A Three Hour Tour

Adrenaline.  That is exactly what was rushing through my body as I stepped through the doors and into the Bay Area Sports Cards & Collectibles Expo this past weekend.  It was without any exaggeration the best card show I had attended in years.

The promoter advertised 200 tables... and I believe it.  It was held in an old Forever 21 store, so the venue was huge and dealers were plentiful and spaced out really well.

In fact, the only downside were two problems I encountered.  The first one involved a brief five minute period when some people joined me at a table and had zero regard for personal space or common courtesy.  The vendor had six to ten super shoe boxes lined up and these people decided to start digging into the same box as me.  Had I not been in the last box... I would have moved... but I only had two rows left and refused to budge.  I stood my ground as one of them bumped my elbow multiple times.

The other issue wasn't anyone's fault... but my own.  The show might have been the largest I attended in decades, however I only managed to check out five or six dealers' booths.  Why?  That's because I spent three hours with one dealer.  and by the time I was finished, I was tired and my back was sore.

I'm not complaining though, because he was the first dealer I stopped at and I'm glad I spent most of my budget with him.  This is the image that caught my eye and made me stop at his booth:

I'm a sucker for bargains and right off the bat, I noticed a dollar table with complete sets, Kenner SLU's, stadium giveaways, and other knick-knacks.  I ended up picking up eighteen items for $15:

  

Outside of the Hank Aaron media guide, I don't have plans to write about any of these dollar items in the near future.  However if there's anything you'd like to see in more detail, leave a comment down below and I'll try to accommodate you.

The vendor had a bunch of cards too.  I ended up focusing on his bargain boxes which were broken down into three categories: 8 for $1, 5 for $1 (or 25¢ each), and 10 for $4 (or 50¢ each).

On Sunday, I showed off this shoebox filled with goodies I picked up from his bargain bins.  There is honestly way too much to show off in a single post, so I'll be writing about the contents of this box throughout the summer.

However, here's a sampling of what I picked up...

The cards featured in the above 9-pocket page were pulled from the dealer's 8 for $1 boxes.  If you wanted to know how I could spend three hours at one booth, it's because I sifted through every single box this guy had.

Here's a look at some of the stuff I purchased from his 50¢ bin:

These boxes were mainly serial numbered cards, but there were some other items like rookie cards, autographs, and memorabilia cards.

Honestly the 8 for $1 and 5 for $1 boxes held way better bargains, so I focused most of my attention and money on those.

Most of the oversized stuff you see in this box were from the vendor's 5 for $1 boxes.

In honor of today being National Camera Day, I figured I'd show case this awesome Vladimir Guerrero card I purchased for 20¢:

1998 Topps Super Chrome #3

Thanks to bloggers like Nick and Gavin, this image has been on my radar for awhile.  This Super Chrome version looks exactly like his regular base card, but is almost twice as large.  Unfortunately, I had to restore it a little as all of the Super Chrome cards I purchased were a little hazy out of the box: 

But it wasn't anything a microfiber towel, some water, and a little elbow grease couldn't handle.

Here are the other Super Chrome singles I grabbed from his box:

In hindsight, I think the dealer had a complete set.... but I only pulled guys who fit into my Player PC's.

My favorite from the bunch is this Clemente:

1998 Topps Super Chrome #21

The original plan was to show off a few more oversized singles, but I think I'll just wrap up this post on a high note.  If you want to see more goodies from this box, then you are in luck... because there will at least be a few future posts dedicated to them.

In the meantime...

When you think of great photography, is there any card in your collection that immediately comes to mind?

I look forward to reading your responses.  Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Memory Loss

The idea of losing my memory is pretty scary.  I've accepted the fact that many of my childhood memories have been lost over time, but I always figured that my brain was just clearing out room for new memories.  Then something happened to me yesterday that made me realize that even some of my newer memories are fading as well.

Yesterday... I attended my first card show in over fifteen months.  It was the best show I've attended since I returned to the hobby in 2008, but that's not really the focus of this post.  I'll recap it in a future post.

Today's post is about my meetup with Mr. Haverkamp.  I know some of you have made trades or have received care packages from him... but for those who haven't... he's a blog supporter who will comment on posts from time to time.  I've been fortunate enough to meet up with him on numerous occasions.

While walking around the show, I noticed him helping out his friend who was set up.  We started chatting and he pulled out some cards that he had set aside for me... and that's where the memory loss portion of this post begins.

The first card he showed me was this:

1964 Topps #352

I wasn't quite sure how this Red Sox card fit into my collection, but before I could ask... he mentioned that I had wrote about collecting cards featured in the Baseball Card Bible: The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book.

I had totally forgot about that post... which was written only 175 days ago.  However as soon as he mentioned the book... I remembered.

