Mildly annoyed by these pickups

I had to pick up this 2021 Topps Stadium Club Babe Ruth #32 - I assume he has his 'game model' bat in hand, similar to what he used to crush home runs with back in his day.

It was in a dollar box at one of the tables at my card show and figured I might round up some other cards that I didn't want to pay a dollar for but cards I decided I like regardless of value - when I was about ready to make my purchases however, the table was unmanned.

Maybe it's not a big deal, but I had to keep my eyes peeled wondering if someone would come back to the table - I was about to go on a big junk wax dig of loose cards from another seller, before excusing myself for a moment just to grab the dollar cards I wanted when I finally saw a person sitting at the table.

Even as I dug out $5 and was ready to pay, the seller was really chatting up someone else on his phone and I had to gesture towards his direction - where I was barely acknowledged as I paid up.

A random 2021 Topps Stadium Club Mike Trout insert - he's still 'the man,' but after a pair of lost seasons, there maybe some uncertainty about all time great numbers he is going to put up going forward.

With this 2021 Topps Heritage Bryce Harper In Action subset, I'm one Kyle Lewis In Action card away from completing myTrout puzzle that make up the back of the related cards - maybe not a notable accomplishment, but something fun to keep up with.

It's probably a quarter card rather than dollar box material, but I like the action on this Cody Bellinger card - where he looks to make a flip throw, presumably to a pitcher covering first base.

I tried to do some 'research' on this card and this looks to be a throw from the third inning of Game 3 of the 2018 World Series - where Turner is positioned in the shift and Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Boston Red Sox gets an infield single anyway.

Card show rummage - a treasure hunt of misfit toys

There are distinctions over the kinds types of cardboard I’d be inspired to pick up - even if YMMV where the different cards I find may mean nothing to other collectors.

I worry about the perpetual glut of cards and being caught dead in my bloat, but I can’t take things too seriously and as much as it leaves me out of control at times - I’m always going to look to buy loose cards with the mindset I want it all [even if that isn’t reality] and dwelling on the idea I need those fresh stashes of cards to go through, even if it isn’t the latest and greatest.

These were the results of a '2 for $1' card show dig several weeks ago - out of a few times, I've stopped this seller's table, he has plastic pages of $2 / $5 base cards for at least a couple of local guys that were easy to pass by.

A box of loose cards was staring me in the face and while I didn't think much of it at first - I was looking to make something of my idle time and started to dig around past the unlicensed ACEO stuff, various Phil Nevin and Gerrit Cole cards.

A small run of basic Bo Bichette rookies - he's not quite the probable AL MVP runner up, but has had a pretty good season to build on.

A mixed bag with a pair of old school Topps Robin Yount cards, a Mickey Mantle, a super thick Bryce Harper, a Justin Turner rookie that almost looks like a refractor, a die cut Barry Larkin, an oddball playing card of Rod Carew and another Carew insert.

A trio of 1984 Donruss, another Bichette rookie I didn't squeeze into the other picture, a Jo Adell Topps Minor League Heritage and a jersey relic card of an old Montreal Expos guy.

Old school dumpster dive

I have certain expectations as see certain tables at a card show and being able to use them as an outlet as far as looking for accessible material - maybe a bargain box where I can pick up a quantity of cheap cards for various interests.

At this last show I went to, I was hoping to get a chance to work on the '2 for $1' box I didn't quite know what to make of the Saturday before last - go figure as I'm trying to glance at where the seller might be at this particular card show date, the table wasn't there, so that threw me for a loop.

The other person who I actually consider my 'go to guy' with the quarter bins of doom hasn't actually been there the past couple of weeks - he might be set up at another weekend show and on YouTube, I actually did see his table set up at a different, unfamiliar spot a month ago.

I got to another table and while his assorted vintage display box might have been promising for a hot minute the first time I saw it - mostly it was stuffed with off-condition cards with just a small number of notable players' cards priced to sit in those boxes for a while.

