Rummaging through the trenches

At the monthly show I go to, I've made a couple of tables the only ones I really go to - one has their dollar boxes of doom and the other has a lone 3,200 count dime box of mixed sports

I really tried to make a beeline for the dollar bins of doom the moment I hit the floor - but there was 6 people going through assorted stuff at the table and I just kind of had to wait around.

I got to working through a box off to the side, but it was mostly football and/or basketball - there is definitely a set of regulars as I've seen where one of the ladies chats them up and even offers to take down their handles for her [?] Instagram account. 

I'm just another guy who basically tries to keep his head down as I go through all these cards - but that's OK for now. 

Go figure, another seller I've bought from at another show was there digging around as well - while don't know him well enough to greet him even informally, it's quaint where I see this guy buying [maybe $20 worth] of cards for himself. 

Honestly, I don't know if I was really finding fresh material where it was more of a chore to look at a row of cards - same bloat of Ken Griffey Jr., Derek Jeter, Frank Thomas, Cal Ripken Jr., other baseball, football, basketball cards that may have gotten to be redundant.

I still spent about a couple of hours just digging around at the table, adding more to the pool of cards I might pick up - being holed up in a packed room with people but no A/C, maybe it was getting to be really stuffy, especially wearing a mask.

I don't know if I could take a moment to breathe fresh air - as I'm literally going through cards, maybe I'm really getting spacey where the physiological is messing with the psychological. 

As the case has been lately, I just have to move on - whether I want to or not.  

Next time, I might need to give myself time to get some air as well bring a water bottle - something handy that I can drink from on a whim without going out of my way looking for something to cool me down.   

Mini-collections

1993 Topps 1994 Pre-Production Sample Kenny Lofton #331 - awesome outfield action

1996 Score Gold Stars Greg Maddux #17 of 30 - pitchers hitting; on the reverse image 

1998 Bowman Chrome Refractor Larry Walker #23 - inking it up; on the reverse image

2000 Fleer Greats of the Game Retrospection Roger Maris #10

2000 Fleer Greats of the Game Retrospection Thurman Munson #8 - facial hair

2000 Fleer Greats of the Game Retrospection Yogi Berra #12 - tools of ignorance 

2000 Fleer Greats of the Game Retrospection Johnny Bench #15 - tools of ignorance 

I like collecting regionally but may place less emphasis actually hunting cards for my team where I question my sanity if I'm not chasing after the latest and greatest - on the other hand, maybe an 'unofficial' mission is to come up with at least one 'lousy' Angels card, where I don't even see myself as a team collector outright, but the occasional parallel and or insert brings me some satisfaction [even if the players and cards are simply dated].

Angels

1996 Score Reflextions J.T. Snow / Don Mattingly #5 of 20

1997 Leaf Gold Leaf Stars 22 Karat Eddie Murray #34 of 36 - serial #’d 2051/2500

2004 Donruss Studio Heroes of The Hall Rod Carew #HH-8 - serial #’d 292/500

Old school binder material

1977 Topps Big League Brothers George / Ken Brett #631

1981 Donruss Pete Rose #131

1981 Donruss George Brett #491

1980s binder material - Ken Griffey Jr.

1990 Star Ken Griffey Jr. 1990 Season #6 of 11

1993 Fax Pax World Of Sport Ken Griffey Jr #2 

1995 Fleer Lumber Company Ken Griffey Jr #6 

1999 Crown Royale Pivotal Players Ken Griffey Jr. #22 

1990s binder material - Mike Piazza

1994 Leaf Statistical Standouts Mike Piazza #4-10

1995 Fleer Ultra Rising Star Mike Piazza #8 

1996 Donruss Hit List Mike Piazza #4 of 16 - serial #’d 08390/10,000

Miscellaneous 

1990 Score McDonald’s John Olerud #17

1991 Topps Stadium Club Nolan Ryan #200

2000 Fleer Showcase Consummate Prose Derek Jeter #4-CP

2003 Upper Deck Magazine Ichiro Suzuki #UD4

Rookie stuff

1982 Topps Montreal Expos Future Stars Terry Francona / Brad Mills / Bryn Smith RC #118

1990 Leaf Larry Walker RC #325

1995 Bowman’s Best Bobby Abreu RC #B3

Minor league curiosities

1986 ProCards Las Vegas Stars Benito Santiago #NNO - his potential to be a catching star with a lasting legacy faded when he started to bounce around in the early 1990s, but Santiago still had a significant playing career regardless and his 35-year old minor league issue maybe just too odd to pass up in the wild.

2005 Choice Wichita Wranglers Zack Greinke #NNO - though there seem to be obvious identifiers at first glance, I'm not quite sure which set this card is really from; by 2005, Greinke was in his second big league season and I wonder if the card came from an actual team set or maybe part of a commemorative tribute set that are sometimes issued.

I paired up the Greinke minor league issue with the newest card of his I pulled - for a little 'then and now' showcase of cards printed 17 years apart.

Numbered

2000 Pacific Omega Copper Carlos Delgado #147 - serial #’d 30/45

2003 Donruss Team Heroes Statline Robin Roberts #393 - serial #’d 17/28

2004 Donruss Studio Studio Proof Silver C.C. Sabathia #64 - serial #’d 88/100

Random ink

1996 Leaf Signature Series Bronze Mel Rojas auto 

2019 Topps Gypsy Queen Jose Martinez auto #GWA-JM

These are cards I probably left the last time I was digging around - where I made it my duty to see if I can salvage them if I saw them again.

2001 Donruss Diamond Kings Reprints Steve Carlton DKR-6 - serial #’d 0476/1983

2001 Donruss Diamond Kings Reprints Joe Morgan DKR-8 - serial #’d 0467/1983

I'm not as big into retro cards of legends just to have them in hand - but the Diamond Kings reprints [which are actually 20 years old] added modern touches [glossy and serial #'d] to the original issued cards and might be nice to squirrel away.

1986 Sportsflics Rookies Bo Jackson #40

1987 Classic Yellow Bo Jackson #109

I'm not sure I fall in line with the other old heads who get nostalgic over 'Bo' because I'd seen him as mostly a big leaguer whose baseball career was prematurely derailed - but maybe I'm just not about my junk wax era roots if I don't pick up a pair of rookie era Jacksons.

In addition to the Bo Jackson action, I ended up with a couple more cards of multi sport guys - in the early 1990s I may have wanted a 1989 Score Deion Sanders rookie card, though honestly it was mainly due to being more of a personality than it was being a football player or baseball player.

1989 Topps Traded football Deion Sanders RC #30T - this isn't quite that 1989 Score but it will have to do.

2018 Bowman Chrome Russell Wilson #BCP151 - his legacy has been cemented as one of the best quarterbacks of his era, though there has been some uncertainty for his team the past couple of years and he looks to be out at least a month after injuring his finger.