card show report

I went to the card show today with the intention of finding some 71's I needed for my set. I noticed the guy I had wanted to hit up wasn't there today. Such the disappointment.

But.



I did not walk out empty handed. The opposite in fact. Remember the dime box finds I had from the last time this show took place? The massive amount of retired players and rookies and such I picked up?

Well, that dealer is a mainstay at this show and I hit his boxes again. I had a slightly different agenda today once I started pulling out what I was.


Rookies.


Rookies galore I picked up from him and it was about a third of what I grabbed from him. I got approximately 180 cards from him total. I picked up some more retired guys from the same sets as last time, a couple players I collect and some great vintage (from his vintage quarter box). The vintage was filler for my Topps binder. I had a few holes in the 50's and 60's stuff I needed to fill and I almost finished the binder.


The best part though and the biggest steals, were the rookies. Here is a small sampling:

Yes, FIVE Kershaw rookies. That Jay Bruce? I found three. Two Longorias, two Gonzalez (plus a different one) and a couple more I didn't scan. Two Piazzas, two Mauers, a Morneau, Russ Martin, David Price, David Wright, Andrew McCutchen, the list goes on. Great stuff for a dime each and impossible to pass up.




On a final note, I plan on emailing the three of you who entered into the break. I am going to go on with it but with no one else wanting to enter, it'll be you three. Expect an email soon, with details on how I plan to go about it.

break update

Only two slots left in the break, grab 'em fast!

Thanks to those that have already claimed a spot and once we fill the last two we will make it a go!

Again the draft will consist of 12 rounds, all of which are autos or relics. Some great stuff in there so be sure to sign up quick if you are interested. See yesterday's post for all the full details!

draft break details

I've gone through my cards today and yesterday and came up with my Draft details.

I'll work it just like I did the past few times.

I'll post a scan of the cards available and the participants choose which card they like, in the order for that particular round.


I've pulled the cards and divided them up into said rounds.

Here are the details:

12 rounds;

2 manu-relic rounds,
3 autograph rounds,
7 relic rounds:
vv vv
consisting of:

4 single relic rounds
1 numbered relic round
1 multi-relic/oddball round (not oddball per say, just stuff that doesn't fit elsewhere
1 serial numbered, multi-relic/auto round


Cost will be $40 for FIVE entrants. Yes, entry will be extremely limited but it will be worth the cost I can assure you. In that cost will be shipping plus what ever else I add as a bonus (I'm thinking vintage cards, good rookies, etc.).

By leaving it at five entrants, it is keeping the concentration high per entrant of getting great things. Plus five is a ton more manageable right now.

Here is a spoiler of what's involved:

Interested?

Leave a comment below saying you're in. Again, I can only accept the first five to sign up. I have absolutely ZERO wiggle room to get another person in here, unlike previous breaks. Once you're in and good to go, send the payment to my email address (krustytheclown138ATyahooDOTcom) via Paypal, using the 'gift' option. Once I have all five participants, I'll make an announcement and start the show.

I'm looking forward to another enjoyable break!


1. daddyohoho (paid)
2. brad's blog (paid)
3. dhill (paid)
4.
5.

file this under the "why do i even bother?" category

I haven't picked up much in the way of cards, as I've continually stated in the past few weeks.

The local shop owner asked if I could work this week and I told him I could but he didn't get back to me, so I decided to hop on down there. Not only to give him my answer in person but to see what else was up. See what he picked up during the week and a half or so I hadn't been down there.

The shelves were fully stocked with stuff I didn't really want to buy. If you've been reading this blog long enough I have a real weakness to opening packs and boxes. I have a real problem. I often buy stuff I don't need just to rip packs. Well yesterday was no different.


I stupidly decided to try a box of 2012 Museum Collection. I knew I shouldn't have done it but I did anyway. See, a real problem. My curiosity and hope always get the best of me, then I spend money I really shouldn't.

Anyway I guess the cards look nice although they look like an Upper Deck product:

Ok base cards I guess.

The parallels and the two base that I'm keeping (Crawford is going to the LCS):

Again, ok stuff, nothing great.


Now the real disappointment of the box, the hits:

Boy, what an average bunch of cards. I was so underwhelmed with this box after opening it up, that the two people there could tell I wasn't happy with the results. Sure its always a gamble and the payout is rarely there but you got to hope for something though right? I knew I shouldn't have done it, I'm just so stupid like that sometimes.

