knows.  In past years I found a 1971 Kellogg's football set, lots of 10 cent cards and a few oddball items.

It looks like I won't be able to make it on Wednesday or Thursday so I will probably miss any super deals.  I expect to be there on Friday, but I've probably only got three hours so I will be moving quickly around.

I'm not sure if I can attend on Saturday either.  I know that I can take my time and check out things on Sunday.  That can be good since sometimes there are deals to be had on Sunday, but good stuff will be gone by then if it is priced fairly.

I hope to see some of you there on Sunday.  I've almost always gotten to go on Wednesday and Thursday so that will be disappointing for sure.

When I pick up lots they never contain Rose, Ryan, Jackson and Mike Schmidt.  I'm always looking for a few of these guys to complete sets.

I always look for cheap cards featuring Cubs.

I Couldn't Pass Up This Sheet

I was checking out stuff on ebay and I found a 1981 Kellogg's uncut sheet.  I doubt that it is valuable, but it is a great display item.  The seller has four more of them for anyone who is interested.

I haven't seen sheets that have some of the cards upside down.  Has anyone else seen that?

1974 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs #28 - 30

Back for more.  Photos will need to wait until tomorrow.

#30 - Rod Carew

He is mentioned as one of the few career .300 hitters in the majors.  He appeared in a career-high 149 games.  I would have never guessed that.

Not on the card - he played over 150 games four times in his career after 1973.  I was surprised to see how many games he missed or rested in his career.  As a result of these numbers he reached 200 hits only four times in 19 years which isn't many for a guy with a .328 career average.

Not a power hitter, in 1972 he became the first AL batting champ to have no homers.   He "slugged" six homers in 1973 and he later hit 14 homers in two different seasons.

He stole 41 bases in 1973.  He ended up with 353 in his career.

#29 - John Mayberry

Houston wasn't patient enough with him and the Royals benefitted from that.  He hit 25 homers and had 100 RBIs in his first full season.  He followed that with a season of 26-100.

Not on the card - he reached 100 RBIs only one more time in his career but he reached 30 homers twice.

He went to the same Detroit high school as Willie Horton, Alex Johnson and Ron Johnson (NFL).

Not on the card - all three can be found on Kellogg's cards.

#28 - Johnny Bench

Bench's hobbies include bowling and singing.  I think I've seen video of him doing each of these things.  He had lung surgery after the 1972 season.

He has a career of "peaks and valleys" as Kellogg's put it.  His 1973 season was seen as a valley after MVP seasons in 1970 and 1972.  His off year had the following results - 25 homers and 104 RBIs.  Not bad when considering how recovery was from surgery back in 1972.

Not on the card - he had 33 HR and 129 RBIs in 1974 so Kellogg's wasn't far off in their prediction.  Steve Garvey (10), Lou Brock (5) and Mike Marshall (1) finished ahead of Bench in the MVP voting.

Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs #31 - 33

Time for another adventure with Kellogg's baseball card backs.  Will there be any "pudgy" guys this time?

This group has two former Cubs and one former White Sox player.  Getting Cubs autographs after a game was fun.  We weren't allowed to stay around after White Sox games since we parked in the neighborhood to save money.  I remember being scared to walk under the leaky train viaduct from the park.

#33 - Dick Allen

Allen broke his leg during the 1973 season so he only played in 72 games after being the 1972 AL MVP.  He still hit .300 for the sixth time.  I didn't realize he'd done that or that he had a .299 career average at this point.

His injury "erased the White Sox pennant hopes".

Not on the card - they remained erased until 2005.

Not on the card - he ended up with a career average of .292.

#32 - Billy Williams

He keeps rolling along toward Cooperstown.

Not on the card - he is not mentioned as the 1972 NL MVP.  Why?  Somehow he finished second to Johnny Bench again (1970).  I recall that this really bothered in 1972.

Williams only played 150 games in 1972.  He could have used the extra games to pad his stats.  I say only because his lowest number since 1961 was 157.  He played 1,117 consecutive games at one point.  

#31 - Ken Holtzman

He threw two no-hitters as a Cub.  After being traded to the A's he won 40 games in his first two seasons and also earned post-season wins.

Not on the card - he ended up 6-4 in the post-season while earning three World Series rings.