As much as I want to make some impulse buys off that old school display - there maybe no cards of interest to really build a 'take home' stack on.

I asked for his 1970s-1980s box of commons and started to dig around, pulling the most random cards - I felt like this just wasn't it where if this scrap brick of cards I was building was my bulk purchases of the day, then something didn't go right when I was looking to dwell on my priority tables.

I rounded up 130 random cards even though I was worried that I was going to past what I was willing to pay for what I was finding - it was weird seeing old-school 1970s through early 1980s cards of guys who played through the late 1980s and even the early 1990s. 

I didn't want to grab cards of certain players whose junk wax era commons are kindling in my eyes - but I was primarily looking for mini-collection material and also any sort of 'names' that maybe familiar at the rank-and-file or minor star level. 

Tony Armas

Buddy Bell

Jack Clark

Dwight Evans

Keith Hernandez

Dennis Lamp

Jeffrey Leonard

Fred Lynn 

Bob McClure

Hal McRae

Jack Morris

Rick Reuschel

Ray Searage

Rick Sutcliffe

Garry Templeton 

Manny Trillo

Willie Upshaw

Bob Walk

Lou Whitaker

Frank White

Mookie Wilson

Willie Wilson

Mini-collections

1975 Topps Steve Ontiveros #483 - awesome action; actual on field game action; batting

1982 Topps Chris Welsh #376 - awesome action; actual on field game action; pitching

1980 Topps Ralph Garr #272 - awesome action; game face cards; focused

1980 Topps Larry Parrish #345 - awesome action; game face cards; focused

1976 Topps Ken Brett #401 - bloodlines; brother George 

1980 Topps Joe Niekro #437 - grips

1980 Topps Amos otis #130 - hats-off

1980 Topps Ray Knight #174 - hats-off

1982 Topps Willie Wilson #230 - hats-off

1982 Topps Rick Waits #573 - hats-off

1978 Topps Rick Wise #572 - players smiling

1978 Topps Pat Dobson #575 - players smiling

1980 Topps George Scott #414 - players smiling

1982 Topps George Foster #342 - players smiling

1978 Topps Henry Cruz #516 - shades

1975 Topps Buck Martinez #314 - tools of ignorance

1975 Topps Johnny Oates #319 - tools of ignorance

1976 Topps Larry Haney #446 - tools of ignorance

Facial hair

1975 Topps Bill North #121

1975 Topps Larry Hisle #526

1975 Topps Eddie Leon #528

1975 Topps Steve Mingori #544

1976 Topps Tom Buskey #178

1976 Topps Al Hrabosky / Rich Gossage #205 - Leading Fireman

1976 Topps Tommy Harper #274

1976 Topps Champ Summers #299

1976 Topps Bob Coluccio #333

1976 Topps Steve Stone #378

1976 Topps Ed Herrmann #406

1976 Topps Carl Morton #528

1976 Topps Roric Harrison #567

1976 Topps Darold Knowles #617

1976 Topps Tom Hall #621

1976 Topps Pepe Frias #647

1976 Topps Traded Ken Reitz #158T

1977 Topps Doug Bird #556

1978 Topps Rick Waits #37

1978 Topps Jorge Orta #42

1978 Topps Warren Brusstar #297

1978 Topps Junior Moore #421

1978 Topps Tim Blackwell #449

1978 Topps Ron Blomberg #506

1978 Topps Tommy Hutton #568

1978 Topps Dick Drago #567

1978 Topps Eric Soderholm #602

1978 Topps Joe Wallis #614

1978 Topps Pat Kelly #616

1980 Topps Cecil Cooper #95

1980 Topps Jeffrey Leonard #106

1980 Topps Sparky Lyle #115

1980 Topps Phil Garner #118

1980 Topps Hal McRae #185

1980 Topps J.R. Richard / Ron Guidry #207 - 1979 Earned Run Avg Ldrs 

1980 Topps Larry Hisle #430

1980 Topps Richie Zisk #620

1980 Topps Gorman Thomas #623

