card show carnage

Kind of a rough card show for me today. I left my house around 9:30 and was home about 11.. which might be my briefest card show experience to date.

I shouldn't complain too much, since I picked up a few decent cards, plus I know not everybody has easy access to a monthly card show, but I left feeling unsatisfied. A big part of it was there were so many people flocked around the good dealers that it was hard to check out all the bins I wanted to. But the most painful part was I had my eye on a couple boxes of off-condition vintage that a dealer was getting rid of really cheap. Without laboring over the story too much, the boxes got swiped out from under me due to a moment's hesitation. It was pretty crushing, but I guess that's how card shows go sometimes.

But let's put on a positive face and check out some of the cards I brought home. This post will be bookended by a couple cards that ran me $20 for the pair, and then everything in the middle was 50¢ each.

Gotta love a vintage Hank Aaron. Wasn't a steal or anything, but a solid pickup.

Hard to pass up any cheap pre-war vintage. Took a flyer on this old-looking bird card. Looking it up, seems it's 1933 Dwight's Soda Useful Birds of America Sixth Series #14 Rose-Breasted Grosbeak. Not in perfect condition, though the junk in its beak is supposed to be there... must've been on its way to build a nest. (UPDATE: I've have been corrected! It's more likely a potato bug in its mouth about to be chomped down. Oh, the carnage!)

Looks like it's worth a few bucks, so it was a good buy for 50¢.

Some of today's big names.

A pair of numbered Heritage parallels from last year.

Bartolo /100, Ortiz /149, and Gavin Cecchini /499.

Some shiny young dudes.

record scratch---oh wow, looks like my find of the day is that Carter Kieboom mega box mojo refractor. Turns out it's the "white jersey" photo variation SP (as opposed to the base version featuring a red jersey) and goes for around $20 according to COMC. Nice! Got lucky there. Perhaps I should start feeling better about how I made out today.

Also, COMC is telling me that Yordan Alvarez is a $10 card. Now I regret leaving the other 2 copies I came across near it. Hmm.. is it too late for me to go back to the show? LOL. They might still be there as I type.

COMC also has the Vladimir Guerrero Jr. listed at $16. Yeah, looks like these 3 were my shrewdest purchases of the day.

Then I bumped into Padrographs Rod and he had a couple things for me...

Sweet!.. I was looking for this 2019 AAF card to effectively wrap up my Gavin Escobar PC.

Honestly, '88 Topps might be my least favorite set ever-- way overproduced... drab, dark backs-- but I have a long-term goal to get all the main sets from that era, so it's nice to check this one off. Rod wound up with a 1988 factory set he didn't need, and was kind enough to pass it off to me. Thanks, Rod! I appreciate it.

And my last pickup to feature from today...

I had been wanting Stan Musial's "Topps Rookie" for a while, so I was happy to score this one. Musial wasn't under contract with Topps for most of his career until finally showing up in 1958 with this All-Star card.

So there are the highlights (also grabbed a few more cards that either weren't interesting enough to show or are already set aside for trader buddies). While it was a somewhat frustrating experience in the moment, I feel ok about my haul now. And I only spent $30, which is on the low end for my card show expenditures, so it's all good.

Saluting St. Louis with Stan Musial

Congrats to the St. Louis Blues on their first ever Stanley Cup victory. I'm not a big hockey guy, but I enjoy seeing the underdog prevail.

Fittingly, on the very day that St. Louis became NHL champions, I received the new best St. Louis card in my collection, though this one of the baseball variety.

My #1 collecting goal goes from Sweet 16 down to 15 left to go with this 2004 Topps Retired Stan Musial refractor auto. It popped up, I put in a fair best offer (less than what the last one I saw went for a few years back [that I had been kicking myself for missing out on since], but still fair) and it was graciously accepted.

My God, is it beautiful!!

So happy to have landed this one. I know his autographs have been devalued in recent years due to his family pressuring him to sign thousands of stickers in his twilight years (with his penmanship failing in tandem with this health, leading up to his 2013 passing at age 92), but this card was signed back when he was still in good health and it looks great.

