Sid Gordon Purchase

I was able to nab #117 Sid Gordon from another Net54 member for a very good price.  This is only the second Gordon I've seen (he died in 1975).  The other one sold for $125 about a year and a half ago.  Because of the crease and some minor paper loss on the back, I was able to get this for $60 plus shipping.

This makes 157/274 (57.29 %).  The only Boston Braves I still need are Vern Bickford and George Crowe.  Bickford is very rare (he died in 1960 from stomach cancer).  For someone who died in 2011, Crowe is surprisingly difficult.  I think I've seen signed copies of every Topps card he appeared on except the 1953 issue.  

Harry Lowrey and Ken Raffensberger Purchases

It's been a while, but I did manage to pick up two new cards, including one of the keys to the set; #16 Harry Lowrey, and #276 Ken Raffensberger.

Lowrey died in 1986, so he is not easy to come by.  Growing up, he worked as a child actor and was one of the original members of Our Gang.  This was the first one I'd seen in the almost two years I've spent building the set.  From what I've read, Stan Musial had a very tough time with Raffensberger, even calling him the toughest lefty he had ever faced.  These two bring me up to 156 / 274 (56.93 %).

Preston Ward Purchase

I picked up #173 Preston Ward a little while ago.  He had just gotten out of the military when this card was issued; according to the back, he spent the 1951 and 1952 seasons in the service.  It doesn't say if he was ever sent to Korea.

I'm now up to 154/274 (56.20 %).  I'm looking at making a couple other purchases soon, so stay tuned.  Nothing earth-shattering, just a couple that I've had a moderate level of difficulty tracking down.

2016 Update and Goals

I realized I haven't updated my goals in almost 8 months, since last June.  Without further ado:

• Reach 125 signed 1953 Topps.  I blew past this one, to end up at 153.  I'd really like to try and hit 200 this year.  That may start getting expensive on account of the tougher cards, but I'm not doing this to make a profit.
• Add at least six new Hall of Famers to the set.  I came up short here: after picking up three in the first half of the year, I only added two (Irvin and Rizzuto) in the last half.  Of the HoFers I don't have, for the most part they're pretty big name guys (Robinson, Campanella, Mantle, etc) who will be either difficult, expensive, or both.
• My other two goals for 2015 (add at least one new Phillie, and add two more signed 1949 Bowmans) I had already met at the time of the June update.  

Overall, I'm happy with the progress on the set that I made last year.  I'm cautiously optimistic that I can hit 200 this year, or at least come very close.  

Hal Rice Purchase

It's been a while since my last post.  I was in India for a few weeks as part of a school trip, and then my laptop and phone have started giving me grief whenever I try and sign in to here.  As it stands, the desktops at school are the only machines I've found that don't give me trouble.

That said, I do have another big update: I won #93 Hal Rice in one of Jim Stinson's auctions last month.  Although Rice lived a good, long life (he lived to be 73), he is one of the tougher cards because he was in a debilitating car accident after his career ended, which severely curtailed his signing ability.  Mine was signed in the 1950s, so the signature must predate the accident.  I heard a story from another collector of a guy who went to Rice's house to try and get his to sign some cards, and Rice's son turned him away.

This brings me to 153/274 (55.84 %).  I had plenty of Christmas and birthday money that I was going to plow in to cards, but life had other plans.  My textbook bill for the semester was much, much higher than I expected, and there are still a couple of expensive computer programs I need to purchase as well.  (Sigh) I feel like such an adult...

George Metkovich Purchase

I won #58 George "Catfish" Metkovich a few days ago, and I'm just getting around to posting it now.

He picked up his nickname in Spring Training as a rookie, when he went fishing, stepped on a catfish and cut his foot, causing him to miss several games.  He was a reserve outfielder on the 1946 Boston Red Sox, the last Red Sox team to win 100 games.  For a guy who had over 40 years to sign the card, Metkovich is very hard to find; I've only seen a couple of these since I started. 

I'm now up to 152/274 (55.47 %) of the way there.  

Monte Irvin, Harry Byrd, Art Schult and Andy Carey Purchases

Also picked up these four: #62 Monte Irvin, #131 Harry Byrd, #167 Art Schult and #188 Andy Carey.

Irvin was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1973, the first year that Negro Leaguers were considered. Byrd was the AL Rookie of the Year in 1952.  He won 15 games that year, which was about a third of his career wins total.  Considering the Philadelphia Athletics were a solidly second division team by then, they had a considerable amount of talent; Byrd, 1952 MVP Bobby Shantz, and All-Stars in Eddie Robinson, Gus Zernial and Ferris Fain.  Schult and Carey were both backups on the Yankees for several years and combined won three World Series with them.

These pickups bring me to 151/274 (55.11 %).  This might be it for a while, at least until I can pick up some more shifts and reload.  Since August alone, I've spent almost $2,000 on this project, so I need to take a breather.