Who was that Tex actor on Last Ship?
Go to Wikipedia.
Ah, there he is. Wow, he was in Deadwood. Great Show.
Oh, that character was a real person. All I have to do is click here and I can find out all about him.
And down the rabbit hole I go.
I love history and its so easy to just keep reading about more and more things. Old West, Civil War, World War(s) I can get suck reading forever.
January is my busy time. The worst month of the entire year. I start each day at work with two quick reads Night Owl and Joe Posnanski. It kind of paces me and keeps me from running to the day trying to slay dragons that are better left alone. I have no time for dragons or rabbits in January. Well in the dead of January I'm reading this Night Owl post and right in the middle he posts some 1976 Mail in Light Back Team cards. Now I had never known these existed but I know that Virdon was featured on the 76 Astros Team card and I also know that I have a 1975 Mail In Light Back Team card. Once I connected those dots I was down the rabbit hole.
After much research (made way longer because of the fact my Standard Catalog was at home and I was at work) I found out that Topps did the Mail In Team cards every year from 1975 to 1981 and I only had the 1975. So I was off to eBay.
This is the 1977 Mail in card. (I didn't buy the 1976 yet because the cheapest one on eBay was graded and $45) It looks exactly like the regular issue. Until you turn it over.
If you read my post about how my desk is cluttered with cards. Well it came in handy because I happened to have a regular 77 in my desk to compare it too. You can see how much lighter the mail in card is. It is also a way lighter and thinner paper stock.
Coaches are not featured on the team cards in 1978 so I got to skip to 1979.
Again it looks just like the regular issue until you turn it over.
The scan shows it as lighter but it is really way lighter that the scan. It is kind of odd holding an old card that is on thin light card stock. They feel like early Donruss cards to me instead of Topps.
My desk pile failed me in 1980. Both my regular 1980 and my two 1980 Buybacks are at my house tucked away in the binder where they belong. Maybe, they could also be in that box of cards that need put in the binder still.
The only 1981 Astros Mail In card I found was uncut. I don't really want to buy it uncut. I know myself I won't cut it. So even if my procrastination ends and I binder up all my cards it will never make it to the binder. I need to just wait until a cut one comes along.
Who am I kidding. I'll probably wait a week, buy the uncut one, and keep looking for one for the binder. I shouldn't even call myself a collector, I'm an amasser.
Night Owl's rabbit hole wasn't so bad. All those clients just had to wait an extra day for their W2s. Besides I don't know if I ever got 3 new to me Virdon cards on the same day before.
1 comment:
I had no idea the mail-in checklists lasted beyond 1977. ... Probably not going to get the Dodgers mail-in checklists for those years though.
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