My finds in the dollar boxes of doom

At the last monthly show I attended, I was wandering around, to see if I can scope out the table with the dollar card monster boxes - it was in the same place as the last time, but a little congested for me to squeeze into.

A mother and her boys were planted at the table, another guy was browsing around, while I was idle on the other 'far end' where other things were displayed - a couple of guys were chatting next to the table, just about bumping into me.

The table wasn’t that busy the last time around - but maybe I was resigned to look somewhere else in the meantime.

There was a little bit of a dead period, where there wasn't as many tables for me to really get lost at - it might have been it for me, even though I still really wanted to linger around the show to see if I can get my dollar bin fix.

Finally space at the table opened up, so I had to jump in somewhere before my time was up - I was watching to see what the guy would say when someone tried to get a deal.

I guess the person works for someone else and heard the ‘guy really wants a dollar for his dollar cards’ spiel again - though he let that other random person digging around pull top loaders from other cards, to use for the sleeved cards purchased.

There might have been only two or three monster boxes this time around as opposed to 6 or 7 - I was sandwiched between two others doing the same thing I’m doing and while YMMV, maybe it was hard not to look over for a moment and wonder the cards they had pulled should have been in my pile.

I was probably trying to get back the 30-40 minutes I was idle, while finally getting into these cards - while seeing too many 1988 Topps Tom Glavine RCs #779 I wasn’t taking for any price, I'm still bent on seeing if I could find cards of interest.

There were 1991 Topps Desert Shield baseball commons sprinkled in, but the cards still look like junk wax 1991 Topps to me - more importantly, I’ve never seen the rare Desert Shield cards in-hand, to figure out what to make of them and consider whether they were the real deal.

I was really on the clock and it was just about time to book it out of there - I'm trying to see if I can make my last minute finds count while trying to put together a grouping if cards that made sense to me.

It was hard to say if the cards I picked up gave me the same joy as last time - I was looking to spend $20, but relented to spend another $10, just to feel like out of the stash of cards I dug out, I was able to take home more cards.

Rookie stuff - I get a kick out finding rookie cards I've never had, featuring contemporary players who starred in the past 20 years or so.

1990s stuff - these cards might only be worth what I paid, but maybe that is good enough sometimes.

Out of my rummages, maybe I want to make the 1990s the foundation of the players [Frank Thomas, Tony Gwynn, Mike Piazza, Barry Bonds, Greg Maddux, etc] and card types [UV coated, foil stamped, shiny] I primarily latch onto - while I might be saying the same thing if I found a run of cards from the mid 1980s or mid 2000s, there is something to get familiar and nostalgic about through the 1990s.

Just on shine alone, I like the John Smoltz the best even if the effect isn't captured so clear - I might have ignored it at first because it came from 1998 Score, which was a little too low end for me.

The Jim Thome parallel has some nice, shiny effects as well and maybe it was serendipity - I actually picked up the Thome parallel card and also a pack pulled minor league card I thought was 'old school.'

A couple of cards paired up randomly, featuring pitching greats Mike Mussina and Johan Santana - I was kind of familiar with the 1991 Gold Leaf Rookies Mussina insert, but that 2000 Pacific Invincible Santana RC draws a blank for me.

I think the player image part of the Santana card is acetate - so that's a unique element used for what is presumably a base card.

Baseball legends and icons - retro cards give me an opportunity to give a nod to the greats of the game.

Oddballs - I'm not really an 'oddball guy,' but just had to get the Foster because the card caught my eye last time, while I just like the batting pose image of Rose with his shaggy hair.

Football - a couple more basic Tom Brady keepers just to be like everyone else hunting at the lowest end of the card spectrum.

I grabbed a rookie card [?] of Marshawn Lynch, a former NFL running back who has made headlines on the football field over the past decade - I can squirrel it away for either my beyond the glory collection, my cult players / feats collection or my infamous collection.

Maybe the last card I'd ever think of picking up was a 1999 Topps NFL rookie card of Edgerrin James - but there is something decidedly cool about how he is posed on the card.

It doesn't hurt that from college to the NFL, James is a legend in his own right - part of the Indianapolis Colts triplets with Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison that would end up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.