My name is Evan, and I came across this piece about two months ago on eBay. I bought it straight away, and then waited, and waited, and waited as the USPS seemingly lost the package in Denver. After jumping through all the many hoops with the post office, this beauty finally arrived. I am ecstatic to own this one of a kind, quirky gem!

*Banks card for size context*

I have been on the hunt for a nice Paul Molitor rookie auto for a while now and I just liked how the Duke Snider card looks. It my oldest autographed card to date.

Someone posted on Facebook about a collection they'd turned up at a garage sale. At the bottom, an innocuous little FAQ:

• It is about 1,500 cards
• Yes, they are all trimmed

First thought: what junk!

Second thought: but why?

Third thought: holy #@$%, that's a lot of Mantles and a Pete Rose rookie.

Nobody was hiding anything. It's right there in the FAQ. We went back and forth for two weeks anyway, making sure we both understood exactly what was changing hands. Last Friday I drove two hours each way and brought it home.

The previous owner had cut roughly an eighth of an inch off all four borders. Every card in the collection, not a sampling. They measure about 2.25 x 3.25 instead of 2.5 x 3.5, so you see it instantly next to an untrimmed card (see above).

The cuts are consistent but not all of them are clean, and on a few the knife went past the border into the design. There are '65s with the team pennant precisely sliced out of the card (see photos).

And here's the part I keep turning over. The collection was meticulously organized. Sorted by team first, then by type: dedicated pages for the World Series cards, the Rookie Parades, the League Leaders, the All-Stars. This was a person with a system, who sat down and did this deliberately, to card after card, for what must have been a very long time.

Sadism? Masochism? Or the most patient act of self-sabotage I've ever seen?

Here's what I think. If you've handled '61s and '62s you know the centering is atrocious, Topps' cutting was all over the place those years. So a kid with a system looks at a stack of crooked cards and reaches for the obvious fix: even up the borders.

Except a border you've evened is a border you've made smaller, and now it doesn't match the one next to it, so that one comes down too.

It's the sideburns problem. You start out straightening one side, and three passes later you have no sideburns and you're committed.

Fifteen hundred cards is a long time to stay committed.

What's actually in here

• Mantle turns up on at least 17 cards, not counting the Yankees team cards he's somewhere in. Nine are his own: '59 #10 (two copies), '60 #563 All-Star, '61 #475 MVP, '62 #200, '62 #471 All-Star, '63 #200, '64 #50, '66 #50. Eight more feature him or share the card: '60 #160 Rival All-Stars, '61 #307 World Series Game 2, '62 #18 Managers' Dream, '62 #318 Switch Hitter Connects, '63 #2 AL Batting Leaders, '63 #173 Bombers' Best, '64 #331 A.L. Bombers, '65 #134 World Series Game 3
• 1963 #537 Pete Rose rookie
• 1963 #553 Willie Stargell rookie
• 1962 #387 Lou Brock rookie
• 1965 #16 Joe Morgan rookie
• The complete 1962 Rookie Parade run, #591 to #598: all eight high-number short prints, Uecker rookie included
• The high numbers are unusually well represented. 50+ of the 76 in 1962 (#523 to #598), including #544 McCovey, and 40+ of the 54 in 1963 (#523 to #576), including the Rose and Stargell rookies and the #540 Clemente. The high series are the hard part of finishing any set from this era
• Multiple Clemente, Mays, Aaron, Koufax, Berra, Maris, Banks
• Counts by year, rounded down. Every pile has a few more in it than this:

Year	Cards	Set
1959	60+	572
1960	60+	572
1961	130+	587
1962	440+	598
1963	290+	576
1964	120+	587
1965	180+	598
1966	140+	598

The '62 is about three quarters of a set and the '63 about half, and in both cases the high numbers are mostly there. The 1959, 1960 and 1961 runs are almost entirely low series, so treat those as starter lots rather than partial sets.

The Pitch

The whole collection is listed on eBay at $7,000. I'm not linking it here. To this sub it's $6,000.

Ground rules:

• I'll entertain any offer of $5,000 or more. Below that I'd rather break it up than take a number I'll be thinking about six months from now.
• Post offers publicly in the comments, not in my DMs. I'll answer publicly too. Everyone sees what everyone else is willing to pay, including me.
• No full checklist, in the interest of my sanity. I'll do my best on reasonable photo and info requests, but I'm not cataloging 1,500 card numbers.
• Fewer than 5% have issues beyond the trimming, possibly a lot fewer. Creases, writing on the back, the usual for sixty-year-old cardboard. Where one of the better cards has a real flaw, beyond having been completely altered, obviously, I've done my best to flag it.
• Shipping is on me, insured and tracked. Local pickup available in Manhattan, NY, which I'd honestly prefer for a box this size. You're welcome to come look at the whole thing in person.
• PayPal G&S and I'll cover the fee. Zelle or cash if you'd rather. Happy to point you at vouches either way, just ask.