Overall an ok set but I'm not buying any more, even for guys I do collect. That and I'm not doing high end pretty much ever again. I can't keep up with this stuff any more, I just don't have the desire at all. Looks like its vintage and low end for me from here on out.

So maybe it's not a total loss. If I can resolve to sticking to the above statement I'm sure I'll be better for it.

I would say these cards are for trade but there is absolutely nothing I am looking for.

I do plan on doing a Draft soon though and these will more than likely be in there. I've built up a nice cache of autos and relics so it should be good. I have no details yet but would anyone be interested in another Draft over here? I always try to make them as fun and affordable as possible, so let me know if you'd like to be in.

the condition threshold

I mentioned the other day that I would post about my 'condition threshold, based off a post that Nick did over at Dime Boxes.

Nick talks about condition being a big factor in the collecting world today and he's right. With so many "collectors" going nuts over graded cards both old and new, I feel that the cards themselves get lost in the shuffle.

Sure we all like mint cards but when it comes to superstars from the 60's and before, we all can't afford to get mint copies and beat ones do perfectly. Besides, what story does a mint card have to tell? Not a very interesting one if you ask me.


So inspired by his post, here are some of my beaters. I'm glad to own every one of them and wouldn't have them any other way. Well, if I found some nice ones cheap then maybe but that's unlikely.

Some of my newest additions and a few I've had for a little while:

This 1968 Kaline is actually in decent shape, if it weren't for the crease going across the entire card, amusingly enough right where a mustache would be if he had one.

This 1958 Stan Musial All-Star has seen better days even without the paint(?) in his bottom left corner. It's ok though, I won him cheap at $2.84.

This 1964 Roger Maris was the most beat card in my collection for a long time and until the rest of these cards in this post came into my hands within the past month, that held true. It was intentional though, I saw the Maris on eBay for maybe $5. I knew its round cornered, miscut personality had to make its way into my collection.

Whitey's 1963 books pretty high I think but I got this one for about $10 at the local shop. Can't beat that.

This 1964 Ernie Banks was obtained the same day as the Ford and the Kaline above, all from the local shop. How do you make an Ernie Banks card even better? Try stapling it to things about 500 times and you've got a card as cool as this one.

Hank. I'll take an Aaron in ANY condition and this 1962 is definitely no exception. This card is awesome. Creases, soft corners, paper loss, its got it all.


So what could be worse off than that Hank? Well how about the card below?

Wow is this card ready to fall apart. I got this 1958 Mickey Mantle All-Star from the same seller on eBay that sold me the Musial above. I got this card for $8.50. Its shredded and looks like it was in battle at one point. Seriously.


So that's about it. All I can say is that condition for older cards are not a concern for me in the least. I mean, clearly right? Look at that Mantle that would make many a collector cry in their Frosted Mini Wheats. Let them have their "mint", overpriced cards. We'll take the beaters, thanks.

card show saturday

Yes, I'm late posting my show results but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things here on the old blog here.

I've been focused on vintage as of late and especially my 1971 set. If you've taken a look at my progress on the right, you'll notice that I finished up series 1 and 2 and pretty much series 3 as well. I've also gotten enough of the final series (series 6) to actually post which ones I do need as opposed to which I have.

At the show I picked up nothing but 71's.


Well, with the exception of a lone older card, which you'll see shortly. Uhh, unless you cheat and acroll down to see it but don't do that, read on!


Like I said, I hit the 1971 list hard, being able to check off 46 more cards from the want list.

Here are a couple of the better players:

Well, two players and a manager, who was one of the best players ever. Works for me.

I was able to add about 8 high numbers to my set. The majority of the cards I grabbed Saturday were to finish or dent the first three series and tackling a bit of the fourth. When I spotted a high number for say, a buck, I grabbed it.

I think it worked out to a good day. This was the show at Meriden high school, where the dime boxes aren't really present. The other show (in two weeks at the Plainville VFW) is the better dime box show.



So the last card I picked up was pretty much on a whim. The guy had a bunch of cards and had them half of what he had them marked at. I felt for the price this card seemed worth it:

He had $30 on it, meaning I paid $15. I'll take it. Not every day you can get a Hall of Famer from 1952 Topps for such a low price. Sure its creased but as always, who cares?


This card, along with Nick's post, has inspired my own 'condition threshold' post, which I'll do in the next few days. I picked up a card that would make many collectors cry in their cereal. Stay tuned.

disappearing act

I've definitely been in the dumps as of late.

