Rummaging through the trenches

At the monthly show I go to, I've made a couple of tables the only ones I really go to - one has their dollar boxes of doom and the other has a lone 3,200 count dime box of mixed sports

I really tried to make a beeline for the dollar bins of doom the moment I hit the floor - but there was 6 people going through assorted stuff at the table and I just kind of had to wait around.

I got to working through a box off to the side, but it was mostly football and/or basketball - there is definitely a set of regulars as I've seen where one of the ladies chats them up and even offers to take down their handles for her [?] Instagram account. 

I'm just another guy who basically tries to keep his head down as I go through all these cards - but that's OK for now. 

Go figure, another seller I've bought from at another show was there digging around as well - while don't know him well enough to greet him even informally, it's quaint where I see this guy buying [maybe $20 worth] of cards for himself. 

Honestly, I don't know if I was really finding fresh material where it was more of a chore to look at a row of cards - same bloat of Ken Griffey Jr., Derek Jeter, Frank Thomas, Cal Ripken Jr., other baseball, football, basketball cards that may have gotten to be redundant.

I still spent about a couple of hours just digging around at the table, adding more to the pool of cards I might pick up - being holed up in a packed room with people but no A/C, maybe it was getting to be really stuffy, especially wearing a mask.

I don't know if I could take a moment to breathe fresh air - as I'm literally going through cards, maybe I'm really getting spacey where the physiological is messing with the psychological. 

As the case has been lately, I just have to move on - whether I want to or not.  

Next time, I might need to give myself time to get some air as well bring a water bottle - something handy that I can drink from on a whim without going out of my way looking for something to cool me down.   

Mini-collections

1993 Topps 1994 Pre-Production Sample Kenny Lofton #331 - awesome outfield action

1996 Score Gold Stars Greg Maddux #17 of 30 - pitchers hitting; on the reverse image 

1998 Bowman Chrome Refractor Larry Walker #23 - inking it up; on the reverse image

2000 Fleer Greats of the Game Retrospection Roger Maris #10

2000 Fleer Greats of the Game Retrospection Thurman Munson #8 - facial hair

2000 Fleer Greats of the Game Retrospection Yogi Berra #12 - tools of ignorance 

2000 Fleer Greats of the Game Retrospection Johnny Bench #15 - tools of ignorance 

I like collecting regionally but may place less emphasis actually hunting cards for my team where I question my sanity if I'm not chasing after the latest and greatest - on the other hand, maybe an 'unofficial' mission is to come up with at least one 'lousy' Angels card, where I don't even see myself as a team collector outright, but the occasional parallel and or insert brings me some satisfaction [even if the players and cards are simply dated].

Angels

1996 Score Reflextions J.T. Snow / Don Mattingly #5 of 20

1997 Leaf Gold Leaf Stars 22 Karat Eddie Murray #34 of 36 - serial #’d 2051/2500

2004 Donruss Studio Heroes of The Hall Rod Carew #HH-8 - serial #’d 292/500

Old school binder material

1977 Topps Big League Brothers George / Ken Brett #631

1981 Donruss Pete Rose #131

1981 Donruss George Brett #491

1980s binder material - Ken Griffey Jr.

1990 Star Ken Griffey Jr. 1990 Season #6 of 11

1993 Fax Pax World Of Sport Ken Griffey Jr #2 

1995 Fleer Lumber Company Ken Griffey Jr #6 

1999 Crown Royale Pivotal Players Ken Griffey Jr. #22 

1990s binder material - Mike Piazza

1994 Leaf Statistical Standouts Mike Piazza #4-10

1995 Fleer Ultra Rising Star Mike Piazza #8 

1996 Donruss Hit List Mike Piazza #4 of 16 - serial #’d 08390/10,000

Miscellaneous 

1990 Score McDonald’s John Olerud #17

1991 Topps Stadium Club Nolan Ryan #200

2000 Fleer Showcase Consummate Prose Derek Jeter #4-CP

2003 Upper Deck Magazine Ichiro Suzuki #UD4

Rookie stuff

1982 Topps Montreal Expos Future Stars Terry Francona / Brad Mills / Bryn Smith RC #118

1990 Leaf Larry Walker RC #325

1995 Bowman’s Best Bobby Abreu RC #B3

Minor league curiosities

1986 ProCards Las Vegas Stars Benito Santiago #NNO - his potential to be a catching star with a lasting legacy faded when he started to bounce around in the early 1990s, but Santiago still had a significant playing career regardless and his 35-year old minor league issue maybe just too odd to pass up in the wild.