Not on the card - he had only two homers in 665 career plate appearances but he homered in the 1974 World Series.  Since the DH began in 1973, he had no regular season or playoff at bats in 1974 and he had one AB in 1973 - he walked.

1974 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs #34 - 36

Time to check out three more card backs.  I could say that I'm having a problem loading pictures, but the truth is I'm just having a busy week.  I will try to find these cards tomorrow.  

#36 - Joe Morgan

Morgan had career highs in many areas.  He added 67 steals to trail Lou Brock by only three.  He now has 320 for his career.  

Not on the card - he exceeded his home run and RBI totals a few years later.  He was NL MVP in 1975 and 1976.  

Not on the card - I didn't realize that he had 689 career steals.  He played 22 years and he amassed over 300 of those steals in his last 11 years.  Not many guys have been that consistent.  I would have never guessed that he is 11th all time in stolen bases.  

#35 - Danny Thompson

I didn't know that Thompson had leukemia.  To add to his woes, he had arm troubles too.  He was the number one choice of the Twins in 1968.  

Not on the card - he was just diagnosed with leukemia during 1973 so the news on the card was new.  He played until the end of the 1976 season.  He died two months after the 1976 season due to complications from surgery for his leukemia.

#34 - Wilbur Wood

In 1973 Wood became the first pitcher since Walter Johnson in 1916 to win and lose 20 or more games in a season.

He pitched 359 innings in 49 games (48 starts), leading the league in innings for the second year in a row.  His W-L record was 24-20 with 21 complete games.  

Walter Johnson's stats in 1916 - W-L 25-20, 38 starts plus 10 relief appearances, 36 complete games and 369 innings.  

Kellogg's calls him a "pudgy lefthander" even though he's listed at 6-0 and 185 pounds.

Not on the card - Kellogg's can also call me a pudgy lefthander.  

Sportscard Market Report Price Guide

I didn't know that the SMR Price Guide stuff was available free online.  Is it always?  Here is the one from 1970 Kellogg's football cards.

https://www.psacard.com/smrpriceguide/football-card-values/1970-kelloggs/687

This doesn't mean a lot to me since I'm not really into getting cards graded.  It is good to know more about Kellogg's cards since we each have our own way of collecting.

I have so few graded cards that I didn't even find one quickly to post here.  Too close to bed time to worry about that.

Kellogg's Credit Cards?

Does anyone know much about these Kellogg's credit cards?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1985-KELLOGGS-CRED-CARD-15-M-LEMIEUX-M-BULLARD-PSA-GEM-MINT-10-ROOKIE-CARD-/172009681449?hash=item280c937229:g:TiUAAOSwxN5WVUuJ


I'm not finding much about them online.

Card Show Recap From Sunday

I stopped at a card show before going for a run on Sunday.  There is always one dealer with lots of vintage cards.  Sometimes he's got a bunch of Kellogg's cards.  He had a stack of 3-D football cards but they were not in my price range.

He also had 1980 and 1981 baseball cards that looked to be in really nice condition.  They weren't priced so I didn't bother asking about them since I've got the sets already.

The show was smaller than usual and there wasn't much that I wanted to look at unfortunately.  I was out of there in about 10 minutes.  I bought a 1970 Topps Super of Deacon Jones.  I'd never gotten one of the Supers with a football player so that was nice.

I guess that leaves me more money for the National.  I doubt that there will be other shows to check out before the National.  Maybe a flea market before that?

1974 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs #37 - 39

Back for more before the All-Star Game begins.

#39 - Bobby Bonds

Bonds mentioned singing and dancing as his hobbies.  That's great.

His first career hit was a grand slam homer.  

He still strikes out too much but he hit 39 homers in 1973.  I like the mention of being out of the shadow of Willie Mays since Mays moved on to the Mets. 

Not on the card - he never hit 39 homers again, but he did hit 332 in his career.  He didn't cure the tendency to strike out - he is 20th all-time in that category.

#38 - Pete Rose

Pete won his third batting title and was named MVP in 1973.  He is one of baseball's few .300 career hitters.  

Not on the card - that was his last batting title.  He did hit over .320 three more times but none of those resulted in a batting title.  He lost out in those years to Keith Hernandez once and Bill Madlock twice.  

