Latest Santo Addition (sort of): 1963 Topps

One of Topps' patented tricks in the 1960s was to feature the wrong player picture on a card front, with the error going uncorrected. While the value of these cards isn't terribly significant (since they were never corrected), it still makes for interesting collecting experiences. This weekend I was rummaging my way through a box of 1960s common cards at a Detroit area card store. Then, I came across this beauty:

I knew at once it was Ron Santo. While Santo's official card was #252 in the '63 set, he was also featured on teammate Don Landrum's card #113. The statistical difference between the two is hard to understate: in 1963, Landrum hit .242 with 1 HR and 10 RBI. Santo, on the other hand, hit .297 with 25 HR, 99 RBI, an All-Star appearance, and was #8 in NL MVP voting.

Fun finds from some old school wax packs

My lovely wife and I had the chance to visit my favorite card shop yesterday. I told her to select some packs from the $.50 pile. For $4, we ended up with about 100 cards. Today, kids are lucky to get a pack of 8 cards for that price, hoping for that hit autograph or relic card. Call me old school, but I would rather pay $.50 a pack and get a couple Darrin Fletchers or Scott Bankheads!

Without further ado, here are some of the highlights. I never collected the Topps Big set when I was younger, so I struck a little gold with some of my favorites, particularly Alan Trammell.


The next packs ended up as duplicates for me...I had neglected to remember that I had already collected the monster 990 card 1991 Score set back in the day. But still, it's good to see a Hall of Famer and future Hall member in my pack.


Those dream team cards from the 91 Score set are terrific, aren't they?

And finally, two additional packs netted two Hall of Famers--Henderson from the 1995 Fleer set and Ryan from the 1991 Ultra set.



Sometimes the best part of collecting is ripping some old wax to see what bargains you might find!