2005 Choice Wichita Wranglers Zack Greinke #NNO - though there seem to be obvious identifiers at first glance, I'm not quite sure which set this card is really from; by 2005, Greinke was in his second big league season and I wonder if the card came from an actual team set or maybe part of a commemorative tribute set that are sometimes issued.

I paired up the Greinke minor league issue with the newest card of his I pulled - for a little 'then and now' showcase of cards printed 17 years apart.

Numbered

2000 Pacific Omega Copper Carlos Delgado #147 - serial #’d 30/45

2003 Donruss Team Heroes Statline Robin Roberts #393 - serial #’d 17/28

2004 Donruss Studio Studio Proof Silver C.C. Sabathia #64 - serial #’d 88/100

Random ink

1996 Leaf Signature Series Bronze Mel Rojas auto 

2019 Topps Gypsy Queen Jose Martinez auto #GWA-JM

These are cards I probably left the last time I was digging around - where I made it my duty to see if I can salvage them if I saw them again.

2001 Donruss Diamond Kings Reprints Steve Carlton DKR-6 - serial #’d 0476/1983

2001 Donruss Diamond Kings Reprints Joe Morgan DKR-8 - serial #’d 0467/1983

I'm not as big into retro cards of legends just to have them in hand - but the Diamond Kings reprints [which are actually 20 years old] added modern touches [glossy and serial #'d] to the original issued cards and might be nice to squirrel away.

1986 Sportsflics Rookies Bo Jackson #40

1987 Classic Yellow Bo Jackson #109

I'm not sure I fall in line with the other old heads who get nostalgic over 'Bo' because I'd seen him as mostly a big leaguer whose baseball career was prematurely derailed - but maybe I'm just not about my junk wax era roots if I don't pick up a pair of rookie era Jacksons.

In addition to the Bo Jackson action, I ended up with a couple more cards of multi sport guys - in the early 1990s I may have wanted a 1989 Score Deion Sanders rookie card, though honestly it was mainly due to being more of a personality than it was being a football player or baseball player.

1989 Topps Traded football Deion Sanders RC #30T - this isn't quite that 1989 Score but it will have to do.

2018 Bowman Chrome Russell Wilson #BCP151 - his legacy has been cemented as one of the best quarterbacks of his era, though there has been some uncertainty for his team the past couple of years and he looks to be out at least a month after injuring his finger.

Mildly annoyed by these pickups

I had to pick up this 2021 Topps Stadium Club Babe Ruth #32 - I assume he has his 'game model' bat in hand, similar to what he used to crush home runs with back in his day.

It was in a dollar box at one of the tables at my card show and figured I might round up some other cards that I didn't want to pay a dollar for but cards I decided I like regardless of value - when I was about ready to make my purchases however, the table was unmanned.

Maybe it's not a big deal, but I had to keep my eyes peeled wondering if someone would come back to the table - I was about to go on a big junk wax dig of loose cards from another seller, before excusing myself for a moment just to grab the dollar cards I wanted when I finally saw a person sitting at the table.

Even as I dug out $5 and was ready to pay, the seller was really chatting up someone else on his phone and I had to gesture towards his direction - where I was barely acknowledged as I paid up.

A random 2021 Topps Stadium Club Mike Trout insert - he's still 'the man,' but after a pair of lost seasons, there maybe some uncertainty about all time great numbers he is going to put up going forward.

With this 2021 Topps Heritage Bryce Harper In Action subset, I'm one Kyle Lewis In Action card away from completing myTrout puzzle that make up the back of the related cards - maybe not a notable accomplishment, but something fun to keep up with.

It's probably a quarter card rather than dollar box material, but I like the action on this Cody Bellinger card - where he looks to make a flip throw, presumably to a pitcher covering first base.

I tried to do some 'research' on this card and this looks to be a throw from the third inning of Game 3 of the 2018 World Series - where Turner is positioned in the shift and Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Boston Red Sox gets an infield single anyway.

Messing around with retro player interests

Continued from a card show, where I ended up grabbing a bunch of cards and maybe there was some buyer's remorse just as far as quantity goes - it's all fun and games digging for one, two, five or 10 more cards to add to my stack until I had to weed things out and realize the number of cards haven't been actually whittled down to a more saner number for what I'm willing to pay.

I overheard the seller's mantra, where basically if someone bought around 1,500 cards from him - that person would be made to pay $1,500, no discounts.

I'm not getting close to over a thousand cards but perhaps a 1/10th of that number and I realize you either pay the piper or walk away - go figure I've gravitated towards this seller's table just because he seems like he has the most accessible stuff.

