Big additions to '73

I made another eBay purchase. 300 1973 cards for $50. Just over 16 cents a card. Considering what was in there I think I did all right. It was advertised as low-to-mid grade but most cards were in pretty decent shape.

My criteria these days for a big lot is to have big stars and high numbers. There wasn't much description of the lot, and not many photos. These three (plus one other) in the photos led me to pull the trigger. The Gossage rookie is a big-time card, and you just don't see vintage Ryan base cards in these kinds of lots very often. The Dwight Evans rookie card is not at the level of those two, but I knew it was a high-number so it made me hopeful there would be more.

 Here are some other Hall-of-Famers in the lot that I needed. Another Ryan on the League Leaders card. Blomberg is not a Hall-of-Famer but that card is iconic to those of us who collected the 1988 set. At this point I now need less than 100 cards from this set. Still need the Schmidt rookie of course. The other big ones left at this point are Mays, Reggie, Bench and some of the All-Time-Great subset cards.

 So much great photography! (Plus Wes Helms's awesome sideburns). The Beckert is my favorite.

 66 of the cards were new to me (plus three manager variations). Half of them were high numbers.

 Not quite a wallet-card but close! Maybe we need to start duffle-bag cards.

 Now, on to the 230+ cards for trade. I mentioned one other card helped sway me to the purchase. I already had a Hank Aaron card but it was trimmed on the sides. I'd rather trade the trimmed one (I put it on the back of another card so you can see where it is trimmed on the right or left) but I suppose if someone overwhelmed me for the better one I could be talked into it. But maybe someone wants a kind-of-unique oddball Aaron?

 Some more big names to trade, including a second-year Fisk.

 Lots more great photography. Including the Luis Alvarado parking lot card! (A high number)

 Almost 40 high numbers to trade.

 A sharp eyed reader might notice the checklist in there. I remember reading about it on Night Owl's blog recently - apparently unmarked copies of #588 go for big bucks - a quick look online shows the cheapest at $17 on COMC, $20 on eBay and none on Sportlots. I already have a marked-up copy which is fine with me. If Night Owl still needs it I should give him first crack, as I wouldn't have known it was so valuable otherwise. But if he doesn't need it and someone else wants to try to overwhelm me with an offer . . .