You won't find these in dime boxes

Up to this point, I haven't shown many game used or autograph cards on this blog.

I've done that for a reason. I'm a low-end collector these days, and this blog is called "Dime Boxes", after all.

That reminds me of a quick side story before I get into the main part of this post. I may have brought it up before in one of my previous posts, but I did actually find an autograph card in a dime box once. I can't remember who the guy was, but it was one of those more common autos from the mid-'90s Leaf Signature sets. Still, it was quite a shock when I was going through that stack of cards.

It was in one of the dime boxes at my local flea market. I thought for sure there was some mistake here. I brought it to the vendor who put those boxes out and said, "Hey, I found an autograph in here. That's not supposed to be in there, is it?"

The guy let me have it for a dime anyways. (It was the "flea market guy" that I brought up in my card show posts from a couple weeks ago.)

Anyways, adding new memorabilia cards to my collection isn't a top priority for me right now, to say the least. I can't remember the last one I bought at a show.

However, I still cherish the ones that are already in my collection. A few of them are definitely among my all-time favorite baseball cards. My dad got me a couple great game used cards this past Christmas that I love.

As I mentioned in my last post, there was about a year-long period in my freshman days of high school when I lived and breathed memorabilia cards. That's when I acquired most of the cards I'm about to show you.

I can't say for certain, but the Scott Podsednik autograph at the top of this post is what may have touched that off. To this day, it's probably still the best card I've ever pulled from a pack. My family went to St. Louis for a trip one summer. The main event was seeing a Cardinals-Cubs game one of the nights we were there.

While we were in St. Louis, we stopped at one of the malls over there. One of the stores must've had some packs of 2004 Topps Cracker Jack, so I picked up a couple. At the time, I loved Scott Podsednik (and still do), so to pull that one out of a pack was simply amazing.

It topped off a great vacation.

John Olerud is another of my favorite players, and this is probably my favorite card of his.

I think I only paid about four bucks for this card.

What a steal!

However, the main part of my memorabilia collection is my HOF/retired game used and autos.

Most of these don't come cheap, which is the main reason why I stopped going after them for the most part.

Plus, I've acquired at least one memorabilia card of almost all of my favorite post-WWII guys (barring the uber-expensive guys like Mantle, Ted Williams, etc.).

I don't have many HOF/retired autographs, but this "Mad Hungarian" Sweet Spot autograph is probably my favorite. I've always liked those Sweet Spot autographs.

Plus, how often do you come across a piece of Al Hrabosky memorabilia?

In the binder that I keep these cards in, I have a nine-pocket page with my nine favorite game-used cards.

This Rod Carew card made it into that page.

Now that's a patch if I've ever seen one.

Here's some more from that page:

This is one of the best designs I've seen on a game-used card.

I never thought I'd own a jersey card of "Stan the Man", but I nabbed this one for around ten bucks during my memorabilia collecting years.

Plus, I love the feel of those old flannel jerseys.

With dime cards, I don't usually like ones that feature multiple players.

But when it comes to memorabilia cards, the more the merrier!

I bought this card for the Hank Greenberg portion. The other guys were just a bonus.

Okay, now we're into my top three favorite memorabilia cards.

This one comes in at #3.

Numbered to only nine copies, this card features a couple of the main assembly parts of "The Big Red Machine" with Bench and Morgan, and a later Reds great with Tom Seaver.

Except for the few printing plates I own, this is my lowest-numbered card.

The base cards in Triple Threads have never really blown me away.

This one sure does.

It's tough for me to decide between these last two.

It was tough, but I decided that Dizzy Dean comes in at #2.

This was a birthday gift from my dad a few years ago. I can't even begin to tell you how great of a birthday gift that was.

Dizzy Dean is one of the most interesting figures from all of baseball history.

I still can't believe that I actually own part of a jersey that he once wore.

But what could be better than this card, you ask?

Well...

This one.

My all-time favorite memorabilia card.

I've had it for a few years now, and I'm still at a loss for words whenever I see it.

This was also a gift from my dad, this time for Christmas, I believe. God knows I never would've had enough money to buy it, especially in high school.

Personally, I think Ty Cobb is the most interesting baseball player ever. Despicable, sure. But the way he lived life and the way he played baseball is just amazing to me.

I still think he's the greatest hitter in baseball history.

It's hard to pick an absolute favorite card from my collection, but this one would definitely be in contention.

Obviously.

Card companies have gotten way too carried away with the whole memorabilia thing in the past five years or so.

Although I don't collect them much anymore, I still love going through that binder with all the game used and autograph cards that I've bought over the years.

It still feels like I'm holding pieces of baseball history.