1982 Topps Mickey Klutts #148

1982 Topps Chuck Baker #253

1982 Topps Bruce Sutter #260

1982 Topps John Verhoeven #281

1982 Topps Jason Thompson #295

1982 Topps Bob Walk #296

1982 Topps U.L. Washington #329

1982 Topps Dave Tobik #391

1982 Topps Pete Zachry #399

1982 Topps Elias Sosa #414

1982 Topps Ray Searage #478

1982 Topps Bob McClure #487

1982 Topps Jackson Todd #565

1982 Topps Dennis Lamp #622

1982 Topps Ken Kravec #639

Haves

1975 Topps Mike Marshall #330 - awesome action; fun cards; oddities; what's in a name to pair up with the Mike Marshall who played with the Los Angeles Dodgers through the 1980s.

1976 Topps Ray Fosse #554 - tools of ignorance

Decade stars

1970s

1980 Topps Fred Lynn #110

1980 Topps Keith Hernandez / Fred Lynn #201

1980 Topps Lou Whitaker #358

1980 Topps Jack Morris #371 - I may have this 

1980 Topps Dwight Evans #405

Team boxes

1975 Topps Bob Watson #227

1975 Topps Jeff Burroughs #470

1976 Topps Randy Jones / Andy Messersmith / Tom Seaver #201 - 1975 NL ERA Leaders

1976 Topps Dock Ellis #528

1976 Topps Mike Norris #653

1976 Topps J.R. Richard #625

1977 Topps J.R. Richard #260

1980 Topps Frank White #45

1980 Topps Bill Madlock #55 - already had a copy of this card

1980 Topps Ted Simmons #85 - already had a copy of this card

1980 Topps Ron LeFlore #80

1980 Topps Manny Trillo #90

1980 Topps Jack Clark #167

1980 Topps Tim McCarver #178

1980 Topps Buddy Bell #190

1980 Topps Braves checklist #192 - marked

1980 Topps Lance Parrish #196

1980 Topps Dave Kingman / Gorman Thomas #202 - 1979 Home Run Leaders

1980 Topps Omar Moreno / Willie Wilson #204 - 1979 Stolen Base Leaders

1980 Topps Joe Niekro / Phil Niekro / Mike Flanagan #205 - 1979 Victory Leaders

1980 Topps Dave Concepcion #220

1980 Topps Al Oliver #260

1980 Topps Bobby Bonds #410

1982 Topps Rick Sutcliffe #609

1982 Topps Joe Charboneau #630

1982 Topps Cesar Cedeno #640

Topps team runs

1978 Topps Steve Rogers #425

1980 Topps Bob Horner #108 - Atlanta Braves; upgrade

1980 Topps Dock Ellis #117 - New York Mets

1980 Topps Greg Luzinski #120 - Philadelphia Phillies

1980 Topps Rick Reuschel #175 - Chicago Cubs

1980 Topps Willie Wilson #157 - Kansas City Royals

1980 Topps Len Barker #227 - Cleveland Indians

1980 Topps Randy Jones #305 - San Diego Padres

1980 Topps Keith Hernandez #321 - St. Louis Cardinals

1980 Topps Cesar Cedeno #370 - Houston Astros

1980 Topps Tony Armas #391 - Oakland Athletics

1982 Topps Mario Soto #63 - Cincinnati Reds

1982 Topps Mookie Wilson #143 - New York Mets

1982 Topps Willie Upshaw #196 - Toronto Blue Jays

1982 Topps Garry Templeton #288 - St. Louis Cardinals

1982 Topps Pete Vuckovich #643 - Milwaukee Brewers

1982 Topps Frank White #645 - Kansas City Royals

Misc 

1976 Topps Lyman Bostock #263

1976 Topps Mickey Scott #276

1976 Topps Mike Anderson #527

1976 Topps Santo Alcala / Mike Flanagan / Joe Pactwa / Pablo Torrealba #589 - 1976 Rookie Pitchers

1978 Topps Len Randle #544

1980 Topps Bobby Grich #621

1982 Topps Tim Stoddard #457

Hunting for various binder material Pt. 2

These were from a card show, where it's more of testament to the types odds and ends cards I can find off a seller that has become a show lifeline - even if it strictly more a transaction at the end of my rummage, maybe it's just nice to go through all these cards with the idea I can take a number of them home.

