The process behind my bargain bin digs

These were my $0.50 hauls from the card show trip I made a couple of weeks ago - maybe I've been on a bit of a loop where this seller has been a priority stop.

If nothing else interested me, I could say I spent my time trying finding cards to give me some cheap thrills - even if it’s dated material from 10, 15, 20 years ago or older, time has passed where I can show some love for what I've generally overlooked.

It’s just hard not to skip over cards but I did try to go through all the rows from this seller's bins - maybe when I see someone else doing what I do, there might be a little competition.

I’m trying to stay in my lane and dare I say a little territorial, but maybe I need to calm down - I was making a mess and maybe there was diminishing returns as far as cards I was actually finding, yet this is kind of my jam.

I probably spent a good hour or so trying to grab stack after stack to see if there was any cards of interest to pull out - it’s a weird feeling when I'm in my own world, while someone else might give some the cards a brief look and walk away like there isn’t anything there worth their time or someone else might actually be pulling cards, just to put them back and walk away.

I was such a shark, it’s like I’m stuffing my face with all this food at a buffet - yet I’m clamoring to get up and serve myself another plate of goodies.

I was actually trying to have a look at a binder of certified autographs / relic cards I thought the seller was handing over to another guy for him to have a look - where in reality the book had already been sold to that other person.

This 1997 Fleer Ultra Season Crowns Mark McGwire #6 doesn't photograph well and is only worth a dollar - but it's a binder card all day long.

The process to weed out cards is a pain because I want it all, I can’t have it all - but I want to be able to walk away with as many cards with no regrets left behind.

I settled on a plan was to split my keepers into two distinct stacks of 40 cards - it wasn’t easy at all where I am overwhelmed, but I have rein things in where I've got to commit to picking up the cards that have piqued my interest.

Maybe a priority is finding stuff to squirrel away, where there might not be upside in the cards I find - but some overlooked [if admittedly low end] parallels, inserts and maybe rookie material may end up in my mini-collections, my decade / binder star collections or other loose card projects stewing in my mind.

In my head, I definitely try to get on a run where I try to look for more of a certain player, card type, brand or era - but maybe I'd rather have a mix of cards where I'm looking to be surprised by the next cards I might be tempted to set aside.

Maybe it's sweet relief to be able to pay for the stuff I found and be able to move on - at this show date, there may have 20-30 tables that were kind of spaced out and foot traffic wasn’t as dead as I’d anticipated, though I didn’t necessarily find another table to buy more stuff after I was done with my 'treasure hunt.'