Card show pickups - the other sports

Through my collecting life, there have actually been efforts to be a multi-sport collector - however long term interest hasn't really lingered, where focusing on collecting one sport gets complicated as it is.

At times, I think it would be a nice change of pace to get away from baseball, though digging around bins jumbled around as opposed to being separated by sport - it maybe a sign of desperation, where I'm not finding what I'm looking for when I add non-baseball cards to my probable keeper pile.

I don't think I have a hierarchy to collect other sports, like I do with my baseball cards - these cards may end up as misfits, though I'll see if I can funnel them into my mini-collections and make something up, so random cards have a purpose somewhere in my head.

For football, I gravitate towards cards of quarterbacks, wide receivers or running backs, notably the top tier guys from the past 25-30 years - if nothing else, I might also consider cards of 'personalities' such as former players working as analysts and/or have crossed over into pop culture.

For basketball, I've mostly tuned out keeping up with NBA players, so I'm just not familiar with most players that aren't on that national superstar level - however, I pounced on what look to be a quartet of Rui Hachimura's most basic [yet still NBA branded] rookie issues just because I might have heard of him briefly somewhere.

I found base cards of Giannis Antetokounmpo, which may not be a big deal - but he is coming off a NBA championship run this past summer and also purchased a share of the Milwaukee Brewers, so there is a MLB tie in there.

More NBA cards of guys fans have heard about over the past 25 years - Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Devin Booker, Anthony Davis, a pair of Shaqs and a completely random Karl Malone card.

The 1992-93 Topps Stadium Club Members Choice Malone #205 probably replaces the other one I picked up under dubious circumstances as wee young lad - I want to say the original may still be lurking somewhere in my collections of loose cards for other sports, but I wanted another outright just to keep handy.

These cards may represent the 'other other' sports though a 1981 Fleer Steve Garvey #110 makes a cameo - it's not a big deal where it's all fun and games, but the Garvey card has a crease running just above his batting helmet.

Rummaging through cards quickly, maybe I just don't pay close enough to see if any particular card has blemishes or imperfections - however I do try to be picky about anything obvious.

Hockey is out of sight out of mind but dare me to name two NHL players off the top of my head and it would probably be Alexei Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby - why not splurge on some cards for the duo just to say I have them.

I found a mini card of Alexandra O'Laughlin - who maybe best described as more of a 'personality' rather than an an athlete, but in this circumstance I'll give her a pass.

To round things out, I ended up finding a couple of cards [same ones] of race car driver Hailie Deegan - I ended up grabbing one for $2 just because I've heard her name mentioned in some card show videos I've watched on YouTube and maybe she's the next big thing.

Awesome action - a visual guide #5

Other sports - I keep at least a few as I find them, but if I was to focus on other sports besides baseball, the number of baseball subjects in my awesome action collection maybe dwarfed.

My awesome action collection is kept up to find baseball cards with images that are a little 'extra,' but unlike other sports - the action that are shown on many baseball cards, can be reduced to players hitting, pitching, catching or standing around in one form or the other.

2013-14 Upper Deck Jonathan Toews #117

I'm not into hockey or collecting hockey cards but I like how this cards captures this player clenching some kind of cup in celebration - after stumbling upon it in a random stack of hockey cards, I looked at it for a moment, but then put it away.

I had to go back and find the card so I can add it to the stack of cards I planned on purchasing - it's about as good as a card as anything else I'd find out of the quarter boxes and while it's just not happening for a number reasons, maybe it makes me think about the idea of collecting hockey cards.