Stuff maybe perpetually be picked over but I'm bound to find something or a run of things - because there is just too many cards.

A trio of guys who made their debut in the 1980s, these guys are rubber stamped as decade stars in my book - though Tony Gwynn is probably a personal favorite here, while Craig Biggio and Mark Grace are a little more 'meh' in my eyes.

The 1985 Topps Gwynn is the Tiffany version, though it has a crease that maybe more obvious in-hand, on the back of the card - I don't expect these loose cards to be 'gem mint,' but if at all possible, I hope to avoid picking up anything with blemishes like creases, centering and soft corners.

The 1992 Donruss Studio Gwynn is a preview card, so that's a little more unique - over his base card from the actual set.

While probably 'junk wax' just the same, the rookie year Biggios seemed like nice 'oddball' finds - while the only cards I have of Grace are his assorted big league issues, so a minor league issue adds a little 'pre rookie' card to the mix.

An assortment of cards featuring guys who made their debuts in the 1990s - I've never had the Pacific Net Fusion inserts in-hand [featuring Jeff Bagwell], but I'm disappointment knowing that the material was not likely from an actual foul pole netting from a stadium [if that was possible in the first place], but from a simulated material.

On the downlow, any Adrian Beltre issues are now keepers in my eyes [except cards from his Seattle years] - especially if it's more of a parallel and/or insert that kind of pops.

Edmonds is a 'top guy' for me, more as an Angel - but I do realize he had his peak years after leaving the team for St. Louis.

Aramis Ramirez and Moises Alou aren't necessarily 'my guys' by any stretch of the imagination, but their random relic cards - maybe added as binder material to whatever cards I have for each player.

Garret Anderson is rubber stamped as one of the top guys as far as Angels go - it's nice to find a serial numbered card of his to make as a keeper.

I don't heavily collect Trevor Hoffman, but he is a Hall of Fame closer, so I'll show some love - I think the card I picked up is serial #'d on the back, though it's only worth what I paid.

I don't heavily collect Bernie Williams either, but he was a great player for the New York Yankees, so I'll show some love - with a minor league card that's more of an oddball, even though it was released a couple of years after his big league cards came out already.

Finally, some rookie cards of guys I might not be too high on to collect outright - but if they are there for the taking, might as well be keepers.

Hunting for various binder material Pt. 1

More from a card show, where I ended up grabbing a bunch of cards and maybe there was some buyer's remorse just as far as quantity goes - while no one card is worth much, these cards were probably what I built my finds upon and I may have had a time figuring out how to make it where I took what I wanted.

Whether or not Derek Jeter was someone I seriously could collect over the past 25 years, he was a national superstar to gravitate to - it's fun to go back and grab assorted cards dating back to 20 years and older, notably when the newly minted Hall of Famer was still a top prospect through his early big league years.

I think about this 'Torren Up Cards post every time I find a Ken Griffey Jr. card - but despite how self-conscious I may get about aging where my heroes creep closer to 60 than to 20, it's still about trying to objectify these larger than life players, trying to squirrel away a run of Griffey Jr. cards for ownership sake.

It's awkward coveting Barry Bonds cards in 2021, but despite the media making him the face of The Steroids Era where he is more of a pariah than celebrated legend - during his late career peak, he lived rent free inside my head where all the controversy was must see TV somewhere.

The bulk of George Brett's career was played before I was even aware of what baseball was but he played through the junk wax era and his last active playing cards were made through the early UV era - there might be this random thing in my book, where there is a little faux nostalgia in elevating him above some of his peers.

After the fact, it's probably due to the Pine Tar incident and the story about having the runs in Las Vegas due to bad crab legs - but Brett still comes off smelling like a rose because he was a hard nosed, prime time player who helped elevate his Kansas City Royals teams to contention from the mid 1970s through the mid 1980s.

Messing around with retro player interests

Continued from a card show, where I ended up grabbing a bunch of cards and maybe there was some buyer's remorse just as far as quantity goes - it's all fun and games digging for one, two, five or 10 more cards to add to my stack until I had to weed things out and realize the number of cards haven't been actually whittled down to a more saner number for what I'm willing to pay.

I overheard the seller's mantra, where basically if someone bought around 1,500 cards from him - that person would be made to pay $1,500, no discounts.

I'm not getting close to over a thousand cards but perhaps a 1/10th of that number and I realize you either pay the piper or walk away - go figure I've gravitated towards this seller's table just because he seems like he has the most accessible stuff.

He has countless monster boxes of baseball cards [in addition to most of the other sports and non sport like comic cards] to dwell on - where it's just not a lonely straggler box of bargain bin cards off a 'here and now' table that tend to focus on other than baseball.

I haven't prioritized chasing cards of retired legends and icons from the 1970s and before - but I'll take the more unique ones [either retro or actual playing days cards] as I find them to build up cards for a number of old school players whose cards I want to display in a binder.

The back of the Roberto Clemente oddball, Lou Brock oddball contest card and Johnny Bench OPC - besides any major manufacturer cards [at least at the time the cards were printed], maybe I'm trying to be more liberal in looking for cards that I may not have considered just 10-15 years ago.

I picked up a run of Hank Aaron cards and I like the Topps branded cards the best like the 1994 Topps Archives 1954, 2000 Topps Chrome reprints and 2002 Topps 206 mini - because the cards have been licensed and can use retro designs and/or images while the others feel like shabby oddballs from an unknown origin.

I thought the card on top left hand corner of the quartet was a 1984 Renata Galasso issue and this nearly confirms it - but the little copyright info on the bottom left corner is just a little different.

A modern rendition on an old time card can be weird at times, but while it's never going to ever have the history of the original - the Topps Chrome reprint of Aaron's 1956 Topps card is something real nice in hand.

Presumably the other Aaron was an unlicensed issue created for a card show event - it doesn't mean it's more collectible, but I'd prefer random cards that have a little bit of notable information rather than just something made up as a true 'fantasy' issue.

I thought I'd found some nice Pete Rose cards though the old-timey looking one from the left is a 1983 Starliner Stickers - it's nearly 40 year old, but it's unlicensed and not the 1960s.

I think the middle 'card' is a 1971 Dell MLM All-Star Stamps issue, though I'm not sure how it came to be where it was laminated - makes the odd size 'card' feel more sturdy, but how did it come to be?

The last Rose card looks to be a 1976 Wiffle Ball disc issue - I've always thought these cards without the big league logos from the 1970s and through the 1980s were rogue issues, though they are authorized by the players association, just not licensed by Major League Baseball.

You can find all sorts of odder stuff

At a monthly card show, I ended up grabbing a bunch of cards and maybe there was some buyer's remorse just as far as quantity goes - maybe I was glad I wasn't actually able to go to another show for the past couple of weekends just to take a break.

These weren't the centerpiece finds I built my keepers on - but the more the mini-collection stragglers and other and and ends to add into my collections somewhere.

1974 Topps Carlton Fisk #105 - is there something I'm missing here? I grabbed it because it's an old-school Hall of Fame catcher card with a play at the plate immediately looming.

However the vibrant colors​ looks just about 'washed out' where the card may have been 'bleached' out - maybe it's just the wonkiness of the printing process, but it doesn't quite look right to me.