He has countless monster boxes of baseball cards [in addition to most of the other sports and non sport like comic cards] to dwell on - where it's just not a lonely straggler box of bargain bin cards off a 'here and now' table that tend to focus on other than baseball.

I haven't prioritized chasing cards of retired legends and icons from the 1970s and before - but I'll take the more unique ones [either retro or actual playing days cards] as I find them to build up cards for a number of old school players whose cards I want to display in a binder.

The back of the Roberto Clemente oddball, Lou Brock oddball contest card and Johnny Bench OPC - besides any major manufacturer cards [at least at the time the cards were printed], maybe I'm trying to be more liberal in looking for cards that I may not have considered just 10-15 years ago.

I picked up a run of Hank Aaron cards and I like the Topps branded cards the best like the 1994 Topps Archives 1954, 2000 Topps Chrome reprints and 2002 Topps 206 mini - because the cards have been licensed and can use retro designs and/or images while the others feel like shabby oddballs from an unknown origin.

I thought the card on top left hand corner of the quartet was a 1984 Renata Galasso issue and this nearly confirms it - but the little copyright info on the bottom left corner is just a little different.

A modern rendition on an old time card can be weird at times, but while it's never going to ever have the history of the original - the Topps Chrome reprint of Aaron's 1956 Topps card is something real nice in hand.

Presumably the other Aaron was an unlicensed issue created for a card show event - it doesn't mean it's more collectible, but I'd prefer random cards that have a little bit of notable information rather than just something made up as a true 'fantasy' issue.

I thought I'd found some nice Pete Rose cards though the old-timey looking one from the left is a 1983 Starliner Stickers - it's nearly 40 year old, but it's unlicensed and not the 1960s.

I think the middle 'card' is a 1971 Dell MLM All-Star Stamps issue, though I'm not sure how it came to be where it was laminated - makes the odd size 'card' feel more sturdy, but how did it come to be?

The last Rose card looks to be a 1976 Wiffle Ball disc issue - I've always thought these cards without the big league logos from the 1970s and through the 1980s were rogue issues, though they are authorized by the players association, just not licensed by Major League Baseball.

You can find all sorts of odder stuff

At a monthly card show, I ended up grabbing a bunch of cards and maybe there was some buyer's remorse just as far as quantity goes - maybe I was glad I wasn't actually able to go to another show for the past couple of weekends just to take a break.

These weren't the centerpiece finds I built my keepers on - but the more the mini-collection stragglers and other and and ends to add into my collections somewhere.

1974 Topps Carlton Fisk #105 - is there something I'm missing here? I grabbed it because it's an old-school Hall of Fame catcher card with a play at the plate immediately looming.

However the vibrant colors​ looks just about 'washed out' where the card may have been 'bleached' out - maybe it's just the wonkiness of the printing process, but it doesn't quite look right to me.

The back of card looks OK where it still feels like a normal Topps card - maybe I'll see if I can pick up a copy with nicer colors on the front.

As far as mini-collections go, it's a game to occasionally hunt for images on the back of the card - I wouldn't be doing my doing my due dilligence if I ignored anything but that primary image.

Though he probably has a case for the Hall of Fame, Kevin Brown never was one of those warm and fuzzy guys where you build a fan favorite narrative around past what he did on the mound - still I stumbled upon a serial #'d card with Brown wearing a batting helmet, presumably where he was involved in a hitting situation as a pitcher, so I had make it a keeper.

I like the pop around the borders on the serial #'d 1998 Donruss Studio parallel of Shawn Estes - he's obviously not hitting, but it looks like is running the bases, so I count those as well with their own sub - subset within my pitchers hitting collection.

I grabbed a pair of cards featuring a couple of nondescript minor leaguers - I might as well spend a couple of dollars to make their novelty cards mine.

Because it's a Dufex finish insert, I thought the 1993 Score Select Roberto Alomar card with the George Brett 'star on star' cameo would pop - but the card I picked up may have been subject of the natural conditions, so the 'shiny' effect isn't as pronounced compared to something 'pack fresh.'

I grabbed a certified autograph card of Blake Taylor just because he is a So. Cal local guy - I may have at least a couple of his cards years ago as a Pittsburgh Pirates draft pick, but anything inked up is nice.

Even if he is more of a rank-and-file lefty reliever currently with the Houston Astros - he has made good on his promise to get to the big leagues and have some success.

I didn't know what to do when I stumbled upon a couple of minor league team issues of Jim Fregosi and his son - the elder Fregosi [R.I.P.] was probably the Angels first team star but was pictured here after his run as the Angels manager for 4 seasons through the late 1970s.