An all-time great, no doubt about it!

I also recently ended up winning a charcoal parallel of his 2003 Retired card. Not as awesome as the ref auto, but still a sweet addition to my Stan The Man PC.

Thank you for taking a brief moment out of your busy day to look at my blog.

Dimebox Dysmorphia

More dimebox haul highlights from the show yesterday.

Dave Parker and Pops.

A couple great catchers and a couple Yankee agitators.

Former Padres in the Hall. I had received a Christmas Card relic of the McCovey from gcrl a few months ago, so it's nice to have the base version now to pair with it.

Beltre and some more dudes. The Bartolo is #'d /125, I believe.

Some Sox.

More old-timers.

Juicers. There's always way too much of these guys in Bill's bins, but I caved and threw some on my stack. The HoloGrFX cards are just cool looking. I dug the throwback on the Canseco. And Powerdeck discs are hard to pass up when that cheap.

I kinda-sorta collect Tony Fernandez, plus I'd like to work on completing 1984 Fleer someday. As for the Rizzo, I just thought it was an odd photo choice for a card. According to COMC, it's a two-buck card, so not a bad pickup for a dime.

A couple 3000 Club cards and a couple Hanks.

A few football cards to close the post with. When I first got to Bill's tables, the only available space for me to pull up to was the football dimebox area. So I bided my time there while I waited for space to open in front of the baseball bins. It all worked out, as I was able to grab a few cards for myself, plus some trade fodder. I'll likely have a big "trade bait" post up within the next few days.

More cards later. Thanks for reading!

Aunt Jinny, Anthony Young, and coping wth cards

1982

On my lunch break, Tuesday, 6/27/17, I got a text from my mom that my Aunt Jinny had passed away peacefully in her sleep earlier that morning. I knew she wasn't doing great lately, but it was still a shock. I guess I'm lucky in that I've gotten this far in life without many deaths in my family. Apart from losing grandparents and great grandparents, my core family had all been around my whole life. After my gramma passed, Aunt Jinny, as the eldest daughter, became the defacto matriarch of the family. She was a great lady, very kind, but strong and sassy. I still received birthday cards in the mail from her every year, even as I now approach 40. (Heck, those cards included checks in them until I was about 30! She definitely didn't have to do that, but it was always appreciated.) Unfortunately, she took up smoking at age 12, and I'm sure that habit didn't do her any favors in extending her life, but still, 78 is a lot of years, so we in the family should really celebrate her life rather than be depressed over her death.

When I got home from work, I heard the news that former MLB pitcher Anthony Young had also passed away that day. I remember him fondly as a promising rookie in 1991/1992 when my baseball card obsession as a kid was in full force. He never really became a star, but was a solid major league pitcher for a few years. His claim to fame was a record-breaking winless streak, but his lifetime ERA+ of exactly 100 stands to show he was a perfectly serviceable pitcher, just a victim of some bad luck and probably weak run support. Everything I've heard about him says he was a great guy, well liked by teammates and fans. Sadly, he got a brain tumor that eventually claimed his life at 51.

There was a 2005 Topps Retired refractor autograph of Young that I've seen serially relisted on eBay that was a decent price for Retired refractors (my wheelhouse-- LOVE Topps Retired refractors), but still just a bit more than I'd be comfortable paying for a guy who pitched adequately for just a six-year career. So I'd always let it pass time and time again.

But you guessed it, in my own way of paying tribute to my aunt, I went ahead and finally pulled the trigger on that Anthony Young card that evening. I hope it doesn't come off as creepy or morbid, or like a vulture move buying an autograph of a guy on the day he died. It's weird, but I figured it'd be a nice way I could remember my aunt in my card collection.

I looked it up, and while I hadn't really realized it until her death, my Aunt Jinny shared a special day in the world of baseball, as her November 21 birthday is also the day Stan Musial (1920) and Ken Griffey, Jr (1969) were born, though she was in the years between those guys. Pretty cool to share a b-day with those two all-time greats.

