There is Usually Only One Way to Get This Card

This is not an impossible card to find.  It is also a great looking card.  I get lots of comments/e-mails about this card.  Why?  It doesn't get offered for sale individually very often.

This card comes in an eleven-card set, with a checklist being the eleventh card.  What I have found is that the set is often available in the $10 range - $1 per card.  That's how I've been able to get a few of this card.  It's a nice set that does lack another star of Clemente's caliber, but it is still a nice set to pick up.

Greatest Players From The First 150 Years of Baseball

The 1970 Rold Gold cards celebrated the 1969 Greatest Baseball Players during the first 100 years of baseball.  Almost 50 years later, I hope that someone comes up with a new set next year to celebrate a new team.

I think that the team should be a 25-card 3-D set.  Eight positions can be represented twice each (16).  Then add four pitchers (2 starters and 2 relievers) and five wild-card selections. 

Based on the top 100 baseball players of all-time as rated by ESPN.

OF - Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Barry Bonds, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Ty Cobb
SS - Honus Wagner, Alex Rodriguez
3B - Mike Schmidt, George Brett
2B - Rogers Hornsby, Joe Morgan
1B - Stan Musial, Lou Gehrig
C   - Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra
P   - Roger Clemens, Walter Johnson, Greg Maddux, Cy Young, Randy Johnson, Tom Seaver
Misc - Mickey Mantle, Rickey Henderson, Joe DiMaggio

No relief pitchers were rated high enough on ESPN to warrant inclusion here.

Baseball Almanac - I will check that out next time. 

1968 Topps 3-D PSA Totals

I have one that is not graded, but here are the PSA totals.

#graded -- 584
# 10s ----- 46
# 9s ------ 123

Unlike most sets, where the most well-known players have the most graded cards, this is quite different.  Outside of variations, here are the graded counts of the 12 cards.

Willie Davis    -- 82
Ron Fairly      --  81
Jim Maloney   -- 68
Tony Perez      -- 57
Bob Clemente -- 52
Bill Robinson  -- 50
Ron Swoboda  -- 38
Curt Flood       -- 37
Jim Lonborg    -- 34
Rusty Staub     -- 33
Mel Stottlemyre- 29
Boog Powell    -- 27


SGC has graded 18 Clementes.  I'm not checking any other cards from this list.

2018 Topps 3D

Here's a nice article on the new 2018 Topps 3D cards that I hadn't heard about until reading this.  I don't think that this is in my price range, but let's see what happens on the secondary market.


https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/2018-topps-3d-baseball-cards-set-information-checklist/

Does anyone know anything else about this product?  It already says that it is SOLD OUT.

I Couldn't Resist These 1983s

I saw this lot that included a 1983 set in really nice condition as well as a nice 1976 Johnny Bench.  Even though there were lots of non-sports cards in the lot, it has proven to be fun to check out

I don't do this often, but I should have a fun afternoon tomorrow checking out these cards after I am done training and coaching.  

Marathon Training Has Taken Over My Free Time

I've got until early October to be done with my training for the marathon.  It is certainly taking up a lot of my free time.  So, I decided to figure out during a run how many bases I'll be covering during a 26.2 mile run.

It's 138435 feet or so.  That's 1538 * 90 feet.  1,538 bases.  Sorry Rickey Henderson with your 1,406 career stolen bases.  Not even a marathon Rickey. 

Talk about Rickey and get his card in the mail later in the week - Merry Christmas to me even though that is Rickey's birthday.

The good old days when they were called Sugar Corn Pops.  

How Could I Do That?

A few days ago I checked beckett.com for the local card show schedule.  I saw that there was one about 30 minutes from my house.  Lots of times I go for a morning run near there and then head to the card show.

Today I ran near the show but I forgot to bring money or a change in clothes.  In the winter the change of clothing isn't needed, but today I was soaked after another humid day of running  That ruled out going to the show.  Bummer.

There probably won't be another one for a month or two.

