First Mall Show of the Year

Card shows used to be so alluring.  Not long ago, I was constantly on the lookout for them in my area.  However the rise in interest for graded and gaming cards has sadly lowered my interest in card shows.  I'm especially turned off by the ones that charge parking and/or admission.

Luckily there is still one local mall show about twenty minutes from my place.  Sure it's flooded with Pokemon cards and slabs, but I did manage to find a few dollar bins two Saturdays ago in between visits with friends.

Most of my purchases revolved around football cards, which isn't very interesting most of you.  So I'll go out of order and show off the lone baseball card purchase first...

Purchase #2:  Dollar Rookie Cards  $3

There was a couple with four shoeboxes filled with top loaded dollar cards.  I spent over twenty minutes standing there going through all of them, while talking to the gentleman about the hobby.

1987 Fleer #269

One of our conversations revolved around how this card was once one of the most expensive in the set.  Anyone remember back in the early 90's when Will Clark was towards the top of Beckett's Hot List?  Remember when this card booked for $35?

2019 Topps Update #US1

The vendor had a handful of cards laid out on top of the shoeboxes to attract customers.  This was one of them.  I'll pick up copies of Vladito's flagship rookie card for a buck all day long.  Unfortunately, this was the only one he in these boxes.

1995 SP #99

It's hard to believe that it took me over three decades to finally add this card to my collection.  I bought a lot of football back in the 90's, but never owned this card.  Sapp was a beast on the gridiron and a first ballot hall of famer.  This is arguably my best find of the day.

The rest of my card show purchases revolve around football cards, but I'll wrap up this post with a vintage baseball card I purchased off of eBay.

Let's continue with my card show haul...

Purchase #1:  Modern Football Rookie Cards  $10

My first purchase of the day was from a guy who had a few rows of cards he had marked at $3 each.  I pulled out five and he charged me $10.  Two of them were for fellow bloggers, but these are for me:

2025 Phoenix #200

2024 Prizm #301

I don't usually go out of my way to purchase rookie cards of quarterbacks who aren't on the Packers or Seahawks, but both of these guys impressed me this season.  Classify this as a FOMO purchase.

I don't usually take the time to go through $3 bins, but this card caught my eye:

2021 Prestige Xtra Points Blue #244 (#'d 003/249)

Micah Parsons is a stud and the Green Bay Packers were right in the thick of things this season until he tore his ACL in December.  Can't wait to see him return next season.

Purchase #3:  Super Bowl Bound QB RC  $3

Two of my friends set up at this show.  Tom specializes in the non-sports stuff, along with higher end sports cards.  While Tony focuses on the cheaper stuff.

I noticed a stack of Drake Maye cards on Tony's table.  This was my favorite:

2024 Topps Chrome #203

Maye had one heck of a season... and on Sunday he'll be facing off against my beloved Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl.  Go Hawks!

Purchase #4:  Bargain Bin  $12

I'm a sucker for bargain bins... and this guy had two boxes filled with dollar cards.  If the card was in a one-touch or top loader, it was two bucks.

Let's start with them:

I figured the magnetics were worth the two dollar price tag alone.  In hindsight I should have grabbed all of his $2 one touch singles at this price.  I also picked up two cards in top loaders:

2024 Leaf Pro Set Pure Green Spectrum #60 (#'d 1/49)

2025 Phoenix Phoenician Penmanship #PHP-MRN

I was pretty excited to add this Joe Namath to my Prime Number PC.  Plus sticker auto or not, I'll always add a Super Bowl MVP autograph to my collection for a couple bucks.

I also pulled out three dollar cards from his boxes.  One is for a fellow blogger, but here are the two for me:

2024 Prizm Silver Prizm #145

2025 Absolute Red Plaid #137

The vendor ended up tossing them into the deal for free.  That was a nice surprise.  I'll definitely look for his table the next time I attend this show.

