Sacrificing The Body

Remember when Max Scherzer broke his nose during batting practice last year and came back to pitch the next day?  Or how about the time Jack Youngblood fractured his fibula against the Dallas Cowboys and told the doctors that he was going to finish the game?  I guess that's what people do when they're passionate about something they love.

Two weekends ago, I endured some serious back pain to hit up the Serramonte Sports Cards, Toys, and Collectibles Show in order to dig through card boxes, hang out with some friends, and add some new cards to my collection.

Okay... this isn't exactly on the same level as a broken nose or fibula... but I was in some serious pain.  Thankfully... most of the pain has since subsided with the exception of an occasional tweak here or there.

Today I wanted to wrap up the purchases I made that day.  We last left off with me walking away with a Josh Donaldson autograph and some dollar cards.  After that, I continued walking towards one end of the mall over to Craig, who happens to be a regular vendor at the show.

Purchase #3:  Two Dollar Hits  $38

He typically has large crowds digging through his boxes, so I don't normally stop at his table.  But this time there was only one guy going through his $3/10 for $20 boxes.  I originally pulled out over fifty cards, but narrowed things down to these nineteen cards:

I don't have the time to comment on all of these, but here are a few of my favorites:

These two cards are for my Prime #'s PC.  The Haren patch is serial numbered 01/25 and the Giles is numbered 30/30.

I was super excited to add this autograph to my collection:

Ocho Cinco's signature is kinda boring... but his antics on and off the field were quite the opposite.  It's hard to believe that the signature of the Cincinnati Bengals all-time receptions leader (at least for now) can be purchased for two bucks.

This dual swatch card of Lynch and Forsett was a nice hidden treasure.  I was about to put this card into the discard stack, but it quickly became a no-brainer when I noticed it was numbered to ten.  And if my records are accurate, this is my first dual relic addition to my UC Berkeley PC.

No idea who Chuck Klein is.  But I won't ever pass up cheap memorabilia cards of old school ball players.  Maybe when I wrap up my 2019 Topps Holiday relic set, I'll try to build this one.

And my favorite card of the purchase...

I know I give Topps a lot of flak for releasing way too many products year in and year out.  But I'd love to see them bring back Topps American Pie at some point for a single release.

Moving along to the next vendor...

Purchase #4:  Quarter Bin  $8

Right behind Craig was a guy who had a bunch of boxes filled with quarter cards.  The highlight was finding these three Tony Gwynn rookie cards:

They're not in perfect condition, but it's hard to complain when they're 25¢ each.

The last guy I bought cards from was on the other side of the mall.

Purchase #5:  Dime Box Cards  $6

I ended up spending close to two hours digging through his dime boxes.  There's no way I would have been able to pull this off if it weren't for the chairs he had set up.  This guy's cards were a little musty, but his boxes were very organized.  He sorted them by teams and sometimes by player.

I ended up pulling out sixty-three cards.  The old me would have pulled out six hundred cards, but I just don't have the time or energy to go home and sort this stuff anymore.  Here's a snapshot of what I found in the boxes:

None of the vintage was in very good condition, but my favorite cards are the 1974 Topps San Diego Padres team card and the Mark Fidrych rookie.  There wasn't anything too special in my stack, but my buddy did find a few 90's #'d Ken Griffey Jr. cards.

Well that wraps up my first card show haul of 2020.  The next show will be in early March when GTSM comes to the Santa Clara Convention Center.  This show usually caters to autograph collectors more than card collectors, but my friend will be setting up there... so I'll be in attendance.

Okay... that's it for now.  Happy Tuesday and sayonara!