Then he pulled out another card:

1954 Topps #189

This time... I recognized the card... but couldn't pinpoint how I knew it.  Before I could start stressing over my poor memory, he asked me if I needed this card for my San Jose State PC.

That's when I pulled out my phone to search my blog which revealed that I own a signed copy of the 1994 Archives reprint in a post I wrote 427 days earlier... but had totally forgotten about it.

Thankfully he didn't.  If I ever needed motivation to continue blogging... this would be it.  I need to preserve my memories in writing... just in case I don't remember them later on down the road.

The third card he showed me was this signed minor league card of Kurt Suzuki:

2005 Grandstand California League Top Prospects #NNO

I think this is the first time I've ever seen this card before.

Then again... maybe I saw it years ago and forgot.  I'm going to try extra hard to keep this cool autograph in the memory bank.

Maybe I should keep this Post-It note that was attached to the penny sleeve to help me.

2011 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini #309

2001 Bowman Heritage #239

Thank you Jim for taking the time to remember special collections that I'm working on... and for these three cards, the A&G mini, and the new Yoshii for my Japanese PC.  It was nice catching up and talking shop.  Now that I have your wantlist of Schmidts, I'll try to track something down for you.  If not... the next time we hang out, I'll buy you lunch and a beer.  Have fun at The National!  Hope you're able to finish the 1953 Bowman Color set build.

As for the rest of you...

Do you ever forget a set build, a card project, or a certain collection you're working on?

I look forward to reading your comments and responding to them.  And stay tuned... I'm going to try and recap some of my card show purchases on Tuesday.  Here's a peek at some of the stuff I picked up...

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Drove down to Vegas and spent a few days with Papa Fuji.  It was hot, but it was nice to hang out with him in person for the first time in sixteen months.  Not exactly a highlight from the trip, but I'm pretty sure we saw a lady of the night while walking to the Beef Jerky Store located right off of Fremont Street.

Side note... if you are ever in the area and need to grab delicious treats for gifts or consumption, I highly recommend this place.  We never leave there empty-handed.

Anyways... figured Hump Day and my recent encounter was a sign to finally show off a Target purchase I made a few weeks ago.  They might not have blasters on their shelves, but I saw this hanging up in the toy aisle, cracked up, and threw it into my basket.

Yeah... I know... you're not here for toys.  Let's switch gears and focus on cards...

My post-pandemic sports card purchases are a fraction of what they used to be... but I did grab two things off of eBay recently.  The first was an autograph I have been seeking for quite some time that completed a set... while the other was a complete set purchase inspired by a fellow blogger.  I'll share those in the near future.

In the meantime... here are a few female athletes and entertainers for your viewing pleasure...

2013 Calbee Japan National Team Card #3

2014 Allen & Ginter #119

2016 Topps WWE NXT Prospects #23

2012 Produce Trading Card #RG76

2004 Sports Illustrated for Kids #406

Happy Wednesday and sayonara!

Double Vision

Baseball has always been fun and entertaining, but it's even more fun and entertaining when your teams are playing well.

As of this morning, the San Diego Padres had the fifth best record in the National League and although they're currently looking up at the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West standings.  Both of these teams are on fire... and the Padres are struggling, but on the bright side there is still a lot of baseball left to be played.

That's why I'm closely following all three teams and it makes me cringe seeing the Giants with the best record in baseball.  The Dodgers are right behind them.  The crazy thing is they've been dealing with so many injuries.  They're going to be straight up scary when they have everyone healthy.

In the meantime guys like Steven Souza Jr. are getting the opportunity to shine.  On Wednesday the Dodgers called him up from AAA Oklahoma City and last night he launched a home run that gave his team the lead over his former team.

When I first saw his name, I recognized it... but couldn't remember where or how... so I searched my computer and found these two cards:

2019 Topps Archives Signature Series Active Player Edition (2018 Topps #612)

2019 Topps Archives Signature Series Active Player Edition (2018 Topps Opening Day #189)

I purchased these two autographs right before the pandemic as part of a huge lot of Archives Signature Series cards and remembered planning a post to showcase this gif:

It's pretty cool what Topps can do with some photo editing software.  The past year and a half have been a little insane which is why these scans were buried in a folder, but thanks to Souza's heroics in last night's game... I can finally clear out these scans.

And if Souza doesn't present enough star power for ya... here are two more scans representing the two best teams in the National League that I remove from my scan folder:

2001 Fleer Greats of the Game Feel the Game Classics #NNO

2004 SP Legendary Cuts Legendary Swatches #LSW-RC

Congratulations Giants and Dodgers fans.  Both of your teams are as hot as the temperatures here in San Jose.  As for the Padres... they've cooled off a lot the past few weeks and according to the internet... it's about 16 degrees cooler down there.  What the heck?  I thought it was always warmer in Southern California.

What's the weather like in your neck of the woods?

Okay... time to take a cold shower.  Happy Saturday and sayonara!