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Thursday, June 15, 2023

Been at this for a decade now

Hey, here are some cards I got in trade from my buddy Dennis at TMV. He found some autographs he was interested in from my trade bait page, and we were able to hammer out a deal that resulted in big help to vintage setbuilds of mine. 


I've been after a second-year Garvey for a long time. Needed it for my set (129 cards left to go.. pretty much all high numbers or variations), plus he's a solid PC guy of mine thanks in no small part to his Padres tenure (growing up in San Diego in the '80s, as I did). Being a tough high-number, I'm unlikely to score a dupe for the PC anytime soon, so I'll be content with just the one.



And how about another Dodgers legend? Freshly-minted Hall of Famer Gil Hodges was probably the biggest name left on my '57 Topps needs. Just 80 more cards left to go, and none of those should run me much into double digits. I should probably hit that quest harder, hunting down deals on my remaining needs and finally sticking a fork in what's my longest-running setbuild. --Scratch that, my blog archives reminded me that 1964 Topps was in the works (and still is) when I officially declared I'd be trying to complete a set of 1957 Topps back in February 2017.

Typically when I get a player's '57 Topps card, that's my oldest card of the guy, with my collecting focus not often stretching back past the 60s, but I'm very happy to own a beat-up Bowman rookie of Gil Hodges. Cool to add another playing-days card of the man.

Anyways, those 2 cards would have been fine in exchange for the pair of autographs Dennis was interested in, but he kindly threw in another cardboard heavy-weight to take the return over the top...


Yes, the Klutts rookie second-year! This was the main hurdle in finishing my 1978 Topps build. Just 34 cards left there, nearly all commons.



And for good measure, a new Gavin and 12/25 card from the set containing the most Christmas Cards ever, 2008 Topps Moments & Milestones. Chase Utley, not too shabby.

Thanks again for the trade, Dennis! Always a pleasure.

- - -o

I had some other Gavins and Christmas Cards I've been meaning to post about, so I guess I'll do that here. The below were all eBay buys. I don't focus as much these days on either minicollection, though once in a blue moon I'll do a search and see if I can find anything cool cheap. But I also have a saved search for cards that are both Gavins and 12/25.. and are autographs. Like this pair..


Gavin Williams again on the left. He's likely to crack the majors this year with Cleveland. And a pitcher named Gavin Stone (whom I also have a 12/25 auto of) made his debut for the Dodgers earlier this year. Two new MLB Gavins in the same year?! What a time to be alive. As a kid growing up with it being an uncommon name, never thought I'd see that day.


A better look at the numbering. The other guy, Gavin Stedman, is still an amateur, so we'll see if he ends up doing anything notable in the sport. Remember back when I collected Gavin Lux as an amateur? Then he was a 1st round pick and did well in the minors and his cards were really hot there for a moment? (I didn't sell any of his cards then, not even my dupes *kicking myself*) And then he struggled and then got hurt, and now his cards aren't worth much? The cardboard lifecycle. Now that I've been back in the hobby for over a decade, I've seen it plenty of times, and it's probably why I don't mess with modern cards much anymore.


This trio of Christmas Cards are the result of some more bids that came out on top. I don't collect Nick Fortes, just taking a flyer on a cheap 12/25 RC. Dick Williams is a PC guy (Pads in the Hall), and I don't think I had a relic of his, so that helped me go after this ugly card featuring a b&w photo of Dick with his back turned pooping out a white swatch. I sure don't chase modern Pinnacle at all (honestly never that big on Pinnacle even in its prime), but it was the cheapest Juan Soto christmas card I could find, so I went for it.

- -o

Oh, it's my 10 Year Blogiversary today, June 15. Normally I'd make a bigger deal of it, but I'm more in a working-on-stuff mindset at the moment, with some creative projects in the works that I'm excited to share soon. I'll try to do a "celebrating 10 years of Baseball Card Breakdown" thing later this summer, perhaps with a contest/giveaway aspect. But can't get to that today.

Oh wow, it's not serious, but technically speaking I just now found out I have cancer while working on this post. It's just a little basal cell skin irritation on my back that needs a 15-minute procedure to burn off and isn't at all likely to spread anywhere, but still, yikes. (Finally went to the dermatologist for the first time as an adult earlier this week.)

Ok then. Thanks for reading! Got a COMC package due tomorrow, so you'll likely be hearing from me again soon!

14 comments:

  1. Congrats former ROY! That means I have 2 months to go for my thenth! Just between you and I our rookie class is the best out there, lol.

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  2. Happy blogiversary!! And good luck with the '57 set! Thankfully I completed mine a long time ago, but it is a doozy. Also it is a good reminder to get to a dermatologist! I've had some suspect spots removed as well.

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  3. Congrats on the blog milestone. And no worries on the skin cancer. I get basal cell all the time. I go to the dermo every 4 months and they're always burning or cutting spots out. As long as they get it before it gets too big.

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  4. Happy 10th, Gavin! And thank goodness your skin issue isn't any more serious than it already is. Despite what Tom said, it still sounded kind of scary.

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  5. Happy 10 years, Gavin! I'm glad you caught the skin cancer potentially early. Thanks again for a great trade--I think you were more than fair in what you were asking for so I was happy I could include the Molitor/Tram!

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  6. Glad they caught that in time for the cancer. I had never heard of that before. I only saw a dermatologist for my psoriasis.

    Congrats on 10 years! I didn’t know I had started a year or two before you. Thought we were from the same rookie class.

    Take care!
    Matt-CardsOverCoffee

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  7. Dude, congrats on 10! Always enjoy your posts and spin on things.

    Scary stuff with the skin issue, but hopefully caught it quick and all will be fine after the procedure.

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  8. Happy anniversary! Yours was, I believe, the first card blog I ever read. Glad you're still writing!
    Best of luck beating cancers butt.

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  9. Happy 10th Anniversary! Glad to hear the cancer diagnosis is not considered serious!

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  10. Happy anniversary, and good health always!

    '57s seem to be hard to come by, compared even to '55s and '56s lately.

    Got to admit I laughed out loud at your description of Dick Williams's card.

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  11. Happy anniversary, glad to hear that it's not serious

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  12. Happy 1-0. I've got two of that Garvey (no, they're not available :)). Hodges and Klutts second-year too. Wee!

    Me and the dermo are besties. I've got another visit in a couple of weeks. No biggie.

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  13. I'm two days late... but happy blogiversary!

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