#189 3rd Series Checklist 177-264

This is the fifth checklist we've added to our set, and there are two more to go.  I'm still thrilled with my decision to collect this set as it's provided me a welcome respite over the past one and a half strange years, and collecting the set has given me a renewed direction and purpose for my favorite hobby.  What started out in late 2019 as a set I intended to build with my then 13-year-old son Doug pivoted to a set I'm mostly collecting on my own, taking the time to appreciate each card and learn more about each player featured.  Rather than find a card, buy a card, drop the card in a 9-pocket page, I'm taking time with each card and learning, reading and then writing about the player or coach or manager featured in the process.  As of this writing, we have 338 cards in the set, which means we're over half-way to having a complete 598-card set.  I've already started thinking ahead to which vintage baseball card set I'd like to collect once this journey is over, with 1955 Bowman, 1959 Topps and 1969 Topps all currently in the running.

July 22, 2021 - My workshop

I thought I'd also document here the state of my baseball card collecting in mid-2021 and the picture shown at right provides a great look at where I'm currently focused.  This is the little end table sitting directly to my left as I compose these posts and along with some of my latest musical purchases and my current checklists are three distinct piles of cards.  The shortest pile in the back contains four recent additions to my 1934-36 Diamond Stars set and I'll eventually get around to blogging about each of them on my Diamond Stars blog which I impulsively started in December 2020.  A Topps Now card for Brad Miller sits atop the pile on the bottom left, and these are recent Phillies cards I need to catalog and eventually add to my 2021 Phillies binder.  My original blog, The Phillies Room, is still my most frequent outlet, despite the team's long run of mediocrity.

Finally, the biggest pile is on the bottom right and these are 1965 Topps cards not yet blogged that I'll get to appreciate more in the coming weeks and months.  I'm grateful and happy to have this backlog and these cards should keep me busy until at least the early fall.  As always, thanks for following along.

Building the Set
June 5, 2021 from Tomball, TX - Card #291
To celebrate the unofficial beginning of summer, I took advantage of a 15% Memorial Day Weekend sale hosted by one of my favorite dealers, The Battersbox, from Tomball, Texas.  With the second series now complete, I spent an enjoyable hour or so over the long (rainy) holiday weekend picking 20 commons from the third series to add to our set and I'll feature those cards in the next 20 posts.  The package of cards arrived on June 5th and in total, the lot cost me a little more than $63.  This checklist card was one of the pricier cards from the lot as it cost me $7.  I'm not surprised at the price, as it's difficult to find these vintage checklist cards in good shape and unmarked.

The Card / Checklists
With a complete run of cards for our set from #1 through #176, I've added pages for both the 1st Series and 2nd Series summarizing the 88 cards to be found in both of those series.  As of this writing, I need 18 more cards for our set's 3rd series, including the superstar cards for both Pete Rose (#207) and Willie Mays (#250).

Previous Card:  #188 Sam Bowens - Baltimore Orioles

Next Card:  #190 Bill White - St. Louis Cardinals