That wraps up my latest card show haul.  Two hours of entertainment and walking out with a small stack of cardboard made the experience a successful day at the mall (even if there were two baseball cards involved).  There's another show in February, but it falls on the same day as one of my flea markets.  Not sure I'll attend both, but we'll see.

Here's the baseball card I mentioned earlier in the post:

1959 Fleer Ted Williams #67

Greg over at Crocodile Sports Cards show off this Ted Williams card on his blog two weeks ago and I immediately added it to my saved eBay searches.

I was drawn to it, because it features Sam Snead, who was one of those old school golfers that my father talked about when I was a kid.

That leads us to today's question of the day:

Are there athletes that you associate with your parents or other family members?

I'd say Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Joe Montana, Jim Plunkett, and Bart Starr are athletes that remind me of my dad.  As for my mother, Joe Montana reigns supreme.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

The Summer Sort

Have you ever started a project at home that you thought would take two, maybe three days... but it ends up taking three to four times longer than that?

That is what happened when I decided to start sorting two 5,000ct. boxes that have been sitting around in my office.  They contain a variety of sports cards that appear to be a combination of flea market finds and card show hauls with at least one collection purchase involved as well.

The first thing I did was sorted them by sport.  After that each sport were sorted into card types:  base, rookies, inserts, and parallels.  There's not enough space on my office desk to conduct this kind of sort, so it had to be accomplished on the floor (which wreaks havoc on my lower back).  Along the way I started adding cards into binder collections... while a handful of the nicer finds have been inserted into top loaders.  The rest are slowly being integrated into other boxes.

Unfortunately...  it's taking way longer than it would for the average collector.

You see... I have issues.  Seriously.  When it comes to card supplies for my personal collection... they need to be new.  It's part of my struggle with OCD.  In the past week or so... I have swapped out over 2,000 penny sleeves.

I honestly don't wish this obsession on anyone.  Most of the time, I accept it as the norm (my norm).  But this is one of those occasions where it has cost me hours, a very sore back, and an excessive amount of penny sleeves.

Don't worry... 99% of the penny sleeves will be reused.  Some will be used in care packages.  Others will be used for cards given away to students.  The rest will go to my buddy who sets up at card shows.  There is a small percentage that need to be tossed due to crumbling issues or they are just plain nasty. 

Ultimately... the goal is to have this project finished by next Tuesday so I can get back to opening up care packages.  At this rate, I don't think I'll even touch my Sportlots and COMC packages until after the start of the new school year.

I'm actually okay with that.  There's a part of my psyche that gets pleasure in knowing that I have cards waiting for me to sort.  I told you I have issues.

Well that's an update on my life.  Now let's show off some cards...

Let's start with some from those two 5,000ct. boxes:

1987 Fleer #369

This card brought back to the early 90's when I worked at my local card shop.  Bo and 1987 Fleer were both super hot in the hobby.  Good times.

Next up is a card that was released when I was on a break from card collecting:

2005-06 Topps Chrome #219

Here's some cardboard eye-candy.  She's not my type... but attractive is attractive.  And rounding out the summer sort singles are three new additions to my Prime #'s collection:

1999-00 Stadium Club One of a Kind #83 (#'d 001/150)

2009 Playoff Absolute Spectrum Blue #192 (#'d 75/75)

2001-02 Fleer Focus Jersey Ed. Numbers #121 (#'d 22/30)

Finally... here's a card that I was saving specifically for today:

1997 BBM Sparkling Fighters #SF27

Today is World Middle Finger Day.  Seriously.  People celebrate just about anything these days.  Anyways... I picked up this card from the card show dealer with all of those Japanese trading cards I met last year.

It has found a home in my Sports Card Smorgasbord binder next to these two guys:

1994 Stadium Club Golden Rainbow #285

1972 Topps #33

If anyone knows of any other "middle finger" cards, please let me know in the comment section below.

Well that wraps up another post.  I'm off to my office to continue the summer sort.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

A Pair of Firsts

In celebration of today being the first day of spring... here are a pair of cardboard firsts.