I have little desire to pick up any packs, singles or otherwise. I'm really drained on new releases this year already and I don't see it going away any time soon. Museum Collection dropped this week and I don't really care. I took one look at some stuff on eBay just to sneak a peek as to what they look like. I wasn't unimpressed, just not provoked to buy any. I feel ho-hum about Gypsy Queen too. I just don't have it anymore.

I do, however, want to grab more vintage and get going on my 1971 set. It is coming along nicely, although I've only gotten a few cards as of late and that was in a trade from Matt over at Card Anathema. He was a tremendous help, sending me some high numbers and the Bert Blyleven rookie. In return I sent him a couple cards he needed for his set that he found on my trade page and a Nolan Ryan from the same set that I got online just for him, as he said he needed it. I knew I needed something good to get over to him due to the sheer number of high numbers he sent. Thanks Matt, its a huge help.


Now onto more serious business.

I haven't posted much in the past two weeks, as you guys are well aware.

Well there was an incident at the house and we're both having to come to terms with what happened. Well, sometime in the day on Friday, the 23rd of March, our house was robbed. No sign of forced entry and neither of us were home, so it happened while we were at work, or in the few hours we went to go do our taxes in the evening (we got money back this year, woo-hoo!).

It's really unnerving to know that someone was in our house poking around at our things and helping themselves to what they like. No mess, nothing broken. In fact we didn't notice anything was missing until Saturday.

We did a little cleaning up on Saturday morning because my wife was going to have a friend over later on in the afternoon. I wanted to give them some time together, as they don't see each other often and I remembered I had a Best Buy gift card that I could use. Well, I couldn't find it and had figured it got lost in the shuffle of cleaning. It'll turn up, I thought.

Later on that evening, she noticed her computer was missing. That's when we figured something was amiss. The computer never moves, even though it's a laptop. We phoned the police and filed a report. We figured the gift card and computer were all that was missing. We were wrong.

Sunday was kind of a downer day and we spent it around the house. My wife had told her boss what had happened later that night and her boss said to just take Monday off. That's when she noticed more things missing. Monday she called me in a panic while I was at work and gave me a list of things now missing.

A Tiffany braclet, a peridot ring (her birthstone), my Nintendo 3DS (with Super Mario 3D Land inside) and most importantly, her wedding rings. Both the engagement ring and wedding band, both gone. She doesn't wear them usually due to her working with small children at work and wears a mother of pearl band as a representation. It works out well.

She called the officer we had talked to on Saturday to update him on our newly discovered missing items. I did figure out how they had gotten in the house though and that alone gave me a little piece of mind. I was no less pissed off about the incident but I was a complete wreck not knowing how they got in. Knowing gave me some relief and gave me hope that I could prevent it from happening again. I don't really want to get into how they got in but let me just say that I could have easily replicated it myself, meaning it was pretty easy for them.

So that brings us to the now. Not much from the police. They are checking local pawn shops and will get back to us if they find anything but I doubt they will.

It's put me into a funk of sorts and its snowballed into my 'meh' attitude towards buying stuff, namely new cards. So if my posting is infrequent and erratic this is why. I really want to be here though and that's why I've shared this experience with you guys. A bunch of you showed a lot of thought for and towards us when I posted originally that something had happened and I can't thank you guys enough for the support. It's been surreal but we'll get through it.

I'm just down, not out.

milestone post

I've noticed I have hit over 50,000 pageviews.

Crazy!


A huge thanks to all my followers and readers and in nearly two years I hit the 50K mark for views!




I know I've been silent for the past two weeks but I'll be back with a post on Thursday explaining what's been going on over here. Just to sedate anyone worrying about Mrs. Crinkly and I, we are both fine and no one got hurt or anything like that, regarding my last post about an incident. Like I said, I'll explain it all on Thursday.

Until then, have a good week.

still here

No, I've not vanished into the night like the Batman.

There was an incident at our house that took place late last week and we're still kind of reeling from it. I'm still reading, making trades. Haven't bought too much of significance. Some 2012 stickers and a discounted 2011 Heritage blaster I found at Wal-Mart is about it.

I keep reading mumblings about a CBS special about baseball cards. If the hobby is dying, why bother doing a report on it? More sounds like they're trying to stir up some buzz for the hobby as opposed to killing it off. Who knows.

I'll be back around once this blows over, which hopefully won't be too long and once I've got some stuff to talk about again.

