This card arrived in my collection yesterday. It’s another box checked in the slow, slow search for all the Dodgers in the 1960 Leaf set.
This set doesn’t get much love. The photos are black and white. They are all portrait photos. It’s joked about because Leaf packaged it with a marble instead of bubble gum. But I’ve always liked it. I grew up with the Renata Galasso/TCMA set from the late 1970s, which mimicked the 1960 Leaf design. I loved those TCMA cards. I found the design clean and satisfyingly old-fashioned.
The first five Leaf Dodgers weren’t hard to get, not even Duke Snider. Black and white photos, you know.
The last three are another matter. Those familiar with this set are aware that the second half of the set (cards 73-144) is scarcer than the rest. The second series hasn’t been quite as elusive since some of those cards were found in the late 1990s, but they’re still tricky.
So I was very happy to find Rip Repulski here at a price I could afford. You can see how sharp it looks. Still, it was categorized as “poor/fair” in the list.
I think this is the reason. There is noticeable paper loss on the back. Makes reading the biography a bit difficult. But this is a small flaw in the way I collect. Actually, I considered this card a bargain.
Rip Repulski has been a favorite ever since I scooped up his 1956 Topps card as part of the shopping bag of 1950s cards we received from my father’s coworker about 45 years ago. What a name! What a cartoon on the back!
If there was paper loss on the back of that card, that would be a problem.
Repulski spent just two years of his career with the Dodgers, most of which he logged with the Cardinals and Phillies. So the 1960 Leaf card was one of the last I needed in his Dodgers days. And knowing it was a high-numbered card sent me into convulsions for years.
So now that the 6th Leaf Dodger is in my collection, that leaves the last two. Stan Williams is currently ruled out as far as eBay is concerned. I’m not paying $100. Joe Pignatano is a little more reasonably priced. We’ll see if I pull the trigger, considering it’s the holiday season and comc Black Friday time and all.
But today is a day to celebrate this card and the great name Rip Repulski.
#Leaf #Rip #Repulski