Another Wonderful Christmas: Diamond Stars, Phillies Yearbooks and Vintage Cards

As has become tradition, we spend the day after Christmas at my Mom's house with my sister and her family.  The day is filled with food, way too many presents and a steady stream of laughter.  This year was no different and there were a few different times I was literally out of breath as I was laughing too hard.  In between the food and the laugher and handing out presents, I sat down to open my presents from my Mom and as is also tradition, the gifts were spectacular.  The baseball card/Phillies portion of this year's gifts consisted of the following:

• 1963 and 1979 Phillies Yearbooks - The 1963 Yearbook is new to my collection, and the 1979 is a much-needed upgrade from the original version obtained during my first ever Phillies game.
• 1953 Bowman Black & White - I needed two more cards to complete my Phillies team set and Mom added them both, #35 Johnny Wyrostek and #64 Andy Hansen.  I'm now the happy owner of a full run of Bowman Phillies cards, with the sole and notable exception of the Richie Ashburn rookie card from the 1949 Bowman set.
• 1956 Topps - To wrap up my Phillies team set from this iconic release, and essentially the second time I've collected these cards, the last five cards I needed were added.  There were two Phillies cards, #180 Robin Roberts and #334 Bob Miller, and three cards of players on other teams who played with the Phillies during the 1956 season, #3 Elmer Valo, #77 Harvey Haddix and #293 Stu Miller.
• 1934-36 Diamond Stars - Finally, two cards were added to my growing 1934-36 Diamond Stars set, and I'll cover both of those with separate posts over on my blog for that set.  I think the coolest, and most unexpected, gift was an original yellow wrapper from the set.  I've seen pictures of these, and I know this is one of three colors available, but I've never actually held one and now it will make an excellent top page within my set's binder.

My Mom puts so much thought and care into her Christmas presents for all of us, and she once again outdid herself this year!  I hope Santa brought plenty of new baseball cards for your collection this holiday season and here's to a wonderful, hopeful and healthy 2022!

1952 Topps Phillies - 5 Cards Added

1952 Topps #47, #74, #203 and #221

When my Mom decided a few months ago to try to track down some older Phillies cards from my wantlists, something I had included on my 1950-1954 Phillies Wantlist caught her eye.  Before listing out the Phillies cards from the 1952 Topps set I need, I've typed, "1952 Topps (Yikes - Intimidated just typing that.)"

Gathering from my declaration that these cards would be tough to collect, she thought she'd start there.  Because of her willingness to tackle the challenge of finding reasonably priced 1952 Topps cards to add to my collection, the five cards featured here were added to my collection through the "Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim" Christmas tradition.  These five join Nippy Jones as the only Phillies cards from the 1952 Topps set currently in my collection

1952 Topps #107

These cards all came from Kit Young and they're in remarkable shape.  Each had a sticker on its sleeve indicating a "GD" or "GD-VG" condition, but with the exception of a few minor dings, each of the cards looks relatively flawless to me.  The Hamner card in particular looks as if it could have come straight from a pack.  Its coloring is perfect and the card has four sharp corners.  Honestly, if these cards are truly "GD" or "GD-VG," I can't imagine what "EX" cards would look like.

I love that the facsimile autograph for Willie Jones has the former Phillies third baseman signing his nickname of "Puddin' Head."  And I'm thrilled to add the Curt Simmons card to my collection, despite his glowing head or the too-big "P" painted onto his cap.  With the exception of Jones, the bios on the backs of the cards for each of the other players depicted here include mention of their time in the military.

Without gushing too much, I can't convey enough how gorgeous these cards are in person.  And thanks to my Mom, I'm just 17 cards away from a 1952 Topps Phillies team set.  (Yikes again . . . )