hello jello

in addition to whole mess of mike piazza cards, i picked up a couple of 1963 dodgers at the recent card show.  here's willie davis

and here's big d, don drysdale

one is from post (drysdale), and the other is a jello box card.  i knew that the 3-dog was a jello issue, thanks to the smaller name type and the shorter red lines in the stat box, thanks to wrigley wax.  the davis is the first jello card in my collection - only 11 more 1963 dodgers to go!

the last of the lcs

this weekend, i've been posting cards that i picked up at the two local card shops over the course of a few visits made in the last few months.  this final post is all dodger goodness, and the cards shown here all came from the shop that doesn't want me to use a computer to browse their inventory.  however, it seems as though they aren't opening new product, as the nickel boxes remain capped at 2011 releases.

they do have some vintage boxes sitting out, and i was able to find a 1962 post willie davis

and another copy of a 1963 post maury wills

this one is (if you can believe it) cut better than the other one i own.  i was kind of hoping that one of them was actually a jello card because i can never tell them apart.  but, it would seem that they are both post, as the red line is not flush with the stat text.

moving on, here's a 1987 leaf candy city team duke snider card

that is essentially a reprint of the 1983 donruss hall of fame heroes card.

i found some 1994 topps finest for a dime apiece - tom candiotti

and brett butler

as well as a bunch of piazza stuff.  this one is a 1995 pinnacle zenith card

and this one is a 1997 fleer checklist

i am guessing that piazza had a deal with rawlings.

i am also guessing that it's piazza there in the catcher's crouch on this 1996 pinnacle denny's hologram of hideo nomo

that also features super scout mike brito.

here's a 2010 topps history of the game insert of jackie robinson

and a 2011 topps prime 9 insert/redemption card of sandy koufax

the star/hof box was filled with these types of cards which were available from card shops as redemptions for inserts in series 2 that year.  i guess not too many folks bothered to redeem them at this location.

i don't know if or when i will get back to this lcs.  if i knew that there would be some new stuff in the bargain boxes i might be more interested in a return trip.

what becomes a rookie card most?

topps famously dismissed maury wills as a prospect when they were signing players to their card contracts, and wills didn't forget.  that's why he happily signed with fleer and continued to spurn topps even after he won the national league mvp award in 1962.

here's his rookie card, the 1963 fleer issue:

he also had a card in the post cereal set that year:

for the 1975 set, topps created a 1962 topps maury wills card for their mvp subset, and that image was later used in the 1982 kmart set as well as the 1987 topps set as a 'turn back the clock' card.

wills debuted in 1959 and didn't get his first topps card until 1967 when he was a pittsburgh pirate!  i'll have to correct that someday with some cards that should have been (i wish topps had included some in their 'lost cards' inserts in the 2011 release), but before i do that, i do want to point out that wills was featured as a dodger on one card prior to 1970.  it's this 1960 topps world series card

while the focus is on luis aparicio, that's maury set to receive the throw.  some folks argue that it's charlie neal, but i am fairly convinced it is wills based on the uniform numbers.  wills wore 30 while neal was number 43.  i interpret the card to show a number more like a '0' than a '3' on the front of the jersey, although i admit that there is room for a different opinion.  however, topps themselves consider this to be maury wills based on the fact that they had him sign copies of it in their 2001 topps archives release.  still it's no substitute for a proper maury wills card.

so, what do you consider to be maury wills' rookie card?

no cereal with this post

i recently came across this 1963 post duke snider card at the local card show. 

for less than the cost of a box of shredded wheat, i got this somewhat shredded card.  while i am a staunch believer in complete career stats (on the back), i do appreciate the extensive text on these post cards at the price of yearly statistics.  and, unlike those early topps issues, post is kind enough to tell us what year the stats are from rather than just 'year'.  anyway, the card notes that duke was the 'senior member of the dodgers' after the 1962 season.  such seniority was shortlived, as he was sold to the mets just before the 1963 season began.  in fact, his 1963 topps card lists him as a met, so this is one of his last dodger cards around.

so, i guess this card is a final tribute to duke's days with the dodgers - 1995 hits, 389 home runs and a nice round .300 batting average.  for those of us who choose to ignore his time with the mets and the giants (shudder), this card is a good way for the silver fox to go out.

here's to you, 1963 post duke snider!