2026 Vintage Pick Ups Thread

rats60 · 01-06-2026, 06:43 PM

It is time to start a new thread. Four cards for my collection of the top 25 players of the Topps Era

corndog · 01-10-2026, 10:03 AM

Starting this year I have decided to focus on cards with:

1) Great color density balance (I am a pressman and color is my job)
2) As near perfect registration as possible (which greatly affects color)
3) Decent centering (not as high a priority to be perfect)
4) A great pose with interesting background

and separately from above the complete opposite:
5) Really bad color, registration, miscut, or major print flaws (I like them)

When I was perusing the various 1953 Bowman Color cards I was drawn to
Bob Friends pose and wanted to find a nice one.
Only a few had near perfect registration and color.
Many had a light blue spot near his left sideburn which I didn't want.

Of these three cards the 1953 Bowman Color is about as good as you can get.
The other two have registration issues but still look nice although the 57 is a tad too blue (cyan).

1953 Bowman Color #16
1957 Topps #150
1960 Topps #437
Signed index card

Friend played from 1951 to 1966 and compiled a 197 - 230 W/L record
paying for the Pirates, Yankees and Mets.
He passed away in 2019 at the age of 88.

MattRoc · 01-13-2026, 04:17 PM

Caught a big fish with this 1952 Jackie. It's one of the nicer mid-grade copies that I've seen, with perfect registration and deep, deep color. It also has much less of a tilt than you'll see on most other examples. Centering top to bottom is great and left to right isnt too bad to hurt the eye appeal. Still a little shocked that it's in my collection, but work has been pretty good to me these last few years so I splurged a little bit. Candidly, I think it's a nicer card than just about all of the 5s and 6s that I've seen, and I'd rather have this one than the 8 that's currently up at Heritage. But I may be a little biased now!

Sluggerrr · 01-13-2026, 07:50 PM

Big fish, indeed. Nice pickup, MattRoc. I like the Spahn, too, Rats60!

Sluggerrr · 01-15-2026, 08:11 PM

I'm under the impression this is a type 1. However, I'm not an expert on photos and this would only be my second type 1 photo. First, I picked this one up because it's a candid shot that you don't see a whole lot of with the greats. Second, because of the stamps on the back.

The first stamp is from August 21st, 1941. Bob Feller pitched a complete game shutout that day against the Yankees in Cleveland.

The second stamp is from December 10th, 1941. Which is the day after Bob Feller enlisted in the Navy and three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Suggesting this was used in the paper to announce Bob had enlisted. The first stamp reads PM-FILE AUG 21 1941. ChatGPT affiliated that with PM newspaper which ran in New York City from 1940 to 1948. I couldn't find any copies online from that date so I'll have to do more research. I'm not out too much if it's not a type 1.

eastbayak · 01-16-2026, 07:12 PM

Oh snap, there's a section for vintage!

Just got this in. I plan to give it to my wife's uncle as he collects vintage and shared that he wanted to buy this card for his collection (during a family gathering party last month) but said it's a little expensive. He doesn't care much about condition, he's a true collector and has some good stuff (doesn't sell from what I know, also enjoys buying Topps Living Set cards).

But yeah, he kept talking about how Thorpe is the greatest athlete ever, having won gold medals in the Olympics and playing multiple professional sports.

I learned something that day!

sportzking · 01-21-2026, 08:53 AM

Picked up some 1975 minis and this

SaveMeTheGum · 01-23-2026, 07:08 AM

My recent PC pickups!

daverat · 01-23-2026, 10:17 PM

Great stuff, keep it going love to see vintage pickups

cjraleigh · 01-24-2026, 10:06 AM

Found a great local deal this week for 230+ 1971 OPCs. Nearly 1/3 the set for less than a buck each! Granted, no high series or key HOFers, but the Garvey RC is really nice, as is the lot in general. Very few creases/miscuts. Probably VG-EX+ overall. Fun find for this classic tough issue.

Bonus: arguably the coolest backs from the era.

discodanman45 · 01-24-2026, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjraleigh

Found a great local deal this week for 230+ 1971 OPCs. Nearly 1/3 the set for less than a buck each! Granted, no high series or key HOFers, but the Garvey RC is really nice, as is the lot in general. Very few creases/miscuts. Probably VG-EX+ overall. Fun find for this classic tough issue.

Bonus: arguably the coolest backs from the era.

Amazing find!!! Not arguably, they are the coolest backs. If anyone disagrees, they are just plain wrong.

corndog · 01-24-2026, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by discodanman45

Amazing find!!! Not arguably, they are the coolest backs. If anyone disagrees, they are just plain wrong.

