Birthday gift from my wife!

Two Saturdays ago I went to AZ Sports Cards and was surprised to find a showcase filled with vintage baseball. There is always some vintage there, but the majority of the cards at AZ Sports Cards are modern. 

The case was filled with some stunning pieces of cardboard from the 1950's and early 1960's. The story I was told was that a 74 year old gentleman came in with his childhood collection and sold it to the shop. Included was a 1953 Topps Jackie Robinson, 1954 Al Kaline RC, 1955 Sandy Koufax RC, 1955 Bowman Mickey Mantle and Hank Aaron, and a 1956 Topps Mickey Mantle and Hank Aaron among others.

I drooled over everything and grabbed a bunch of 15/$1 cards and left spending just $3. On the way home I called my wife and told her I bought the Koufax rookie card for $700. She freaked out a bit, but when I told her I hadn't actually gotten the card she told me I could spend $200 if I wanted for my upcoming birthday. 

I ended up going back later that day. All the Mantles were gone and so was the Koufax rookie card. I had my sights set on the 1955 Bowman Hank Aaron card. It had a $250 price tag, but I asked if there was any room on it and was able to get it for $220.

It's not perfect, but for a 66 year old piece of cardboard, it's in darn good shape. There are some issues with the corners, but there aren't any big creases or other major issues other than the centering, but even the centering isn't as bad as many of the 1955 Bowman cards I've seen.

This isn't a rookie card, but it is Hank's only Bowman card issued during his playing career since this was Bowman's last year and Aaron didn't have a 54 Bowman card. I paid pretty much the same amount that I paid 6 years ago for his 1954 Topps rookie card, which I thought was interesting. This card is in way better shape than my rookie card though.

While I was happy to add this to my collection, I would have preferred to have had the opportunity to get a 1955 Topps card since I need that one for my Hank Aaron Topps collection. If I had the opportunity to get either the 55 Bowman or the 55 Topps, I would have gotten the Topps card, but I am still extremely happy to ass this card to my collection.