Another quickie card show pit stop #2

I stumbled upon a real high brow monster box of cards and went to work for about the 10 minutes I had left at a card show - I was kind of on the clock where I had to wrap things up sooner than never, so I was trying to make the most out of my rummage.

I've ended up with two or three of these Bowman Jordan Walker prospect cards over the past few years, but was in a hurry to pile up cards - so I just threw one new copy found into my pile.

I made keepers out of mini collection material such as - Greg Maddux hitting on the back of one of his cards, an awesome outfield action card picturing Kevin Pillar, a Tampa Bay Rays mascot card, a Benito Santiago catcher card and a random Dave Righetti oddball, I made a keeper because of the bald guy in sunglasses making a cameo.

Team USA cards - I tried to look for the guys that were kind of familiar now [even though they were either on college or even on U-18 teams when depicted on the cards].

I was able to find a couple of cards of Reid Detmers - I think I sent similar copies and got them back signed TTM during the pandemic season.

Even though I ended up grabbing at least a few guys who might not be in the big leagues yet or may not get there - I found cards of Anthony Volpe, Bryson Stott, Riley Greene and Corbin Carroll.

Finally some random cheap-o Hall of Famer cards - even though they didn't start their careers in the junk wax era, I might be content to ignore cards of guys Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, Gary Carter and Alan Trammell because they had their glut of cards printed during those 1986-92 years.

Depending on what I may find at the bulk level, I might be compelled to pick up two or three cards of the HOFers whose cards from the junk wax era I'll usually skip over - if the cards end up being a little different like oddballs or cards with a unique image used that stand out.

Card show pickups - tools of ignorance

Digging through the quarter boxes at my local card show, maybe I've tried not to necessarily look for mini-collection cards because I have to keep track of every addition, list them out and tally them up as achievements / goals - maybe there are too many cards and my 'inventory taking' system has gotten 'faulty.'

For a period of about 15 years through late 2021, I've listed things on Google Sheets, but I basically have the urge just to start over as far as having a beat on what I have and noting when I've added cards to a themed collection - I want to make it all about the cards again [like these catcher cards I picked up for about $0.20 each] as opposed to the busy work I do around the cards.

I'll get back to productivity things where I'm compelled to keep track of things and nerd out objectifying loose cardboard - to feel like I have ownership of a particular card project, it is crucial for me to have a record keeping process.

In the meantime, I want to believe 'less is more' when it comes to anything mini-collection related - it's easier to load up on cheap-o binder material for my decade stars because I don't intend to keep track every card for those collections.

Card show pickups - mini-collections

Mini collections are probably the foundation of my loose card finds - maybe it just gets to be a little silly and I worry about not catching them all, but it's all fun and games.

I'm good about making keepers out of the ones I do learn about and / or stumble on - rather than be on this impossible mission to make every collecting topics subset card mine.

During a dig out of the quarter boxes, I was able to find a 1999 Upper Deck Vladimir Guerrero card which I may have picked up anyway - but a closer look shows an extra element where he is breaking his bat.

I was able to a football card of Shane Buechele, the son of former MLB player Steve - it maybe a nothingburger card of an undrafted quarterback already waived, but the bloodlines aspect is always fun to tie together.

I was happy to find base cards for Kyler Murray - another bloodlines guy [nephew of former MLB player Calvin] and also a multi-sport athlete who has literally shown flashes of stardom as a quarterback.

Just about all Bowman cards have no real personality - but I found a 'hats-off' card of Bo Bichette showing off his flow.

A facial hair card of Eddie Murray is a nice find - I default to making cards of notable players primarily binder material, but it's not like I'm playing with anything but a card I paid a quarter for.

Maybe it's not in your face, but I found a card of Yu Darvish, pictured with a pitching grip visible - that's a keeper though probably based on name value than card type.

It's not ideal but images on the reverse are keepers just the same - have to make sure to check images on the back of cards that have them, where at times there is a image like on the 1998 Upper Deck Cal Ripken Jr. card where he is doing some fan service.

A sweet Grant Hill basketball card featuring a Shaq cameo is something I want more of for my mini-collections - where this particular card goes into my 'star on star' cameo collection.

My mini-collections are designed to repurpose rank and file commons into something besides my A-Z archives - but maybe it's a stretch to make certain cards keepers out of cards like the Jurickson Profar [because he has shades on] or a most random Pittsburgh Pirate named Jacob Stallings [it's a bit more obvious where the Stallings is a catching card].

