1957
Doing '57 before '58 because, well, that's what's in front of me at the moment!
I did not expect this set to turn out like it did. When it was in its infancy, I had already picked up a Mantle, Frank Robinson, and some of the other big cards in around grade 3, and was undecided about how to continue.
That was when a collector from this forum sold me his (almost) set from his childhood.
It was
very "loved". Missing only eight commons, and almost half of the cards are 1s. You've got your punch holes, paper loss, and so on. Though there are about 50 cards that are 4s or 5s too. Not sure how those survived
There were two things that made me interested at first though: the fact that the Brooks Robinson was a clean 3 or so (my collection was missing that card). Then there was this:
Included were all the contest cards, the lucky penny, all checklists (including number 4/5, much prized even when marked). Plus a 1 cent wax pack wrapper in great shape, which is another very tough set accessory and I think one of the rarest Topps wrappers (Al?)
I'm rarely one for anything beyond a base set, but this seemed like a good time to make an exception to that.
Anyway, I was going to combine this with my other '57 HOFers to make the best set I could overall. But I've decided not to.
Because there is a charm to keeping this as is. It's like a direct pipeline to a kid collecting his cards during a time when baseball was life. Slightly before "The Sandlot", but pretty close. And given my love for the sport (playing, watching, and learning about it) back when I was a kid myself in the '80s, that makes me quite nostalgic.
So maybe I'll do something else with my other '57s sometime. But this set is going to stay together. Call it an homage to those times!
399/407
Avg condition: 1.97
Top 10 cards w/ grade:
95 Mickey Mantle: 1
328 Brooks Robinson (R): 3
35 Frank Robinson (R): 1
1 Ted Williams: 1
407 Yankee Power Hitters (Mantle,Berra): 1
302 Sandy Koufax: 1
10 Willie Mays: 1
20 Hank Aaron: 2.5
18 Don Drysdale (R): 3
76 Roberto Clemente: 1
Other highlights:
Checklist 4/5: 3 (marked)
1 cent wrapper: great shape
