Unearthing a small sample of shiny finds

I’m kind of surprised when there are other collectors makin’ whoopee at the bulk boxes at a card show - I tend to assume the low end bins are my space, where most won’t bother, but there are guys digging around just the same, occasionally pulling cards for each other [like on one occasion], building up stacks on their own.

Maybe it's more fun and games, but it doesn't make me feel as lonely doing my thing - where I do my damage, looking for cards for my assorted interests.

For collectors now of a certain age, yet didn't grow up in the middle ages - cards that pop seem to be a lure, where the aesthetics of a parallel or insert make them no brainer keepers, especially out of the glut of cards taking space that end up looking kind of the same.

2023 Series 1 Topps Super Box recap

I didn't know what this was and it maybe the last thing I needed, but I was influenced by a TikTok clip to pick up a couple - it was still in stock at Target.com when I browsed around three weeks ago and I figured I might rip one and save one so I have this unopened baseball card display package in hand to look at.

The warehouse randoms that pack out the trading card packages for Target always does a shoddy job and more than likely, there will always be at least one box [when usually buying a couple] with noticeable blemishes or even dents - I quickly looked over the two boxes I got and it made it easier where to justify ripping through the box with the cardboard display that was crushed and less presentable.

The 10 packs [two sets of five] were bundled together with adhesive sticky dots and may have stuck to the Julio Rodriguez header / cover card - but if there wasn’t the cover, there might be damage to the oversized card, which was Aaron Judge.

I was kind of bummed the oversize was not Shohei Ohtani - Judge maybe the top card to get at the moment though, so there is that.

I checked the little ziplock baggie that had the enamel trading card pin insert - thankfully, it was Ohtani for the win.

I found the normal types of base cards and inserts out of the 16-card packs - I pulled a Home Run Challenge code card of Austin Riley, which I scratched off and entered; go figure it was a winning card for me as Riley hit a home run on 4/17 against the San Diego Padres.

Angels Opening Day starters - 2023 edition

I finally put together my cards for the 2023 season, which started three weeks ago - originally I was going to use non-Angels cards of Brandon Drury [first base] and Hunter Renfroe [right field] to fill out the lineup for now.

However, I bought a 2023 Topps Big League Angels team set on eBay for basically another copy of the Logan O'Hoppe Uncommon rookie card - but also with Drury and Renfroe's first Angels [Photoshopped] cards.

The only non-Angel card straggler for now ends up being shortstop Gio Urshela - I'm not going to worry about finding an Angels card for him until I can pull it or find it at some point within the year.

Some cheap thrills with a junk box of cards

At a card show I go to, I ended up picking up one of the odd junk boxes [varying sizes, but I got one of 800-count ones, marked $3] - piled at the end of the table at the back of the storefront [where the show dates take place].

I’ve seen the old-old regulars occasionally poke around and dig through those random boxes because they probably have nothing better to do - even though the boxes have been picked over, no one actually wants the cards.

I'm really looking for the stragglers from the junk wax era [or a little bit before or after those 1986-92 years, whatever ends up being in the boxes] - I might not otherwise discover unless I take a chance on one of these 'repack boxes on steroids.'

Knowing the caveats, it's probably a better experience to pick one up a box, priced as is - than busting the latest incarnations of the pharmacy repack boxes collectors kind of like to bust, even when the contents have been less than ideal.

Just to keep things straight in my head, I’m counting on pulling about 20-25 keepers that make the purchase worth $3 for me - even if I'm inclined to throw away the other 775 cards [where maybe the box itself still looks fairly clean and ends up being the most valuable item after being repurposed].

There was a 'big' open display tray of junk cards for $15 - there was no way I was going to grab that and be able to take it home.

Maybe an iconic baseball pair as far sports movies go - the past 15-20 years.

Make no mistake about the significant number of 1987 Topps, 1988 Donruss 1988 Topps, 1990 Fleer, 1991 Donruss and other junk wax era brands in this box - but digging through, one pile at a time has me discovering some odd keepers, only a collector who nerds out on long forgotten bulk cards can appreciate.

New loose card project adds

Off random card show rummages in the bulk boxes - these dime cards [in this instance] tease some cheap thrills when I come across them, since they are more cards for this loose card project.

Maybe I find the such cards from the last 10 years or so more repetitive [save the Ripken Jr. card] - where batters are pictured batting with some of the dugout signage visible as an easy hint where these images were taken.

Card show pickups - The rest of the mess

I've ended up intermittently posting about what I got [like the Miguel Tejada card] - these aren't the better cards or anything, just kind of odds and ends I ended up making keepers from the particular purchase.

Off a seller that has become my outlet for whatever miscellaneous cards things I dig for - maybe I really didn't find a card or two that grabbed my attention from the stacked singles piles, maybe to bundle along the cheaper stuff I may find.

Another collector was plugging away through the seller's two-row dollar shoebox and at the tail end of this other guy's dig, I started going through the dollar bin myself - though maybe the box wasn’t refreshed from the last time I saw the seller.

It didn't seem that long ago when I went through the seller's dollar boxes, but that was already back several months ago - after some time has passed, could I expect the seller to fresher dollar material?

Maybe the seller has a cache of material he just sitting on or not knowing his M.O. - does make it where he has ways to regularly buy up new hauls of assorted cards, he can put out for a dollar each.