PSA Grading of 1980 Stop N Go Cards

I'm tired and lazy today so I will quickly check out the 1980 Stop N Go cards and their PSA counts.

The 1980 set has 48 cards compared to the 1979 set of 18 cards.  Are there a lot more graded 1980s?  No.  There have been 1,160 cards graded, or an average of just 24 per player.

# of 10s - 316 (27.2%)

# of 9s - 626 (54.0%)

# of 8s - 155 (13.4%)

total - 1,097 (94.6%)

I've found these cards to be in better shape than the 1979s and it shows in the PSA stats.  Here are a few of the PSA stats.

Only Franco Harris (55) has more than 50 graded cards in this set.  The lowest number is 11 for Rickey Bell and Jay Saldi.  There are a few more unknown players than these two so it surprises me to see them at the bottom of the list.

No 10s for #1 John Jefferson,

one 10 for #2 Herbert Scott and Jay Saldi.

PSA Grading of Stop N Go Football Cards - 1979

I have no graded Stop N Go cards but I was just wondering what the PSA numbers look like.  Here are the stats for the 1979 set of 18 cards.

Total number graded - 865

10s - 98 (11.3%) - 6 Paytons and 25 Staubachs

9s - 429 (49.6%)

8s - 118 (13.6%)

total - 645 (74.6%)

Walter Payton (147 graded) and Roger Staubach (107 graded) lead the way.  Franco Harris is next with 74 graded cards. 

No cards of Gregg Bingham have been graded as 10.  He is card #1 in the set if that matters here.  Robert Newhouse has only one card graded as a 10.

I will check the 1980 set some other time.  That set has 48 cards.   

I've Got Very Few of These

Whenever I ate Frosted Flakes as a kid I would read every side of the box, especially when there were Kellogg's cards inside.  Hard to believe that I didn't decide to keep any of them.

I picked up one recently, but I only have a few of these.  Does anyone see lots of them at shows or for sale elsewhere?

I Don't Know But I Couldn't Resist

When a card appears for sale and it is your favorite player from your childhood does it matter if it is valuable, useful or legit?  What if it is all of that plus something from Kellogg's?

I couldn't resist since it was affordable and a nice display item if nothing else.

Sure, its from a screwed up printing, but that makes it interesting.  

I couldn't resist the one with Seaver because Billy Williams can also be seen on this sheet.  He is printed along with Seaver on the left panel.   

Williams only managed one HR in 95 plate appearances against Seaver.  He did worse against Carlton hitting only one in 101 PA.  He did much better against Gibson and G. Perry.  

I Did Better on ebay Than at the National?

Here is what I had waiting for me at home this week.

Yes, those are all in the original wrappers.  Ruth, Gehrig and a few others are not cracked.  The others are cracked and one has a bad wrapper rip, but this is a nice lot.

No one has let me know if the Rold Gold and Kellogg's cards that are found in packs display any differences.  I have yet to see any unopened packs with the 1972 date. 

Final Group of Cards From The National

I spent a few bucks on a nice Joe Greene from 1971.  All of the others were in the $1 bin.  The 1971s show nice color.  The baseball cards help me with some sets that I am working on now.

That's about all that I got this week at the National.

Miscellaneous Pick-Ups From The National

I was glad to get the Archie Manning for a second set and I think I need a few of the others for second sets.

I just can't resist Ruth or Gehrig cards if they are cheap.  The other 1972 ATGs were hard to pass up for $1.  I ended up buying over 50 cards at $1 each from one table and just a few things elsewhere.

I do prefer to go to the National on two different days.  Either Wednesday or Thursday so I can find something interesting and Sunday so I can look for cheap stuff and go through some want lists.  Even though the show is near my house next year I'm not sure if I will be able to go for two days.  

Seeing Cracks in Kellogg's Cards

There must be something in the lighting at card shows that doesn't allow me to see cracks in Kellogg's cards.  I brought home a nice group of cards that I thought were free of cracks.  Then I get home and check them out - ugh.

