161% Over Budget...

100% worth it.

Two weeks ago I drove up the San Francisco Peninsula to attend the Serramonte Mall Sports Cards, Toys, and Collectibles Show.  It takes place three times a year and it's the only show I'll actually clear my schedule for.

Now that I've started to cut down on collecting (which I'll talk about in a future post), I honestly didn't think I'd come close to spending the $100 I had set as my card show budget.

Well... as you can see from the title... that didn't go so well.


Purchase #1:  1977 Topps Baseball Set $80

Right out of the gate, I came across a guy who was selling a bunch of sets and card lots with his son:

One of those sets was a 1977 Topps baseball card set, which was the number one thing I wanted to buy at the show.  I have been targeting this set for a few years, because I'm trying to collect every Topps baseball regular issue set from 1972 to 1986.  Before the card show, I was down to three sets: 1973, 1977, and 1979.

I flipped through the set and noticed it was in fairly decent condition, so I asked the guy if his $100 price tag was firm.  He told me to make him an offer and we agreed on eighty bucks.  The Andre Dawson and Dale Murphy rookie cards were obviously swapped out, because they're at least one condition grade below the other cards.  However... I'm okay with that, because you can still find graded copies of both cards in the $25 to $35 range.


Purchase #2:  2016 Topps Archives Singles $10

With $20 left in my cardboard budget, I headed over to my buddy, Tony's table.  He's the guy who sold me the Campaneris autograph and the buyback singles a few weekends ago.  I promised him that I'd take his 2016 Archives base cards off of his hands.

The box above is the remnants of a full hobby box and a blaster box minus the hits and serial numbered parallels.  I'm trying to build this set, so I was hoping this would wrap things up... but unfortunately... it didn't.

I'm still looking for the following cards: 48, 57, 70, 115, 188, 193, 284, and/or 296.  Anyone have extras available for trade?


Purchase #3:  3 for $10 Bin $10

While I was hanging out talking to Tony, I decided to dig through his 3 for $10 bin.  He's one of those guys who marks everything high, but is willing to negotiate a price.  After pulling out these six cards, he told me I could have them all for $10.

Purchase #4:  Dollar Bin Singles $5

At this point, my entire $100 budget was spent... but Tony had a shoebox on his table that was off to the side.  I asked him about it and he told me he was selling some cards for his friend.  I pulled out these five and he charged me a buck a piece.

Purchase #5:  3 for a Dollar Bin $1

The final four cards I purchased from Tony were from his three for a dollar bin.  He threw in the Posada refractor for free.

Okay... let's update the cardboard budget.  It's been less than two hours at the card show and I'm already $6 over my budget.  I decide to go hang out with my buddy Mike over at his table and grab some lunch.  Afterwards, I would walk around one more time and then head home... hopefully without spending anymore money.

Purchase #6: 1964 Topps Giant Set $100

While making my final rounds, I stop by the father/son booth where I purchased the 1977 Topps set.  I noticed the 1964 Topps Giant set my first time around, so I started flipping through it.  I've always loved the design on these oversized cards.

While I'm reading some of the card backs, the father says "make me an offer".  I asked him if he'd take $100 and showed him completed listings on eBay in the $80 to $130 range.  He said that was fair and accepted.

The cards aren't gem mint, but they're pretty nice for being over fifty years old, plus he saved me some money by already having the set in a binder.

The only downside... I'm now $106 over budget.

Purchase #7:  Autographs & Relics $30

I continued to hang out at the "set" guy's table and was flipping through his $2, $3, and $5 stacks, which had been recently marked down to 50% off.  He asked me if I was interested in purchasing all of them at a highly discounted price.  We played around with the math and he told me I could take everything for $120.  It was a great deal, because at that price it would have been a little under a dollar per card.

But I ended up passing on the deal.  At this point I was way over budget and I didn't really want to be stuck with a bunch of autographs and relics of players I don't collect.  But he told me that I could have any of the $2 or $3 cards for a buck and anything in the $5 stack for $2.  I ended up picking out twenty-six $1 cards and two $2 cards.

Purchase #8:  Ahsoka Tano Black Series Figure $25

And rounding out my epic card show shopping spree is another item I walked into the show hoping to find.  Over the past few years, Anakin Skywalker's former apprentice has slowly become one of my favorite Star Wars characters and Hasbro finally released a 6" Black Series figure of her.

Unfortunately... I haven't been able to locate a reasonably priced copy anywhere, so I figured the best place to look would be at a toy show.  After some searching and haggling... I finally managed to secure this figure for a little over what I wanted to pay... which kind of fits the theme of this card show experience.

Bottom line... I spent way more than I wanted to... but don't have any regrets.  I honestly can't remember the last time I walked out of a card show with the both of the items I walked in looking for.

Happy Monday and sayonara!