See ya in the funny pages!

over the rainbow

I know it's just Spring Training but somehow the Blue Jays are 16-4, with the second best winning percentage (.800) in the entire league (AL and NL). Only the Tigers have a better win percentage at .813.

Kyle Drabek went an OK 4-5 last season with a 6.06 ERA. Not great but he is still very green.

So far in Spring Training he has gone 1-0. Not much time there I suppose but here is hope he does better and gets some more starts and experience under his belt.


Since Topps Chrome came out back in early September, I've been picking up these:

...and these:

I'm in no way a prospector but when you can get autos as cheap as a buck for a hopeful starting pitcher on your favorite team, you can't really not pick them up.

I traded for some of these and picked the others up on eBay. Some of the regular autos (the top picture) I did get for really cheap and even got one of the refractors for the same 99 cents.

These are all the variations of the card, save for the superfractor 1/1 and any of the plates. I've already come to terms about never seeing them and if they do pop up, I probably wouldn't be able to afford them. Normally also I don't usually chase rainbows either but I got the gold in a trade from The Dimwit, Sam and found a good priced lot that included 5 of these cards. The one I paid the most for was the red, numbered to 25. It still wasn't all that expensive though.

So here's hoping to a good Jays season and a good season for Kyle!

the graded reveal

Remember this:

I mentioned I picked up a graded vintage card and wanted you guys to guess who it was. Well, the time has come to reveal who it is and who wins the contest!

Now, normally I'm not into graded cards and this card is no exception. BUT, the price was definitely right and it's a card of a player we all have but probably not a vintage card of. My first card of his playing days and most collectors seem to agree that everyone should have an original.


Well, I do now:

My first vintage Mantle. It's beat and graded a 1 but who cares? It's Mickey!

1966 wasn't the best year for the Yankees and the Mick. They finished last in the American League (70-89), the first time since 1912. Mickey did have a personal accomplishment that season though. He passed Lou Gehrig on the all-time list for home runs in July. He would only be two seasons away from retirement when the '66 season drew to a close.

Now, pulling Mantles from packs these days has been terribly diluted by Topps over the past 6 years but there's definitely something special about an original. It, like many other vintage cards, has a certain charm that newer cards have seemed to have lost. I still haven't cracked it from the case but may in the near future.


So who got it right? Jason C. and Steve D. both guessed correctly. Jason wins the manu-prize and Steve, I'll have something for you as well. Both of you guys shoot me an email and I'll pick out some stuff for you to pick from. Thanks to everyone who guessed!

the final piece of the puzzle

It's finished.

The final card needed for my 1973 Topps set has arrived today. John Callison was the last to show up to the party out of the final five cards I purchased.

Allow me to explain.


I needed three cards to finish off the set, 535, 554 and 586. Those were the cards missing. I picked up an other 578 due to it having tape on the back and was the only card that was in dire need of replacement.

The fifth card comes from a big error on my part. I kept seeing the Harmon Killebrew card (card 170) in places. The local shop. The past few shows. Online. The weird part was I didn't recognize it. I checked my binder and what did I see in the slot where card 170 goes? How about a double of card 168, Jim Northrup? Jim was in his proper position as well, meaning I messed up and put two of the same card on the same page. No idea how it happened but now I needed the Killebrew and I found him cheap online as well.

So there it is. The final five have arrived and the set is complete. How did I do though?

Well, let's do a little math. Or at least stats, I've already done the math.

I kept track of everything regarding 1973 purchases. How many cards, how many I needed, how much, where I got them and even cost per card. Nothing got bought without it being logged onto my chart here. Its handwritten so I don't have it on here but here are the final totals:


Total cards purchased: 1071 (in the beginning I picked up lots just to get the set started off)

Total cost of all cards/lots purchased: $336.81

Cards needed out of total purchased: 686 (684 in the set total, including the blue checklists)

Cost per card (average): $0.49



Not too shabby but I recently sold a lot of 152 cards for $45.00. Subtracting that brings my totals to this:



Total cards purchased: 919

Total cost of all cards/lots purchased: $291.81

Cost per card (average): $0.42



I started about 2 weeks before Christmas, so thats close to three months. Completing the project for under $300 is really good, I feel. The average price for a set sold on eBay is about $400, maybe $350. All things considered I think I beat this one out, plus it was a bunch of fun to collect and piece together myself. I am doing the same thing with the 1971 set too, so we'll see how well I do on that one.

Feels good to finish off a set almost 40 years old. Let's hope 1971 goes just as smoothly.


