I've been looking back at those early posts recently and have noticed how things evolved over time. I seemed to have moved away from posting about the card's appearance and a brief peek at the player and more towards lengthier player bios. Not sure if that was a change for the better or not!
Overall though, I'm happy with what I've produced here. There were times I thought I wouldn't finish and indeed there was a period in early 2012 when I stepped away from posting. When I came back having decided that posting a card every day was unrealistic things became much easier.
A few closing thoughts:
I'm not completely done here. As time goes by I am going back and cleaning up a few things. Not that it matters much to anyone except me but when I began I was using the default 'medium' Blogger image size. Along the way I switched to 'large' and I'm in the process of changing them all to the bigger size. While I do that I am also adding 'tags' which I neglected to do for a long time back when I was just beginning.
I am also double checking to make sure I haven't missed a card along the way. I tried to keep my checklist current as I went but there is always the possibility I skipped a card. If so I will add the entry ASAP.
I also have a few projects in the back of my head but just never had the time or proper motivation to tackle. If you've read more than two or three of my posts here you know I have an (unhealthy?) obsession with the stadiums seen in the photos used in this set. Most of the stadiums can be ID'd pretty easily. But I didn't keep a running tab on them. I may just satisfy my curiosity on a rainy Sunday and then post my results. I can take a pretty confident guess that 60% of the shots were from Yankee Stadium.
And I want to do a "Best of" post. Some cards/entries are special to me for one reason or another. It might be the player on the card, the card itself, how I acquired it, or the story I dug up when looking for material to include. I plan to put that list of favorites together and tack it on here.
Finally a few words about the great people I've come to know through this blog. I haven't 'met' any of you in person but I feel I've made friends though the comments, corrections, additions, criticisms and general kibitzing all of you have thrown my way here for three years. I am continuing my blog over at The Five Tool Collector and now I can be a bit more active on the 1963 Topps blog hosted by Jim from Downingtown. I will continue to read memorabilia blogs every day and I hope to continue to communicate with my friends.
It's been a blast and I'll see ya on the 'net.
Thank you for your time and effort on this. As a relatively new player in the card blog field, I know it takes tremendous dedication and self motivation. Completing a full year is quite accomplishment. With 600 cards yet to writeon the 1972 blog, I know I have miles to go before I sleep.
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed your blog! The '59's were my favorite set. That was the first year I started collecting baseball cards and, of course, many of them got thrown away over the years. But I still had the Mantle card, so that was an impetus to complete the set sometime around 1984 or so. Over the years, I've also put together 1960, 1964, 1965, 1967 and 1969 sets. Now the prices of these old cards are so out of sight, I don't even think about completing any more of them!
ReplyDeleteBob O..
Only 2011? For some reason I had the feeling that you started this blog before I even had a blog? I always had the thought "man, this set just keeps going and GOING."
ReplyDeleteI experienced the same thing when I finished the '75 Topps blog -- the posts got longer as I delved into the player's background more. Also, I've always intended to go back and make the images bigger but have never gotten to it.
All in all, congrats and nice work! It's not easy to do or finish one of these.
Congrats. Would've left this in the comments for the specific post but nobody seems to have been there since 10/26/13. There's some confusion over where the photo for #422 Hobie Landrith was taken. It's Wrigley Field. If the stands aren't a giveaway, look under his right arm - the angled brick wall down the left field foul line made famous many years later by Moises Alou and Steve Bartman.
ReplyDeleteTopps didn't shoot any photographs in Chicago in 1956, unsure about 1957, so this is probably Landrith in a Cardinals' road jersey with the cap airbrushed, taken in 1958.
Thanks! I've gone back and edited the original post with your insight.
DeleteThis was so great, I think you should next take on the 1960 Topps series which many say is the most creative and unique series they ever produced. What do you say??!
ReplyDeleteThanks to each of you for the comments. Means the world to me, really.
ReplyDeleteWow that Brooks is a nice piece! I love all the retro O's players. Congrats.
ReplyDeleteThanks. The '59 Brooks card is one of my favorites, primarily because it really shows off that patch and the place I saw him play so many times.
DeleteI really enjoyed this blog and learned a lot from it. I've always been knee-deep in hockey and it was great to get into this history of baseball. I also loved the comments about the locations of photos. It's something I now like to look out for.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much. That means a lot coming from a blogger whose writing I enjoy.
DeleteI only found your blog a few weeks ago while looking for stuff for a website I was building on the 57 Braves/Yankees World Series. The 59 Topps set was my favorite. At one time, back in the late 80's, I started collecting cards again as an adult and I grabbed every 59 Topps (common) card I could get my hands on. I'll keep coming back here often to read all your old blogs and read about those old cards, it'll all still be new to me.
ReplyDeleteGlad you found it. Thanks for the kind words.
DeleteThis is a great blog. Congratulations for completing the set. The 1959 set is one of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteThanks Matt!!
DeleteI've been in and out reading your blog. Thought it was done when you paused back in 2012, but then you came back.
ReplyDeleteI am 32 cards away from completing this set myself. It is my #1 goal at this year's National. I love this set so much. It's great to have so many complete pages in my binder.
Yup, it's such a great set. Funny thing is that I wasn't going to blog it. I was going to do the 1960 set but changed my mind. I may still chase the '60 but I need a bit of time to catch up on other things.
DeleteWhat cards do you need. I have some dupes that may fill a hole until you can find more presentable ones.