Showing off some card show stuff #1

These were there results of pick ups from a couple of trips to a table with dollar boxes - last year, I picked up $20 worth of cards from the same table [different location at the show], but the last few times I was at this show towards the end of October, I didn't see the seller setup.

The lure was finding the occasional loose old-school [early 1980s and before] and vintage [1973 and before] cards - where the boxes ended up being sort of a treasure hunt for notable names on cards at least 40 years old.

I ended up spending $21 on the cards pictured above and while it's not high brow material - I can make believe my finds are better than picking up a $20 blaster or comparable to the results, of one of those specialty, collector repacks I've seen online.

I'd moved on in my day, but still trying to see if I can rummage around cards at various tables when I was ready to leave - I ended up back at the dollar boxes, wondering if I can fish out at least 4-5 other cards I might have overlooked.

I grabbed the Russell Martin pack pulled autograph because I remember him being among a core of rising stars for the Los Angeles Dodgers through the late 2000s - at some point, while still trying to get autographs in-person, I felt he had gotten stingier about signing, so this random card ends up being a winning find in my book after Martin's career was over and done with.

I don't ever need a Troy Glaus memorabilia card again but 20 years ago, he was the Angels' young superstar slugger - where for at least a couple of years, the sky was the limit.

I'm not sure if I've ever had a 1987 Fleer Bo Jackson RC, which may have actually been his most popular rookie issue at his peak - to the naked eye, maybe it's a little off-center, but clean enough for me to overlook anything else.

Maybe I wasn't finding anymore 'cool' old-school and vintage cards, but grabbed this Topps insert game card of Orlando Cepeda - thought it has creases running along the card, where I wasn't paying much attention.

Finally I grabbed a really shiny Topps Finest parallel of Trevor Hoffman from the late 1990s - he was a notable relief star through the time he played, but maybe only years after the fact he's gets into the Hall of Fame, might I consider the occasional card I find as a keeper.

Featured autograph - Bo Jackson

This card caught my eye because it actually pictures Jackson as an Angel and I’ve wanted a Jackson autograph for my all-time Angels collection - I got a reluctant Jackson to scribble on a golf tournament program 10 years ago, but the booklet with celebrity participant bios and sponsors was a throw away item for me, meant to be lost somewhere.

I’d probably have to make the autograph a cut, then send it to PSA/DNA to be slabbed - so it would be harder to fit into my collection of all-time Angels autographs outright, with my collection mostly being trading cards.

FWIW, I don’t know if a trading card booklet would fit into my all-time Angels autograph collection either - but it is still otherwise a card I can add to my regional PC as well, even though a Bo Jackson Angels booklet card seems simply odd in general.

I remember 'Bo' being a two-sport superstar, who was probably as popular was Michael Jordan in the short period of time when he was playing for the Kansas City Royals in baseball and the Los Angeles Raiders in football - but of course his professional career as a baseball / football player was derailed by a hip injury suffered during an NFL game.

Jackson was simply a shell of himself by the time he spent one final season in Major League Baseball, playing for the Angels - still, with the help of eBay Bucks that came in handy, the decision was made to splurge on this pick up.

The 30-Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 8

"A card that reminds you of a family member."

Baseball card collecting has been a self-absorbed hobby for me, where I don't know if any particular card reminds me of a family member - I'm not so sure about the details now, but 1990 Donruss reminds me of my mother and the first time, I got my first full box of cards.

I think my parents were in line at a Costco, before it was a Costco warehouse club store and I just came up to them, wailing and pleading for this random box of cards - I remember my mother being so mad at me that she wanted to slap the box out of my hands.

However, I caught her in a bad spot in public and she couldn't do anything to keep me from calming down - I think she was angry because she's the rational person to rein in the spending in my family and I'd challenged her authority, where now she had to go plunk an extra $10-$11 on a box of cards [I don't think she even had a concept of trading cards at the time] just to shut me up.

I ended up with the box of cards, all 36 packs of them to rip and to flip through - though the cards are long gone, to this day, I can still imagine the wrath of my mother.

The most random card show pick ups

I don't know if I'd set out to go out to look for something specific in mind when I finally got a chance to go to a card show where they sometimes still sell cards - this one vintage dealer with a booth uncharacteristically has some assorted nickel and dime junk to rummage through, so I dug out the following cards from the quarter box.

1967 Topps Wayne Causey #286

1975 Topps Al Hrabosky #122

1975 Topps Gary Gentry #393
1986 Donruss The Rookies Bo Jackson #38

1990 Leaf Rickey Henderson #160

1994 Bowman's Best Tony Clark #62 - it's probably how the technology in making these cards have aged, but there seems to be some discoloring issues with the foil / refractor surfaces.
1997 Bowman's Best Jamey Wright #181 - as a baseball fan, I find it kind of fascinating how journeymen [85-121, 4.93 ERA] like Wright latch onto MLB jobs towards their mid 30's and possibly through their early 40s.
2000 Topps Traded Chrome Brian Sanches #T64 - he was signed this past offseason to see if he can make the Philadelphia Phillies Opening Day roster.