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...
A couple of months back I ran my first contest, and as one would expect, said contest had a winner... Richard, who can be found at the helm of Toronto Blue Jays Collection. He also happens to run, what may be the most unique player/team oriented blog that I have seen, George 'Moon' Gibson. Over the past month or so, I have finally had the time to go back and read all of the 'Moon' posts, and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys seeing old stuff and/or stuff that you don't see very often (two of my favorite kinds of stuff). Seriously, go check it out!
So anyways, during our email exchanges following his win, a trade was proposed. Richard was interested in a two of my three 1994 Collector's Choice gold signatures, which normally I wouldn't have been interested in trading away, but seeing as how Richard is working on a 1994 Choice master set, I was able realize that my whopping three gold's weren't likely going to be materializing into a set anytime soon -- so why not just call it a day, and send them to a better home. I also ended up being able to help Richard finish off his base set, having the eleven cards he needed to do so, which I was very happy to be able to help with.
Normally I wouldn't show the best card first, but since this was the card that Richard initially mentioned as sending for his side of the trade, I figure that this is one time where it makes sense to show such an awesome card first. As of late, I have been trying to put a little more effort in to looking for autos from both the 1997 and 1998 Donruss Signature Series sets, so I would have been way more than content getting this '98 Joe Carter for the cards I ended up sending as my part of the trade. This card is so freakin' cool, I mean just look at that nice big signature, he couldn't have fit that on a sticker. This is (and probably will be for awhile) by far the biggest name that I have gotten from either set so far.
As if that wasn't enough, Richard ended up sending a few more cards in an effort to help with some of my many set(s) needs. If the title of the post didn't clue you in already, see if you can spot the common theme.
This 2002 Topps Archives Reserve sure is a beauty. By sending this, Richard doubled my haves for this set from one... to two!
Not only did I get Joe's base card from 2005's Upper Deck Classics...
... But there were also two serial numbered inserts from the set as well. Until getting these, I had never even thought to look for any of the inserts before, in fact I didn't even know this set had any inserts before receiving these. It's kind of funny to see that Upper Deck used the same base card photo for Post Season performers too, it seems like Upper Deck would have more than two images at their disposal.
I always enjoy finding/getting needed 2001 & 2002 Fleer Greats. In a weird away I almost don't want to complete either of these sets, because I would no longer have a reason to look for them if I did, and the thought of that makes me sad. I wasn't aware that Joe Carter had been included in both of these sets, seeing as how he retired in 1998, I think he had to be the most current "great" on both of the checklists.
I was very excited to see this 2002 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Classics included in the package, as I almost never come across any of them. And on the few occasions when I have stumbled upon them in the wild, they are almost always in terrible condition, Joe here however... was in really great shape. The only bad thing about this set, is that with the all shiny silver, they don't scan or photograph well at all.
2006 SP Legendary Cuts is another set that I hadn't ever thought of looking for inserts from. This #'d Baseball Chronology sure is an awesome looking card, it also photographed really well, which is always a plus.
Richard, thank you again for the cards! I really enjoyed being able to mark these off their respective checklists. And hopefully next time it won't take me nearly two months to show off such a neat package.
Hopefully everyone likes pictures, because this will be another image laden post. The only things I'm not showing are the many cards that I was fortunate enough to find for other people (probably some of you reading this).
Since I covered the who, what, and where in the last installment, I'm just going to jump right in.
Seller #5: I didn't know which post this would belong in since there seems to be some debate whether buybacks should be considered old or new. I only saw two at the show and both were overpriced, in my opinion. But I had to have this one for the set, even at the hefty price tag of $2:
For some reason I just don't think they stamped a lot of '62 checklists, so I just couldn't pass it up.
Seller #6: The most expensive thing from this point on is 33 cents (3/$1 box). This seller is at every show and is set up with mostly dime boxes, although this time he had a few more than normal, along with the aforementioned three for a dollar box.
I don't why I bothered scanning this first group of 1994 Action Packed cards. Even though they are in mint condition, because of the gold borders the scans make them look anything but. On the plus side, I now only need a few more cards to complete this set:
I didn't realize there were two of Chuck Daly until after they were scanned.
How about some 90's refractors:
I think a few of the baseball one's are doubles (I haven't checked yet), but at 10 cents each I'm not about to leave any behind.
Here are some misc. 90's basketball inserts, which contain a few more bad scans:
You can't tell from the image, but the 1999-00 Skybox Metal card of Scottie Pippen is one of the emerald parallels.
Now is where we get to some stuff that has probably been shown a million times on the blogs, but most of it is new to me, so you'll just have to endure (or skip ahead a little):
These are some really great inserts from the 2012 Cooperstown set.
Some more players of yore sets:
Here are a couple of more contemporary cards from the 3/$1 box:
And finally from the same box, a card from a set I had never seen before:
I now have yet another new-ish set to work on.
Seller #7: This is the only guy at these shows who ever has 20/$1 boxes, along with other various priced boxes.
I will start with a trio of 1996 Leaf Preferred Steel, that were had for 25 cents each:
A few more misc. inserts, parallels, minis, refractors, etc. that ranged in price from 10 to 25 cents each:
Now for something I somehow didn't know even existed until a couple of months ago, when one was featured on Billy's Cardboard History:
These are the xplosion parallels from the 1998-99 Molten Metal set. Considering they came out during my heyday of collecting I don't know how I missed them. I don't recall ever buying any packs, but I should have at least seen them at a card shop or in a Beckett article. The Larry Johnson and Toni Kukoc were a 25 cents each, while the rest were 5 cents apiece.
Rounding out this post is a whole mess of 2001 Archives Reserve, that came courtesy of the 20/$1 box. I had seen these online many times, but never in person. I guess since I was able to get almost 1/4 of the 100 card set I might as well add this to my set building list. For those that don't know these are refractors, so that's why they look a little weird in the scans:
That's it for this round of card show acquisitions. At least the next three posts will be very scan heavy with trade recaps, so don't say you weren't warned (if you're the sort who doesn't like lots of pictures).
