Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Hank Sauer



Cost: $12.82 (with shipping)

Where purchased: eBay

Condition: Excellent. Fairly sharp corners and no creases. So far this is the best-conditioned card I have in the set.

Comments: First of four cards I got a few days ago. Sauer was NL MVP in 1952.

Gus Zernial



Cost: $8.82 (with shipping)

Where purchased: eBay

Condition: Very good to excellent. Both bottom edges have wear but no real creases on the card.

Comments: Second of four cards I got a few days ago. In 1951, Zernial led the AL in homers (33) and RBI (129).

Sammy White



Cost:
$12.82 (with shipping)

Where purchased: eBay

Condition: Excellent. It's a bit off center, but not by a whole lot.

Comments: Third of four cards I got a few days ago. Is it just me or does he have some white teeth?

Roy McMillan



Cost:
$12.82 (with shipping)

Where purchased: eBay

Condition: Excellent. No creases whatsoever but the card seems to have a very slight bubble in the top left corner. It's hardly noticeable.

Comments: Last of four cards I got a few days ago. A real nice card of the Cincinnati infielder.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Stan Musial













Cost: $44.01 (with shipping)

Where purchased: eBay

Condition: Poor to fair. Plenty of creases, rounded corners and pencil marks on Musial's face (near his nose).

Comments: I thought this would be the costliest card of the set but I was lucky enough to score this one for $44. I was pretty excited to see a package in the mail today.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Carl Erskine













Cost:
$12.50 (with shipping)

Where purchased: eBay

Condition: Poor to fair. Lots of creases, rounded corners and some sort of ink on the back.

Comments: Erskine was a 20-game winner for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1953.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

George Kell













Cost: $9 (with shipping)

Where purchased: eBay

Condition: Very good. Nice overall condition with rounded corners and one very light creases.

Comments: That old Red Sox hat is much better than the one they wear today.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Billy Martin













Cost: $17 (with shipping)

Where purchased: eBay

Condition: Very good to excellent. A few soft corners, especially the bottom left.

Comments: This is quickly becoming one of my favorite cards in my collection. It's great to see a young Billy Martin in a Yankees uniform.

Ralph Kiner













Cost: $12 (with shipping)

Where purchased: eBay

Condition: Very good to excellent. Corners are a bit soft but no real creases on the card.

Comments: Hit 35 homer with 116 RBI in first season with the 1953 Cubs.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Jim Gilliam


Cost: $9 (with shipping)

Where purchased: eBay

Condition: Good to very good. There is a pretty good crease in the top right corner but other than that it's in pretty good shape.

Comments: When Jackie Robinson moved to third base and the outfield in 1953, it was Jim Gilliam who replaced him. He played so well, he was named NL Rookie of the Year.

Frankie Baumholtz

Cost: $7 (shipping included)

Where purchased: eBay

Condition: Good. Has a pretty rough top edge and a few light creases.

Comments: Reading the back of the card, Baumholtz was also a professional basketball player.

Dee Fondy

Cost: $9 (shipping included)

Where purchased: eBay

Condition: Good. It looks like this card may have some water damage. The front looks pretty good but the back has some slight staining.

Comments: Fondy had a good year with the Cubs in 1953 hitting .309 with 18 homers and 78 RBI.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Eddie Yost


Cost: $9 (shipping included)

Where purchased: eBay

Condition: Good. It's got a few creases but still a nice card.

Comments: I really think those zipper-front uniforms of the 1950s were cool!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Bob Lemon



Cost: $20 (shipping included)

Where purchased: eBay

Condition: Very good. I'm not sure on this one, the card could be excellent but for the pinhole in the top right corner.

Comments: According to the card's back: Lemon led the league in wins in 1950 with 23; in 1951 he led the league with 14 losses.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Duke Snider


Cost: $13 (shipping included)

Where purchased: eBay

Condition: Very good. It has a crease in the top-quarter of the card that goes through the bat horizontally. However, it does not go through the card.

Comments: Again another attractive card, I am constantly surprised by the quality of this small set of 1954.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Mickey Mantle


Cost: $175 (plus shipping, tax and insurance)

Where purchased: eBay

Condition: Poor to fair with lots of creases, dings and some major wear.

Comments: Hey it's Mickey Mantle. When looking at buying this card I saw several (in better shape) selling for $800 to $2,000-plus. And while $175 is not what I would usually spend for a card in this condition, it is a pretty scarce card from a not-so-east-to-find regional set. At least that's what I keep telling myself when I think about its price.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Gus Bell



Cost:
$12 (shipping included)

Where purchased: eBay

Condition: Very good to excellent with no creases and slight corner dings.

Comments: Notice that Bell plays for the Redlegs not the Reds. It was the 1950's after all, and back then it wasn't a good thing to be called Red because of its communist connotation.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Harvey Kuenn


Cost: $11 (shipping included)

Where purchased: eBay

Condition: Good with scuff marks in the bottom-right quarter.

Comments: The back of this card states that Harvey Kuenn was the rookie of the year for 1953.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Billy Pierce


Cost: $10 (shipping included)

Where purchased: eBay

Condition: Very good. It would probably be closer to excellent if it didn't have writing on the back.

Comments: I wonder what the "RL" on the back stands for. Could it be a kid's initials? Too bad, a nice card otherwise.

Jim Hegan


Cost: $10 (shipping included)

Where purchased: eBay

Condition: Very good to excellent with no creases and slight corner dings. This card has vibrant color.

Comments: This is a pretty nice card. The red background really pops.

Alvin Dark


Cost: Not sure, I got this about 10 years ago.

Where purchased: Kit Young Cards. While they are a large mail-order and eBay seller, I actually bought this in person from their warehouse.

Condition: Good to very good with a few light creases and some damage to the upper-right corner.

Comments: This is the first Red Heart I ever owned. I saw it in a catalog and didn't want to spend too much so I got this one of Alvin Dark. At least I had heard of him.