Strip for less

Even though I get a great deal of my cards from COMC, I don't usually purchase many during their Black Friday sale, which as most of you already know, is their biggest sale of the year.

It just doesn't seem like the stuff I'm interested in, is ever marked down enough during the sale for me to want to buy it (or more appropriately, use earned credit on it) I also seem to have a problem with the cards I'm interested in being from sellers who raise their prices before the sale, only to then put their items on "sale" for more than they were before.

Last year ended up being a bit different though, in that I ended up getting around 25 cards during the sale, including one from a set that I had never seen before:

Behold my first 1948 blue tint strip card, or if you want to be a card snob about it, my first R346.

A 48-card set, that was issued in eight-card strips, with six cards per strip. Measuring roughly 2"x 2 5/8" when cut, and as you can see, the backs are blank. Like so many other early sets, this one is loaded with variations.

This particular card has a few condition issues, but for a little over $2, I thought it was well worth it.

Paul was the closest card around to use for scale.



Before getting this card I didn't really know anything about Eddie Stanky, so of course I hit the interwebs in an attempt to become more informed. Turns out, he was a really interesting fellow.

An eventual three time all-star, he spent eight years trying to break into the bigs. After finally making it, he played 11 seasons and managed for 8, one of those seasons being as a player/manager.

He was primarily known for two things, his ability to draw walks, and his desire to win. His desire to win was so great, that like a number of players from his era and before, he didn't mind bending the rules and/or taking advantage of the rules. In fact his antics were at times, so over the top, that at least three rule changes would be made because him. The most famous one became known as the "Stanky Rule", which was enacted because of his attempting to distract opposing batters from his position at second base, where he would, among other things, jump up and down, yell, and wave his arms.

For anyone that's interested, these R346's seem to be pretty cheap, at least for the players not named DiMaggio, Feller, Gehrig, Robinson, and Williams. Personally, I think they're pretty cool, and I hope to add a few more to my collection at some point


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