Throwback Thursday: I completed a 69

If this title doesn't draw you in, maybe these two sweet 1969 cards of Hall of Famers Willie Stargell and Bill Mazeroski will.  The former Bucs greats were the last two cards I needed to complete my 1969 Topps Pirates Team Set and it ran me just shy of $18 to do so.

Both cards are in beautiful shape and feature no major creases, chipping, or writing.  Absolutely awesome deal I got for these two at my local sports collectors show at the mall.

Throwback Thursday: The Dock is in!!!!

A few months ago I made a large purchase of over 100 cards on COMC that helped complete some vintage teamsets along with parallels and inserts of some of my favorite Pirates.

I already showed off my 1965 Topps Strikeout Leaders featuring Don Veale that completed my 1965 team set.  Today I'm going to show a card that ran me just over an Abe ($5) to complete the 1970 Topps Pirates team set.

Last card needed for the 1970 team set: Dock Ellis

Card Number: 551 (high number)
Player's most notable moment in Pirates career: threw a No Hitter on LSD

Dock Ellis recently passed away in 2008, but before his passing he would often tell a story of how he threw a no hitter on the drug LSD.  For more information of the No Hitter as told by Ellis, visit this site.

There's currently a documentary called No-No: A Dockumentary the Dock Ellis story.  The trailer can be seen below

Throwback Thursday: Tracking down the Holy Veale

I needed one card to complete my 1965 Pirates Team Set and that was a card that featured the 1964 NL Strikeout Leaders including Bob Veale.  Veale lead the National League in punchout in 1964 with 250 in 279 innings pitched.

The card which also features Hall of Famers Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale ran me $3.20 and helped me complete 3 Topps Team sets with a recent COMC purchase.  I will show off the others as part of my Throwback Thursday segments.

You Complete Me: 1972 Topps

My brother got me several hands full of Pirates Topps baseball cards from 1954-1973 for Christmas and I have finally gotten around to crossing off the cards I needed from my Topps Flagship needs.

Amongst the 44 cards were several 1972 Topps I needed including two of the most beloved Bucs of all time, Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell.

 The cards are all in fairly well condition.  They all have soft edges, but with the exception of the Clemente they have no noticable creases.  All worthy of going into the binder and stored safely.

With the addition of the high numberes Davalillo, Virdon, and Hebner along with the 2 Stargells, Roberto Clemente, and In Action Bob Robertson I can now cross these off my needs.  This marks another Goal of 2014 complete and we are only a few days into the new year.

You complete me....Duffy Dyer

The final card to the 1975 Topps Pirates team set is now in my hands.  I grabbed this for only .50 along with a few 1969 cards and a 1964 Clemente at a local mall card show.  I've never been more happy to add Duffy to my collection.  

Dyer may not have the name recognition that other players in the 1975 Topps set or even amongst Pirates players for that matter, but his career was still impressive.  He was a member of the 1969 World Series Mets team, caught John Candelaria's no hitter on August 9th, 1976 and was inducted in the Arizona State University Hall of Fame.  Not a bad career for a backup backstop.  He most recently has been the San Diego Padres catching coordinator.

Duffy Dyer, ladies and gentleman....Duffy Fricking Dyer!!!!!!!