Card show finds - pack pulled autographs

I was on a self-imposed hiatus through the summer to go to any card show or even visit a card shop - but I missed the in-person the card show rummage grind and wanted to see if I could still do what I do at a card show date.

I really didn't think I’d find anything I'd need out of the '2 for $5' bins at one table - but was setting aside the odd non-Angels cards of Angels all-time autograph subjects among others as potential keepers.

There might be something about thumbing through junk autos I would not have cared for before, but end up being a quick fixes when I see them out in the wild - if the players shown played for the Angels at one time and I did not have their autograph.

Another consideration is for the one-time Angels players I've gotten to sign something at some point, but may have to think up - where I actually squirreled away their IP/TTM autographs.

I might have had a 20-25 stack, but I had to whittle things down to keep things relatively reasonable - maybe it was still a little looney where I ended up with 14 cards of questionable quality and was charged exactly $35.

Another great Angels bullpen signing from last off-season - hope Stephenson bounces back some time in 2025 to earn his pay.

Owens didn't have the lasting power, but he was a fan favorite in San Diego for a couple of years, because he was a scrappy, hard nosed type - I don't think he made the same gritty impact when he played for the Angels, where he spent his last MLB season as a player in 2003.

I was excited to pick up pack pulled autographs of Chris Young, Roansy Contreras and Brock Burke - I never got Young at all when he was playing, while Contreras and Burke are 2024 Angels who were acquired during the past year.

Even if it only was worth what I paid, I picked up a Mark Teixeira autograph because it seemed too good to pass up out a value box set-up - though I have had gotten his autograph in-person or TTM multiple times early in his MLB career, this card is the one that ends up in my Angels all-time autograph collection.

I fished out some other autographs where I tried to make most of my time pulling out what I could - who knows if I needed these, but they made sense to add to my pile.

Maybe the worst looking autograph here is Mark Vientos - but it's also a rookie year auto of a young third baseman having a breakout season for the New York Mets.

The best looking autograph is of a Cincinnati Reds pitcher name Tony Santillan - who is pictured hitting on his 2022 Topps Stadium Club auto card.

I found a Corbin Burnes autograph - maybe not such a big deal, but it's win if I can find a star pitcher auto out of a value box set-up.

I found a 1983 Fleer Ron Kittle autograph - I was looking for card by itself for one my Top 100 projects planned, but I'll take a chance on a signed IP/TTM auto.

The Blogger National 2024

To give a reason to post something for the first time since late May - I jumped in on this blog bat-around from Cards Over Coffee where I have a round up of things that have animated me.

K-Rod certified autograph - for how tough he eventually became to get an autograph of, maybe there are now opportunities to pick up a pack pulled autograph for relatively cheap.

This one probably ends up squirreled away in my all-time autograph collection - where I can put it away and forget about it.

Fished out a small pile of 1951 Bowman reprints in a bulk box at a card show - sent this one with $5 to get inked up by the all-time signing great.

Oddball Dodgers stadium giveaway - at the start of the year, I picked this up off the 'swap meet' table at a card shop and I'm wondering if I should leave as is.

Presumably a partial mix of cards towards the entire master set - I wonder how many different subjects are contained within this 'pack' of player card sheets.

Top 100 fuel for a probable set featuring only Angels cards - not sure where I might have another copy of this uncorrected error card somewhere, so it was easier to buy a copy online.

Top 100 card featuring the GOAT hitter pitching - I bought another copy back in April, but it bugged me where a corner was dog eared.

I am kind of a stickler on condition at first glance, where I might spot an obvious blemish on a card I picked up outright, regardless of value - for some peace of mind, I pulled the trigger on picking up another copy and thankfully it seems a cleaner.

Top 100 fuel - a priority is squirreling away cards that might be cult favorites [even if only in my mind] as highlights of all-time Top 100 cheap-azz keepers collections.

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.

A new loose card project for myself?

I have my mini-collections and then there might be other off-shoot card projects - that randomly sprout up from random ideas and inspiration from other collectors to nerd out over scattered cards.