Considering more of an oddball, I figured to pick up the card as a building block - to see if I can add more mainstream, playing days cards of Fregosi as an Angel.

I guess I had to grab the card of the son as well and while there is an immediate 'bloodines' tie - I'll add the card of Jim Fregosi Jr. to count towards my local players collection instead.

I grabbed a card of Mel Allen, a notable broadcasting great who I remember mostly as the host of This Week in Baseball - a show I remember groaning about whenever I'd see it on Saturday mornings during the late 1980s, likely because I wasn't into baseball yet and it marked the end of Saturday-morning cartoon programming.

Old school, vintage and other dollar gets

At the monthly card show I've gone to, there was a seller with a old school / vintage box - the old basic Topps cards [commons, rank-and-file players] doesn't really interest me, but as a card collector, I like to make believe it's not a bad thing to rummage for some loose cards on the cheap [3 for $1], besides focusing on the here and now stuff.

Out of the tables, this particular one was as anonymous as it gets, but before stepping onto the card show floor - I wanted to seek out the seller and see what I could find.

I guess these are the 'notables' in my book - on the top, a 1971 Topps Cesar Cedeno rookie card, a pair of Phil Niekros [I had another copy of the 1982 Donruss signed by both Niekro brothers TTM years ago, though when I finally got Phil to sign TTM, he personalized my card] and a 1974 Topps manager card of Sparky Anderson.

On the bottom is a 1971 Topps Cookie Rojas, which maybe a a cult favorite among card bloggers - the 1971 Topps Chris Short card is a curiosity because of the Pete Rose cameo [looking past Rose and towards the outfield fence, I can make out an image of a dog, because of the Alpo dog food signage], a well loved 1964 Topps Tommy John dual rookie and a 1981 Topps Don Baylor for my Angels Opening Day starters collection.

These cards add some old-school / vintage depth to my mini-collections - some 'decent for the time' action cards with Ron Reed, Lee May and Art Shamsky, maybe a random catcher card of Bob Didier, though the 1971 Topps Donn Clendenon was just in the picture here or could be an addition in my 'what's in a name' collection.

On the bottom, a definite addition to that 'what's in a name' collection would be a Pete La Cock card - a random card of Jim Breazeale makes onto my fun cards; oddities roster; two random 1970 Topps commons are 'hats-off' adds and a 1977 Topps Tom Walker to add to my bloodlines collection [father of Neil Walker] and possibly count as a beyond the glory add.

I guess mid 1970s Topps cards are ripe for facial hair adds - maybe it gets a little overwhelming where I don't know which cards I should grab featuring random players, but it seems like the old-school Topps cards that stood out during a particular era, no matter if the players were notables or just rank-and-file.

The seller also had dollar boxes and while I'm kind of iffy about the relative quality in any one seller's poverty boxes - I might never know what maybe lurking as possible keepers, if I don't even bother to give things a look over.

The top row features a 2001 Donruss '2000 Retro' Craig Biggio Stat Line parallel, which may not mean much - but a numbered parallel [of a HOFer] from a major brand set when it was released should be a keeper.

Biggio was a longtime star but he wasn't considered a Derek Jeter star, so even if it's only worth what I paid - I'd like to make believe there is actually novelty in finding a card like this out in the wild.

The last thing on my mind was picking up a 1999 Bowman Chrome Josh Hamilton rookie card - but to scratch the itch, I wanted to replace the copy I lost 12 years ago.

Maybe the first card I actually made me dig around for more dollar box cards was the 1994 Topps Stadium Club Bo Jackson where he is popping a bubble - I would be surprised if I had this card, but was probably not a true dollar card find in my book.

Maybe it was worth a quarter or 50 Cent, but I would never want to leave a probable mini-collection add behind - I might as well grab it for the instant gratification of having it in my grubby hands and not worry about tracking it down.

The bottom row features a 2021 Topps Heritage Nate Pearson In Action subset card with a Mike Trout puzzle piece on the back - I think I still need Bryce Harper IA and Kyle Lewis IA to complete the puzzle that makes up an image of Trout.

When I find them, there might be cards of certain '1990s era old school' inserts I want to make keepers and that applies to the 1996 Upper Deck V.J. Lovero set - it's not a high value, but it's an aesthetically pleasing set focusing on the images a photographer was able to create featuring his subjects.

I don't really think about picking up Fernando Valuenzuela cards, but because he is 'inking it up,' the 1983 Topps All-Star Set #10 is a keeper - maybe a case like the Jackson, where it's probably not a dollar card, but all bets are off in the wild.