Card shop buys - I'm from 'Los Angeles' and my friend and I went to a card shop down South to San Diego to visit a card shop after attending a public appearance/signing with this guy pictured below. We'd stopped by CJ's Sports Cards and then one other one [Clairemont Sports Cards].

I didn't do anything for the first 30 minutes - kind of hesitant to ask about stuff. The store is less 'flashy' compared to CJ's, where there is a lot of things to catch your eye such as autographed memorabilia. The card displays [baseball section] featured cards of local players, some better premium cards, vintage cards I should be paying attention to and others.

I was sort of tempted checking out the packs, but not quite [2007 Bowman Heritage was $4 a pack, while 2007 Upper Deck SP Rookie Edition was $6] - for whatever reason, 2007 Upper Deck SP Rookie Edition is my 2006 Tristar Prospects. It is a fairly common product, but I just can't find one pack of it to pick-up.

We were going to leave, but I finally got the courage to ask about the boxes [years and years of various commons] on the shelves - I asked how much the cards were and the man at the counter said they were 12 for dollar.

I just then went nuts for the next 30 minutes - I realized I had access to all these common cards and possibly, I might just be able to pick up some cards from brands like the 2005 Turkey Red [the autograph set I forgot I was doing]. I got stuck on pulling out a bunch of those, even though I realized Allen and Ginter was nicer to get signed.

I wouldn't spend $17 on scrap cards and I'd probably overspent on principle, but who knows if I'll see a card again in the immediate future - however, at this point of the collect game, you you don't need to look need to have a card in-hand worth so much money, just cards to look through and make you smile. It kind of gets tedious when you want to look for set fillers and unique common cards, but the venues are seemingly limited.

You can't always go somewhere and flip through boxes of cards to dig for all these cards - the thing is you aren't working from a checklist, but you are hoping there are diamonds in the rough, even if you are looking for a unique card still worth five cents.

Maybe one day, I'll pull a Forrest Gump and wonder why I was running from coast to coast - for now, I'm just enjoying the journey. I just kept stumbling on cards I couldn't put back featuring players wearing retro uniforms, making awesome catches, making awesome plays, et al. I don't know if I found one 'bonus baby,' but I got a lot of everything else for my various collecting topics collections.

By the numbers - 207 total cards
For particular brands, I'm collecting them because I want to get them autograph in-person or through the mail.

2 2001 Fleer Tradition cards - Placido Polanco and B.J. Surhoff; only two missing cards I can remember off the top of my head, though there is more. Original cards were mailed off and are missing in action.

89 2005 Topps Turkey Red cards - I pulled two I had doubles of in Mike Lieberthal and Chris Burke.

I now have a stack of 108/315 - not counting short prints, loose cards in 'team sets' I've
compiled for in-person autograph endeavors, autographed already or scattered in general.
9 2006 Turkey Red cards - never really got into this product, though I'll see what I can find and pick up.


13 2006 Allen and Ginter cards - I don't know how many I have unsigned.
35 2007 Allen and Ginter cards - Noah Lowry was the double I picked up and I now have 56/350, not counting short prints, loose cards in 'team sets' I've compiled for in-person autograph endeavors, autographed already or scattered in general.
For other cards, I'm collecting them because they are cute - there is no way to describe them. The draw isn't some great endeavor to find a rare variation or another card to get autographed. I'm looking for base cards that may get one second glance and a 'hmmm, that is interesting' from everyone else, but not me.


26 'awesome action or personality shot' cards - from this stack, it seemed most came from 2005 Upper Deck and 2001 Fleer Ultra, with a few card from 2001 Topps Fusion. I was surprised at finding so many cards from the Fleer Ultra set and they really put something into the image selection of their 2001 set.

I see these two brands as pioneers of unique images on baseball cards:
1984 Fleer - personality shots [Glenn Hubbard and his boa constrictor].
1989 Upper Deck - personality and awesome action shots.

Other products [such 1990 Leaf, 1991 Stadium Club] followed - giving collectors more options as far as attractive looking base cards, something that would never come out of a $0.50 Topps pack.

4 'awesome outfield action' shots - specifically guys in the outfield making plays.


4' retro uniform' shots - guys pictured in retro uniforms.
1 'broken bat' shot - 2005 Upper Deck Moises Alou


1 'signing autograph' shot - 2005 Upper Deck Marquis Grissom
1 'pitcher doing hitter hitter things' shot - this one was a 2004 Topps card of Jason Marquis leading off first base, looking at the pitcher.
9 'young stars' cards - just different cards catching my eye, featuring Ryan Zimmerman, Prince Fielder, Grady Sizemore, Felix hernandez, Matt Caine, Brian McCann, Nick Markakis, John Maine and Jeff Francoeur.
1 Jim Edmonds card - for whatever reason, he is sentimental favorite from his days as a California/Anaheim Angel.
10 filler cards - just random cards to possibly get signed in-person or through the mail.
1 2007 Goudey Brian Roberts - the images looks vaguely like Manny Ramirez; I'm not saying the image is of Manny being Manny, but you wonder how the people at Upper Deck morphed Roberts' image into the card.
1 2004 Topps David Bell - Jimmy Rollins is peaking in the background; Rollins has been a star for the last four or five years, while, Bell is somewhere in oblivion after not playing in 2007.