This is a small sample size from what I found off a card show rummage - I have an idea about the theme I'm going for, but does anyone else see it?

There are just way too many cards printed to ever catch myself trying to track down all as priorities - like it’s some great achievement to build up this particular loose card project.

I do not want to know all the cards that are out there - where it becomes overwhelming to have to make a mushrooming wantlist of cards I’m looking for.

I’m never catching myself putting specific cards on a list - but this doesn’t mean I won’t save screenshots of cards I see and/or possibly make a micro-mini 15-20 card cheat sheet.

Out in the wild, I do not want to make random cards I wouldn’t have otherwise considered instant keepers - though when possible, I probably give myself license to do just that.

A more realistic thing to actively look for is to put together a page of nine cards for more prominent players - it might be fun where there is some purpose to the project rather than a mix-mix collection of randomness with an apparent theme, but still otherwise aimless.

I don't really want to create more loose piles of cards and disrupt the general disorder of things already scattered - by trying to excavate my A-Z archives for cards where I want to pace myself and try not to over collect too fast.

Though they may not be 'harder to find' I think I have chosen a particular subset of players for this project rather than the other, more common subset of players to appear on such cards - where it maybe a little more of a challenge to keep my eyes peeled for any cards I conscript into the collection.

2023 Topps team runs completed

One of the loose card projects I work on is trying to get a flagship Topps card from all the MLB teams over the past 45 years - that may only run from 1978 onward, but I'm looking at over 40 years and it's a perpetual work in progress to fill holes, where I would like to get all the cards I need.

When opening a Topps flagship blaster in previous year, maybe I wanted to be able to complete a current year run within that one box - but the choices in-hand don't always end up inspiring and I might have held off on a team spot in case there was a card in Series 2 I wanted to use or maybe a Series 1 card I didn't pull.

I had a hobby box of Topps Series 1 to work with this year and except for potential Series 2 cards - I wouldn't have a problem finishing off this year's run.

Best players or seat fillers [?] - I don’t want to always use the more obvious stars or superstars, where a personal rule is only being able to use a player three times for a team's entire run.

I want to highlight either a breakout or underrated player and in most cases, will defer to using notable players - especially if they were the story for a particular year and I have the card for them.

Considering considering cards for my Topps team runs collection - maybe the Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles and Arizona Diamondbacks left me wondering if I actually had the cards to pick from.

I could have used a Michael Harris RC for the Braves - but that is going into my award winners collection, where it's my first card of the 2022 National League Rookie of the Year.

I ended up going with a card of Raisel Iglesias - who hasn't really been a Braves' player for that long, but might be counted on to be the team's closer this upcoming season.

I could have used an Adley Rutschman (RC) for the Orioles, but I want to keep that card around as a 'single' or maybe a binder material centerpiece - even though there are probably a million of the cards printed where it's worth $5 rather than $25.

For the Orioles, I ended up using the rookie card of Gunnar Henderson - maybe it's a little fast forward thinking, where he hasn't done anything yet, but Henderson is the No.1 prospect in the game and his rookie teases a nice 'dirt fetish' at-bat shot.

For the Diamondbacks, I didn't want to use another Merrill Kelly or Ketel Marte, so I went with Josh Rojas - not quite an inspiring player, but he had a decent year in 2022.

#17 Shohei Ohtani - Angels
#181 Yordan Alvarez - Astros
#153 Kevin Gausman - Blue Jays
#115 Raisel Iglesias - Braves
#60 Josh Rojas - Diamondbacks
#257 Yadiel Hernandez - Expos / Nationals
#262 Camilo Doval - Giants
#116 Steven Kwan - Indians / Guardians
#330 Julio Rodriguez - Mariners
#206 Gunnar Henderson - Orioles
#279 Yu Darvish - Padres
#314 Ke'Bryan Hayes - Pirates
#124 Nathaniel Lowe - Rangers
#227 Yandy Diaz - Rays
#11 Rafael Devers - Red Sox
#33 Kyle Farmer - Reds
#122 Yonathan Daza - Rockies
#7 Bobby Witt Jr. - Royals
#62 Aaron Judge - Yankees
#6 Paul Blackburn - Athletics
#109 Eric Lauer - Brewers
#5 Albert Pujols - Cardinals
#54 Marcus Stroman - Cubs
#50 Mookie Betts - Dodgers
#107 Sandy Alcantara - Marlins
#21 Max Scherzer - Mets
#293 J.T. Realmuto - Phillies
#74 Tarik Skubal - Tigers
#25 Byron Buxton - Twins
#132 Gavin Sheets - White Sox; #53 Dylan Cease - White Sox