Let's start with this on-card autograph of Masanori Murakami:

2023 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Auto #08FF-MM

Back on September 1st, 1964... Murakami became the first Japanese baseball player to play in the MLB.  In his first eight appearances as a relief pitcher, he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out thirteen, walking one, and only giving up four hits in 11 innings pitched.  That's a pretty impressive start to his MLB career.

According to this article on History.com, Murakami went home during the offseason to have his tonsils removed and signed a $40k contract with the Nankai Hawks for the 1965 season.  This created legal problems between them and the San Francisco Giants.

He would return to the play for the Giants in 1965, but went back to Japan after the season was over.  Although his MLB tenure was relatively short, his legacy is forever cemented in baseball history.

The other cardboard first is this framed parallel of Kevin Dyson and The Music City Miracle:

2008 UD Masterpieces Silver Framed #54 (#'d 01/87)

UD Masterpieces is one of my favorite products from the aughts... and a big reason are the framed parallels.

The silver framed parallels are serial numbered to the player's jersey number.  Since Dyson wore #87... this card is numbered out of 87.  It's hard to see, but on the back this card is #'d 01/87.  That means it's the first card in the run, so it's headed into my Prime Number PC.  I know that the number one is neither prime nor a composite.  I just use the word "prime" to represent the word "key".

I also collect cards with serial numbers that depict player's jersey numbers as well as the final card in the serial number run like these two:

2008 UD Masterpieces Blue Framed #49 (#'d 150/150)

2008 UD Masterpieces Red Framed #19 (#'d 199/199)

All three of these framed parallels were pulled from a 16 box case I purchased from Dave & Adams back in 2011 for $625.  I discovered them a few weeks ago when I was reorganizing my office closet.  They were sitting in a box with a bunch of other singles from that case break.

As for the Murakami... I picked that up off of eBay back in January for $32 (free shipping + $3 tax).  It's a card that I've been looking to add to my collection since I discovered it was on the checklist.

By the way... I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Murakami during his book signing tour back in 2015.  If you're interested in seeing photos and signatures I purchased that day, click here.

Well that's all I have for now.  Happy first day of spring and sayonara!

A Pretty Elite Club

Thirty-three players have collected 3,000 or more hits in their career.  Twenty-eight guys have hit 500 or more home runs.  Only seven have done both.

Two of them are featured on one of my favorite autographed cards:

2005 Sweet Spot Signatures Dual Red Stitch #PC (#'d 25/25)

When Cabrera joined this elite club last week, I was shocked that Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds weren't on the list.  Ruth fell 127 hits short.  Bonds needed only 65.  When two of the greatest hitters of all-time aren't a part of this club, it makes it a little cooler.

Here are the other five members of the 3,000/500 Club:

2015 Topps Museum Collection Premium Prints #PP-HA (#'d 25/25)

1995 Upper Deck Autographs #AC2

1978 Topps #36

1997 Donruss Signature Series Autograph #NNO

2001 Upper Deck Signed Game Jersey #H-AR

As for who will become the eighth member of this club, I'm not sure.  Mike Trout could potentially do it, but he'll need over 1,500 hits and 186 home runs (as of Monday morning).  It's possible, but he'll be turning 31 in August.  I looked at a few other guys like Bryce Harper and Freddie Freeman, but they're even more of a stretch.  And I didn't even consider anyone under the age of 30.  I'll consider them in a few years when they enter the 1,500/250 Club.

2013 Topps Five Star Autographs #FSBA-MMA

Manny Machado (1,445/254) is the only guy under 30 with over 250 home runs and his 30th birthday is in early July.  And there isn't anyone in their 20's with over 1,500 hits.  The closest?  Machado.  I guess he has a shot too, but I'm not sure I'd put money on it.

What about you?

Any predictions on who will become the 8th member of the 1,500 Hits/500 Home Run Club?

Let's put them down in the comment section below and check back in a decade.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!