The 2020 Topps Update Silver Pack Rhys Hoskins wearing a Philadelphia Phillies retro uniform pops with a refractor finish - so the card made it into the final take home pile.

I'm not the expert in collecting them - but gum cards are certainly fun to find for myself.

I grabbed a pair of Mark McGwire cards where he is presumably making a nice diving stab at the ball and taking a curtain call - because of all the PEDs and how his career unfolded, I don't want to salvage any more McGwire cards than I have to, but have done so, might continue to do so and two more cards were needs for my mini-collections.

I don't think about manager cards all that much, but the 1992 Topps Tommy Lasorda is a classic - it probably ends up in my 'men at work' collection.

I don't know if I like the circumstances of the image used on the 2008 Upper Deck Manny Ramirez [another PED guy] card all that much - but I guess it's a great image regardless.

I grabbed the Alex Rodriguez [one more PED guy] because it's kind of a nice, horizontal image - where he goes up in the air to try and complete the double play.

Sammy Sosa is a PED pariah, even more so than a McGwire, Manny or A-Rod - but I like the card of Sosa diving back to the bag on a pickoff attempt, so that goes into my baserunning collection.

The Sam Hilliard [no it wasn't $5] probably ends up as a 'dirt fetish' card in my collection, while the Tony Gwynn ends up as a baserunning card - the David Ortiz [okay, so one more PED guy] ends up being a celebration card, so that's a keeper.

Maybe Mr. Irrelevant here is a 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces card of Y.A. Tittle - the image used is one of the most iconic in NFL history, something I had to look up.

Making the most of my low end finds

Even though I've only started going back to attending shows through this year - I don't know if there are 'go to' regular sellers I've sort of latched onto.

I always expect different sellers to get my fix in the meantime and at times it isn't as clear - where I'm going end up getting my game face on to start rummaging through the most random cards.

It may always be a case of stumbling onto a table and maybe going through a few cards to see if it's my type of material - during my latest card show trip, maybe I was a little desperate to find that first table to start off with.

I did find myself at one such table to pull some dollar cards [or 6 for $5] - that I maybe interested in and then started to go through the assorted quarter boxes.

I think the same seller had a setup 14-15 years ago at the more prominent collectible show in the area - he had that mix of assorted quarter boxes that made his spot a regular stop, even though his booth was sort of tucked away at the back of show warehouse.

It’s been a long time, but this person still looks the same - he doesn't seem like he has aged or maybe he was still fairly younger back then.

With visions of finding multiple dollar and under boxes off other tables, I'm afraid that I maybe spending too much time at this one place - but this could literally be the table with the most variety of loose baseball cards [in addition to a mix of other spots], so I had to make it count here before moving on.

This Topps Now Find was probably my most random find and the most unique card I've found for a quarter - I didn't even realize there was a card for the first professional team to wear braille jerseys to honor the blind.

I have seen the Naquin card in various forms and while I never know if it's a baserunning card, hats-off card or something else entirely in my collecting topics subset collection - it's a nice image that pops a bit more done refractor style.

I try to grab assorted cards to fill out in my decade stars collections - if a player makes it to my decade / binder stars collection, that may mean I collect them [as I find their cards], though there certain players will end up being more 'my guys' as opposed to other notable players.

There are 2020 Panini Prizm cards of Yu Darvish, Ozzie Albies and Matt Chapman I probably spent an hour on an idle afternoon looking up - it made my head hurt trying to figure out what parallels these card were...apparently they are Cosmic Haze parallels, inserted in MJ Holdings mega boxes...

More binder material guys - a random Bo Jackson football card, an Adrian Beltre shimmer refractor, another Jacob deGrom and some father and son Vladdy Daddy action.

These were thrown into my pile as various finds for the collecting topics subsets I try to keep up with - no matter how prominent or obscure the subjects are.

Some rookie stuff - when dealing with the quarter boxes, I take what I can find; I grabbed a 2018 Topps Nick Williams just because I thought it could be a mini-collection add, but I already had the card.

Some prospects from the past couple of years - with the cost of prospect products [Bowman, Bowman Chrome, Bowman Draft] at a premium, maybe I don't get much exposure to loose cards of young players, despite the idea I don't like them just the same, if they aren't first-year cards.

Some cards might be keepers just because I want to be able to keep up - where I'm not completely clueless about more than a few of these players.