I don't think she was much of a sports fan, though she lived the majority of her life in Louisville, so I associate my childhood trips visiting her (and her husband, my Uncle Joe, and the rest of that faction of the family) with baseball. I toured the Louisville Slugger factory once as a kid when I was out there in the early 90s, and at a later visit, attended my first minor league baseball game, taking in a Louisville Bats game against the Columbus Clippers.

I talked about my memories from that game in an old Sentimental Sundays post. (oh man, I should revive that series one of these weeks.. those were always a lot of fun to write.)

Anyways, I'll miss you, Aunt Jinny. Rest in peace. Thanks for everything.

And also rest in peace, Anthony Young. Gone too soon.

this trade roundup keeps it poppin'

Let's run through the incoming cardboard I've received over the past couple weeks through the kind folks on the cardsphere.

Spiegel83 of the dormant blog Nomo's Sushi Platter spoke up for an available Nomo #'d insert I posted about after my last card show. I sent him the card and a few others I thought he might dig in a Dodgers-centric PWE, and he returned fire with a big package full of a bunch of guys I collect.

Great lot of Pops. I think that last card there my first ever Day-glo parallel, a retail-only gimmick from 2013 Archives that didn't really catch on. Pardon the pun, but it definitely pops in-hand.

Some spiffy Frank Robinson cards here.

Adam Jones looking good.

The Orioles keep coming with a terrific Manny Machado lot.

Nice additions to my Tom Seaver PC.

Solid bunch of Stan Musial.

Ten welcomed Molitor cards.

And here's the "miscellaneous" grouping to close the package. You know, just these 5 cards alone would have been a fine return for what I sent him. Very generous.. Thanks a lot for the trade, man!

- - - - --o

So I got that above package over a week ago, then it was quiet for several days until a flurry of unexpected PWEs graced my mailbox late this past week.

This one here is from GCA at The Collective Mind.

Shiny trio of Michael Sam cards. Pretty!

This one is a trip. I received this card on 4/20, just hours after posting my Bake McBride PC. GCA posted a comment on that post saying he might have a 1981 Topps Coke card for me. And I'm not sure what time-traveling magic he's got, but yep, here it is.

Thanks, man! I'll try to hit you back with something soon.

- - - - --o

Next is a PWE from John Miller at Johnny's Trading Spot. He's relentless!

Three cards of Josh Donaldson, including a card that says Memorial Day on it. Topps, if you want to do an insert set for Memorial Day, howbout photos of guys with their hat over their heart during the anthem? That'd be cool. But this is just another generic insert.

And a Hoyt and a couple Gavin Floyd cards. I'm at the point where I seem to have most of the readily available modern Hoyt cards and flagship Floyds, though I think I needed 2 of the 3.. so, not bad.

Thanks, John. I have not made any progress on your customs since the last PWE you sent me, it saddens me to admit, but they are on my to-do list and I'll do ya right when I get around to sending you cards.

- - - ---o

Finally, a one-card surprise from Judson at My Cardboard Habit. He recently busted a couple boxes of Gypsy Queen and landed a card he rightfully thought would go well in my collection.

My first 2017 Gavin! And my first in-person look at 2017 Gypsy Queen. I've been tempted to pick up a blaster of the stuff, but have resisted, as I'm trying to cut down on retail card purchases this year, relying on my Black Friday haul from last year to get the occasional ripping fix.

Back to this card, it's a /250 parallel of Gavin Cecchini. He's currently in AAA, but with Jose Reyes' struggling, he might get called up to fill an infield spot for the Mets soon.

Sweet card! Big thanks, Judson! I'll send you back something soon.

Thanks again to these guys who sent me cards, and thanks you the rest of you for reading.

Buried Under a Mailday of Epic Proportions

My mailbox got inundated by cards this past Thursday, with three fat packages plus a postage-due orange slip for a fourth. While "a good problem to have," it's times like these that I dread whipping up the trade post(s), as it's pretty much impossible to properly recap everything without taking a few days off work to devote to it. And so I'll give myself the ol' "here are the highlights" out and keep the commentary to a minimum.

