30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Best Dime Box Ever

Some people exercise to help them take their mind off of their problems.  Others use drugsMe?  I walk around my "not so local" card show.

On Saturday I went with my buddy Ben to the Serramonte Mall Sports Cards, Toys, & Collectibles Show and for a solid four hours, I barely gave "work" a second thought.  Instead I was blown away by the increased number of sports card dealers and some pretty solid deals.

I've got lots to share and not a lot of time, so let's get going...

Purchase #1: Time Capsule Items  $15


My first purchase of the day is probably my worst purchase of the day in regards to value.  However the $15 went to Tony... the flea market vendor I see on a regular basis.  He's hooked me up a few times over the years, so I didn't think twice when he quoted me this price.

Each of these cards were sitting in his $2 box and with the exception of the Jacob Nix and Frank Clark, they'll be thrown into the time capsule I've been dropping hints about.


Purchase #2Football Collection  $100


While driving up to Serramonte, my buddy and I were discussing how autographs and memorabilia cards just don't hold the attention of collectors as much as they used to.


However when I saw memorabilia cards of guys like Terry Bradshaw, Chuck Bednarik, and Earl Campbell sitting in a stack of top loaders, I couldn't help myself.  I asked the dealer how much he was selling them for and he told me they ranged from $3 to $5 each.  If I'd be willing to purchase the entire stack of 63 cards, he'd give them to me for $100.


$100 is a lot to drop on football cards, but there were no commons in this collection.  Only hall of famers and fan favorites.  My favorites were the three new additions to my Green Bay Packers PC and this Jim Otto:


The card is serial #'d 50/50, which means it's been added to my Prime # PC.


Purchase #3Best Dime Box Ever  $7


Okay.  This statement is obviously a little exaggerated.  But I was stoked to find so many cool cards for only a dime each.

The seller was a college kid who was set up for the first time at this show.  He had tons of vintage cards, a few graded cards, and really awesome dime boxes.  I would have spent more time at this guy's booth, but his stuff caught the attention of other collectors and dealers... and within five minutes of my arrival, he was swamped.

I'm not a big fan of rubbing elbows with other people, so I gathered my stack of cards, called over the dealer, and paid the guy.

I don't have the time to scan each card individually, but here are five of my favorites in the bunch:



When was the last time you found a Wade Boggs rookie card in a dime box?  There were also rookie cards of Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey, Darryl Strawberry, Jim Abbott, Will Clark, Robin Ventura, Steve Nash, Michael Irvin, and Teemu Selanne.  Plus some shiny inserts and parallels from the 90's... mixed in with a handful of memorabilia cards and autographs.

I'm just a little bummed thinking about what I left behind in those boxes.

Okay... this post seems to be dragging on and I want to limited my writing sessions to no more than an hour a day this week, so I'm going to split my card show haul into two posts.

It was nice to hang out at the card show and chat with other collectors including Dan who authors the blogThe Other World.  We hung out with his buddy and talked about vintage cards, our collections, and they gave me a quick introduction to Magic: The Gathering cards.

Well that's it for today.  I'm going to try to post the rest of my card show haul on Thursday.  Until then...


What sort of things do you do to help you take your mind off of things?

Hopefully it doesn't involve anything too addictive or illegal.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

15 comments:

GTT said...

Pretty cool to get a Wade Boggs rookie card in a dime box.

Dennis said...

Wow, no false advertising here, that was one hell of a dime box! That alone would have had me stoked but the deal you got on the football stuff was excellent too. Very cool that you scored one of those E-X seat cards.

Johnnys Trading Spot said...

That Kolby Allard GQ autographed card (and the other Braves) is sweet, it's logo swap auto.

Sean said...

Oh WoW! Wade Boggs and Daryl Strawberry rookie cards in a dime box? I have both of those cards which I purchased about 30 years ago and spent way too much on them.

Dime boxes like that are one of the things I feel I am really missing out on being in Japan.....

Great finds!!

And about the question, I mostly think about baseball cards to take my mind off of stressful things!

SumoMenkoMan said...

Great finds!! Crazy to see some of those dime box purchases.

P-town Tom said...

I think I would have offered to buy the dime box for sure. Great stuff in there!

The Lost Collector said...

Wow, loaded dime box indeed!

Matt said...

An excellent haul! Congrats!

GCA said...

Great haul of football gamers!

Lately, I've been looking up want lists for team or player collectors and pulling stuff out of my mountain of extras. Usually right after I get home until my guts start speaking sentences and I've gotta stop to eat before it gets to 8 PM...

Big Tone said...

That Boggs rookie Is so great!That 83 Donruss design Is a personal fav.

Nachos Grande said...

Nice! As for things to do to take my mind off, er...things, I'd say games of all types (board, card, video, or even sports).

The Snorting Bull said...

Wow!!! Overall, some nice additions to the collection, but that was a great dime box. I love the Skybox McGwire card, that was a great 1990s set.

Nick said...

Holy hell, a Wade Boggs rookie for a dime?! That's a Hall of Fame dime box find right there!

Jon said...

That dime box yielded some pretty good stuff. I think I've encountered a few like that over the years, just not recently. The Chuck Bednarik auto is really great too, I probably wouldn't have bothered with all of those relics though.

Fuji said...

gtt - upon closer inspection, the boggs has a crease. but it's perfect for my 80's binder

dennis - those e-x seat cards are so cool. last year i found the vladimir guerrero from the set at a show. pretty sure it set me back more than a dime though

johnnys trading spot - thanks for pointing it out. i totally missed that

sean - you're not alone. i way overpaid for mine back in the 80's too.

sumomenkoman - i'm thinking this guy will become a regular. next serramonte is in january. hint hint wink wink

p-town tom - i probably should have just done that. maybe next time

the lost collector - yeah... like ever stack of 15 cards i grabbed had one or two i was super excited to see

matt - thank you!

gca - i don't add football cards to my collection very often, so this was a very welcomed purchase. the only downside is that i dropped $100 on the lot.

big tone - i agree. 1983 had three solid baseball card designs.

nachos grande - i've been looking for an affordable copy of the division for my ps4. the only thing is i just don't have a lot of free time right now. but i do need an outlet for my stress

the snorting bull - yeah... i'm thinking about building it, since they're pretty affordable

nick - coming from you, i'll definitely take it as a compliment. although, i'm not sure it competes with some of your famous hauls

jon - i'm just hoping the bednarik is legit. it's the only autograph that wasn't certified.