My other sports pile - there is a Reggie Jackson [NBA] card I'll end up pairing with a card of Reggie Jackson [the MLB legend].

My 6 for $5 pile - nothing here that really pops out, but I like the 2020 Bowman Mega Box prospect parallel card of Alek Manoah.

A mini-collections boost thanks to Bob

A fellow collector named Bob from The Best Bubble left a comment he wanted to trade cards and had around 50 off my collecting topics wantlist to send - he mailed the cards off relatively quickly and I actually something to look at sooner than later.

I went through the cards and it looks like a nice mix of mostly late 1990s UV-coated stuff and stragglers from other years - not exactly from the junk wax era but maybe as the years go by, cards that I might not get to pick up outright.

I'd just updated the yearly totals on my 2019 collecting topics count - but this late-year trade gives me more cards to list up and tally up before the year is over.

Go figure, the trade allowed me to knock out a chunk of cards off my wantlist - which has been neglected for the longest time i.e. I don't even look at it as and maybe I've never thought about posting a most wanted, so people's attention can focus on a smaller group of cards.

Maybe just as a 'reference guide,' I'll look to add that 'Top 10' or 'Top 15' most wanted - but also look to add cards that I can end up looking for myself, instead of letting things go stale.

I counted out about 65 cards and a sample of the cards I received are posted - thanks again Bob!

2018 Topps Stadium Club Anthony Rendon #61 - majestic / panoramic.

1991 Topps Stadium Club Shane Mack #259 - I'm not sure if this is a staged photo shoot or if Mack is standing in as a batter during a pitcher's bullpen session.

1995 Topps Stadium Club Larry Walker #148 - I've added 'posed' images to showcase artsy-fartsy looking cards.

1997 Fleer Ultra Sammy Sosa #169 - dirt fetish; I love this card.

1997 Topps Stadium Club Mark Grudzielanek #44 - dirt fetish

1999 Fleer Ultra Jim Thome #95 - dirt fetish

1996 Topps Lenny Dykstra #261 - dirt fetish; after the fact, there was nothing admirable about the man, but he always knew how to get his uniform dirty.

1991 Topps Stadium Club Walt Weiss #49 - in the air

1997 Topps Stadium Club Rey Ordonez #48 - dirt fetish

1997 Topps Stadium Club Harold Baines #70 - he gives some high fives back to his teammates as a little tribute as opposed to an outright celebration for whatever he just did before someone snapped his picture.

1997 Topps Stadium Club Moises Alou #80 - dirt fetish

1996 Topps Stadium Club Tony Gwynn #301 - Ozzie Smith's appearance makes this a 'star on star' cameo of then active players who were destined to be Hall of Fame legends.

1997 Topps Stadium Club Jody Reed #285 - in the air

1997 Topps Stadium Club Joey Cora #149 - in the air

1994 Upper Deck Rickey Henderson #60 - on a random note, maybe 1994 Upper Deck was a bit of a bore, but UD never really wavered in photo selection.

1996 Topps Stadium Club Edgar Martinez #300 - posed

1994 Topps Ryan Thompson #98 - I collect 'batting' cards which may not be hard since every other image on baseball cards maybe of someone hitting; a distinction I make for my 'mini-collections' is I got to feel the image is showing a little extra dimension like this tight, up close shot of Thompson taking.

1997 Topps Stadium Club Mark Lemke #322 - baserunning

My 2018 Topps Stadium Club finds - my Top 10

A subjective exercise of picking out my favorite cards after grabbing 26 of them at a card shop stop for National Baseball Card Day - in particular these stood in among others considered [for full disclosure, a follow up post will be made to highlight those other cards].

#163 Ryan Zimmerman - it's a butt shot without Zimmerman's face on his own card, but his and the fans' reactions tell me all I need to know about the 'awesomeness' of this one.

#9 Zack Godley - pool shot

#190 Ian Happ

#263 Willie Calhoun - full extension

#56 Jon Lester - a veteran star pitcher hitting

#79 Mike Clevinger - retro uniform, retro hair; a 'fun' factoid about Clevinger's professional baseball career was he was originally an Angels minor leaguer.

#107 Keon Broxton - the angle makes things seem a bit more majestic.

#209 Dillon Peters - The Dime Box mention makes this a keeper.

#167 Dexter Fowler - the player is obscured but the horizontal card allows to get more of the ballpark in the picture.

#53 Jake Lamb - a play at the play card that belongs to a third baseman and not the catcher.