Totally agree!
The 1971 OPC cards are BETTER than Topps!

That lot is awesome!

dboll20 · 01-24-2026, 08:55 PM

Grabbed my first card of 2026, and started it off with a bang!

Untitled by Dylan Boll, on Flickr

daverat · 01-24-2026, 11:16 PM

on my wish list too

Quote:

Originally Posted by dboll20

Grabbed my first card of 2026, and started it off with a bang!

Untitled by Dylan Boll, on Flickr

NatsSBR · 01-25-2026, 11:13 AM

To get a little non-sport love going here...

corndog · 01-29-2026, 05:55 AM

1962 Topps baseball has a few players in the set with completely different
poses using the same card number.

The Carl Willey #174 is one of the players.

These both arrived last week.

VanLingoMungo46 · 01-30-2026, 01:54 PM

Huh I had no idea about that corny. Guess I learned something new today. Also love those 52 look n see cards.

soey10 · 01-30-2026, 03:24 PM

The condition isn’t great on these but great cards nonetheless and they all came as a package deal.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

corndog · Yesterday, 05:00 AM

That's a great group of cards! ^^^

corndog · Yesterday, 05:53 PM

Picked up these Bowmans to go with my Toby Atwell signed index card.
1955 Bowman #164
1954 Bowman #123

Atwell was a MLB catcher from 1952 - 1956 playing for the Cubs, Pirates and Braves.
He served in the United States Army Air Corps during WW2 from 1943 - 1946.

Atwell passed away in January of 2003 at the age of 78.

In 2021, Loudoun County in Virginia dedicated the former Leesburg Annex Ballfield as Toby Atwell Field in his honor.

hearseguy · Yesterday, 06:21 PM

Picked up this beauty at a local show this morning.

Sent from my SM-S938U using Tapatalk

01-10-2026, 10:03 AM	#2
corndog BODA Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: From a table in McDonalds, with lovely fake flowers on it. Posts: 18,502	Starting this year I have decided to focus on cards with: 1) Great color density balance (I am a pressman and color is my job) 2) As near perfect registration as possible (which greatly affects color) 3) Decent centering (not as high a priority to be perfect) 4) A great pose with interesting background and separately from above the complete opposite: 5) Really bad color, registration, miscut, or major print flaws (I like them) When I was perusing the various 1953 Bowman Color cards I was drawn to Bob Friends pose and wanted to find a nice one. Only a few had near perfect registration and color. Many had a light blue spot near his left sideburn which I didn't want. Of these three cards the 1953 Bowman Color is about as good as you can get. The other two have registration issues but still look nice although the 57 is a tad too blue (cyan). 1953 Bowman Color #16 1957 Topps #150 1960 Topps #437 Signed index card Friend played from 1951 to 1966 and compiled a 197 - 230 W/L record paying for the Pirates, Yankees and Mets. He passed away in 2019 at the age of 88. __________________ He has no rival, He has no equal.

01-13-2026, 04:17 PM	#3
MattRoc Member Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 104	Caught a big fish with this 1952 Jackie. It's one of the nicer mid-grade copies that I've seen, with perfect registration and deep, deep color. It also has much less of a tilt than you'll see on most other examples. Centering top to bottom is great and left to right isnt too bad to hurt the eye appeal. Still a little shocked that it's in my collection, but work has been pretty good to me these last few years so I splurged a little bit. Candidly, I think it's a nicer card than just about all of the 5s and 6s that I've seen, and I'd rather have this one than the 8 that's currently up at Heritage. But I may be a little biased now! Attached Thumbnails Last edited by MattRoc; 01-13-2026 at 04:20 PM.

01-15-2026, 08:11 PM	#5
Sluggerrr Member Join Date: Feb 2023 Posts: 227	I'm under the impression this is a type 1. However, I'm not an expert on photos and this would only be my second type 1 photo. First, I picked this one up because it's a candid shot that you don't see a whole lot of with the greats. Second, because of the stamps on the back. The first stamp is from August 21st, 1941. Bob Feller pitched a complete game shutout that day against the Yankees in Cleveland. The second stamp is from December 10th, 1941. Which is the day after Bob Feller enlisted in the Navy and three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Suggesting this was used in the paper to announce Bob had enlisted. The first stamp reads PM-FILE AUG 21 1941. ChatGPT affiliated that with PM newspaper which ran in New York City from 1940 to 1948. I couldn't find any copies online from that date so I'll have to do more research. I'm not out too much if it's not a type 1. Last edited by Sluggerrr; 01-15-2026 at 08:18 PM.

