Tuesday, May 8, 2012

My newest, rarest and most favorite piece of cardboard

This is the finale of the Gypsy Queen vs. Vintage battle.  This has been one of the least viewed things I've ever posted, but I think it was worth it in the end.  You see, what amounts to the last vintage "pack" plus the bonus card, are firsts for my collection.

The seller I bought the lot of vintage catchers from posted a lot of 1951 Bowman cards.  It was a decent sized lot and I commented that I'd be interested in the catchers if he didn't get a buyer for the whole lot.  He contacted me and offered me 5 of the Bowman cards plus all the other catcher cards you've seen here the last few days.  Here are the very first 1951 Bowman cards I've ever touched, much less owned.



Al Evans, Boston Red Sox. 



Evans played 12 seasons, all but the last with the Washington Senators.  He signed with the Cubs in 1952, but never played a game for them. 





Walker Cooper, Boston Braves. 




Cooper played from 1940-1957.  He was a 6 time All-Star.  He had 1,341 hits, 173 homers, 812 RBIs and a .285 career average. 



Aaron Robinson, Detroit Tigers.




Robinson had an 8 year career that saw him play with the Yankees, White Sox, Tigers and Red Sox. 




Del Rice, St. Louis Cardinals. 




Rice played 17 years (1945-1961), primarily with the Cardinals.  His 1960 was quite a whirlwind.  Between June and December of 1960, he was released by the Cubs, signed yet again by the Cardinals, put on waivers and claimed by Baltimore, released and then signed by the Angels. 

I am thrilled to have these cards in my collection.  They are great, but not as great as this next card.



I'm not a big fan of slabbed cards and I may bust this one loose, but I am truly amazed that I got all those other catcher cards AND this 1951 Bowman Roy Campanella for $40.  This is my new favorite card.  Not just in this lot, but in my whole collection. 

Thanks for following along with the GQ vs. Vintage posts.  It wasn't really a contest at all and I knew the vintage lot was way better than the two blasters.  I didn't set out to seriously compare the two, but I happened to make the purchase at almost the same time and thought it would be interesting to see how the value broke down. 

16 comments:

  1. Great cards, it's nice to follow a fellow catcher collector.

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  2. I thought the Al Evans was gonna be yer new fav, it is pretty rad, but the Campy is AWESOME!!!!

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  3. somehow I knew you'd have the Cooper, one I still need...

    and YES! LET CAMPY FREE!!!!!!!

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  4. That card is incredible. You really can't beat cards that old. I say we Free Roy! Congrats on adding him to your collection! -Andy

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  5. Yup, that '51 Campy needs to be out of the plastic so he can breathe. Great additions to your collection. Congrats.

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  6. I like this series. Other people are stupid. And yes, free Campy.

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  7. Awesome cards and for a great price! Congrats!

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  8. I have a few of the '51 Bowman Dodgers (not Campy, sadly). They are pretty nice -- outside of the plastic.

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  9. Just cracked seven today. Let your cards roam free. :)

    Nice Campy, too.

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  10. Absolutely beautiful! Hard to beat vintage Campy, especially those '50-'52 Bowman offerings (and '53-'54 are pretty swell too).

    I still need to add the '51 Roy to my Campy Collection. As far as breaking him free, only my '50 Bowman Campanella is encased, and I actually prefer it that way.

    Really just boils down to a matter of preference.

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  11. nice job - i definitely enjoyed the read!

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  12. nice job - i definitely enjoyed the read!

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  13. nice job - i definitely enjoyed the read!

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  14. nice job - i definitely enjoyed the read!

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  15. Huge score... that Campanella is awesome!

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