#508 7th Series Checklist 507-598

It's the Sunday before Memorial Day as I compose this post, which is set to be published at some point in July.  We're eight cards away from completing our 1965 Topps set.  Three of the cards needed aren't much of a surprise - Sandy Koufax (#300), Mickey Mantle (#350) and the Tony Perez rookie card (#581).  If I had to guess, I'd say the Mantle card will be the final card added.  Three more of the cards needed are also stars, but not as pricey as the first three - Orlando Cepeda (#360), Willie Stargell (#377) and Carl Yastrzemski (#385).  The last two cards needed are the Yankees team card (#513) and the lone common that has eluded us - Reds' first baseman Gordy Coleman (#289).

We started collecting this set pre-pandemic, pre-War in Ukraine and pre-Joe Biden's presidency.  To say the last three years have been eventful would be a gross understatement.  Collecting this set, and composing these posts - sometimes in bursts, sometimes only one or two every other week - has provided a much-needed escape from the real world, a respite in our troubled times.  This blog is finite and will end once I publish a post for the 598th card added, again most likely the Mantle card.  I've already decided which set we'll be collecting next, and I'd expect to officially launch a companion blog for that set at some point later in 2022 or early in 2023.

April 24, 2022

We're near the end of another school year and my wife Jenna, a dedicated and non-stop hard working third grade teacher, is looking forward to the upcoming summer break.  Doug will continue to play baseball throughout the summer, with an eye towards making his high school's Varsity team in the spring.  With his hard work and positive attitude, I like his chances of making the team as a sophomore.  Ben will keep up his tennis and piano lessons, while his amazing imagination will not be taking any time off any time soon.  Inconceivably, he'll start seventh grade in the fall.  There will be trips this summer, some which have been delayed since the summer of 2020, we'll spend time at the shore and we'll share a lot of laughs.  I'm grateful for my family, our health and the fact I can escape for a few hours at a time and write about old baseball cards.

Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards - Babylon, NY) - Card #523

This is the 39th of 102 cards acquired for our set from the Baseball Card Sports Memorabilia Show, affectionately known as The Philly Show, held in the basement of the Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia in early March.  We went nuts and left the show needing only 12 more cards to complete our 1965 Topps set, and I wrote about the show in detail over at The Phillies Room.  Having wandered aimlessly among the dealer tables looking for binders with vintage commons, I decided to check to see if Uncle Dick's had refreshed their inventory following the December show, during which I had wiped out both their 1965 Topps binders.  Much to my pleasant surprise, they had.  This checklist, the final checklist needed for our set, was $8 and was one of 49 commons purchased in my triumphant return to Uncle Dick's and his replenished neon green binders.

The Card / Checklists
As mentioned above, we have every card on this checklist except for the Yankees team card and "N.L. Rookie Stars" card which happens to feature future Hall of Famer Perez.  There are two variations for this checklist card, one featuring large print on front and the other with small print on front.  The easiest way to tell the difference between the two variations is that the small print version, the version we have for our set, features more yellow space below Athletics Rookies and Indians Rookies.  The large print version has noticeably less space.

Previous Card:  #507 Sammy Ellis - Cincinnati Reds

Next Card:  #509 Red Sox Rookie Stars