Maybe the party was somewhere else

My local card show is probably inconsistent when it comes to sellers, just because depending on what else is going on, guys may decide to be at another show - it may be a case where I've 'sold out' showing up at a particular show, but realize there are more empty spaces than anything else.

Maybe I find myself out of touch with modern 'here and now' collecting, so even in a packed house, I might not find a run 2, 3 or 4 tables that hit the spot where I can at least find stuff that appeals to me - obviously the pool of probable dance partners shrinks further when there maybe only 15-20 tables [at most] compared to at least 25-30 tables.

With the situation looking slow off the bat, I started off at a new [to me] seller set up at the back wall - he had a $0.50 [if unmarked] rookie box [sorted by player, in ABC order], a '3 for $5' junk autos box, various 'little' displays [including a couple of stacks of assorted cards in semi rigids] and then player boxes to the other side [maybe it would make more sense if all the boxes he had to dig through were on one side of his setup].

As far as the rookie box, I couldn't systemtically go through them all like a treasure hunt dig and I'm trying to come up with a short list of rookies I might find cards for - I guess I expect a 'mix mix' of cards where who knows who might find, but I'll know it when I see it.

Some of the younger guys navigating through his table weren't buying anything but complimented him on labeling his player boxes in ABC order where there were these dividers with players' names boldly written - to a certain extent, as long as sections are separated by sport, I like cards a bit jumbled up rather than making me force to really think about looking up cards for specific players.

The person at the table didn't seem like he paid much attention to me, which maybe both a good or bad thing - I'm trying to be on a little mission mission while wondering if this person is thinking I'm some kind of goof because of my 'one-track rummage.'

Someone came over and I overheard in passing that it was seller's only second show - the seller was talking about things were slow, maybe even accounting for the other show, but [at least] there was someone like [me] going through his cards.

There was a little uncertainty as I rounded up some cheap rookie stuff, a trio of certified autograph cards and a couple of miscellaneous cards - the person looked at my stash and came up with a total of $10, was a couple of bucks off my actual total.

Tyler O' Neill always had a lot of power potential as a prospect, but after 3 seasons in part time work and playing through the pandemic in 2020 - finally had the opportunity to play on a regular basis and delivered with 34 home runs.

I'm a low-key Brandon Lowe guy because I still remember making it a mission to getting him to sign a couple of cards in the Arizona Fall League back in 2017 - I grabbed a couple of his basic rookies here, but the third is actually a card of Nate [Nathaniel] Lowe, who plays for the Texas Rangers.

The rookie of Kyle Tucker might have started me on the rummage and while his Houston Astros team came up short in the World Series - he has established himself as another homegrown Astros star to build around.

I grabbed a couple of cards of Cincinnati Reds third baseman Jonathan India - who seemed to get better as he got more at-bats under his belt and maybe the 2021 National League Rookie of the Year.

I found a Xander Bogaerts rookie from 2014, which may not be much - but maybe some time has passed since the card was first released and he really has been this star shortstop for the Boston Red Sox.

Even though I have a mini-collection of mascots just because they are 'fun,' I would never buy a mascot card outright - however, the San Diego Chicken is a special breed and this shiny insert [?] has a little bit of pop I haven't seen before.

I don't see them often, but certain non-sport cards like this card of actress Kaley Cuoco from The Big Bang Theory TV show tend to be easier impulse buys in the wild - I thought this was a regular card at first, but looking closer, it actually has a perforated surface where the subject image is designed to be 'popped out.'

Finally I decided to grab a random trio of certified autographs - I do find myself not knowing what to do with pack pulled autographs, because while it's a quick fix as far as just having a signed card of a current big league closer like Alex Colome, my collecting roots was all about trying to get scribbles in-person or through the mail [TTM].

Brad Eldred was an Adam Dunn sized first baseman who played in the big leagues for parts of 4 seasons - while he might have been a 4A slugger otherwise, he got the opportunity to star in Japan through his 30s, so there might be some novelty here.

The nearly clear hologram autograph sticker was placed crooked on this Daniel Nava card, but almost blends in with how the card was designed - this one goes into the non-Angels card portion of my Angels all-time autograph collection.