My Venezuelan Adventure and a Change of Direction

DBesse27

As many of you know, I have been collecting the 1964 and '68 Venezuelan sets for a few years. I've been toying with a decision for a while and finally decided a couple of weeks ago to pull the trigger. I have decided to quit my 1968 set, keeping only the Red Sox, and to focus my attention and resources on completing my 1964 set, as well as a '68 Venz Red Sox team set.

There are a few reasons for the decision. The biggest reason, by far, is that a complete '68 set was truthfully unattainable. There are several really pricey cards, none more so than the Nolan Ryan RC. The last Ryan/Koosman PSA 1 that sold went for $2100 this past September. Just not feasible for me. The '64 set is achievable within my budget, especially since I'd already knocked out a couple of the biggies, like Pete Rose. I was much further along with the '64 set than I was with the '68 set, plus the '64 design is infinitely more attractive than the 68's.

For all these reasons, I decided to trade or sell 37 of my '68 Venies, either obtaining cards for my '64 set or my '68 Red Sox set, or reinvesting the sale proceeds in the same. I feel good about the decision and have already acquired some significant firepower for my '64 set, including my first Venz Mantle. Here is today's mail day, for my new, narrower Venz focus.

Mantle, Maris and Kaline all on the same card?? Yes please! And how about Clemente and Aaron on the same card?

And the biggest pitching star of the decade, in a pretty nice grade:

Plus these raw additions, all acquired in trade:

Love the rookie cup Staub. The Culp gets me to 14/27 complete on the '68 Venz Red Sox team set. After subbing some to PSA, I'll have exactly 100 graded cards in my PSA '64 Venz set.

DBesse27

For those unfamiliar with my quest so far, I figured I'd post scans of a few of my favorite 64's here. You can also view my registry here: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/baseball/company-sets/1964-venezuelan-topps/alltimeset/215107

erikthredd

That Pete Rose has great eye appeal for a PSA 1.

DBesse27

@erikthredd said:
That Pete Rose has great eye appeal for a PSA 1.

Thanks! As you probably guessed, there's some paper loss on back, typical of most Venies. I still love the card!

Kid4hof03

Hey Dan, that's really solid reasoning and I agree with you wholeheartedly about the 1964 set being a far more attractive set. I'm partial, that's probably my favorite Topps set design of the 60's thanks to a stash of them my friends Dad found in the attic when we were 9 or 10 years told (not Venezuelans, standard Topps). I did everything I could to make trades for his 64's, the Maris continues to be one of my favorite cards of all time. The AL Bombers card is also high on my list. You've got a great run going, good luck!

DBesse27

Thanks Abe! Here’s another:

Moonman

Please forgive my ignorance here, but why are these always found in such poor condition??

DBesse27

@Moonman said:
Please forgive my ignorance here, but why are these always found in such poor condition??

Good question. They were printed on much thinner, much softer paper than the cardboard used for the American issue. And to compound things, they were sold with albums and glue, so more often than not they’re found with paper loss on the backs, or glue residue, or excess paper. Many were destroyed.

With that said, they’re not ALWAYS found in poor condition. A gentleman by the name of Josh Alpert has some really tremendous Venezuelan sets with GPA’s around 7. There have been some hoards found over the years of nice cards that never were glued into an album. The highest graded ones I’ve ever owned were PSA 5’s.

vintagefun

Well thought out decision Dan. You’ve got a nice chunk of the stars already too. Keep it up.

DBesse27

Thanks Jim!

Here are 2 more:

morton35

Dan - Those are some nice 64s. I have been working on a 62 set myself for the better part of 40 years now (admittedly not consistently but I still remember getting my first one in the summer of 1980 and having no idea why there was Spanish on the back) and am finally within striking distance of completing that. And I am also working on Astros team sets for the Venezuelan run. As you know - a great challenge. Good luck with your collection.

DBesse27

@morton35 said:
Dan - Those are some nice 64s. I have been working on a 62 set myself for the better part of 40 years now (admittedly not consistently but I still remember getting my first one in the summer of 1980 and having no idea why there was Spanish on the back) and am finally within striking distance of completing that. And I am also working on Astros team sets for the Venezuelan run. As you know - a great challenge. Good luck with your collection.

Thanks for the well wishes and same to you - good luck in your quest! Almost completing your 62 set is a tremendous thing. Would love to see scans of some of your favorites!

There is only one HOF RC in the 64 Venz set. Here is my copy of it:

jayhawke

Best of luck on your 1964 set. I agree that the 1968 set is difficult to assemble because of the rarity of the Ryan, and when you can find one, its way too much money. I'm trying to put together a 1962 set.

DBesse27

@jayhawke said:
Best of luck on your 1964 set. I agree that the 1968 set is difficult to assemble because of the rarity of the Ryan, and when you can find one, its way too much money. I'm trying to put together a 1962 set.

Thanks! Good luck with your 62's! The rarity of Venezuelans is why they appeal to me, so it wasn't the rarity of the Ryan RC that deterred me, it was the cost. Thanks again!

DBesse27

Since it bumped, here's one more post of my favorite 64's.

lawyer05

where is the list of 1968 for sale ?

DBesse27

@lawyer05 said:
where is the list of 1968 for sale ?

Thanks, but all 37 are already gone. Appreciate the interest.

Porkins

Good luck on your refocus, Dan.

Informative post about the typically poorer conditions, and I totally agree about the attractiveness of the ‘64’s, nice cards!

DBesse27

@Porkins said:
Good luck on your refocus, Dan.

Informative post about the typically poorer conditions, and I totally agree about the attractiveness of the ‘64’s, nice cards!

Thanks!

DBesse27

My latest wave of additions, since my refocus:

I love to add underrated players like Colavito and Tommy Davis. Davis won back-to-back NL batting crowns in 1962 and 63, including a near-MVP season in '62: .346 with 27 HRs and 153 RBI (led league), plus a league leading 230 hits.

mrmopar

@DBesse27 said:

@erikthredd said:
That Pete Rose has great eye appeal for a PSA 1.

Thanks! As you probably guessed, there's some paper loss on back, typical of most Venies. I still love the card!

I was going to say before I saw this, what, did it have no back at all? That is very nice looking and most people care very little for the backs of cards anyway.

DBesse27

@mrmopar said:

@DBesse27 said:

@erikthredd said:
That Pete Rose has great eye appeal for a PSA 1.

Thanks! As you probably guessed, there's some paper loss on back, typical of most Venies. I still love the card!

I was going to say before I saw this, what, did it have no back at all? That is very nice looking and most people care very little for the backs of cards anyway.

Thanks, I'm very happy with it. Possibly my favorite card in my set.

JoeBanzai

Are you still collecting the 68 Venezuelans with Yaz on them? I have a couple of potential upgrades ready to be submitted, so these two should become available at some point.

DBesse27

Hi Joe! I am still collecting the 68 Venz Red Sox team set, including the Yaz cards. However I already have both of those.

I thought of you when I added the 64 Killebrew above.

DBesse27

My latest additions to my 1964 set, and probably my last additions for a while:

BLUEJAYWAY

There's something appealing about those old beater cards, they do have lots of character. And leader cards with 4 HOFers is always a plus. Nice looking group of cardboard. I too was surprised on the grade of the Rose. Back must of really been rough.

DBesse27

One more addition: