old stuff from the card show

More card show pickups from this past weekend. My first purchase of the day was 77 various cards from Bill's 7-for-$5 bins, which is where most of the cards in today's post are from-- I'm breaking my haul up into the older cards first, then I'll do another post or two soon with more recent stuff.

Perhaps the card I was most excited to find in the ol' 71.4 cent boxes was this 1969/2018 Richie Allen. I'm not really big on buybacks, but love snagging a "new" Dick Allen card when I can. Gotta admit this one looks pretty good with that big golden stamp.

There was a little deposit of like 7 or 8 cards from 1957 that I was anxious to check against my spreadsheet. Sadly, I already had them all, but these two were previously marked as wanting upgrade, and this pair fit the bill. (Sorry for the glare.) As I was updating my spreadsheet, I thought it was kinda funny to notice that I originally bought the Gus Triandos card last year, at the 6/9/18 card show, while I upgraded it almost exactly a year later, at the 6/8/19 card show.

I'm not working on the mini set of 1975 Topps, and I don't particularly PC either of these guys, but couldn't pass it up.

I'm at the point in my card collecting career where I can typically identify the year of major/flagship releases based on the design without having to think about it. But team cards and coaches cards like these two can stump me. I'm gonna guess the Tigers is '58 and Pirates is '61.
[...looks them up...]

Wow, I was a year off on the coaches (it's 1960), but the real story here... I was right about the Tigers checklist, but not only that, this is a 6th series checklist variation with the cheapest similarly unchecked back card being $38.25 on COMC. Nice score on my part! If anyone is working on a '58 set / team set, it's available for trade offers.

Now we jump to the late 80s for a pair of very familiar yet "new to me" cards. The Greg Maddux is glossy, while the Bo is obviously Canadian.

Bill counts little sets like this as "one card", so not bad for the price though I probably didn't really need to buy either of these 5-card Front Row sets from 1992.

COA! I'm a sucker for a serial number.

Ok, this last card coming up wasn't from the $5/7 bins, but rather from a dealer named Terry I don't typically shop from very often, but decided to brave a look at his '57 Topps commons. I try to keep my '57 commons down around the $1 range rather than pay more for better condition, and as such, there wasn't much catching my eye when I'd turn over each card and see the price tag on the back. Before I gave up, I skipped to around the tough 4th series numbers-- since if I was gonna be paying a few bucks for a non-star player, it had better at least be a high number.

Here we go. Collector favorite Harvey Haddix is the first card in the tricky 4th series. At $6, I thought the price was fair enough, though nothing to click my heels over. Glad I didn't have to leave the table empty-handed.

It was the most expensive card I bought myself at the show, though I did spend more on a card with Fuji in mind that I hope to use to lure him into a meetup next time he's in Portland. I wasn't intending to search out anything for him, but came across a couple cards that I thought would be a "double bullseye" for his collection.

That's all for this post.

finally a better Greg Maddux autograph (though the signature still isn't great)

Greg Maddux is a fun guy to collect. He's high up on the list of best pitchers of his era, if not all-time. And he gets bonus points in my eyes for being a Pad in the Hall (former Padre in the HOF). I've got a solid PC of his cards, but a sore spot for me was that the lone autograph I have is an ugly, unlicensed stickergraph.

A couple years back, I bought a nicer Maddux auto specifically to turn around and trade it for a shiny Rafael Devers auto-- I generally don't do buy-to-trade deals, but Devers was hot at the time and I really wanted to score the card, so I made an exception-- a swap that I may have second guessed a few times since as Devers struggled a bit last year, but he seems to have bounced back, so it might still work out for me yet. But anyways, since then I've been keeping an eye out for a nice Maddux auto for myself. Had to be licensed, on-card signed, and since I wasn't in a rush, I wanted to hold out until I found a card that fit this criteria and was numbered 12/25.

Eventually a viable candidate popped up at $100 Or Best Offer. I watched it for a while hoping the price would drop into a more reasonable range after the seller realized he was asking too much. Months went by with no change, so I went ahead and made a fair offer of $70.. about what a similar Maddux auto sells for these days. The guy flat out rejected the offer. No meeting-in-the-middle counter-offer (say around $85, which I likely would have accepted). Oh well, screw that guy, I guess, I thought to myself. If eBay allowed you to block sellers, I probably would have blocked him right then.