Angels Opening Day starters - better late than never

I put together my cards for the 2022 season, which started three weeks ago - it may not mean much in the grand scheme of things, but a loose card project I can complete for at least the current year gives me something to dwell on for a moment, especially with a home team focus.

I think I was actually missing a Mike Trout [center field] and a Matt Duffy [second base] so I didn't fill out my page until recently - it's not like I'm short on Trout cards, though I might have done a 'sweep' to put some loose ones away and then found one squirreled away randomly from a card show pick up last summer.

Since he already has an Angels card, I was hoping Tyler Wade would have been the Opening Day starter at second base - I had to figure out where my stash of Duffy cards was and found them in a baggie that was for some loose Chicago Cubs cards in 2021.

Due to necessity, there are the 'rare' instances where I've used a non-Angels card to fill out a page for a particular year - in this case, it's dupe of a 2016 Donruss San Francisco [Giants] card of Duffy.

Presumably for the more recent, active players, I'll be able to find an Angels card made at some point - where I'll 'upgrade' with the Angels card.

Something I had a little fun with was setting aside a couple of cards for Shohei Ohtani - where he was the Opening Day starter for the Angels as well as the designated hitter.

My first card show in a while

I saw a flier posted on an Instagram account for a card show and since it was otherwise local, thought it might be worth my time to check things out - there is always a fear I might get stuck in some kind of weird swap meet atmosphere where the are only a limited number of tables with mostly vendors who might not actually be selling cards.

There is still the COVID-19 pandemic to worry about, so I haven't really entertained thoughts of going to any card show in the past year or so - maybe I shouldn't make a big deal about stopping at a place where there might be like minded vendors selling their wares.

As I got to the spot, I was afraid there was an entrance fee but it was only a lady checking temperatures - it looks like everything was outside.

There might have been 30-35 tables and with at least several customers crowding around many of the tables, where it was hard to squeeze into looking into the loose non-showcase cards put out - I was probably looking for more of an old school baseball vendor with dated material I can dwell on, maybe some junk wax / mid 1990s uv-coated era repacks just to see if I can get a bunch of cards as a ‘teaser’ purchase for not much money.

I ended up at some random booth to dig into and started leafing through $1 cards just left out on the table - nothing in card holders, probably off-condition scraps from at least the 1950s through the mid 1980s.

For the most part I ended up grabbing many of the assorted vintage Topps World Series subset cards I could find - as opposed to the regular cards of the related years / players, the WS subsets actually pictured actual action and various cards can be funneled as 'awesome action' adds.

I grabbed these rookie cards and/or XRCs [by 1980s Beckett definition] to my stash - a Hall of Famer in Boggs, a pair of fan favorite types [for the most part] in Guillen and Coleman and a pair of pitchers [Gooden and Hershiser] who had era defining runs as superstar pitchers in the mid 1980s.

I started building up a stash of cards here and while I didn’t know what I was looking for, was worried the stack had mushroomed to more like 60-70 cards - I didn't even realize I ended up with a pair of 1978 O-Pee-Chee Willie McCoveys, but I found a 1973 Topps Al Kaline, a 1977 O-Pee-Chee Tom Seaver, a 1980 Topps Joe Morgan, a pair of 1982 Topps Traded cards of Ozzie Smith and Reggie Jackson and a pair of 1989 Upper Deck Nolan Ryan cards [I think I already had the multiple exposure version, but not the throwing football version from the high series].

