Yesterday I took a trip to the Frank and Sons card show to continue my work on The Perfect Game Project.
As I've mentioned in the past, Frank and Sons, which was once the go-to weekly card show for anyone chasing baseball cardboard, is but a shell of the resource it once was.
The industrial-sized building is still packed with vendors and collectors, but 95% of them are hawking and seeking comics, figurines, dolls, international video games, and nothing at all interesting to me.
There are a few dealers with sports cards, but they specialize in ripping boxes of the latest product, only interested in pulling and immediately selling the hottest cards of the moment. Once again, a yawner for me.
The baseball-centric card collector, looking to complete sets, or seeking any vintage that is not ridiculously priced and locked away under glass cases, is left with only two tables to choose from. All of that said, I was able to chip away and find a few ultimate cards (from the year of the perfect game) for my collection.
Jim Bunning and Gus Triandos, 1964 Topps...
These 64's are in beautiful condition. The only flaw on the Bunning card was being slightly off-center, and a small amount of yellowing on the back. It's got sharp corners and good gloss on the surface.
According to the dealer, the Triandos card is a short-print.
I checked Bunning's card back and found he had also been traded from the Tigers. It seems they were packaged together and sent to Philadelphia, where they then combined for their perfect game.
The same dealer filled out another battery for me. 1968 Topps, Jim (Catfish) Hunter and Jim Pagliaroni.
Interestingly enough, Pagliaroni also caught a perfect game in his first season on a new team. Pagliaroni came out to Kansas City from Pittsburgh (as evidenced by the uni on his card)...
Catfish got his perfecto in his fourth year in the majors...
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to dig up any other perfect pitching duos, as nobody in the show had any cards from the 80's, 90's or 00's. At least, no cards that weren't high-priced autos.
There's a big card show coming to the Long Beach Convention Center next month, so that will be my next best bet. I suppose I could find all of the others with a 20 minute search on the net, but call me an old-school collector, I just don't roll that way. For me, nothing beats flipping through those boxes and binders, cardboard in hand.
Tune in next time to check out the other cards I grabbed from the show.
Aloha!
Have you been to the Long Beach show before? I thought it looked mostly like stamps and coins, but if there is a significant card presence, it might be worth the trip down for me.
ReplyDeleteI've never been to the show. When I was at the dealer's table, another dealer(?) came over and asked if she would set up shop at the LB show. She said yes, and he said he would be there also. I'm unsure how many card dealers will be there.
DeleteMaybe the advertisements will give a hint.
Already making a dent! I probably need to come up with some cardboard projects this year.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely stepping up my game to close out a project or two this year. I think I'm going to make another go at the ol' wallet card thing as well.
DeleteThose are some really great cards, especially the Bunning and Hunter! At the rate you're going, you might need to start coming up with another project sooner than later.
ReplyDeleteYup, it's a good start! That Bunning card really is great!
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