Well, cut to a couple weeks later, the seller decided to list the card at auction with a starting bid of $75. I ended up winning it as the only bidder. Joke's on him, as his unwillingness to compromise cost himself a few bucks. I figure I still overpaid a little, but you know me, I put a premium on Christmas Cards because I'm silly like that.

That's a nice looking card! It makes for a fine crowning jewel atop my Maddux PC.

No hard feelings with the seller. I will give him credit for being super fast (though perhaps USPS deserves much of the credit). I won the card on Friday and received it the next Monday (yesterday). I might expect that if the guy was local, but he's way out in South Carolina, so it was a surprise for that quick of a turnaround. And it was not sent via Priority Mail either, just regular First-Class.

That's all for today.

The Wesening

Wes is the best. Here are cards he sent me the other day, some from his "going out in a blaze of glory" mega break and some not.

I dig this shiny Carlos Beltran auto enough to give it top billing. He's got a case for the Hall, as a formidable hitter and one of the best center fielders of the era. This card from 2005 actually features him from his brief stint in Houston in 2004, though I like it because it brings to mind his sunset season in 2017 when he returned to the Astros and capped off his career with a World Series championship.

Another Astros hit I can use.

Nice autos and/or patches for my Pride PC. Hope we see more openly gay active football and baseball players before long. These guys never had much impact on the field and are retired now, so not exactly a Jackie Robinson-like situation with either of them, but still important baby steps.

Sweet Maddog Maddux relic, and a one from Gavin Escobar too. Looks like Escobar joined the San Diego Fleet of the newly-formed Alliance of American Football. I'm hoping he has more success there than he did in the NFL. Topps is putting out AAF cards, so perhaps I'll have more cards of his to chase down (in addition to his millions of rookie year cards.)

Some nice Padres cards here, with numbered Trevors and a couple vintage stars.

I believe the jersey drawing card folds out to reveal Tony Gwynn (he's on the back), but it's sealed by a sticker.

Ooh, a 1/1 cut auto of an old school Hall of Famer. Between the featured Panini card and the unapologetically pruned Hall of Fame postcard, it's not the best looking "card" by any stretch, but I'm still very happy to have ended up with this Billy Herman from Wes' big box break extravaganza.

William Jennings Bryan Herman (July 7, 1909 – September 5, 1992) was an American second baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) during the 1930s and 1940s. Known for his stellar defense and consistent batting, Herman still holds many National League (NL) defensive records for second basemen and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975. [wiki]

And I didn't realize it till just now, but relevant to my hometown interests, he suited up as a coach for the Padres, 1978–79, which means I should probably PC him since I've got a stated collecting focus of HOFers who suited up for San Diego ("Pads in the Hall" minicollection), and that also includes managers/coaches as well as PCL Padres.

Here are some Cubs hits available for trade. The plate is Ryan Dempster.

Here are some Astros (and sorta an A's) hits that don't really fit my collection either.

I'm not much for horror and have never watched any American Horror Story, so perhaps someone could trade me a little something for this relic?


Note: We're about to the halfway point in this epic haul, and from here on out it's 100% ladies, so if that doesn't interest you (or you have co-workers or family members around you who might not appreciate dozens of scantily clad ladies on your screen), see ya next time!

I've always liked Selma Blair alright, so this wardrobe card was a fun surprise.

Another nice relic.

I love Jaime Bergman, best known to me as "BJ Cummings" in Son of the Beach, one of my all-time favorite silly TV shows. I actually already had this auto, so that one's up for grabs. (Actually, this signature looks a bit different than my other one, so I might hang onto it as an unofficial variation) The bikini swatch is a sweet add, though that might be the tiniest relic piece in my collection now.

Pretty girls.

That top right card wasn't accidentally shown twice, but rather it's a dupe.

Some more favorites here.

I think Wes must've tripled (or more) my collection of Benchwarmer autos with this lot.

Looking good.

Why, hello.

And it goes on.

