Recent Acquisition: 1951 Topps Red Back Ray Boone

Today we're featuring this 1951 Topps Red Back, of Ray Boone.

1951 Topps Red Back Ray Boone.

This card is now tied for the oldest card in my collection; it's a tie with the 1951 Bowman Richie Ashburn I acquired recently (for my birthday, in fact).  I had a few spots in my main binder to fill, and I decided to look into getting a 1951 Topps card for at least one of these.  I looked around, and found this on eBay.  I decided on Boone among a few other players, mostly as a nod towards the multi-generational Boone baseball family.  I've featured Bob Boone a couple of times, including when writing about Burger King cards in my collection.

The red back of the 1951 Topps Red Back Ray Boone.

Ray Boone played in the majors from 1948 through 1960, for the Indians, Tigers, White Sox, Kansas City A's, Milwaukee Braves, and Red Sox.  In his first year, he and the Indians won the World Series, and he was a two-time All-Star.

Included with the package: a flyer for the seller, Kit Young.

Without making any endorsement at all, I want to mention a funny thing I noticed about the card seller.  Like I said, I just found the card on eBay for a few bucks, and didn't pay attention to the identity of the seller.  It turns out that I was buying from Kit Young.  That name rung a bell, and I looked at my old Baseball Cards magazines.

Kit Young ad from decades ago.

Kit Young ad from decades ago.

Kit Young always had ads placed prominently in the front of Baseball Cards magazine.  I expect it's unlikely I ever ordered from them, since the ads tended to focus mainly on single cards of star players; I usually got such cards from the local card shops.  I tended to order factory sets or unopened packs/boxes from the magazines instead.  Even if I know virtually nothing about Kit Young (like I said, I'm by no means making an endorsement), it's nice to know that there's something that hasn't changed in the hobby from the 80s to today.