My card collection is very ordinary.
No high-dollar, high-grade specimens meant to shock and awe, or win any ribbons at the county fair.
It's mostly vintage Mets, which by definition means it's mostly commons.
I'm happy with 7s and 8s, and will brook the occasional lower grade for a Seaver or a scarcity.
The majority of my cards are not special in any way, shape, or form.
But I'm going to crow about this one a bit...
The 1954 Dan-Dee set was distributed one card at a time in bags of Dan-Dee potato chips. The cards were unwrapped, and sat in their bags marinating in “hylo-ized” goodness.
And no, I don't have any idea what “hylo-ized” means, but it must have been very popular in the mid '50s, since the term is featured both on the bag and on the backs of the cards. Perhaps the process of hylo-ization somehow produced the “radiant energy” that is claimed on the front of the bag.
I don't know about the chips, but “radiant energy” is as good a description as any for this Gil Hodges card. It is a grease-stained, rough-edged, soft-cornered force of nature.
Gil is featured in a casual and engaging pose, his Brooklyn Dodgers' hat bisecting a lowering sky, and his Adam's apple acting as a perfectly centered focal point. The grease stains that helped earn this particular version a PSA 4 add a beautiful element of natural toning to the card, both on the obverse and reverse.
It really is an extraordinary card...
No comments:
Post a Comment