3 More Allen & Ginter Cards Needed! (Valley Forge Report)

1933 Goudey #115

1934-36 Diamond Stars #15

1936 S and S Game

1940 Play Ball #216

My son Doug and I had a free Sunday afternoon, so we decided to head to Valley Forge for the September "Philly Show".  Doug's fall baseball schedule meant we couldn't get to the show on Saturday to meet Roy Halladay, and we only had a few hours on Sunday, but once again we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  We met up this time with Doug's friends Jacob and Josh and their Dad Chris, Doug's baseball coach.

The three younger collectors had a blast exploring the show floor and adding to their collections. Doug needs just three more cards to complete his 2017 Topps Allen & Ginter set (see below) thanks to All-Star Sports Cards (@Allstarsports09).  He spent the rest of his allowance money tracking down cool Phillies cards and adding to his growing Mike Trout collection.  We were there as the dealers were packing up, and one dealer unloaded three binders of complete Topps sets on the three boys. Doug came away with a 1988 Topps set and he hasn't stopped smiling about it yet.  It's the oldest complete set in his collection, and he'll be forever grateful to the dealer who gave it to him for free! (I believe Jacob and Josh came away with 1990 and 1992 Topps sets, respectively.)

As for me, I chipped away at my 1971 Topps set, adding the Robero Clemente and Don Baylor/Dusty Baker rookie card to my collection.  I also picked up a number of semi-stars and high numbers, getting the number of cards I need to complete the set down to 59.

1957 Topps #158

1970 Topps #403

1971 Topps #511

1975 Topps #399

I also made a small dent in my 1950s, 1960s and 1970s Phillies team set needs, creeping closer to my goal of owning a complete run of Topps Phillies cards.  Finally, I added a quartet of Phillies cards from the 1930s and 1940s, meaning I probably need to break down and change my 1930s Phillies have list post to an actual want list post.

We didn't get there in time to meet any of the autograph signers, but I overheard that Rhys Hoskins is expected to be one of the signers at the next Valley Forge show in December. We'll be there!

* * *

Here are the three 2017 Topps Allen & Ginter cards Doug needs to complete his set.  Please let me know if you can help out!

165 - Jayson Stark
301 - Trey Mancini
336 - Kenley Jansen

Memory Lane

Valley Forge 1 - September 2010 - Thinking of my Dad
Valley Forge 2 - October 2012 - Doug's first baseball card show
Valley Forge 3 - September 2014 - Meeting Darren Daulton
Valley Forge 4 - September 2016 - Phillies acquisitions and 4 Phillies Legends
Valley Forge 5 - December 2016 - Meeting Don Money
Valley Forge 6 - September 2017

1941 Play Ball #28 "Joe" Marty

I've always been very envious whenever I read a blog post by someone who can provide the exact number of a certain player's baseball cards he owns in his collection.  There are a few bloggers out there who can tell you, at any given time, exactly how many cards they have in their collection including the player and/or team break-down.  I think these bloggers use some combination of Excel spreadsheets or home-made databases to accomplish this, and I've seriously considered trying this approach myself.  However, as someone who works with Excel spreadsheets on a daily basis in my chosen profession, the thought of coming home after a long day in the coal mine and relaxing in front of another Excel spreadsheet just seemed depressing.

Sure, I've got detailed checklists, and I can tell you exactly what cards I have and what cards I need, but I have absolutely no idea how many cards are currently housed within the actual Phillies Room from where I'm typing this now.

So I've joined Zistle.  Zistle has been around for a while, but it recently re-launched with (I'm assuming) a more user-friendly approach. Its tagline is simple, "Organizing your collection online couldn't be easier. Zistle actually makes organizing your collection online, dare we say, fun!" And, dare I say it, I agree.

I started adding cards in my collection to my new account over the weekend.  I started with the few Phillies cards I have from the '30s and I've worked my way forward up through the 1981 Donruss set.  I'm going to stick to only including my Phillies cards as this is now the main focus of my collection.  Said another way, I'm more interested in knowing how many Putsy Caballero cards are in my collection (currently one) than knowing how many 1992 Donruss doubles I have.

One of the cool things about Zistle is the ability to add sets, teams, and photos to their ever expanding inventory.  Shortly after posting this, I'll upload front and back scans of this 1941 Play Ball card to the database, as there's currently no image available for this card on Zistle.

There are also trading and wantlist tools available that I have yet to explore.  And once I've input my collection, I have the ability to download the whole mess to an exportable file whenever I want.  I like this.  It's free, and they say they'll never charge for their service, but I like the idea of being able to take my Phillies collection data with me, especially after the time investment it's going to take to get everything in there.

So look for me on Zistle (Ringo73), where as of this writing, I have 756 Phillies-related baseball cards in my collection from the 1934 Diamond Stars Blondy Ryan card through the 1981 Donruss Greg Gross card.