In January 2021, I wrote about the Sports Cards I Would Buy if I had a Million Dollars. While fantasizing about what you would buy if you won the lottery is fun, it isn’t very realistic. So I thought I would share a more reasonable list this time of the ten oddball baseball cards I would buy if I had $1k to spend on cards.
I always like to give myself a few ground rules when I do these sorts of things. This time I am looking to get variety, a few big-name players, but mostly a broad spectrum of the types of oddball baseball cards that exist.
1947 Bond Bread John Sain
Given all the recent discussion about rounded vs. squared borders on Twitter, I thought I’d start this faux collection with a nice example of a Bond Bread card.
Cost: $47
Running Total: $47
1948 R346 Blue Tint #29 Lou Gehrig
The R346 Blue Tint set was one of the first I studied when I started documenting oddball cards on the Archive, and I also wrote about a nice set that REA sold in my 9th Post War Cards Newsletter. This set is a pure oddball because no one knows who made them. And being able to add a Gehrig card within a $1k budget is a good get.
Running Total: $205
1954 Wilson Franks Bob Feller
A good oddball collection has to have a hot dog card, and the two big ones are the Wilson Frank and Stahl-Meyer sets. Both are really pricey, but Feller is an affordable star pickup for this pretend collection.
Cost: $312
Running Total: $517
1955 Rawlings Musiał #2A Portrait
Pricing the 1955 Rawlings Musial cards these days is pretty tough. A small number of devoted Musial Collectors have unintentionally been driving up their prices, but this excellent example sold for $76 within the past two years. Collectors cut the cards from boxes of Rawlings baseball gloves that Musial endorsed.
Cost: $76
Running Total: $593
1959 Home Run Derby Wally Post
The 1959 Home Run Derby set is one of the most popular and expensive post-war oddball sets. Star cards from the American Motor’s set would blow my budget, but this Wally Post example sold for an affordable price.
Cost: $150
Running Total: $743
1964 Wheaties Stamps Harmon Killebrew
Another category of oddball cards is stamps, and most of them are pretty inexpensive. I especially like the 1964 set’s album.
Cost: $17
Running Total: $760
1968 – 70 Partridge Meats John Bench
The Partridge meats set was made for Reds players to sign when they appear at Kroger grocery stores; I think they’re gorgeous cards.
Cost: $154
Running Total: $914
1975 Hostess #80 Robin Yount
I thought it would be a good idea to include a bazooka or hostess box cut card on the list, and adding another Hall of Famer with Robin Yount doubles the impact of this card on this 10-card collection.
$55
Running Total: $969
1978 Papa Gino’s Discs #14 Jim Rice
I also had to include a disc in this exercise for variety. Papa Gino’s discs were a regional promotion, primarily in the Boston area, produced by MSA, who had partnerships with various Players’ Unions (that’s why most MSA cards have team logos airbrushed off of them).
$16
Running Total: $985
1978 TCMA The 1960’s #262 Mickey Mantle
Ok, this card takes me just over my $1k budget, but I think you can throw me a bone when it’s a Mickey Mantle card under $100. Also, TCMA brought so many cool cards to collectors it strengthened this collection
Cost: $31
Running Total: $1016
The cool thing about oddball cards is that there are so many varieties, and you can stretch $1k into multiple excellent cards. And if your bankroll is lower, I showed a few cards well under the $50 price point, too.
To learn more about oddball cards, check out the Oddball Archive; happy collecting!