Colossal card show recap: Part 1

As mentioned at the beginning of my previous post, this past Saturday I attended the largest card show to ever grace the state of Tennessee, and I must say, it was pretty freakin' awesome!

The normal twice a month shows are held at a school that has two gymnasiums, one small and one large, the former is used for those regular shows. However, shortly after I moved here, they started doing a larger show twice year a year that is held in the larger gym, which I believe can hold around 120 tables. Since the bigger shows seem to always sell out so quickly, bringing buyers and dealers from some surprisingly distant locales, it seemed to me like it was only a matter of time before they upped the ante and opened up both gyms for a show... well, for this last one, they did just that.

With 90 dealers and 180 tables, there was certainly no shortage of things to look at/purchase. In fact, for this humble buyer, there was too much to look through -- not that I'm complaining, as more is always better than less, when it comes to card show offerings.

One of my favorite things to do at the shows (especially the bigger ones) is walk around the parking lot(s), and look at all the license plates to see where everyone is coming from. Even though I lost count, there were at least a dozen states represented this past weekend, which was the most I have seen so far. It's amazing how many of those people were driving 10+ hours, one way, just to be there. It really makes my complaining about an almost 4 hour total drive time, to get there and back, seem kind of lame.

And as per usual, even though I had planned on doing so, I didn't remember to take any pictures until I was about halfway home. So all I can say is, I'll have to try again next time.

Overall, I think I did pretty well, purchase wise, so I'm going to be showing a large percentage of it over the next three posts. The only items being left out are the things that didn't scan/photograph well, and of course, the stuff destined for other people.

Also, everything is being shown in the order it was gotten, mostly just because I'm so proud of myself for being able to remember the order in which everything was purchased.

Seller #1


The first table I visited was that of the guy who's dime boxes are usually full of all the old-timers sets (Fleer greats, SP Cuts, etc.) that I'm working on. The selection wasn't as great as it usually is, and there seemed to be a lot of dinged up cards (I don't care if there only 10 cents, I still don't want cards from the mid-2000's with wonked up corners), but I was still able to find a few needs -- including a pair of Indians from 2004's Upper Deck Sweet Spot Classic, which is a set I don't come across very often.

Another set I don't see too much of is the 2006 edition of SP Cuts, so even finding just three, seemed like a win. Having not seen these needed cards before, I thought it was kind of interesting that the image SP used of Wally Post, minus the color, came from his 1957 Topps card. I'm kind of surprised that Topps wouldn't have come after them for that.


It just wouldn't be a show, without getting a few needed 2001 Fleer greats.


The few '01 and '02 Archives Reserve that I have been able to get, have all come from this dealer, but I was still surprised to see all these from the 2002 edition.

And yeah I know, the pictures kind of suck, but I was at least able to bring out a bit of the rainbow.

Sorry for the sideways Boog!

Even though most of the 2012 Cooperstown in the box were in sad shape, I did find this one needed Ballparks insert featuring the original home of the Red Sox.

This shiny (although you can't tell from the picture) Dave Parker, is from a new to me set, 2005 Topps Pristine Legends. I certainly wouldn't mind finding more of these.

 This is a black signature parallel from the 2003 Bowman Heritage, which is yet another set that I'm completely unfamiliar with. Neat card, ridiculously thick though.

Seller #2:

The next table I hit, had a quarter box, which yielded this 1998 UD3 Die-Cut parallel. I've mentioned it before, but these '98 Die-Cut's might be my favorite baseball parallel of all time. Unfortunately, this one was the only one in the box, however...

... the box did have more Archives Reserve waiting for me.

I couldn't believe my luck, the first two tables I stopped at, both end up having Reserve. It was shaping up to be a really good day.

Since this box had some of the bigger names, I didn't mind paying a quarter apiece for 'em.

At rate I was going, I thought I might end up knocking off most of the set(s), but alas, it wasn't meant to be as these were the last one's I would see that day.

Seller #3:

My one lone buyback of the day came from a dealer who, due to his high prices, I don't normally stop at. As I walking past him though, I noticed a couple of two row shoeboxes that said 80% off, so I figured I might as well see what's in there. Big shock, even with the huge markdown, everything was still a couple of dollars more than it should be. I only ended up going through one row of cards, while doing so, I came across this Russ Meyer, which seemed to be the only card that wasn't priced. After what felt like an eternity, I was finally able to get the guy's attention, and was quoted a price of $2 (which meant he thought it was worth $10!). Normally I wouldn't pay that much for a buyback, but I haven't been getting very many lately, and I didn't have anyone in the #471 spot... so I decided to splurge a little, and overpay for a buyback.

Seller #4:

My only real complaint about the Nashville shows would be in the lack of variety, I know it's a sports card show and all, but I would still like to see some non-sports card stuff. That is the one thing I miss about the Portland Shows, even though they were considerably smaller, you'd have people selling comic books, DVD's, and occasionally action figures. Plus you'd often find vintage non-sport cards as well, which is something else you don't often see here. That being said, one of my favorite dealers, who also happens to be one of only two that actually remembers me, is just about the only guy who ever brings any oddball non-card items for sale. Well, this time around he brought a box of comics, which might be a first for one of the shows here.

Most of the books were of the Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, X-Men variety, which really aren't my cup of tea. I did however find the Detective Comics shown above, at $2 it was overpriced, but I didn't have it, and I was hoping by buying a couple it might encourage him to bring more to future shows. This issue of King Conan was no brainer for me, I mean look at that cover! It's more of a reading copy, but since I really wanted to read it, I didn't mind the $1 price tag.

Seller #5:

This dealer only does dime boxes, and even though his stock doesn't seem to change very often, there's always a few new things added from show to show. I was able to mark a few more 2014-15 Prizm base set needs off the checklist.

I was also able to find a couple of prizms and parallels from the same set.

There were also a couple of 2014-15 Hoops parallels to be had.

I'm not really actively collecting either of these, but I like green things, so I will pick up any cheap green 2015-16 hoops parallels that I come across. The multiple years worth of Panini Threads die cuts are kind of fun, so I was going to pass on this Manu Ginobili from the 2012-13 edition.

And to round things out, a couple of 90's inserts/parallels. I'm pretty sure I already have the Rahim and the Bibby, but I didn't have the Webber 1999-00 Skybox Metal Emerald, I'm working on that parallel set so I consider that to be a pretty cool find.

If all goes well, I hope to have part two up sometime tomorrow, so until then...


Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.