The 10 Oddball Baseball Cards I would Buy With $1K

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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