So it begins for '22 - some card show stuff

I headed to my first card show trip of the year and when I got to the place, maybe things were a little low key outside and I wondered if I was at the right place - when I walked into the gym, maybe the foot traffic seemed lighter and maybe there were more empty spaces where seller tables could be.

There were still the same core of tables such as the higher end showcase guys, the card doctor / card cleaner dude and more of the ‘card bro’ tables where they won't look at you unless you are in their crew - but perhaps the gym just wasn't as packed with commerce and I was just kind of ambivalent about the vibe where it was a little sleepy.

I was aiming for the table with what I call the dollar boxes of doom, though perhaps I've been more interested in the $5-$20 singles - however, it seemed like a smaller set up and people were already planted there, so I decided to wander around to see where I can find myself.

I decided I’d switch things up and start with good ‘ole Mr. Dependable, a seller with a 3,200 count box of cards for a dime each - I was worried about missing out on the better material at the dollar boxes of doom, but I needed to plant myself somewhere where I’d made up my mind I wasn’t going to be missing out on much regardless.

Building up my stashes where it’s about plundering what I can out of the baseball rows - I’m trying to keep things straight even as loose cards are spilling all over the place and I'm not exactly sure how to corral them into piles that make sense.

I need some ‘table management’ where set my stacks of cards where after about 45 minutes, I'm just about done - I need to figure out what I have and start to wrap things up.

I dutifully count things out and end up with 375 cards [maybe I went one over where I suspect I counted a dupe as one card] - after calculating the totals, I was charged $20 and my first bulk haul of the year is in the books.

These may represent players I'm iffy about or cards I don't think I'd ever consider picking up in there here and now - but I'm looking for keepers, whether it's on a whim or perhaps cards that are mini-collection material, loose / random cards for my team boxes project on the side and just other loose card projects.

Some Florida Marlins curiosities showcased for some reason - maybe I'm putting myself through a bad 'repack' trip, but my game plan has never been that serious, where no one is going to stop me from setting aside cards left and right.

I've already given myself license to 'freelance' with these rummages - do I start to shift focus on grabbing cards of fan favorites like a Raul Mondesi, Jason Varitek or even a Brad Radke to squirrel away as team boxes material?

Maybe Mondesi was the only one I thought was collectible at some point and my interest in him peaked over 20 years ago - just going through all these cards, I wonder if faux nostalgia is setting in, where time has passed to make what was once 'common' and 'meh' old school cool all these years later.

How about Fernando Tatis Sr., who had a solid big league career - but it's probably 50/50 now whether fans remember him for hitting two grand slams in an inning an/dor being the father of a big league superstar.

Misc - nice 'gum card' score on the reverse image of a 1997 Pinnacle Certified Raul Casanova #122.

Misc - I think whenever I'd have acquaintances who discover I had an interest in cards, their first thought was to mention Chan Ho Park, which was annoying.

After 25 years, I'm still messing with cardboard and on the down low, have decided to make a few of Park's cards keepers as I find them - including a couple of rookies and an insert from his dreadful Texas Rangers years.