I change out my wallet cards on my birthday which, so I am told, comes around in February. That makes November a bit early to discuss The Wallet Card Project, but here I am. I started out this month with the purchase of a card that will be used as a future wallet card. I am not disclosing the identity of this card, but will tease the fact that unlike any of the others it was manufactured by O-Pee-Chee. I don't know exactly what year I will sacrifice carry this card in my pocket but will make sure there is some sort of Canadian travel involved when I do so.
Picking up a new wallet card turned out to be a prescient move. I typically carry multiple wallet cards at any given moment and after a particularly chaotic concert my back pocket is down to carrying a single piece of cardboard. Both of the "cards that end in -ipken" are still in my possession but the '89 Fleer Billy Ripken is now on the injured reserve list until these cards are officially retired in a couple months. That's what had to happen after one of my favorite bands got a hold of my card. I promise full details and all the glorious pictures in February.
Injured wallet cards and Canadian cards aside, I did manage to add two additional cards to the collection this month. One of them arrived just moments ago. Inside this afternoon's package was a 1952 Topps Toby Atwell rookie, a guy primarily known as a borderline second-string catcher for the Cubs and Pirates. This card, however, is a high number and was therefore a bit of a challenge to obtain.
I've continued working on profiling the names already in my stack of '52 Topps cards. This month I explored:
- Harry Brecheen - My card of one of the best pitchers in the set was pulled from a common bin.
- Richie Ashburn - He seemingly only hit singles but by some measures somehow ended up with the offensive effectiveness of Johnny Bench.
- Wally Westlake - His rookie card is shared with Shoeless Joe Jackson?
The other card joining my collection this month was a 1949 Leaf Kent Peterson. You'll be seeing it and a lot of other cards like it because this month I am making my interest in building the set publicly known. Unlike past card profiles, all my looks at the names in the '49 Leaf checklist will be studies of how the players depicted got their nicknames.
My interest in Leaf isn't limited solely to the 1949 edition. This month also saw a deep dive into the history of the Sammy Sosa rookie from the 1990 Leaf set and how the manufacturer specifically sought to tie it in with the famed 1949 issue.
Coming Next Month
Much more will be written about 1949 Leaf, including the first exploration of a specific card from the set. The '52 Topps profiles will continue with a look at a pitcher who played professional baseball in Japan and another with some scary medical issues just ahead of him. December will also see the release of my State of the Collection Annual Report. Beyond the '49 Leaf project, which was mentioned in the 2024 edition, there is another major shift underway that needs to be detailed. In the interim, I want to see your year end summaries as well and am looking forward to reading all about how your collections are developing.
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