The Vintage Virtuoso Strikes Again

There were a couple of weeks there when it looked like my budget wasn't going to allow me to enjoy much more than a few packs of this year's Topps Heritage for a while. Fortunately, my awesome Aunt Renie came through with a birthday gift that rectified that tragedy. But before that happened, the Vintage Virtuoso, Mark "Harry" Hoyle sent me something that made me forget all about 2014 Heritage for a while.

1965 Topps Tommy Davis LAD #370
1965 Topps Wally Moon LAD #247

He sent the real deal! Who needs Heritage that looks like '65 Topps when you can have '65 Topps!? How beautiful are these cards? Unbelievable.

2014 Topps Stickers Yasiel Puig LAD #274
2014 Topps Stickers Hanley Ramirez LAD #276

I may have dubbed Mark the "Vintage Virtuoso," but the fact is the man's not out of touch with what's hip and now. He knows we (middle-aged wannabe) kids love stickers. And he hooked me up with some Dodgers and some pitchers. I guess maybe I am an old man, after all, though. I don't plan to stick these on anything.

1969 Topps Stamps Don Drysdale LAD #42

And you certainly shouldn't be looking for this on any envelopes that I send out. That's a 1969 Topps Stamp of Hall-of-Famer, Big D! How awesome is that!? Let's take a closer look, shall we?

Sweet.

1963 Topps Johnny Podres LAD #150

Speaking of sweet, thanks to Nick's recent proxy shopping, and now this fabulous piece of vintage Topps goodness from Mark, my Johnny Podres collection is suddenly looking pretty darn good.

1959 Topps Don Bessent LAD #71
1969 Topps Hank Aguirre LAD #94

Mark has made his mark on this playground by supplying a steady stream of Playing With My Dodgers inductees. This package was no exception, as we'll see tomorrow. Even though this isn't the card of his that's been earmarked for the PWMD collection, I'm excited about this Bessent, as he's one of the select few world champion Brooklyn Dodgers. And with this Aguirre, I now have both of his Topps Dodgers cards, the altered cap here to go along with his capless '68 PWMD card. (Nick recently explained over on Dime Boxes why this card, among many others, doesn't sport a (then) current photo.)

1969 Topps Willie Crawford LAD #327

Mark has sent very few vintage Dodgers that I already had in my collection, and there was only one in this package that was technically not a need for me. But, as you can see from this side-by-side comparison with the card that was already in my collection, this Crawford was hardly superfluous.

Before the Vintage Virtuoso came along, the single biggest contribution of vintage cards to my collection came from the same place where I got that tattered Crawford when I was a young teen. I think it's safe to say that Mark is a better source of cards than a paper bag someone set out with the trash in my back alley. How's that for a compliment, Mark? Thanks, as always.