I couldn't leave 1954 Topps and 1955 Topps cards because they feature a pair of catchers - while my tools of ignorance collection cards might be more of a 'side project' compared to other collector (s) whose similarly themed focus is simply more comprehensive, its pretty cool to have catcher cards that are at least 65-years old.

I also found a 1991-92 Topps Stadium Club Michael Jordan, 1965 Topps Tony Kubek and a random card from the 1959 Fleer Ted Williams set - maybe it was tough to decide which were my keepers as I had make some choices on what to put back, but least I found that one booth to get into.

When I whittled things down, I relented to pay $40 straight up for my mash up of cards, which still may have been too much - but after a long year or so, it was fun just to rummage through random cards in-person.

For the rest of the time I spent [maybe an hour or so total], I was walking around looking to see what I maybe able to grab - I was hoping to find someone selling plastic pages and/or magnetic trading card holders, but it didn’t look like there was one table set-up for supplies.

The story I've commonly heard is because of supply chain issues from China through the pandemic - the demand for supplies have intensified where once common items like top loaders command a premium.

Peeking in on cards displayed in showcases, I was impressed with random cool things like vintage 1953 Topps Mickey Mantle, a supposed Babe Ruth cut [I think that is what I saw] that was inserted as part of an autograph repack product, a couple of Michael Jordan certified autographs and a PSA 10 2018 Topps Update Juan Soto gold parallel- maybe not the cream of the crop of sports collectibles, just 'wish they were in my collection' cards I quickly made note of.

There were tables with your typical retail flipper material and I relented to pick up a 2021 Topps Series I Mike Trout tin for $25 - presumably 'new in box,' shrink wrapped with the cards still inside.

The Trout tin might have been a no brainer buy, even if they retailed much less - another booth may have sold similar tins [no Trout] for $35-$40 each.

Out of a small sample size of two vendors I bought from, no bags were provided - I might already be planning my next time and I need to bring something to carry what I purchase.

Enjoying a quaint card show rummage

My buddy took me to a card show and the last time I was there was when Albert Pujols hit his first Angels home run in 2012 - I also remember looking at a showcase that afternoon where I saw a BGS 9.5 2009 Bowman Sterling Mike Trout autograph for $100; I wouldn't have $100 to spend at any one time, but I'll wait and see if the hype falls down to earth; Trout is going to be a good player, a great player for the Angels but even the top prospects are going to be up-and-down; Harper is still the guy that is going to be a once in a generation superstar.

The place has never been anything big time, but I was glad it’s still around with 5-10 dedicated tables and some curious foot traffic - I didn't actually get to walk around much, but when I first tagged along with my friend to make trips there starting in the mid 2000s, the atmosphere was like a morgue.

Not knowing where to start, I immersed in working through the six or seven 5,000 count monster boxes from a familiar seller - I don't know if I ever bought anything from his booth, which has been set up for the longest time, but back in the day, maybe my mindset was to find loose cards I'd try to get inked up in-person or through the mail, but no junk wax era drivel.

With the emphasis on mini-collection adds however - I'm more game about trying to see if I can round up a good number of cards for cheap [maybe 25 for $1], particularly cards I wouldn't look to buy online outright.

1988 Fleer Ken Dayley #30

1995 Upper Deck SP Championship Series Ken Caminiti #89

I obviously couldn’t go through the boxes card-by-card, but I still tried to add many cards that caught my eye - I worry about going nuts over cards, because I don't want to overvalue cards that are virtually commons.

Maybe in-person is where I give myself license to freelance within reason, where I shouldn't worry about being picky - I probably wouldn’t remember the cards I pass up if I didn’t set them aside as a probable pick up; I needed to live a little, be daring in snapping up those collecting topics subset cards with some sort of quality that wasn’t obvious i.e. maybe what makes the card unique is an image on the back or the card features a player who I've never heard of.

Despite a few stragglers from other sports, I stuck to baseball otherwise - my afternoon would never end if I actually went through the football and basketball cards, knowing I'd be poring over them as well.

1996 Topps Stadium Club Chris Zorich #184 - picturing him *trying* to tackle some random running back with the last name Sanders while two other teammates close in.