I added some decent cards, but none were variations that I needed.  With a limit of four hours at the card show, I didn't consult any of my lists.

It is always nice to add some 1971s, but I was really hoping to pick up some nice ones.  Prices for nice commons seemed to be $15+.  If I had more time like last year, I might have gotten some graded ones for under $10.  Next year in Chicago I might go on Sunday which would be good for picking up stuff no one wanted and bad because good stuff will be gone if priced fairly.

What Else Did I See at the National

What else did I see or not see at the National?  Keep in mind that this was Friday, so maybe someone bought lots of stuff before that.

A day before attending I saw two 1970, five-card, 49-cent packs in a picture online.  At the show I saw those two packs and no other unopened 1970 five-card packs.  Both were still there on Friday with prices of $125.  Neither had stars showing and neither was in a desirable number range.

I saw no individually wrapped packs until the last 15 minutes.  Then I saw a group of 1972s.  That was the same group that I saw at the show last year.  

One dealer that I usually buy some cheap vintage cards from sold six different Kellogg's sets before I got there.  It was disappointing to see their list of sets for sale and see all of the Kellogg's ones crossed out.  Prices were fair and they sold 1972 ATG, 1973, 1975, 1978 and a few newer ones.  

I saw no factory sets from any year.  I didn't see any Leyendas sets either - I never have seen them at these shows.  I saw no Clementes from Puerto Rico.

I saw no advertising pieces, uncut sheets or anything else odd.  I didn't even see any 1968 Topps 3-D cards but I didn't look as closely at graded cards because I rarely buy them.

Lots of dealers who had 1950s to 1970s stuff on display had small sections of Kellogg's cards.  Lots of cracked and curled cards and lots of high prices. 

Since I've gone to the National often, most of the tables are starting to look familiar.  That's not a good thing.  

A 3-D Set I've Been Chasing - Found

I decided that I wanted to get all of the 3-D cards that were designed like the 1968 Topps 3-D cards.  Over the years I've gotten some of them, but I never made a lot of progress.  At the National I was able to get 15 in one purchase.  Here they are:

That's a nice set - Ruth, Mays, Clemente, Mantle and Kaline included.  These are from 2012 Topps Archives.  

I've lost track of what other sets used this style for inserts so maybe one of you can help me.  

2011 Topps Lineage has a set of 25 cards and I've gotten a few of them.  What is up with some 2011 Lineage 3-D cards numbered to 99?

2017 Topps Heritage had 15 cards as box toppers.  This could be costly with Trout, Harper, Bryant and others.  

Are there others?

I'm Sorting Through the Cards I Bought at the Yard Sales

It turns out that I did get some Kellogg's cards at the Yard Sales in Ohio.  Check out this picture.

This is not the entire set.  I have the set in panels, which look great. 

I ended up with lots of other cards, some good and some going to the give-away pile. 

Pre-National Yard Sale Trip

I spent hours at a long yard sale today as I get ready to attend the National on the weekend.  I saw quite a variety of cards, including some boxes that I was able to buy for just a few bucks.  The only Kellogg's cards that I saw cheap were the 1980s football cards from Raisin Bran - they aren't 3-D.

Later I saw some nice George Brett's from 1977 and 1978 along with a few other stars, but all were priced at twice e-bay levels.  Luckily, I can resist them so I didn't buy these.

I am having fun looking through the thousands of cards that I did get. 

Official USOC Sponsor

I took my team to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs last week.  It brought back good memories for me since I worked there a million years ago.  The team jokes about my blog so when they saw the list of sponsors included Kellogg's they forced me to take a picture next to the sponsor list.  I won't make you look at that image.

The USOC needs to be nicer to Kellogg's and their sponsorship.  Immediately behind the visitor registration counter sit five lockers of Olympians.  These lockers are loaded with great memorabilia from each athlete.  Kellogg's might have a problem with the General Mills Wheaties box that is prominently displayed for all visitors to see. 

Since there are about three people that read this blog, I doubt that a Kellogg's employee will hear about this.