Friday, March 18, 2022

Some old-school 1980s card show pick ups

I'd braved the foot traffic and narrow aisles at the last card I show I was at - I wear a mask and standing idle digging through rows of random cards in a stuffy room has me feeling out of sorts.

Still, I was able to do my thing at some of the value boxes and after just a couple of hours into the show, I was down to my last $20 - there was a table with sorting tray of all sorts of cards.

A Corey Kluber certified autograph [$10] and a David Wright certified autograph [either $10 or $20, but it was a sticker Panini issue] intrigued - but they might not have been appealing impulse purchases where I was content to leave them.  

I stumbled upon the seller's table where I bought a 1989 Upper Deck Dale Murphy #357 reverse negative from another show date - on my first go around, maybe I wasn’t feeling the table, but gave things another go.

There are rows and clusters of mid 1980s rookies, mid 1980s minor league cards, junk wax era singles, assorted old school and vintage cards from all sorts of sports - it’s fun to consider making some of the random singles keepers, but I have to watch for some obvious blemishes and imperfections where the eye appeal isn't quite there.  

I'd like to think I don't need a chair, but I'm not getting younger and if the primary seller at the table offers me a chair as I dig through his stock of cards - that may actually encourage me to find something.

Go figure, I settled on a 1985 Leaf Kirby Puckett RC [$5] and a 1982 TCMA Orel Hershiser [$10] - maybe the Puckett is a little off center but it’s not bad looking.

Puckett was one of the kings of the junk wax era superstars for me, though his actually rookie year [1985] was before I knew anything about trading cards - I may look to catch up on picking up Puckett's 1985 rookies when I can.

The Hershiser is somewhat of an oddball where it's an early 1980s minor league card [it might be his first pro card released in the United States] that predates his 1985 MLB rookie issues - the longtime Los Angeles Dodgers favorite is still visible as their primary color commentator and like Puckett was a junk wax era star.

There was a 1983 TCMA Hershiser [$10] that may have been a keeper as well and I probably could have gotten the three cards for $20 or less - but to be on the safe side, just picked the older of the two Hershiser cards.

I handed off the cards and the seller took a look at the prices for a moment before asking $7 for the pair.

I could have sworn the seller gave off more of a senior vibe the first time I'd seen him with his adult son who might as well have been tagging along as muscle - but someone had asked him about having Satchel Paige cards in his collection and he said, "I'm not that old."

3 comments:

Crocodile said...

A Puckett rookie for $6? Yep I'd take that any day.

Fuji said...

I love Kirby... but I love that Hershiser find a tad bit more. Very nice pickup for $10.

Jon said...

That was a really good deal. I really like the Hershiser. I don't think that I could've paid $10 for it, but definitely would've grabbed it for the price you paid.