I'm pretty much out of things to say.

Looks like one of these should have gone to the Angels slot, lol.

Jessica sort of has a Kristen Bell look.

Happy Holidays!

Seems like I'm a Scarlett Keegan supercollector thanks to all the cards of hers Wes gave me. Looking her up, she's of Irish descent and was Playboy's Playmate of the Month for September 2004.

Yet more of Scarlett Keegan!

A few of these specific cards were actually pulled by me a couple years back (the Sherry Goggin 17/25 was especially familiar), then traded to Wes back when such cards were on his wantlist. As we all know, he has since drastically narrowed down his collecting focus, and must've decided to jettison the gist of his girlie cards, and I was a lucky recipient.

Many of the cards shown in the latter half of this post are available for trading, so please don't be shy to broach me about a deal if something(s) catches your eye. (I don't need every girlie card ever made.. I try to only hang onto specific ladies that strike my fancy.)

Here's one last keeper to go out on. Michelle Baena is a woman I specifically collect somewhat thanks to her and I sharing a 12/24 birthday. Seems fitting to get her auto on a Christmas-themed card!

Wes, again, thanks so much for everything. Sad to see you stepping back from the hobby/cardsphere, but gotta follow your heart. I'll continue to keep an eye out for stuff for you, and will be forever on-call for any custom card needs you may have.

Mailday Before Christmas

Good stuff under the tree to recap from Collecting Cutch, Fuji, and Too Many Verlanders.

I was thrilled to win this awesome Harold Baines card from Brian the other day. He had a contest post of predicting where Andrew McCutchen would end up. I pulled Philadelphia out of my ass, and wow, a few hours later, it was announced that he did in fact sign with the Phillies!

I've always liked Harold Baines and was pleasantly shocked at the news of his HOF election. This is a great card to ring in the occasion in my card collection. Panini Flawless cards are always classy. No logos, but there's enough going on to where you don't really notice, between the two impressive patch bits and his crazy autograph. Harold doesn't have the most visually appealing signature, but still much better than a lazy squiggle. The low serial number is a nice feature, too.

And I won this pink parallel in Brian's wonderful Save The Boobies event back in October. Victory was mine in this instance thanks to my lucky pick back in September that J.D. Martinez would hit the first double of the 2018 World Series. Sure enough that prophecy was fulfilled a month later in Game 1! For my nostradamus-like abilities, I scored this Giancarlo Stanton / Aaron Judge "award show" checklist from Series Two #'d 42/50. I collect both these guys, though I'll likely throw this in the Judge PC since I already have well over 100 Giancarlo cards and I'm still getting there with Judge.

Always down for bonus Cutch cards thrown in for the ride.

But the real surprise punch of the package was this Adrian Beltre bat relic #'d 60/99. Heck of an addition to the ol' Beltre PC.

Thanks for the contests and the bonuses, Brian! Very generous of you.

-  -  - ---o

Next up is Fuji. I figured we were square, but somehow I was still on his "hit list", and hey, I'm not going to object to receiving cards in the mail.

The 2015 Chrome George Springer is a refractor.. nice! And Fuji was just a little late on getting me that '82 Jack Morris I needed for my set, beaten to the punch by Turrdog, but still appreciated.

The meat of the package was this pair of Mad Dog Madlock relic cards.

Awesome stuff! Thank you, Fuji!

-  -  - - - --o

Lastly, Dennis from Too Many Verlanders graciously included me in his blast of holiday mailings.

Kicking off with a neat pair of blue Gavins.

Some Pads from the Past I collect, Gwynn Jr, Nevin, and a golden Giles.

Wow, now this is a Christmas package. These ornament cards from Pacific are a blast.

But the "Christmas Cards" that really get my attention are 12/25 cards. I'm always happy to land a card of any player with that yuletide numbering.. but a guy I collect? That's a bullseye for my collection! HOFer Greg Maddux and Guy From Granite Marcus Giles, both top tier dudes I collect.

Big thanks, Dennis! I'll hit you back with a return soon.


Merry Christmas, Brian, Fuji, and Dennis! Your generosity brightened my holidays.

And Happy Holidays, all. Thanks for swinging by.