The back of card looks OK where it still feels like a normal Topps card - maybe I'll see if I can pick up a copy with nicer colors on the front.

As far as mini-collections go, it's a game to occasionally hunt for images on the back of the card - I wouldn't be doing my doing my due dilligence if I ignored anything but that primary image.

Though he probably has a case for the Hall of Fame, Kevin Brown never was one of those warm and fuzzy guys where you build a fan favorite narrative around past what he did on the mound - still I stumbled upon a serial #'d card with Brown wearing a batting helmet, presumably where he was involved in a hitting situation as a pitcher, so I had make it a keeper.

I like the pop around the borders on the serial #'d 1998 Donruss Studio parallel of Shawn Estes - he's obviously not hitting, but it looks like is running the bases, so I count those as well with their own sub - subset within my pitchers hitting collection.

I grabbed a pair of cards featuring a couple of nondescript minor leaguers - I might as well spend a couple of dollars to make their novelty cards mine.

Because it's a Dufex finish insert, I thought the 1993 Score Select Roberto Alomar card with the George Brett 'star on star' cameo would pop - but the card I picked up may have been subject of the natural conditions, so the 'shiny' effect isn't as pronounced compared to something 'pack fresh.'

I grabbed a certified autograph card of Blake Taylor just because he is a So. Cal local guy - I may have at least a couple of his cards years ago as a Pittsburgh Pirates draft pick, but anything inked up is nice.

Even if he is more of a rank-and-file lefty reliever currently with the Houston Astros - he has made good on his promise to get to the big leagues and have some success.

I didn't know what to do when I stumbled upon a couple of minor league team issues of Jim Fregosi and his son - the elder Fregosi [R.I.P.] was probably the Angels first team star but was pictured here after his run as the Angels manager for 4 seasons through the late 1970s.

Considering more of an oddball, I figured to pick up the card as a building block - to see if I can add more mainstream, playing days cards of Fregosi as an Angel.

I guess I had to grab the card of the son as well and while there is an immediate 'bloodines' tie - I'll add the card of Jim Fregosi Jr. to count towards my local players collection instead.

I grabbed a card of Mel Allen, a notable broadcasting great who I remember mostly as the host of This Week in Baseball - a show I remember groaning about whenever I'd see it on Saturday mornings during the late 1980s, likely because I wasn't into baseball yet and it marked the end of Saturday-morning cartoon programming.

2021 Topps Ronald Acuña Jr. #263 - SP Variation

From a card show appearance, this pick up was more of an impulsive, splurge purchase at $10 - the asking price for the same exact card was $25 at a previous card show date earlier in the year, but it was probably comping on eBay for around what I paid, notably since Acuña Jr.'s season was wiped out due to injury.

Old school, vintage and other dollar gets

At the monthly card show I've gone to, there was a seller with a old school / vintage box - the old basic Topps cards [commons, rank-and-file players] doesn't really interest me, but as a card collector, I like to make believe it's not a bad thing to rummage for some loose cards on the cheap [3 for $1], besides focusing on the here and now stuff.

Out of the tables, this particular one was as anonymous as it gets, but before stepping onto the card show floor - I wanted to seek out the seller and see what I could find.

I guess these are the 'notables' in my book - on the top, a 1971 Topps Cesar Cedeno rookie card, a pair of Phil Niekros [I had another copy of the 1982 Donruss signed by both Niekro brothers TTM years ago, though when I finally got Phil to sign TTM, he personalized my card] and a 1974 Topps manager card of Sparky Anderson.

On the bottom is a 1971 Topps Cookie Rojas, which maybe a a cult favorite among card bloggers - the 1971 Topps Chris Short card is a curiosity because of the Pete Rose cameo [looking past Rose and towards the outfield fence, I can make out an image of a dog, because of the Alpo dog food signage], a well loved 1964 Topps Tommy John dual rookie and a 1981 Topps Don Baylor for my Angels Opening Day starters collection.

