Maybe dollar boxes are glorified grab bags where you do know what is infront of you, but a good seller has probably leafed through the cards you are rummaging through one-by-one and the odds of finding good impulse purchases based on value - might already be predetermined as opposed to an opportunity for a true treasure hunt.
On the other hand, this doesn't mean it's pointless to dig around at random tables - I'm not a high end guy, I rummage around like I've always done to see if there are keepers to fish out.
I deal with small sample sizes as far as going to random tables at random show dates, but I've come to expect no discounts on dollar cards [so far] - I guess the cards are already a dollar as opposed to more.
1972 Topps Hank Aaron IA #300 - this beater has a crease running vertically and could have been a wallet card from decades past; it has Aaron pictured, it’s a vintage card and for a dollar, it's a keeper.
1984 Donruss Robin Yount #48 - passed this over but I want 1984 Donruss to be a set where I chase down cards of notable players, even if it means not really having a chance to get them signed otherwise due to cost for the living Hall of Famers.
1984 Fleer Cal Ripken Jr. #17 - I sort of want to build up a run of 1980s, pre junk wax era cards of decade / binder guys who played through the 1990s, just to add some depth to all the junk wax era cards I do have.
Topps was fairly common, but maybe by the mid 1980s, Fleer and Donruss had put out better, more valued flagship sets - tickling my fancy as faux nostalgia for a time I never got to experience as a collector.
This copy had little blemishes over the text on the back and the bottom portion maybe a little rougher than at first glance - so this might have been more of a quarter than a true dollar card.
1986 Donruss Cecil Fielder RC #512 - maybe it’s fun to finally just grab a rookie of a player who was a larger than life figure when I was starting out collecting baseball cards.
I have had copies of 1986 Topps rookie, but I don’t think the 1986 Donruss was ever a card that ended up in my hands over the past 30 years - might as well scratch the itch when I can.
2003 Donruss Diamond Kings Hall of Fame Heroes Reprints Duke Snider #4 - I’m not really familiar with the originals, maybe printed more as a ‘collector’s issue’ for novelty, featuring legends of the game.
I do like the textured surfaces of the contemporary [yet nearly 20 year old] inserts - rather than that thin, early 1980s cardboard Donruss used.
2004 Fleer Authentix Ticket Studs Albert Pujols #5TS - maybe not a hard to find card but it was a keeper because it was on my want list as a 'retro uniform' card and I found it in the wild.
I’m trying to remember where I originally saw this card, maybe off a blog post - I try not to deal with odd sized cards, but this is a neat one that folds out.
Having seen the card online, I intend to leave ‘as is,’ just so it remains just about regular size - where it fits alongside other cards stored loosely, where the wear and tear won’t be as obvious.
2005 Donruss Classics Classic Combos Ernie Banks / Reggie Jackson #CC-49 - this is a dual sided insert, serial #’d 113/400.
2005 Donruss Classics Home Run Heroes Ted Williams #HR-9 - insert, serial #’d 0113/1000
2013 Topps The Elite Willie Mays #TE15 - I thought this was from a high end product with a thicker stock.
2020 Bowman's Best Orange Refractor J.D. Martinez - this was a parallel, serial #’d 20/25; I don't collect him at all, though he's been featured a couple of times already.
Maybe it's more binder material than showcase material but I have to adjust my expectations and see what cards I find - the cards I found for a dollar end up being random cards to add to my collections and it's not a bad thing.
