End of the year card show meanderings

I've probably gone to more card show dates this past year compared to the last 2 years before the pandemic - however I've gotten self-conscious about showing up to where the scene is a little more unfamiliar perhaps.

I find myself feeling too much like a rando in a room of guys in the know who are simply interested in 'here and now' concepts I'm not vaguely aware of - big time wheeling and dealing involving higher end slabs, other sports [NBA, NFL], non-sports.

Maybe there has always been something bigger, something hyped that people who might be collecting and speculating are chasing after - but maybe I'm stuck in my reality, which has me less emotionally invested in the nuts and bolts of a card show, where it’s harder to cultivate any enthusiasm.

With sellers are more focused on other things besides bringing material catering more to my interests - it takes more effort to find things I can get into.

On the other hand, keying on tables with bulk cards for a dollar and less has me looking forward to that next rummage at shows - where as much as things are different, I can still find my roots at a random card show.

At my last card show trip, I was aimlessly wandering around and found myself digging through boxes at a table in the corner of the main room in a hotel - the table didn't register to me at first glance and now that I've planted myself, it doesn't look like there is any good 'ole baseball in these parts.

I started to find clusters of some old-school and / or vintage cards to go through [even if not seriously consider] - there was some vintage 1960 Fleer Greats, but I'm not sure what to make of them because they are a retro set rather than a set with active players [circa 1960].

There was a father / son manning the table but it seemed clear to me that the adult son [probably in his 30s] - wasn't really into the cards and may have been tagging along as more of chaperone, compared to his old man who was really running the table.

The prices were half off the stickered price - though I worried the prices on the cards might be marked up.

Finding a 1996 Upper Deck V.J. Lovero Ken Griffey Jr. #VJ 10 [$4] may have actually spurred me on to find more cards - though it wasn't going to be that big splash purchase, it might have been a random scratch the itch want.

I found and set aside 1989 Upper Deck Dale Murphy REV NEG #357 [$30] in a yellowed semi-rigid, which may have been interesting - the guy grabbed it for a moment and was telling his son it was some kind of error.

I occasionally see random cards that I might not flag outright but end up dwelling on after the fact - maybe the cards are not semi-definitive or definitive cards for a collection, where it's only a big deal in my head, but types of cards I shouldn't let get passed me.

There was doubt whether I should make the Murphy the centerpiece of what I might have found off these random boxes - the card was a bit more on the quirky side of the junk wax era, but I might be second-guessing myself for not grabbing this error outright.

Finally I found a 1990 Leaf Frank Thomas #300 [$10] and while it's been over 30 long years and I have a graded copy - the card was a status symbol of early 1990s collecting, so I wanted a loose copy, even if there is a tiny bit of worry about potential counterfeits that might be mixed in various collections and/or inventory.

TTM autographs received: Terry Leach

The former big league reliever signed my cards in about a month - including a 1982 Topps multiplayer Future Stars card I had longtime MLB manager Ron Gardenhire sign in-person.

All I need to finish off my card is Tim Leary, who might have done his share of former LA Dodgers appearances in So. Cal over the past 10-15 years - he's never been someone I've been compelled to be interested in, but now I have to see where someone might do a signing with him.

TTM autographs received: Gerald Young

The former big league outfielder from the 1980s through 1990s signed my cards in about two weeks - who knows whether the image was actually game action or staged, but because of the athleticism the card oozes, the 1989 Upper Deck [#135] is simply a keeper as far as random junk wax era commons go.

TTM autographs received: Tom Niedenfuer

I was able to round up some junk wax era cards for the former big league reliever and he signed them in about a couple of weeks - Niedenfuer was a serviceable pitcher who spent 7 years with the Los Angeles Dodgers through the 1980s.

Unfortunately, despite his success, he was on the wrong end of a couple of big league home runs - hit in the 1985 National League Championship Series by Ozzie Smith and Jack Clark.

After pitching for the Dodgers, he had stints with the Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners and the St. Louis Cardinals - before leaving the game for good at age 31.

TTM autographs received: Cris Carpenter

Carpenter signed my cards in about two weeks c/o the high school he teaches at in Georgia - because he played in the junk wax era, I was superficially aware of him as a relief pitcher who spent most of his 8-year big league career with the St. Louis Cardinals.

