Hall of Fame Rookie Card: Al Kaline

On Saturday I stopped at AZ Sports Cards and spent most of my time at the main vintage case. It's the same case that I bought my 1955 Bowman Hank Aaron. The case is filled with vintage,  but most of the big cards from their purchase a couple of months ago from an original owner of 1952 - 1958 Topps and Bowman cards are gone. The only big cards left were a 1954 Topps Al Kaline and a couple of Ted Williams (1956 and 1957 Topps). While I'd love the Williams cards, my big focus is on Hall of Fame rookie cards, so I decided to see if I could negotiate the price of the Kaline rookie card.

It was priced at $250. I asked if there was any room and was told that they would do $200 today only. So I left to get some cash and went to my son's baseball game and went back to the shop a couple hours later. The card was in a different spot in the case. I guess someone else had looked at it. They had a 1955 Bowman Kaline and it was gone, so I'm glad the 1954 was still there.

Here's a pic I took in the car after making the purchase.

Here are pictures of the front and back outside of any case. You can see more of the flaws, of which there are many, but man do I love this card!

Alright, last picture is a screwdown. The guy I bought it from tried telling me I needed to get a one touch for it and I told him I didn't think they made one touches for the 1952 - 1956 Topps and Bowman larger cards. I had this case already, so that worked out nicely.

Very happy to add this Hall of Fame rookie card to my collection! Kaline had an amazing career. 3,000 Hit Club. 18 time All-Star. 10 Gold Gloves. Hard to believe it has almost been two years since he passed.