These cards add some old-school / vintage depth to my mini-collections - some 'decent for the time' action cards with Ron Reed, Lee May and Art Shamsky, maybe a random catcher card of Bob Didier, though the 1971 Topps Donn Clendenon was just in the picture here or could be an addition in my 'what's in a name' collection.

On the bottom, a definite addition to that 'what's in a name' collection would be a Pete La Cock card - a random card of Jim Breazeale makes onto my fun cards; oddities roster; two random 1970 Topps commons are 'hats-off' adds and a 1977 Topps Tom Walker to add to my bloodlines collection [father of Neil Walker] and possibly count as a beyond the glory add.

I guess mid 1970s Topps cards are ripe for facial hair adds - maybe it gets a little overwhelming where I don't know which cards I should grab featuring random players, but it seems like the old-school Topps cards that stood out during a particular era, no matter if the players were notables or just rank-and-file.

The seller also had dollar boxes and while I'm kind of iffy about the relative quality in any one seller's poverty boxes - I might never know what maybe lurking as possible keepers, if I don't even bother to give things a look over.

The top row features a 2001 Donruss '2000 Retro' Craig Biggio Stat Line parallel, which may not mean much - but a numbered parallel [of a HOFer] from a major brand set when it was released should be a keeper.

Biggio was a longtime star but he wasn't considered a Derek Jeter star, so even if it's only worth what I paid - I'd like to make believe there is actually novelty in finding a card like this out in the wild.

The last thing on my mind was picking up a 1999 Bowman Chrome Josh Hamilton rookie card - but to scratch the itch, I wanted to replace the copy I lost 12 years ago.

Maybe the first card I actually made me dig around for more dollar box cards was the 1994 Topps Stadium Club Bo Jackson where he is popping a bubble - I would be surprised if I had this card, but was probably not a true dollar card find in my book.

Maybe it was worth a quarter or 50 Cent, but I would never want to leave a probable mini-collection add behind - I might as well grab it for the instant gratification of having it in my grubby hands and not worry about tracking it down.

The bottom row features a 2021 Topps Heritage Nate Pearson In Action subset card with a Mike Trout puzzle piece on the back - I think I still need Bryce Harper IA and Kyle Lewis IA to complete the puzzle that makes up an image of Trout.

When I find them, there might be cards of certain '1990s era old school' inserts I want to make keepers and that applies to the 1996 Upper Deck V.J. Lovero set - it's not a high value, but it's an aesthetically pleasing set focusing on the images a photographer was able to create featuring his subjects.

I don't really think about picking up Fernando Valuenzuela cards, but because he is 'inking it up,' the 1983 Topps All-Star Set #10 is a keeper - maybe a case like the Jackson, where it's probably not a dollar card, but all bets are off in the wild.

My little $5 dig at a card show

At the monthly card show I've gone to, there was a set up of 'overflow' seller tables because supposedly the main area was sold out - I took a little detour and found myself in the 'other room' first and figured I'd rummage through a random table's dollar and $2 boxes.

I picked up the following cards because they might be of interest - a 2021 Topps Heritage die cut of a promising rookie pitcher [Casey Mize], a 'pre rookie' parallel of basketball player Lamelo Ball, a 2018 Topps Mike Trout from the All-Star stamped factory sets [one of the bonus cards that were included] and a certified 'pink fireworks' autograph of San Francisco [Giants] pitcher Logan Webb.

I probably had the chance to get Webb's autograph in person when he was with San Jose in what was then known the Cal League in 2018 - even though he actually had some 'mainstream' cards from Panini dating back to 2014, he didn't register to me as anything but just another guy.

An 80-game PED suspension in 2019 pretty much confirmed Webb wasn't anything special - after getting to the big leagues in 2019 and pitching in parts of two seasons [having OK results despite inflated ERAs], go figure he has emerged as potential ace for years to come.