Not on the card - Rose earned MVP votes in 15 different seasons including every year but one from 1965 to 1979.  In 1974 he led the league in runs and doubles but hit only .284.  26 guys got MVP votes that year including four Reds, but not Rose.  

#37 - Willie Stargell

Stargell surpassed 300 homers and 1,000 RBIs in 1973.  He narrowly missed winning MVP honors.

Not on the card - Rose won his only MVP award.  Rose had 12 first-place votes to Stargell's 10.  Bonds and Joe Morgan each had one vote.  Nice - the top three finishers together in this post.  

Not on the card - Stargell received MVP votes in 11 seasons.  He won the award in 1979.  

1974 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs #40 - 42

Back at it again before I get too tired out tonight.

#42 - Cookie Rojas

Of course I still call him Cookie Ro-Jazz since that is how my brother said his name.

Movies make for a different hobby than the usual sports.

Not on the card - I would never had known that he got MVP votes in three different seasons including one with Philadelphia.

#41 - Sparky Lyle

The back of his card actually mentions the oddity of him always being groomed as a relief pitcher.  It mentions that he has not started a game in the majors.  I think I mentioned that in a previous post.

#40 - Chris Speier

Not many guys have three consecutive vowels in their name.  Let's not count the guys like Meyer where the y is definitely a consonant.  It's been a long time since fourth grade, sorry.  I will address this in a future post.

He was a starting shortstop at age 20.  He's said to be one of the best hitting shortstops in the game. 

Not on the card - he played a long time (1971 - 1989) for a guy who never hit 15 homers or 71 RBIs again.  

He was an all-star in 1972, 1973 and 1974.  

1974 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs #43 - 45

Back for more of the same today.  Bring on the National so I have lots more to talk about.


#45 - Willie Davis

Even though I'm looking at the backs, Why does it show Wm. Davis on the front?  Sure card #43 is Tommy Davis, but he's shown as T. Davis.  There was only one other Davis who played in 1973 - Bob Davis.  He played five games in what was his first MLB season.

His trade to Montreal is mentioned on the back of the card.  Both photos show his as a Dodger but the Expos logo is on the back of the card.

Not on the card - he had 2,561 career hits.  That was a surprise to me since he was already an older player to me when I learned about the game.  He even stole 398 bases during his career.

Not on the card - the Dodgers got Mike Marshall, the pitcher, for him.  That was quite a good deal for the Dodgers since Marshall won the Cy Young Award in 1974.

FYI - Mike Marshall the Dodger outfielder debuted in 1981(09-07) while Mike Marshall the pitcher played his last game that same year (10-01) for the Mets.  The rookie Marshall didn't play much and they didn't face off against each other.  

#44 - Jim Hunter

He won 21 games for the third year in a row.  He allowed only 69 walks.  His is 49th all-time for the least walks plus hits per nine innings in his career.  

Not on the card - he was never traded.  He was a free agent signing.

#43 - Tommy Davis

Tommy Davis is no relation to Willie Davis shown above.  Like Willie, Tommy also surpassed 2,000 hits (2,121).  

Davis benefitted from the new designated hitter rule, just like Orlando Cepeda.  

The back of his card reads like a current day relief pitcher.  After years in LA, during an eight-year stretch he was in New York (NL), Chicago (AL), Seattle, Houston (NL then), Chicago (NL), Oakland, Chicago again (NL) and then Baltimore.

not on the card - he later played for California and Kansas City.

1974 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs #46 - 48

Time to check out three more of the 1974 Kellogg's baseball card backs.

#46 - Bert Blyleven

Blyleven had the second best ERA in the AL and he led the MLB with nine shutouts.   He rebounded from being 2-6 to finish at 20-17.  

I didn't know that he went from Holland to Canada and then to the USA as a kid.  

The card mentions that unlike Nolan Ryan, Blyleven has a great curveball to go with his fastball.  

Not on the card - he got 37 decisions in 40 games.  How?  He averaged over eight innings per start.  

#47 - Pat Kelly

Kelly likes dancing.  I never heard them mention his given name of Harold when he played for the White Sox.

He led the team in steals with 22.  That not impressive.  Those White Sox teams had nothing going on the bases.

