A Much Needed Distraction

The GTSM Santa Clara Show took place less than two weeks ago... and yet with everything that's taken place since then... it seems like months.  I'm sure if I ever look back on this post, it'll appear as if I'm totally exaggerating... but when you look at how quickly we've gone from following a variety of sporting events to nothing in such a short period of time... it's truly crazy.

On a personal level... I was standing in front of students six days ago.  Then I was told we'll be suspending classroom instruction for three weeks.  On Monday, a shelter-in-place order was given to several Bay Area counties.  And the latest news out of Sacramento is there's a chance I won't have students back in my classroom until next fall.  If that isn't crazy... I'm not sure what is.

My mind has been racing and I've had a few moments where I've felt very anxious.  This whole shelter-in-place thing has started to give me cabin fever.  And outside of a couple of trips to my office and my daily visits to your card blogs, I haven't spent much time with my cards.  But that's going to change today, because I seriously need a distraction.

I'll start things off by finally sharing my card show haul from the aforementioned GTSM Show.

First up are a pair of Dave Dravecky autographs that were signed back on January 26th at the Serramonte Mall Sports Cards, Toys, and Collectibles Show.   I went to the show on the 25th, but didn't attend the 26th which was the day Dravecky was there.  Thankfully my buddy Mike was willing to get these two cards signed for me:

1983 Topps #384

1987 Topps #470

I hadn't seen Mike since the Serramonte Show, but he was nice enough to bring them to the GTSM Show, so I could add them to my Padres collection.

I ran into Mr. Haverkamp (famous card blog supporter) at the show and he informed me that Dravecky has stacked his signature ever since his surgery.  So if you ever see a signature out there where Dave is next to his last name, then you know it was signed with his left hand.

It was fun hanging out with him and talking cards.  We were talking about meeting up at a future card show either in Oakland or Sacramento, but that doesn't seem very likely anymore.  We also discussed playing nine holes as well, but that'll have to be postponed too.

He didn't come empty-handed.  He never does.  There was a nice stack of 1970 Kellogg's for my set build waiting for me when I walked up to his friend's table.  Due to the standards I've established for this set, I passed on all of them except for this Frank Robinson:

1970 Kellogg's #15

The card looked pretty clean in my hands at the show.  However after getting a closer look at my scans, I noticed a few more cracks.  This card resides in the set for now, but I will be looking for an upgrade at some point.

Okay... let's finally take a look at my card show purchases.


Purchase #1:  Dollar Bin  $20

Nothing too exciting here.  Honestly... in regards to bargains, I didn't find much at this show.  Dollar autographs, relics, and rookie cards are cool... but there weren't any hidden gems that I've grown accustomed to over the years.

My favorite card in the lot was this Rickey Henderson:

1995 Collector's Choice Gold Signature #125

Upper Deck inserted one of these into every thirty-five packs, so collectors usually only pulled one of these per box.

The other card that caught my eye was this Mark McGwire:

1998 Pacific Home Run History #HRC1

I had never seen this card before and after doing some research... it makes sense.  It was part of a set available on QVC back on September 28, 1998 (the day after McGwire hit #70) during a 24 hour window.  That kinda makes it sound like this card could be rare, but it isn't.  According to Beckett, Pacific printed 142,500 sets.

The third card I'll spotlight is a mystery to me...

1992 Rookie Phenoms

It looks like one of those cheap "printed in some dude's garage" cards... but the quality is pretty good.  Heck... this might have actually been printed back in 1992.  Unfortunately it wasn't produced by a legit company, so it falls into the category of being a Broder-like card.  I realize this card is worthless to most collectors... but to me on the day of the show, it was worth a buck.

Moving along...


Purchase #2:  The Big Ticket Items $10

2001 Upper Deck e-Cards #E-DB

I picked up these two cards from another friend of mine who was set up at the show.  I dug through a shoebox of his and pulled out this Drew Brees rookie card and this really cool looking Jerry Rice patch card:

2013 UD Ultimate Collection Ultimate Patch #UJ-JR

It's not often I see Jerry Rice cards where he's not reppin' the Niners or Raiders.  So I was immediately drawn to this card.

I was pleasantly surprised that Ben only wanted $10 for the pair.  Then I scanned the card at home and had the chance to read the back:

Jerry might have worn this Mississippi Valley State jersey, but it wasn't in an NCAA game.  I'm starting to see the light in regards to these memorabilia cards.

Purchase #3:  Five for a Buck  $2

I don't remember seeing any dime boxes at the show, but I ran into another familiar vendor who had a box of rookies and refractors priced at 25¢ each or 5/$1.  It had been picked through, but I did find another Laureano rookie card for my collection.

Speaking of Laureano... I had gone to this show with hopes of adding a few new autographs to the collection, but was blown away by the prices dealers were asking.  That night I came home and headed over to COMC where I picked up three for a fraction of the price the GTSM Show dealers were asking.  Stay tuned for those.  I'll be requesting shipment as soon as I spend the final $4.70 in my account.

Well that wraps up the latest card show haul... and likely the last card show I'll be attending in the foreseeable future.

Here is today's question of the day.  I binge watched Das Boot and Hanna.  

Do you have any binge-worthy television show recommendations to keep me distracted?

Happy Thursday and sayonara!