First up is CC aka Twitch, who has established himself as a guy you definitely want in your trade circle.

Giancarlo! That A&G is now the largest card in my Stanton PC (which will be getting several more additions by the end of this post).

Gwynn!

Wil Myers is probably best player currently on the Padres, and as such, I sure like getting his cards these days. This is a nice trio, highlighted by the mini diecut numbered /99. He seems to wear a lot of blue in his career, though I prefer him in the ol' brown and gold.

More nifty Padres cards from recent years.

Some Bowman Non-Pads.. well, Manuel Margot is now a Padre, likely to get the call to the bigs by the end of the season.

CC dropped some football cards on me, highlighted by a Christmas Card and a Michael Sam auto.

And that was just about half of what CC sent. Huge thanks, man! I dropped a package off to you the other day, so hopefully it arrives safely and can sufficiently pays you back for the awesome cards to sent my way.

-   -  -- ---o

Next up is Jason Carter. He's been a big force in the cardsphere for years, with his blog The Writer's Journey being among the oldest still-active card blogs, I think. But this was our first trade. He had some cards up for grabs on Twitter and I called dibs on 3 hits. I was able to convince him that I'd deliver with a quality return package of Reds, and I think he was happy with it.

Some excellent cards for my Pirate PCs, including some Stargells, an Al Oliver bat chip, and some McCutchen cards.

Stan the Man!

Yaz, McCovey, and a sweet Willie Horton auto. But that Vlad base relic might be my favorite here. I'd been wanting a game-used base card for a while (not a base card, a base card!), and Vlad is a great guy to get it of. He was a beast in his prime!

Goldschmidts and a blue Opening Day parallel of Mookie Betts.. love it!

Thanks for the trade, Jason! Hope to do it again sometime once I replenish my Reds tradeables a bit.

-   -  -- ----o

Now it's onto another old-school blogger whom I just traded with for the first time. It's Mark Kaz from This Way To The Clubhouse. He expressed interest in the Mets from my 2016 Stadium Club hobby box, and I was happy oblige with them plus some more Mets that had been loitering in my tradebox for too long. He returned a great bunch of cards for me.

Lots of needs of guys I collect!

More Giancarlo!

I believe Mark PCs Carlos Delgado and Pedro Martinez, and so he had some dupes to share with me. Very nice!

And another big name from Mets history, Tom Seaver.

While those other cards were all appreciated, it was this sweet Andrew McCutchen selection that really stole the show. The black bordered Heritage card is #'d /64, which made it my lowest-numbered McCutchen (for a few hours...)

Awesome cards.. Thanks, Mark! Let's do it again sometime!

- - --- -----o

Ok, that wraps up the cards I received on Thursday, but there was that postage due slip. Friday morning before work, I biked over to the post office to pay them $1.49 for them to release the package to me. Then later that day, another package from the same guy showed up.. this one successfully delivered.

Matt Scott is an amazing guy to trade with, though I guess my post office doesn't like him much! This is like the 3rd or 4th time they deemed a package from him to have insufficient postage. I think I heard that bubble mailers now all have to be considered "packages".. no more getting by with envelope rates.. and that might be where the problem comes from.

Boom! Here's the big one that needed the extra postage. That's a heck of a card right there! Giancarlo and Cutch dual patch #'d 9/10. And to be sent this by a Pirates supercollector can't be understated! Plus he's mentioned that Stanton is probably his favorite non-Bucco these days.
Thanks so much, Matt! Now I have the dilemma of which PC to store this card in, as I collect these two guys with equal enthusiasm. I guess I'll just display it out for a while rather than make the call just yet.

And here's the card from the second package, a kickass acetate parallel of the Padres team card, #'d 5/10. Awesome!


Thanks again to Matt, Mark, Jason, and CC for the great cards!

And for today's bonus 800th Post contest entry chance: be the first in the comments below to correctly identify the player Matt Kemp is excitedly nestling to his bosom on the above 2016 Topps Padres team card.