Realistically, nobody knows what this is worth. There are no true comps for a collection like this one.

I also don't know which version of it people want more: an instant legendary collection with a hell of a story behind it and an affordable price tag, or the chance to take it apart and pull exactly what their own set is missing. I'd be curious which way people land on that.

If the collection doesn't sell in one piece, I'll break it into year lots and singles in a couple of weeks. Comment if you want a heads-up when I do and I'll tag you.

One last thing

Out of roughly 1,500 cards, exactly one is untrimmed. It's also the only card in the entire collection from after 1966: a 1967 Yankees team card, full size, filed in with everything else.

I don't think it got in by accident. He'd stopped by then, and he was a Yankees guy. So somewhere in 1967 he picked up one card of his team, put it where it belonged, and never got the knife out again.

What would you have done with these?

First post to the sub. Picked up a few T201 over the last month. Been collecting since I was young. These are super interesting to me because they’re 115 years old and I’m holding history in my hands. Also unique in their being the first cards with stats.

Figured I’d take some beauty shots and really inspect the card as I transferred it from a one touch into a top loader. The eye appeal is insane to me— i never thought I’d own this card with it looking this clean!

For those curious about my top loader loyalty: I once dropped a card in a one touch while unpacking it, it bounced off a table and popped open, and I proceeded to crunch the card in half trying to catch it as it fell towards the ground. Luckily it was just a 1994 stadium club golden rainbow Frank Thomas, but it’s safe to say I’ve got some PTSD on the one touch front.

Regardless, this card is just beautiful!

Thanks to u/baptist469 for holding this card for me until we could meet up!

If using G&S please add 3%

1938 goudey bob feller sgc 1 cartoon var-1850 shipped

1967 topps Mickey mantle sgc 5- 500 shipped

1954 topps Al kaline sgc 2.5 - 500 shipped

1954 Topps Jackie Robinson psa 2-700 shipped

1954 Topps Jackie Robinson raw-850 shipped each VG-EX(left, beautiful but has a wrinkle)(right, some edge and corner wear but no creases or wrinkles)

1955 Topps Jackie Robinson- 350 shipped each PR, (left, lots of wear and writing on back)(right, faint pencil on front nice eye appeal)

1966 Batman RC - 750 shipped VG-EX no creases or wrinkles

1958 batting foes psa 5 SHARP!-625 shipped

1967 topps mantle- 335 shipped VG-EX

1964 topps Pete rose- 350 shipped VG-EX+

1964 topps Pete rose-150 shipped GD some light creases and wrinkles/corner and edge wear

1962 topps mantle AS-125 shipped VG corner wear and some surface snow no creases or wrinkles

1957 topps Jim bunning RC-175 shipped EX-MT+

1966 Philadelphia gale sayers RC-110 shipped VG crease

1962 Topps Hank Aaron- 75 shipped VG

Page 1 - Big Three and 65 Rose (stain) - $30 each, 64 Maz and 69 Rose $15 each, Second, third, and top rows - $10 each; Pages 2-3 - $7 each; Pages 4-6 - $5 each; Pages 7-8 - $4 each; Pages 9-11 - $3 each; Pages 12-15 - $2 each; Pages 16-18 - $1 each

$1 PWE, $2.50 BM no tracking, $8 BMWT, PayPal please

My vintage card of the week: The 1952 Topps Willie Mays. This low-grade beauty is definitely one of my favorite cards. I love the design of this set in general, and we all know the set’s impact on the hobby. I’ll never own the ’52 Mantle, but I’m very happy to have the Mays card in my collection. This card features gorgeous colors and a brilliant portrait of Mays. Willie was only 20 years old here, but he looked destined for greatness and wise for his years.

When I first got into prewar, all I knew about was the t206. I then discovered the t205 set and was flabbergasted to learn about another tobacco set called t207! Anyways, even though now I know of the many different t-series sets, I always wanted to have a t205, t206, & t207.

As I’m sure most of yall know though, t207 isn’t the prettiest when you compare them with their brothers. Few stood out as ones I’d want to add to my PC, but Chief Bender was one of my favorites. The “Red Skinned Slabman” as he’s referred to in the bio on the back. I finally found one with good registration for a good price and I’m pumped to have added a card from this set to my collection!

This card is particularly special, if i remember correctly, 20 years ago he was my first signed goudey. How terribly short sighted I was to sell everything. I promised myself I would do my best to get another......

Purchased this HOF ball on eBay. Seller has a bunch a feedback but I didn’t look that closely. Turns out a lot of it was negative. Item was never shipped. He responded a few times and said it was being shipped that day and then that there was an emergency and it was being shipped, etc… then radio silence.

Luckily eBay did the right thing and refunded the order. Don’t buy from sal1809!!

I don't know why it took me so long to dive into vintage but I am loving the cards in person. Holding them in your hand really lets you feel the age and to think the kids/adults collecting them are my parents/grandparents age really gives a perspective you don't always consider.