(Don't forget to cast your pick from yesterday's post!)

trade and a contest

A few days ago a package from Nick over at the 'Dime Boxes' blog came in the mail. This was our second trade. He had claimed the box of minis that I posted about a little while back.


Here is a small sample of what he sent over:

The main thing I was looking for was 2012 parallels and Heritage cards for my sample collection. I have the binder with the single page of every year of Topps from 1952 to now. Well, I also wanted to do one for Heritage. I let him know which years I needed a few cards from and he sent a couple over. He also included some great cards of retired guys I collect, or don't collect, which is also fine by me! I am loving that Mays card and Dizzy Deans are always welcome. I'm finding a lot of that 2002 Sweet Spot set as of late. The Sisler is pictured here but I also got a few more from Nick plus I found some in the dime box from last show (not yesterday). The Seaver is from the Topps Archives Reserve, a 100 card refractor set. I can't believe I found two of those yesterday in those dime boxes. Great stuff, thanks Nick!




I also picked up a card off eBay, as you can see its been graded by PSA:

I won't reveal it just yet, as I want you to guess who it is.


It's a contest of sorts.

Guess the player and win a prize. I have a couple manu-relics/patches available and if you guess it right, I'll post a couple up and you can pick one. Easy as pie right?

I have one stipulation: simply follow the blog. If you're a follower you're good, if not, follow it!

I will also give three hints to help the guessing. The first reader to guess correctly, will win the manu-prize mentioned above. Don't let that stop you from guessing a similar name as someone above you in the comments because I may be able to send something to those who do guess right (not a manu-prize but something). I'll hold this contest until Tuesday around 3PM eastern time.

Hints:

1) The card is made by Topps.

2) The card is from the 60's (1960-1969)

3) The player is a Hall of Famer


There you have it, start your guessing!

best card show haul ever!

I went to the monthly card show this morning. I had two objectives: hit the dime boxes hard and pick up some 1971's.

I did IMMENSELY well on both. Nick, you'd be proud.


First up the dime box finds:

I spent thirty dollars on dime boxes. THIRTY DOLLARS!! The usual dime box guy who I hit each show had epic cards this month. I walked away with roughly 370 cards. He does a 60 for $5.00 deal. I had to buy a box from another vendor just to carry them all. I usually have a lunch bag and that does me good. Not this time.


The sorted piles:

I hit retired players sets hard. It made up for well over 3/4ths of what I picked up. Fleer Greats of the Game, Fall CLassics, Upper Deck Sweet Spot Classic, SP Legendary Cuts, Century Legends, World Series Heroes, UD Classics, Topps Archives, Super Teams, All-Time Fan Favorites. The list goes on. I managed a few good rookies too, Konerko, Pedro Martinez, Sabathia, Dunn. Some Rookie cups also.


Here is my top ten finds of the dime boxes:

The Mays card is awesome with 'The catch' in the background, Hank comes from 2004 Topps retired and yes, thats a Bob Feller Tribute card. A Tribute card in a dime box. Pat Burrell is made of metal so thats neat. The Ethier rookie was obvious and Roy Face is numbered. The bottom three come from that Upper Deck Century Legends set I mentioned above. I grabbed probably 50 cards or more from this set alone and these three were the absolute best of the bunch. Look at the Cobb! I know I've mentioned it before but you just can't have too many Shoeless Joe cards and if you look closely, you'll notice that Sisler is playing for the Senators. He where he played a single season, so this card is exponentially better than anything I have for him.


That's only nine you say? Well thats because this was the best dime box find:

Yes, I have it already but I'm not passing up a short print legend for ten cents.

The crazy part about this haul is I had to stop myself! There was still another box to go through. I only went through two 3200 count boxes! There was so much awesome stuff that I'm still in awe with what I've found.



As for '71's, I hit three dealers but did the most damage to my wantlist from my vintage guy, Larry. We're on a first name basis now, I see him so often. Well, I ended up with 73 towards my set today (plus I picked up 67 from my local shop, cleaning him out of what I need) putting me at 513/752. I'd say it's coming along really well!


This was the best of what I got today:

The big boy of the set. The highest booking card at $150 (along with Nolan Ryan, thanks carlsonjok, I totally spaced on that), I got it for a fraction of that. Sure it's got the double image thing going on a little but the condition is fantastic.

I gotta say, going for this set is way more satisfying than busting wax right now.


All in all, easily the best show haul I've ever had. So much great stuff that I'll be sorting for quite some time.