Ho Ho Hoyt. This is my entry for the ugly Christmas sweater card contest over at Baseball Every Night.
I love collecting Hoyt Wilhelm, but he has a few unattractive cards, like the blacked-out caps on his '69 and '70 Topps, not to mention his most expensive card: the high-numbered 1952 Topps rookie where he's pictured with his eyes closed.
But the card that popped to mind when I tried to think of an ugly card was Wilhelm's 1979 TCMA minor league West Haven Yankees coach card with the inexplicable blacked-out face.
All copies of the card are like this, it's not some random printing flaw with my particular copy. I know there are plenty of cards out there where the player's face is hidden in the shadow of his cap, but this looks particularly odd. Was there some weird problem with the photo but TCMA went with it anyways? Perhaps he was in a cartoon and his shotgun misfired in his face...
We may never know the reason behind the photo on this bizarre card, but it's a beloved ugly card in my collection.
Hey, while we're at it, let's go ahead and do an updated "PC post" for my Hoyt collection.
50s cards. Still missing a few. Once I get serious about collecting '59 Topps, the cleaner of the pair will probably end up in there.
60s. Still missing the first part of the decade.
Closing out with the 70s. I'd like to complement these with their OPC counterparts, where applicable.
Oddballs.
Customs I've made, including cards from his time in the Cuban winter league, his "zero year" stint in Kansas City, and a "sunset card that never was" from '73.
Modern Topps with a few reprints and whatnot.
Upper Deck and Fleer.
Donruss and Panini.
And closing out the post with a few hits.
Still a while till I hit my goal of 100 different cards, but not too far off. Looking to trade for any cards I'm missing. Thanks!
UPDATE: STOP THE PRESSES! I forgot some recent additions:
Some modern stuff, less-modern oddballs, and a custom.
A signed 8x10 and signed back of a business card.
Here's the front of the business card. Villa Marie in Hillside, Illinois. Looks tasty. I picked this up cheap a while back figuring I'd make some sort of custom "cut auto" with it, but haven't gotten around to it. I may end up keeping it as-is.
Thanks for reading.
Impressive Hoyt collection! A lot of his cards are either gems or duds. The 54, 72, and 63 are beauties. So is the Fleer Greats auto. But yeah, that TCMA card is a mess. And, as a longtime resident of the city depicted, I can tell you that it is every bit as craptacular as the photo.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of using eye black, but geez
ReplyDeleteThat is one killer Hoyt collection!
ReplyDeleteI saw this card on COMC but just figured it was a printing flaw of some kind on that specific copy. Wasn't aware that all of them were like that, and I can offer absolutely no explanation for it.
ReplyDeleteLove the '72. That's a tough one to get. Also, I got confused when I first saw the 1970 Kellogg's. I don't remember him being a part of that set. Is that a custom job?
ReplyDeleteTruly an impressive collection - Hoyt is definitely one of my favorite short-term Cubs. Also, you're customs are so top notch that I'd have a hard time identifying them as such without your notations!
ReplyDeleteThat is a worthy ugly card entry! It's borderline horrific!
ReplyDeleteThanks, guys! Turrdog, yes, the '7o Kellogg's is a custom.. you can get a better look at it at this post: https://baseballcardbreakdown.blogspot.com/2018/06/recent-customs-n-such.html
ReplyDeleteWow. That's pretty bad. Hoyt kinda looks like he was auditioning for a horror film on that card. All of your other Wilhelms are pretty sweet though.
ReplyDeleteThis collection is awesome! Thank you, too, for entering the contest. That's an awful baseball card but fortunately most of this other ones are sweet!
ReplyDelete