Allen & Ginter: Arms of All Nations

I picked up another random 1800s Ginter card to add to my small PC of O.G Ginter Goodness. The Twitter group I belong to which focuses on non-sports and specifically vintage non-sports has paid dividends early on with a couple of cheap but fun additions.

This 1887 N3 "Arms of All Nations" score features the Arab Musket and for being a 1, it's in solid shape and even has a fairly clean reverse.

A Jackie Robinson Addition: 1956 Topps Pins, (Mini) Slabbed a PSA 4!

Here's a really great auction house score that came as part of a small lot and also already came graded, saving me the hassle and time of getting it protected in a plastic tomb. For those who have followed me long enough, the fact that it is from an oddball set should come as no surprise as that is entirely up my collecting alley.

Adding something, anything -- especially playing-era goodness -- to my Jackie Robinson PC is always in the back of my mind but rarely moves to the forefront due to pricing concerns. An essential add to every vintage collection and a player who transcends team collectors, Jackie is never cheap....so I have to really pick and choose my spots super carefully.

This particular auction get was just right and the other piece sealed the deal on me taking a run at it (that piece will be heading off to PSA for grading in October). This 1956 Topps Pins in a PSA 4 was the perfect sidekick as coins and pins, to me, are still wildly undervalued. Add in a classic and simple portrait from the neck up and this beauty has a permanent home in my Jackie Collection.

(Zack) Wheat Wednesday: 1925 Spalding Baseball Guide Team Page

I would love to one day grab every single team page that Zack Wheat appears on in the Spalding Baseball Guides. Slowly but surely I am working my way toward that goal and today's new addition comes from 1925:

Wheat is dead-center where he belongs and is the only notable name amongst this bunch of Brooklyn Dodgers. I love the floating heads surrounding the full-body swinging shot of Wheat.

A Sweet Silk Score: Ty Cobb!!

One of my fun side vintage PCs is Ty Cobb. His stuff is obviously expensive on the whole so pickups are few and far between. However, when the opportunity presents itself, I rarely let that opportunity pass me by as I know it may not reappear for some time.

This beautiful 1909-11 S74 Silk (White) was an auction house acquisition in raw form that I sent off to SGC for safe storage. I love the way it looks in its new tuxedo and I really dig the oddball, scarce, and condition-sensitive set that is these Silks.

My PC of the Georgia Peach is small but solid and snagging his cardboard or ephemera is always a good time and a truly great feeling. Interestingly, he and I have a common bond -- the day of my birth happens to be the day of his death with 28 years between those occurrences.

An Amazing Card Show Score!!

Today's post was a completely unexpected find at a local card show that blew me away. There is a show here in Vegas every three months that I attend religiously. While I hold out hopes I might find a Zack Wheat I need I go to these knowing the chances are slim and only expecting to find some stuff I can flip online. Any of my remaining PCs beyond Wheat....well, I know I won't find anything to snag.

That's the thing about low or no expectations -- sometimes, you are pleasantly surprised and the last show in July proved to be the biggest card show surprise of my life. Tucked deep within the boxes of an entirely non-sports table was a little gem I instantly knew I would be walking away with. I actually found an Archer sketch card at a show in my city!

I am still in disbelief and can't understand how this came to fruition. The product is 10 years old, there were only about 3,600 total sketch cards based on reports, and I never find any of it in any form (singles, packs, boxes, cases) in the wild. The dealer had it marked at $25 and offering a twenty spot had him quickly declining, so I paid up and left with the newest member of my sketch card crew.

Irma Ahmed is the artist and only owning one of her pieces prior to this made the decision to grab this all the more easy. She has a great style and on eBay this likely would have been listed for more.

I still hold out some hope I will stumble into a score of sealed wax of the product one of these days....fleeting hope, but hope all the same.