01-23-2026, 07:08 AM	#8
SaveMeTheGum Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: NH --> CA --> SC Posts: 16,864 Cardboard_Dynamite CardboardDynamite	My recent PC pickups! __________________ Pay fast. Ship fast. Deal with people honestly. IG: CardboardDynamite

01-23-2026, 10:17 PM	#9
daverat Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Frisco, TX Posts: 3,120 Obalsand drt0057	Great stuff, keep it going love to see vintage pickups __________________ In 2020, 2023 and 2024 a Texas Tech QB won the Super Bowl In 2023 the Texas Rangers won the World Series

01-06-2026, 06:43 PM	#1
rats60 Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 10,117	2026 Vintage Pick Ups Thread It is time to start a new thread. Four cards for my collection of the top 25 players of the Topps Era

01-13-2026, 07:50 PM	#4
Sluggerrr Member Join Date: Feb 2023 Posts: 227	Big fish, indeed. Nice pickup, MattRoc. I like the Spahn, too, Rats60!

01-16-2026, 07:12 PM	#6
eastbayak Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Posts: 16,737 eastbayak	Oh snap, there's a section for vintage! Just got this in. I plan to give it to my wife's uncle as he collects vintage and shared that he wanted to buy this card for his collection (during a family gathering party last month) but said it's a little expensive. He doesn't care much about condition, he's a true collector and has some good stuff (doesn't sell from what I know, also enjoys buying Topps Living Set cards). But yeah, he kept talking about how Thorpe is the greatest athlete ever, having won gold medals in the Olympics and playing multiple professional sports. I learned something that day!

01-21-2026, 08:53 AM	#7
sportzking Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Earth :) Posts: 1,215	Picked up some 1975 minis and this

01-24-2026, 10:06 AM	#10
cjraleigh Member Join Date: Mar 2021 Posts: 1,046 cjraleigh	Found a great local deal this week for 230+ 1971 OPCs. Nearly 1/3 the set for less than a buck each! Granted, no high series or key HOFers, but the Garvey RC is really nice, as is the lot in general. Very few creases/miscuts. Probably VG-EX+ overall. Fun find for this classic tough issue. Bonus: arguably the coolest backs from the era. Last edited by cjraleigh; Yesterday at 02:40 PM.

01-24-2026, 08:55 PM	#13
dboll20 Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: sinking spring, PA Posts: 2,591 yanksfandboll20	Grabbed my first card of 2026, and started it off with a bang! Untitled by Dylan Boll, on Flickr

01-25-2026, 11:13 AM	#15
NatsSBR Member Join Date: Jan 2021 Posts: 344	To get a little non-sport love going here...

01-29-2026, 05:55 AM	#16
corndog BODA Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: From a table in McDonalds, with lovely fake flowers on it. Posts: 18,502	1962 Topps baseball has a few players in the set with completely different poses using the same card number. The Carl Willey #174 is one of the players. These both arrived last week. __________________ He has no rival, He has no equal.

01-30-2026, 01:54 PM	#17
VanLingoMungo46 Member Join Date: Aug 2019 Posts: 704	Huh I had no idea about that corny. Guess I learned something new today. Also love those 52 look n see cards.

01-30-2026, 03:24 PM	#18
soey10 Member Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Bakersfield, CA Posts: 1,602 Soey	The condition isn’t great on these but great cards nonetheless and they all came as a package deal. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yesterday, 05:00 AM	#19
corndog BODA Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: From a table in McDonalds, with lovely fake flowers on it. Posts: 18,502	That's a great group of cards! ^^^ __________________ He has no rival, He has no equal.

Yesterday, 05:53 PM	#20
corndog BODA Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: From a table in McDonalds, with lovely fake flowers on it. Posts: 18,502	Picked up these Bowmans to go with my Toby Atwell signed index card. 1955 Bowman #164 1954 Bowman #123 Atwell was a MLB catcher from 1952 - 1956 playing for the Cubs, Pirates and Braves. He served in the United States Army Air Corps during WW2 from 1943 - 1946. Atwell passed away in January of 2003 at the age of 78. In 2021, Loudoun County in Virginia dedicated the former Leesburg Annex Ballfield as Toby Atwell Field in his honor. __________________ He has no rival, He has no equal.

Yesterday, 06:21 PM	#21
hearseguy Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 1,575 eastern_wa_sports	Picked up this beauty at a local show this morning. Sent from my SM-S938U using Tapatalk __________________ Collecting Kevin Durant Prizm.