The Night I Killed It, With Old-School Vintage Flavor.

It all started with a single piece of vintage goodness, at a very reasonable price. It was a card I had never thought much about, but after stumbling upon it, I needed it. Not just wanted it, but needed it. It features one of the greatest players of all-time, from one of my favorite vintage sets, and was less than half of what a blaster of Heritage or Ginter runs you. It was an easy buy, but it lead to so much more.

That one measly crease - which does not obscure Hank's face one bit - helped me to net this beauty for the price I was able to land it at. That's character for you folks; it drives prices down so you and I can benefit and reap the rewards and fruits of our tireless labor with day after day of eBay searches for wonderful deals. The card has retained it's fantastic color, and again, Hank is fine. There's just something about this card that speaks to me. Twice the Hank, a great array of colors, and an entirely insensitive old Braves logo just work so well together. $9.50 shipped. Killer.

I always try and check to see if the seller has anything else that might interest me, be it a PC item, minor PC item, tertiary PC item (damn, I collect too many players), or simply a trade bait possibility. These potential pickups are contingent upon the seller offering up a nice rate on combined shipping. This seller most certainly did not disappoint, with a can't-miss offer of 25 cents for any additional card purchased that same day. And he had about 19+ pages of items ending within minutes. I had outstanding trades to complete, so I did what any diligent eBayer does: I went to work.

First up are a couple of cards I'll be keeping. The Don Newcombe is just an amazing card, and that's considering he is not in Dodger Blue. It does appear he had a smoking problem, what with that hole in his neck

I have few Johnny Podres cards - I think this makes five in total - so I'm happy to add another. I like 1960 Topps, if that isn't clear. Probably because it's such a colorful set.

A pair of Pirates that have made their way to the Treasure Room, as part of a large deal that has a sweeeeeet Johnny Bench hit coming my way.

A pair of Senators that wound up in Texas with the man who enjoys himself a good play at home. Another Brian, another trade that needed finalizing.

Finally, five more '60 Topps that I was too lazy to scan separately. I recognized four names and know the Phillies are a highly-collected team, so the Mahaffey was picked up too. It's also a RC, which never hurts. The Phillies have a home coming to them shortly.

To recap, that's 12 cards dated no more recent than 1962, and for $21.84 when the dust had settled. A 1960 Hammerin' Hank Aaron cost me a puny $1.82 when you break everything down. What a night, and all made possible because the class I should have been in at the time was cancelled due to my Professor's place of residence flooding. The only problem with this transaction was being charged over five bucks shipping and finding the cards shipped in a PWE.

The seller was made aware of this fact.