A Pair of Surprises

Another card show recap... and another surprise purchase.  Back in June, I picked up a Muhammad Ali pack pulled, on-card autograph for my collection.  Three weekends ago, I found another "biggie" for my PC.

Neither are considered super rare, but neither pop up at card shows on a regular basis either.  But before I get to the big find of the day, let's check out another surprise...

Purchase #1:  Dollar Box  $10

2024 Bowman Draft #BD-56

I was pretty stoked to find this Nick Kurtz in a dollar box.  If you're not familiar with this kid, he had one of the greatest games in MLB history on July 25th.  The twenty-two year old rookie went 6 for 6 with four home runs, six runs scored, and eight runs batted in against the Houston Astros the night before and was definitely the "talk of the show".

As expected dealers were pulling his 1st Bowmans from their cheap boxes and marking them up.  This guy had this lone copy sitting in his dollar box.

Here are the other cards I picked up from this vendor:

1971 Fleer Harlem Globetrotters #72

2024 Topps A&G Mini Rookie Design Variation #RD-6

1976 Topps #204

Not sure I'd normally buy this O.J. Simpson card, but I couldn't pass it up after flipping it over:

This card features 25% of card #205... which is the NFL Interception Leaders.

Rounding out the dollar box was this six pack of football and baseball:

Now for the big surprise...

Purchase #2:  Vintage Billy Ball Oddball  $125

1949 Remar Bread #NNO

I got to experience first hand Billy Ball back in the early 80's at the Oakland Coliseum.  That's why I will always have a deep appreciation for his cards.  The past few years... I have been tracking this particular card for my Oakland Oaks collection.  This was the first time I came across a copy at a card show.

I've bid on multiple copies, but always fall short.  It's a good thing I did, because I was able to pick up this gorgeous copy for a slightly higher price.  After purchasing the Ali, I had zero plans of dropping triple digits on a single card at this show.  But I just couldn't pass up this opportunity. 

Purchase #3:  A Kirby Puckett Rookie Card  $18

1985 Topps Rack Pack

The dealer who sold me the Billy Martin also had a few sealed rack packs from the 80's.  Each of them had a key rookie card featured on the back:

I passed on the 84T Darryl Strawberry and 85T Dwight Gooden, but grabbed the Puckett.  It pairs nicely with this cello pack I purchased back in 2011:

1985 Topps Cello Pack

Well that wraps up the final card show of the summer.  I know that there are two more coming up in September, but I don't have any plans on attending them.  On the other hand... maybe I'll need a distraction from the school year.

If I end up going, you guys will be the first to know.

Until then...

Happy Wednesday and sayonara!