1995-96 Topps Stadium Club Predrag Danilovic #313

The seller gave me a 800-900 count box to fill and maybe that’s the challenge for next time - my buddy was lurking on standby mode and I had him count out the loose piles of cards in multiples of 25.

He counted out 325 cards and after looking at what I had, the seller charged me $10, which seemed reasonable enough - the majority should be collecting topics subset adds, though there might some cards designated to go to other projects or maybe dupes I probably had.

I was able to cross off 11 cards from my wantlist - giving me a little bit of satisfaction, even I didn't really look for them outright.

1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Jeff Blauser #53 - Will Clark

1997 Topps Stadium Club Sandy Martinez #371

1997 Upper Deck Andy Benes #465

1993 Topps Stadium Club B.J. Surhoff #711.

1995 Upper Deck SP Steve Finley #108 - ended up being the Silver parallel

1997 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Fernando Vina #148 - Tim Salmon

1997 Upper Deck Charlie O'Brien #517 - the blurb on the back of the cards tells the entire story.

1996 Topps Stadium Club Robby Thompson #359

What I've tried to in 2016 - loose card projects

In addition to what I've started in previous years, I've tried to tend to the loose card projects that have sprouted up in 2016 - maybe these were the fun little, card related projects I could work on without having to worry about any apparent value.

However, that lack of a value component may have made me feel like something wasn't quite there - as far as chasing any number of miscellaneous cards down.

Collecting topics / mini-collections - I wanted to make this my centerpiece card project in 2016, but when it's all about having to scrutinize all sorts of cards, it kind of just mushroomed into busy work for me as opposed to being able taking the time to enjoy the actual cards under whatever mini-collection I listed them.

I'd like to put away any cards I have into their permanent storage boxes as opposed to letting cards sit in what has become semi-permanent storage spots - I'm probably looking for that one or two mini-collection to store in a binder, so I can go through the cards.

Award winners - I'm not worried about this project at all, though it would be nice to have this finished up through the current year.

Angels frankenset - I started this in 2015, but seemed to put the project on hold in 2016, so I'm still looking to finish my first run [1-500] of cards.

Angels Opening Day set - I started this in 2016 and looking to fill holes to complete more years.

Hall of Famers - I impulsively started this project in 2016, though I may quietly put on hold or on hiatus, until I get a chance to add to the collection randomly.

Milestone numbers [500 home runs/3000 hits/300 wins] - I'm going to see what I can add, but it really is just base cards and/or a basic insert.

1978-present Topps run - this may have been the project where I said, 'this really isn't going anywhere.'

I want to pick things up 'organically' as opposed to having a checklist and seeking out cards I want for this project - this project is kind of out of sight, out of mind, though I'll probably come back to it at some undetermined point.

COMC - misc regional related cards

2002 Fleer Classic Cuts Game-Used Pants Ted Kluszewski #TK-P - I needed a Kluszewski to fill a hole in my Angels Opening Day collection and I figured this card with an 'old-timey' looking relic swatch added a little wrinkle to the loose card project.

2016 Topps Archives Snapshots Topps Online Exclusive [Base] Autographs Sandy Alomar #AS-SA - serial #'d 218/350; the patriarch of the Alomar [Sandy Jr. and Hall of Famer Roberto] baseball family, Sandy Sr. played six seasons for the Angels back in the 1970s.

2013 Panini America's Pastime Rookie Autographs Alfredo Marte #252 - serial #'d 94/125; the fun of working on an all-time team collection of autographs is having guys to add that I wouldn’t normally consider; Marte played all of five games with the 2015 Angels after being with the team’s AAA squad for most of that season.

2005 Upper Deck USA Baseball Future Match-Ups Dual Autographs Blue Ink Sean Doolittle, Shane Robinson #N/A - serial #'d 58/75; Robinson played in 65 random games for the Angels this past season and hit only .173 in 98 at-bats.

2015 Panini Elite Extra Edition Prospects Autographs Grayson Long #105 x2 - if he sticks around and climbs up the ranks in the next couple of years, he might be a decent contributor to the big league team.