Thursday, May 26, 2016

I'll Take A Johnny Bench Rookie Card Over A Blaster Any Day Of The Week!

$11.49 delivered to my doorstep, to be exact, is all it took to land me a rookie card of one of the three greatest catchers of all-time, the man who was perhaps the best all-around backstop to ever play. For half a blaster the centerpiece to my modest and new Johnny Bench PC was an easy, easy pickup via eBay.


The front of this 1968 Topps Johnny Bench/Ron Tompkins RC presents very nicely for a VG copy. The corners are worn but not destroyed; the centering is solid though not perfect; and there are a few creases through the bottom portion of the Tompkins side. Johnny, however, is clean and clear as can be, still has great color to him, and is also thankfully crease-free.


With that solid front I'd normally expect the card to fall within the $30-$40 range especially with HOF rookie cards skyrocketing in price over the last year or so even more than they had already jumped. However, I knew I had a chance at winning the auction when I looked at the back scan. So much paper loss! It's perfect for my collection and budget and there was little activity on the auction which was even better.

Bench's RC was obviously a must for the new collecting venture I've undertaken. I'm happy to knock it off the list this early and I don't mind the shot of him but visually the '68 falls far behind the cardboard goodies in the '69-'72 Topps run.

9 comments:

  1. Congrats on the Bench RC. Great steal, but ouch the paper loss on the back is a little too much "poor old" for me. This is a card I need. Haven't found it for a good price most who are selling it in any condition start at way too high a price, unless they are auctioning it. Those often start at an OK price, but quickly go past my ceiling price. One of these days I'll get a nice one, probably beat up some.

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    1. All the big RCs have just skyrocketed Capt. I generally don't like that much damage but on the back it almost never bothers me especially for a card I didn't want to drop big bucks on, and particularly since I'm much fonder of his '69 card.

      Good luck tracking one down!

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  2. Despite the damage on the back of the card, you got a great deal! I need to get my hands on one of them too someday.

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    1. Thanks Drew! Definitely a card everyone should own.

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  3. Money well spent, nice job BB4L!

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    1. Thanks BB4L! I couldn't fork over the cash fast enough haha.

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  4. That's one heck of a eBay find. Congratulations!

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