Strive For '65: Hammerin' Hank In DA House!

Once again I scored a homer, well at least some extra bases, on a high profile player for my Strive For '65 set build. I can now add "Hammerin" Hank Aaron (still the true Home Run King to many a fan) to my list of super players from '65 that I got for much less than expected or what some would say is average. Past "steals toward the set" include Yogi Berra and Harmon "Killer" Killebrew. There are still a few other big names out there that I hope to get for much less such as Mickey Mantle and fellow Yankee Roger Maris.

Hank here I got from Ebay for a bit more than Yogi and Harmon combined before the shipping (after shipping the duo is a little more). Like a few other must haves for this set I sniped this one. I bid my highest of $20 ($20.75?) with 8 minutes to go, and won it for $17 w/ the Free Shipping. It was fortunate that I did aim for a bit higher because at first I was only going to go as high as $15 since within a day to go it had 6 bids at about $6.50. This roll of the dice came up lucky for me not all rolls are that nice. I could have easily spent over $20 for Mr. Aaron's '65 card. In fact I was watching one or two in pretty decent condition at $25 BIN.

1965 Topps Baseball 170 Hank Aaron Braves

(Front and Back)

This brings the total up to 163/599 and gives page 19 two cards out of nine. Oh I also got some Unmarked Checklists 2nd - 5th Series cards 104, 189,  273, 361 for $11.45 Free Shipping. I already had 3 of them but a couple of them were marked. So the total is now 164/599.

Strive For 65: Killer In Da House!

The latest card in the Strive For '65 Set build. Fished from The Bay on one bid for just $5.95 + $2.00 shipping card #400 Harmon "Killer" Killebrew Twins. I thought this would be one of the cards I would have to spend BIG bucks on. Fortunately I managed to find one of the lower priced ones in very good condition so what is there is some off-centering and a small stain of some kind. About 10 years ago I would probably have passed on this one for either of those two reasons. I also would have passed on it if the price were $10 or more with those flaws. Recent prices range from a one bid $1.75 (+$2.32 shipping) to a graded version that went for $125 (didn't check the shipping rate on that one)

1965 Topps Baseball 400 Harmon Killebrew Twins

(Front and Back)

That brings the set build total up one to 162/599 (27.1%). This card fills one more slot in a page bringing that page total up to 2/9. Sadly I don't have a "joy of a complete page" yet on this set. The closest I have is a page with 7/9 those two cards I have in my cart over at sportlots with a bunch of other cards, only a few of which are '65s though. So far I have been playing small ball on this set, I need a couple of grand slams to reach my ultimate goal of having the set complete by Next April.

'68 Killebrew All-Star

Not really a "filler" post, but rather a "spread them out" post due to an onslaught of auction wins from sportlots.com. This one came all on it's lonesome on 03 February 2012. The only bummer (which fortunately didn't matter much in this case) was it came in a PWE (Plain White Envelope) in just a cardsaver. I've ranted many times about these things and how they are not good for shipping cards in. They are OK for storing cards in or for displaying cards in but they suck for shipping. A few days later I received some cards (ironically some other 1968 cards) that were also in a PWE but they were first wrapped in plastic wrap and the plastic wrap taped to a piece of cardboard and then sandwiched between that piece of card board and another piece of cardboard. The two pieces of cardboard were taped together and then put in the PWE. That is a little bit safer. Anyway the card I got is this:

 1968 Topps Baseball - 361 Harmon Killebrew AS - Twins

1968 Topps Baseball - 361 Harmon Killebrew AS - Twins (puzzle back)

I'm not sure but I think this is the first 1968 Topps All-Star card I've had. I may have had a few as a kid but I don't recall and since my pre-teen/teen years when I really got back into the hobby seriously I don't recall having one, at one point I didn't like their look. As a kid I loved the puzzle backed cards, unfortunately I rarely had a full puzzle to enjoy, but putting the pieces I had together to see which ones I needed was fun. All the '68 All-Star cards had a puzzle piece on the back from one of two puzzles. This blog here 1968 Topps Baseball explains and shows the completed puzzles. Oddly enough at one time I was "anti-puzzle" probably because of the frustration of not having a complete puzzle to enjoy.

ON a different somewhat related to this card note: I am toying with the idea of making a Senators/Nationals specific card blog in the near future. Harmon "Killer" Killebrew was one of the Washington Senators who transitioned into an original Minnesota Twin when the team moved in '61. Most fans seem to remember him as a Twin rather than a Senator. I need to remind myself to link this post to that new blog whenever I get around to making it.

Previous Posts:
Pretty Good '68 Dodgers Poker Hand
1968 Topps Baseball
2010 Topps Baseball Million Card Giveaway