Hoyt Sweet Hoyt

Some big news for me: My wife and I are in the process of buying our first home! Yep, we found a house we liked over the weekend, put in an offer yesterday, and it was accepted today. So hopefully that all goes smoothly and we start moving in soon. It's only about 5 minutes away from the house we've been renting for the past few years, so the move shouldn't be too rough. The new place is in a better location, and the house is nicer but a little smaller. I'm a bit stressed out, but also excited to finally have a "forever home" of my own lined up. Lots of projects on the horizon to keep me busy, I'm sure.

One such project will be setting up a card room, or maybe some would call it a "Den of Geek"...

Anybody else get this "junk mail" last month? I'm not sure how I ended up on the mailing list, but I received this eBay magazine that focuses on trading cards. I skimmed through it a little and it was fine, but I really perked up when I noticed there was a coupon code.

I unfortunately wasn't able to use the $25 "HAPPY25" code going around that only seems to work for eBay accounts that've been around since the 90s-- my current eBay account was created in 2004, though I did have an old account before that-- but at least this $10 code made for a nice consolation.

After overthinking what to spend it on as the window to use it crept closer (end of August), I eventually settled on a vintage Hoyt Wilhelm I needed.

This 1954 Bowman was listed at $10.31, so after the coupon, it ran me just 31¢ (free shipping, and I live in a state with no sales tax-- Oh man, not looking forward to having to pay property tax now... that's where they get ya in Oregon to make up for no sales tax). Hoyt is one of my favorite guys to collect, though I've still got some vintage holes to fill. In fact, this is my first Bowman Hoyt. It's the middle child of his 3 Bowman issues; he's also got a 1953 Bowman Black & White and a 1955 Bowman card.

Here's the back. The card is in decent shape. You can find it closer to $5 on COMC, so maybe it wasn't the shrewdest use of my free money, but whatever, I'm happy with the pickup. Glad to land a vintage Hoyt need, and for just 31¢. Of course the big boy I'd like to score someday is his '52 Topps high-numbered rookie, but that's a very expensive card, and with my finances now being cramped due to buying a house, I probably won't be splurging on cardboard for a while.

But yeah, exciting times here at Baseball Card Breakdown HQ! Thanks for stopping by.