The centering on the 73 Clemente, 52B Musial, and 63 Mays is amazing. All three of those cards have eye appeal that surpasses the grade assigned. Great cards.
The Clemente is such a classic, almost haunting image.
The 52B Musial struck me even as a kid, something about the profile, coloring, and background of that image.
Forgive the PreWar card, but I gotta share this one below which has me really excited. Landed it thanks to a fellow board member here, in fact. It's an early birthday present, by a few days
Have been after the right Shoeless Joe RC some time. But with it being so scarce, getting a centered card in the desired grade made for a challenging hunt.
It's very rare that a PreWar icon has a true, undisputed "Rookie Card," and like many who began collecting in the 80's, my main collecting love-- after Mickey Mantle basic issues-- is having the earliest card of my favorite baseball icons.
For collectors of my age-range (39, at least for a few days, LOL) who like rookies and the earliest depiction of a player, when the player was at the start of their career, eventually, after we add the "usual suspect" rookie cards, we come to discover the Shoeless Joe RC.
Shoeless Joe is simply one of those players who has really transcended sport and entered America's cultural fabric. His play was elite (rookie record .408 avg, and 3rd all time career avg at .356!), and he has a level of fame/infamy that few have attained. That also speaks to these times we are in, where the distinction between good press and bad has all but been obliterated. In this way Shoeless Joe is more relevant than ever.
There is the beloved and tragic story, the famous, "Say it ain't so, Joe," mis-quote that became legend. And that famous nickname of course.
Then there is the card itself. The purple color. The dapper pose. The age of it, traveling from 1909 to the present. The overall population. There are ~144 Shoeless Joe RCs graded in total by both SGC and PSA, but several crossovers that essentially create phantoms in the pop report.
Lots of aspects that delight a collector!
In sum: pumped!
“I copied Shoeless Joe Jackson’s style because I thought he was the greatest hitter I had ever seen, the greatest natural hitter I ever saw. He’s the guy who made me a hitter.” – Babe Ruth