What I’ve tried to do in 2016 - my PCs

At the start of the year, I had a set of collecting goals I never got to posting - maybe it's a little too long-winded to try and go over what I did and didn't do, so I'm just going to summarize some of the things I've tried to prop up as far my own collecting projects.

Collecting is always a thing, but for much of the year, things were kind of meh and I was just muddling along - I think it's fine to leave some interests / projects alone ‘as is,’ even for a prolonged period of time, with the idea that I’m coming back to them at some point.

I needed to focus inward, in putting away things I’ve picked up, so I can transition towards another year of collecting - as much as I would worry about feeding the best, I’ve tried to ‘reset things’ to straighten out some of the interests, so my intentions are a little clearer with what I want to as well as dealing with the state of interests that may have gotten away from me.

1.) Personal collection project - I get the idea of having a PC to showcase a select number of showcase cards from my entire collection.

As is, I’ve left my PC cards ‘as is,’ through 2016 and after watching a YouTube video or two in November [basically another collector's 'top' collection] - did my interest in revamping my PC really pick up.

I've already added a few stand alone cards over the past couple of years to kind of rework what my collection of my best cards look like - I can't compete with the guys hoarding super premium cards, so instead I've set out to add PC cards that are old school, like your basic rookie cards from the at least 20 years ago and older, including the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. #1, a 1992 Bowman Mariano Rivera #302 and a 1984 Donruss Don Mattingly #248.

I had created a Google Sheets file for my four PCs I've established [Top 30 PC, Top 30 alternate PC, a Top 50 common PC and a Top 50 fun PC] and tried to re-jigger the listings around - adding cards as well as weeding out ones I felt were outdated.

I went on some ‘supply runs’ to my LCS, to buy up some new holders - to give me peace of mind that I’m cycling in some newer individual card holders as opposed to using dingy, old toploaders from 2000.

I’ve really been in a daze as far as having regional collection of PC cards and to just see what I maybe able to cobble together, I decided to add a regional component [#’s 31-50] to my Top 50 common PC - to make things easier as far as filling out my Top 50 common PC with no pressure in making a separate 'Top 30' list for just the team I'm collecting.

I’ve listed out miscellaneous Angels cards and while I feel the content falls a bit short, especially with regards to everyone's favorite Angel in the outfield, it’s the cards I’ve picked up - so I need to see if there is something to build on, so there maybe a foundation to funnel better cards, better players where I could eventually branch out into some sort of ‘stand alone’ regional PC.

I think I can add a few of the Angels certified autographs I’ve picked up - that I will double count towards my PC and my all-time Angels collection.

Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza to the Hall

Knowing the Baseball Hall of Fame announcement was coming up, I picked up a nicer version of Griffey Jr.'s iconic rookie card - I was worried the card would get a little ‘artificial’ bump and wanted to upgrade the ‘raw’ copy I must have picked up 10-15 years ago.

My favorite Griffey Jr. rookie card would probably be my first, which is his 1989 Donruss, but the Upper Deck was the one to have - I've read random blurbs posted on card forums about UD running the presses to make this card to order, so I had reservations about putting a premium on the card as a legit pick-up for the personal collection I’m trying to build up.

Regardless of apparent overproduction however, the 1989 UD itself has had a legacy on its own among collectors and now that he's been elected with the highest vote percentage - it would probably make the card even much more of a hassle to pick up, just to have one that is a bit cleaner than the one I've had.

As far as Piazza goes, I've got to dig up the 1992 Fleer Update card I picked up at some point when either towards the end of his career or several years after he retired - unlike Griffey Jr., who had a graceful swing and was a great athlete, there was no subtleties in Piazza's game as he was a slugging beast who put up monster numbers as a catcher.

Regardless of the era Piazza played in and the innuendo [Murray Chass and bacne] and actual drugs [Vioxx, Andro, greenies among others] he took to be a dominant player or just to be able to play through a MLB season - I think his election to the Hall of Fame validates Piazza's accomplishments as a major leaguer.

Upper Deck finds

At my LCS, I rummaged and dug through two monster boxes consisting of 1989 Upper Deck and 1993 cards [from a few brands including Donruss and Upper Deck] - I grabbed a bunch of cards that fit a number of mini-collection themes and in all, I had at least 120 cards I wanted to take home.

However, it's not like the cards were discounted since they'd been collecting dust and were in mothballs for the last 20-25 years - I still had to pay a quarter a card and probably at least $30 if I took home all the cards I found.