He is the brother of Cleveland's football player Leroy Kelly, who can be found in the 1970 Kellogg's Football card set.   Are there any other brothers with cards in the football and baseball sets?  I will check that out sometime.

#48 - Ken Singleton

The card mentions that the Mets had great hopes for Singleton.  They give him even two full seasons to try and impress them.  In 1973 he had a great season for Montreal.

In 1972 the Expos found out that Ken was allergic to the wool in the uniforms.  What?  They found a new uniform for him and his career improved immensely.

Not on the card - his trade from the Mets to the Expos was mentioned, but the card doesn't give specifics.  He was traded by the Mets with Tim Foli and Mike Jorgensen for Rusty Staub.

1974 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs #49 - 51

Back to check out more of the card backs from 1974 Kellogg's.

#49 - Manny Mota

When a guy had his positions listed as Outfield - Infield I assumed he could do it all.  This is quite the difference from Blomberg being listed as DH.  

Manny preferred to make contact rather than swing for homers.  He excels as a part-time player and pinch hitter.

Not on the card - he lasted until 1982 but he was almost exclusively a pinch hitter after 1973.  He was an all-star in 1973 somehow.

I would have never guessed that he batted .304 for his career.  

#50 - Davey Johnson

Does anyone other than Johnson list skin diving as a hobby?  

A guy who showed no power as an Oriole moved to the Braves and set the all-time record for homers by a second baseman.  

His card has lots more random stuff than normally seen in a bio.  Here they are:

- he is a licensed pilot.

- he has a math degreee

- his is friends with Falcons football player Tommy Nobis from their high school days in Texas.

Not on the card - Nobis has a Kellogg's card in the 1970 Football set.

#51 - Sal Bando

Bando had perfect attendance for the third time in six seasons.  He improved his average 50 points in 1973 from 1972.  

He had two homers in the deciding playoff game against Baltimore.

I ignore those signing bonus numbers on the cards.  It might have seemed like a lot when I dug this card out of the cereal box, but those numbers are laughable now.

Not on the card - I remember Bando, Rudi, Hunter and the other A's all being a big deal in the free agent market.  Bando signed with the Brewers but he never did much for them. 

1974 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs #52 - 54

Time to check out the write-ups on the back of the 1974 Kellogg's baseball cards.  The writing style changes a lot from year to year so I don't know what to expect with this set.

#54 - Ron Blomberg

On the back of the card Blomberg is listed as 1B and DH.  How many players in 1974 had DH on their card?  I will need to check that out.  

"The Boomer" can't seem to hit left-handed pitchers.  The Yankees don't play him against lefties.  

"Never touted as a candidate for a Gold Glove".  That's not a surprise for a guy who has one of his positions as DH, especially since the DH just began in 1973 with his first at-bat.  

The card mentions his fielding problems and poor hitting against lefties again!  He's also prone to getting injured. 

He was batting over .400 against righties for most of the 1973 season.  Hit hit .329 for the season.  

Not on the card - he hit .338 vs. righties and he only came up to the plate 23 times against lefties.  

I was surprised to see that he only played in 461 career games.  I wasn't surprised that he started at DH in 165 of those games.  That is really only three full seasons.   Barely 10% of his career at-bats came against lefties.  His career average against righties - .304.   

#53 - Felix Millan

I like the first line as it really disses the Mets - "Felix's 1973 output proves all the Mets deals aren't bad."  He led the Mets in multiple batting categories.   He was praised multiple times on the card for his play at second base.   

Not on the card - he won his second Gold Glove in 1972.

#52 - Tom Seaver

Seaver became the first non-twenty game winner to earn a Cy Young Award.  I didn't believe that so I did some research.  That was correct.  Dodger Mike Marshall (1974) and Yankee Sparky Lyle (1977) followed soon after as Cy Young winners without 20 wins, but they were both relief pitchers.  

Ron Bryant of the Giants went 24-12 during 1973 but he finished a distant third in the voting. 

Seaver did lead the league in strikeouts and ERA.  That's quite a good ERA for a 19-10 record.  In six of Seaver's 10 losses the Mets scored a total of 10 runs.  The card mentions that Cy Young voters must have taken that into account.