Ebay Loot for Under $20 (Part 2 - Includes a Ted Williams!)

  

Cost:  $4.18

Details:  1959 Fleer Ted Willams #50.

The 80 card 1959 Ted Williams Fleer set is wonderful for people collecting on a budget.  They are undervalued gems.  I have slowly been collecting this set through the years (I have only six so far).  I don't actively seek them out, but when I see one in good shape that's priced to sell, I grab it.  

I put them in a binder and every time I flip through that book and come to the Williams page I get all sentimental about baseball and card collecting.  Imagine it's 1959 and you're a New England kid who loves Ted Williams.  Suddenly Fleer enters the baseball card game by releasing a set dedicated solely to Ted.  It must have made some kids flip with joy.

Never mind the fact that Fleer decided on a Ted Williams set because Topps had most players locked up with exclusive contracts.  Kids don't care about that adult stuff! (That's why kids are so cool.)

The back of this card explains Ted's spring injury in 1954:  'In the opening minutes of spring training, Ted fell while chasing a sinking line drive and broke his shoulder.  This was Ted's second serious injury, and truly could have marked the end to a great baseball career!'  

Ted was limited to 117 games in '54.  He hit .345 with 29 hr.  He managed to get on base just 51% of the time (136 walks).

 

Cost:  $1.18

Details:  2002 Donruss Classics Legends (S/N to 1500).

Clean looking cards.  The bland backgrounds make the pictures standout, but that isn't necessarily me trumpeting bland backgrounds.

Cost:  $1.25

Details:  1993 Topps Finest All-Stars.

 

Cost:  $1.25

Details:  1999 Fleer Mystique Rookies (S/N to 2999)

I have played a baseball computer simulation league with my dad for years.  We have settled on using the same 'High Heat 2003' game over and over because it is the most realistic sim we have found.  We have created an in-depth point system, trade rules, penalties, bonus picks, free agent restrictions, etc.  It's a whole alternate baseball universe for us.  

I mention it because most of these no-name cards are players found in that sim.  So when I look at the names of some of these fringe players, I associate them with having fun with my dad.  For that, and because they are serial numbered rookies, in the binders they go!  Even you Carlos Febles, even you.

 

Cost:  $1.00

Details:  2000 Upper Deck Cooperstown Calling Insert (#CC7).

Canseco?  Cooperstown Calling?  Wrong number.  After all is said and done I sheepishly admit I am a Canseco fan.  He was just so fun and funny to watch for all those years.

This card is actually quite shiny in person.  I'm not sure why I bought it though.  It isn't a great price for just this one card.  I may have been sipping wine.

Cost:  $1.10

Details:  1977 Topps.

 

Cost:  $1.00

Details:  1999 Spx SP (S/N to 1999).

A nice Beltre.  Yup, wine.

 

Cost:  $1.05

Details:  2003 SP Legendary Cuts (S/N to 1299).

Cost:  Free 

Nobody gives better freebies than this seller.  He even takes the time to cater the free stuff based on where the buyer lives (hence four Griffey cards).

The breakdown for $20:

18 serial numbered cards

12 refractors

6 inserts

1977 Winfield

1959 Ted Williams

13 other cards (mostly Finest base)

 8 free star cards

Yes a lot of the refractors and serial numbered cards weren't stars, but I still feel like I got a ton for just under 20 bucks (here's part 1 if you missed it).  

Every card came in a penny sleeve and is in beautiful shape.  Add free cards to free shipping and nice prices, and you can see why this seller is number one in my all-time Ebay book.

Ebay Loot for Under $20 (Part 1)

Total Cost of Cards: $19.69 (Free shipping)
Total Number of Cards:  59
Date Purchased: 01/26/10
Date Received: 01/30/10

Every once in awhile my favorite Ebay seller puts up a bunch of lots priced at around a buck each.  Even better, they are usually either serial numbered or shiny and from around the years 1994-2002.  Those are almost exactly the years I had stopped collecting, so the seller kinda feels like a pal who fills in the basic gaps in my collection.

Cost: $1.00

Details:  1998 Topps Finest Refractors.

I know very little about most of the sets from this era (which is part of the fun).

This set has four different versions of the same cards:  Finest, Finest No-Protectors, Finest Refractors, and Finest No-Protectors Refractors.

Honestly all the variations look identical to me on Ebay except for the protector thingy.  I read they look different in person though. 

My cards do have a very small letter R on the back (next to the card number) which, from what I could learn, indicates they are indeed refractors.  That's good because otherwise I'd just have to assume they're refractors.

Cost:  $1.00

Details:  1998 Topps Finest Refractors.

This lot isn't nearly as good player wise.  Am I collecting commons?  NO!  I'm collecting less common commons!

Chan Ho Park wins the prize for being the only active player out of the twelve total '98 Finest cards.

I'd like to open a box of this stuff just to get an up close look at the variations.  It's about $30-40 bucks now.  Looks like you get about 3-4 of these refractors (with protectors) per box.

(Digital Camera Pic)

(Scanner Pic - Click pics to enlarge)

Cost: $1.00

Details:  1999 Topps Gold Label Class 2.

There's Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3.  Class 2 was inserted one in every two HTA packs.  Hmmm, that seems pretty common.  Nice looking cards though.  They look great even on the scanner.  Thick too.  In person they don't shine much unless you turn them at a very particular angle (which I do, over  and over).

 

Cost:  $1.10

Details:  2002 Topps Super Teams Retrofractors.  These cards are serial numbered based on the year the team won the featured World Series (Furillo: 1955, Mueller: 1954, Law: 1960).

The serial numbered version of these seem a nice thing for team collectors to chase.  You basically get the World Series roster.  Cool idea. 

Ten teams are represented in the 146 card set: Giants, Dodgers, Braves, Pirates, Yankees, Cardinals, Mets, A's, Orioles, and Mets.  That's right.  The Mets are in this set twice.  Once for the 1969 World Series and once for 1986.

 

 

Cost:  $1.18

Details:  2000 Topps Finest

The giant shiny baseball that looks like a planet sucked me in.

 

Cost:  $1.20

Details:  1999 Fleer Mystique (SN to 2999)

I'm finally starting to appreciate Torri Hunter's career.  Nine straight gold gloves and 20 or more home runs eight times is pretty dang impressive.  

Cost:  $1.20

Details:  1996 SPx

The left card is the gold version.  I don't see it priced so nice very often.  The gold version cards from this set were inserted one in every seven hobby packs.  There's only 60 cards in the set though.

When these were released the packs went for $3.49 each.  You only get one card per pack too.  I guess people were chasing the chance of a Griffey or Piazza auto (1 in 2000 packs).

These days you can buy a box for around $35 on Ebay.

Well, I am only about halfway done but this post is long enough so I'll put up part two later.  One thing about this seller is I always feel like I get a lot for my money.  He even gives out cool free cards, which I'll show next post.