Sunday, February 12, 2012

The first ever "Dime Boxes" card show post, Pt. 2: Who loves vintage?


Here's part two of my latest card show excursion. Enjoy!

My last post contained all the more modern finds at yesterday's show. The more recent cards are great, but I absolutely love the array of vintage cards I came away with.

The four 1975 Topps Minis you see above cost just $1.50 together. They're in pretty good shape, too. (Not that I care either way.)

The Gamble mini was one of the greatest finds of the day. I got that one and the Valentine from the "flea market guy" for just a quarter a piece.

I was looking though one of the dime boxes when I noticed a small stack of '75 minis at the table next to the one I was at. At first, I thought, "I'll just look through them after I'm done with this box." But I decided to take a break from the "dime box dig" and look through those minis. The Thornton was on the top of the pile (one of my favorite cards from the '75 set) and I found the McCarver about halfway through.

They cost just 50 cents each.

It's a good thing I decided to look through them at that moment, because literally a minute later, a guy came up and bought all the '75 minis the vendor had.

I'm glad that I was able to snatch those two minis out of the pile before the other guy got to them. I would've been kicking myself for not looking at the minis earlier, and that would've put a damper on the whole day.

Those two minis have only been in my possession for a day, and they already have a great story attached to them.




I love Hostess cards.

My dad always tells me how he used to go through all the Twinkies boxes when he was at the grocery store as a kid, looking for cards he needed.

These set me back just 75 cents a piece.




More from the "flea market guy".

These were also priced at just a quarter a piece. I can't believe I didn't already have the Tiant.

I like the 1977 Topps set, but that shot of Griffey isn't one of the better ones. I can barely see his face with all the shadows!




Two more from the "flea market guy", also at just a quarter a piece.

I'm not a huge fan of McCarver's broadcasting, but I don't seem to hate it near as much as a lot of people do. His cards are still great, though. I even found a beat-up copy of his '62 Topps rookie in a 3/$1 box at a card show once.

Jim Kaat has also found a career after baseball as an announcer. He and Bob Costas often broadcast games on the MLB Network. (Mostly Red Sox-Yankees games, though.)




One of the vendors had a box of half-price vintage cards.

Usually, the price listed is the book value at those types of tables. The half-off makes it seem like you're getting a "deal".

The guy had a bunch of 1969 Topps "Deckle Edge" cards. A very underrated set, in my opinion.

The Denny McLain was one of the better buys of the day.




You can't go wrong with cards of Rusty Staub or Curt Flood.

The three Deckle Edge cards cost just four bucks together.




I found quite a few 1970 Topps cards at yesterday's show.

The Kessinger is yet another purchase from the "flea market guy", priced at fifty cents.

I've wanted that Norm Cash card for a while ever since I saw it in one of my old "Hall of Shame" books. Notice that Cash's fly is open.

I'd never even seen the card in-person before, mainly because it's a high number. It set me back three bucks.




A couple more high numbers from the 1970 Topps set.

I've wanted that Rusty Staub card for a while. I like any card of "Le Grand Orange", especially ones that feature him in an Expos uniform. Cost? Four bucks.

The Nettles set me back $2.50.

And yes, I still collect Graig Nettles even after what he did to Bill Lee.

And now, I present to you the "find" of the day...




A 1959 Topps Bill Mazeroski!

This one set me back a whole six bucks, but I figured what the heck. It was definitely worth it.

It's just an awesome card, picturing the man behind one of the greatest moments in baseball history. (He's a Hall of Famer, too.)

Well, that does it for my first-ever card show post on this blog. I have to say that these couple posts were among my favorites I've written thus far.

Yesterday's show made me even more excited about the card show my dad and I will be attending next month.

I think it goes without saying that card shows are one of the greatest things in the hobby.

Probably the greatest.

10 comments:

Kevin McCann said...

Thanks for the great posts! I've not been to a card show since the "glory days" of the late 80s. After reading them, I discovered there's one close to me at the end of the month. Thanks for the inspiration!

William Regenthal said...

I love the Deckle Edge cards and the Mazeroski. I also like your 1970 Topps cards. I need to get off my butt and finish that set so I can move on to another set...

night owl said...

'75 minis, huh? I'm still waiting to find '75 minis at the card shows I go to -- nothing yet, and it's been about 7 years.

Hackenbush said...

Is Rusty's cap on the 70 card overly slouchy or is is the angle?

Nick said...

Kevin-- Glad I inspired you! I'd definitely encourage at least trying out the card shows around you when you get the chance. If it's not great, you're not out much. And If there's some good stuff, then you might be a regular attendee.

William-- I couldn't imagine trying to complete one of those early 1970's sets with all the high numbers and such.

Night Owl-- I guess I've been kind of lucky with those, I didn't even know about them until I started regularly going to the flea market last year. The "flea market guy" I kept bringing up in this post had a nice stack of them for a quarter a piece for a while. If he brings them back this year, I'll definitely pick some out for you.

Hackenbush-- Now that you mentioned it, Staub's cap does look off-kilter.

Mike said...

Nice stuff!....can't wait to hear about what else you got!

......and since you're in college now and used to getting your papers corrected.....its "damper",not "hamper"....unless you found some cards amongst someones laundry!...hahaha!

The Baseball Card Snob said...

Another Nettles collector, woo-hoo. I have a future post coming up of something Nettles that you will find interesting.

thebaseballcardsnob

Kev said...

great post, Nick... i think you may have inspired to find a local card show... hmmm, there's one on saturday near me!

Nick said...

Glad I inspired a few of my readers to find their local card shows. :)

There are still quite a few card shows out there, at least from my experience. (I can't say the same thing about card shops, though.) Most of the shows I've been to seem to be well-attended, maybe it's a good sign.

I'd also recommend this link to look for card shows in your state. (It's one of the few useful tools Beckett has!)

http://www.beckett.com/showcal/showcalsearch.aspx

majpasqua said...

Hey Nick, I've been reading your blog for a few weeks now, great stuff. I love the passion you bring to card collecting. You have given me some great inspiration about how to look "outside the box" with collecting goals. Keep up the awesome work!