I had to slow down and whittle down my stash into something more reasonable - I put away the 1993 cards I pulled, figuring I could just pick up a full 1993 Upper Deck set instead of fooling around with loose cards.

I could probably pick up an 1989 Upper Deck set or at least end up with a lot of assorted cards - but there is still a little mystique with UD's inaugural brand, so I relented to pick up a handful that really appealed to me.

1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. #1 - nah, just kidding

1989 Upper Deck Kevin Gross #31 - on the reverse image, pitchers hitting 

1989 Upper Deck Roger Clemens #195 - through his first legitimate run as a pitching superstar

1989 Upper Deck Mark McGwire #300 - I've always associated the image as one that might be used on a poster.

1989 Upper Deck Rick Sutcliffe #303 - pitchers hitting

1989 Upper Deck Dave Winfield #349 - hats off

1989 Upper Deck Oil Can Boyd #415 - showing emotion
1989 Upper Deck Dennis Rasmussen #645 - on the reverse image, pitchers hitting

1989 Upper Deck Mike Aldrete #738 - my best guess is he's swinging at a ball in the dirt.

1989 Upper Deck Jim Abbott #755 - this might have been his most popular rookie year card.

1989 Upper Deck Omar Vizquel #787

Featured autograph - Wally Joyner

I was too young to be aware of Major League Baseball when 'Wally World' hit the scene back in 1986 - though Wally Joyner was probably one of the first 'local stars' I heard about when I got into baseball card collecting back in the late 1980s through early 1990s.

Looking at his playing career, I don't think he was never really considered a star again after his first two years in 1986 and 1987 - though it doesn't mean he wasn't considered a solid Major League player who put got on-base, hit for average and hit for some power when healthy.

Featured autograph - DeWayne Buice

Former Angels relief pitcher Dewayne Buice was at Monday's Angels-Oakland A's game and I got him on a 2011 Angels pocket sked - after another collector had spotted Buice and had him sign a bunch of cards this collector carries around, in case any of the 'old timers' show up.

I have Buice's cards in my Angels alumni binder, but I don't bother to bring those cards anymore, so I was kind of out of luck - if I don't see Buice anytime soon with my several late 1980s cards in-hand to be signed, at least I can say I already got his autograph for my Angels' collection.

Card show trip - random stuff picked up

I know Mitch Williams as the crazy haired reliever for the Phillies who gave up Joe Carter's walk-off, series clinching home run in the 1993 World Series - he is also one of the MLB Network personalities I get to watch nearly every time I turn on the TV. However it is hard for me to believe [without actually looking it up] that 'Wild Thing' actually had a brief 20 game stint as an Angels reliever back in 1995.

Dennis Cook pitched for the World Series champion Angels in 2002, but I think he and Aaron Sele were the two 'notable' veteran pitchers not included in any of the postseason rosters - however Cook did win another World Series five years prior to 2002, with the Florida Marlins back in 1997.

I finally had a chance to go to the collectibles show held on a Wednesday and a Saturday after not being able to get a chance to do so in the past few months - despite the fact it is the only place to go and with the show having a reputation for having everything, I end up sort of buying only the most basic [unsigned 8x10 Photofiles, collecting supplies] of things, since I feel like it isn't always a good place to find just random baseball card stuff other bloggers might appreciate.

I think I spent about two hours at the show randomly walking up and down the aisles - I was bored and relented to pick up three cards from someone's dollar box, which was a pair of 2009 Upper Deck 1989 'buyback' cards featuring two former Angels with dubious ties with the organization and a 1996 Pinnacle Aficionado Chipper Jones Magic Numbers insert card with some kind of wood grain finish.

As far as I was concerned, the action for me was sparse - do I bother to mention I was about to leave the show and it occurred to me I probably need to buy some supplies if in case I don't make it back for another few months. In addition the $3 I'd already spent, I went ahead and spent $9.50 more on four ball cubes, about six packs of penny sleeves and a 3,200 card box to hold perhaps all the cards I'm using for in-person signings [or perhaps to hold all my collecting topics cards].

Autograph request through the mail received: Matt Williams

Matt Williams c/o home address - signed my cards in blue Sharpie.

This autograph request took about two weeks or so - Williams is currently a coach with the Arizona Diamondbacks and while he wasn't as good [.317 on-base percentage drags down his career a little bit] of a hitter as an active player, he was a five-time All-Star who earned four Silver Sluggers and was also a four time Gold Glove winner.