I mentioned a few posts ago that I started collecting the Jim Bouton PSA Basic Set after reading his book Ball Four, a classic baseball memoir. It didn't take me too long to gather the full 7-card run, Topps releases from 1962-1968.
The 1962 rookie card was the most expensive card in the bunch, even though I picked up a miscut example. Other than the centering the card looks pretty good, and the discount for the condition made the card attainable for my collection.
The 1963 and 1964 Topps Jim Bouton cards came in relatively low condition, because that's where they were cheap. I don't feel like I missed out on anything by getting them in a PSA 4 grade. I got the 1965 card in a 6.5 grade, and it's a pretty nice-looking card. Never thought I'd be chasing a full run of a Yankee, but that's how the collecting winds blow sometimes.
Here are the final three cards in the set, 1966-1968 Topps. The best value for the 1966 card came in a 5 grade, but I was able to get a 7 for 1967 and an 8 for 1968. All of that adds up to the worst complete Jim Bouton Basic Set in the PSA Set Registry. I don't really care about that, as I achieved my goal, a complete run of Jim Bouton's career Topps issues. This was a fun set to put together.
Congratulations! One of the first full runs I ever completed was a Yankee (Munson). But mine aren't graded. I doubt I'd ever complete a full graded run... but gotta admit... it looks pretty awesome!
ReplyDeleteIt was a fun little run to put together. It would have been much cheaper to acquire the cards in ungraded form, but I wanted to have a full set in slabs.
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