The St. Patrick's Day Card Show, Pt. 3: The best quarter box on the planet

It was everywhere I looked.

Vintage here. Vintage there. Vintage everywhere. The name of the game at Saturday's card show was vintage. (Have I said "vintage" enough yet?)

Cards from generations past seemed to be at almost every table I stopped at.

It all came together at this one quarter box.

I'll take a dime box over a quarter box any day of the week, but that doesn't mean I won't stop and peruse some quarter cards. This one table had a quarter box of which I'd never seen the likes of before.

The selection of newer cards wasn't all that great. I was about to leave the table with only a small handful of cards until I noticed a stack of 1976 Kellogg's cards in one of the boxes I hadn't yet looked through.

Finding the Bill Lee card at the top of the post was a good omen. Lee is one of my favorite players, and I couldn't believe I didn't already own this card. I knew there had to be more good stuff inside.

There was. But it wasn't just any other "good stuff" you normally find in quarter boxes.

It was sweet, glorious vintage.

After all was said and done, I came away with about 120 cards from the quarter box, almost all of which were vintage.

The following is the best of the best of the gems I found inside.

Enjoy!

Oscar Gamble sports the most memorable 'fro in history.

Steve Stone...not so much.

I found a decent-sized stack of 1976 SSPC cards in the quarter box. Considering you almost never see them, they were a great find.

I'd never seen this Oscar Gamble card before Saturday. Perhaps we need to start bringing this one up when we talk about classic Gamble cards.

The card of Duke Snider as a coach is one of the more intriguing cards I came across at Saturday's show, which also comes from the '76 SSPC set.

I had no idea that he coached for the Expos after his playing days were over. That shade of blue just doesn't look right on the "Duke of Flatbush".

Speaking of Flatbush, I found a handful of 1970 Topps cards in the box as well. A lot of them seem to have a slight bit of water damage, as they're rough to the touch.

No matter to me, though, as I'll take a Maury Wills card for a quarter anytime of day.

I found a nice-sized stack of high-numbered '70s cards in this box, which you'll see even more of in a bit.

The 1970 Topps Mickey Lolich (#715) was one of the best gems I unearthed among the rows of vintage cards.

I even nabbed a '72 Topps Lolich for good measure.

I'm still surprised by the fact that I found a '71 Topps card of a Hall-of-Famer in a quarter box, no matter what shape it's in. The Don Sutton was a serious find.

Speaking of condition, I don't think I own a '71 card in better shape than the Johnstone. Nearly flawless.

And still only a quarter.

When I was a kid, getting Pilots cards was a huge deal.

I haven't really had much interest in acquiring them in recent years. That is, until Saturday.

I found about four or five Pilots cards in this box for a quarter each, inspiring me to reboot my Seattle Pilots collection.

Nothing like a little inspiration.

Until I joined the blogosphere, I had no idea that this card even existed.

I've since seen it on a few different blogs. It really is an awesome card, and now I can proudly say it looks even better in person, because I found it inside this quarter box.

Although I'm still not sure who Luis Alvarado is.

Here's a couple other '76 Kellogg's I found.

Boog Powell once said he looked like a oversized "Bloody Mary" in those '70s Indians uniforms.

I was extremely surprised to find a 1965 Topps Embossed card inside a quarter box.

The Versalles is another landmark card in my collection, as it's the first Embossed card I own. I never thought I'd be able to own one for less than a couple bucks or so.

But once again, the cheap boxes proved me wrong.

Speaking of Kellogg's, I also found a '74 Cepeda for a quarter, one of his final cards.

I probably own more cards from the 1975 Topps set than any other '70s issue.

But that doesn't mean there's still ones I don't have. I was surprised that I didn't already have the '75 Gossage. Now if only I could get my hands on his '73 rookie...

I was excited to find that this particular quarter box held a good amount of 1972 Topps cards. I love the set, and I still need a lot from it.

I've already discussed how much I like Wilbur Wood, so it goes without saying that finding his '72 issue was one of the greater finds of the day.

Look out, because here comes a bunch more 1972's...

To some, Rick Wise is the guy that got traded for Steve Carlton.

But to me, he's the guy that hit two homers and threw a no-hitter in the same game. It really is quite a remarkable feat once you stop and think about it.

I'm not sure why, I absolutely love that Doyle Alexander card. Maybe it's because it's his rookie card. Maybe it's just the shock that I found it in a quarter box.

I still can't believe these were dumped into a quarter box by their previous owner.

A Mickey Rivers rookie card? For a quarter?

A Jim Wynn uber-high number (#770) from the '72 set? Still just a quarter?

Sold.

I have to admit that I have no idea who Dave Pope is.

But I wasn't going to let that stop me from purchasing this card. Seriously, how could I ever pass up a '55 Bowman card for just a quarter? It's the kind of thing you dream about.

If you think those cards were great, here's a look at my favorite card that I snagged from this quarter box. I'm still amazed this this card only set me back a single quarter.

It's Bill Mazeroski. It's his final card. It's another one of those uber-high numbers (#760).

It's simply awesome.

It's funny that this card was one of the greatest finds of the entire show, because one of the major finds of the last card show was also a Mazeroski, if you'll remember.

It's safe to say that this particular quarter box was the greatest one I've ever had the good fortune to look through. I don't know that I could ever find a better one.

There's still one more post to go of Saturday's card show "finds", so tune in tomorrow for the fourth and final part of the series. I'll tell you right now, it contains possibly the best card of the day. (It's a toss-up with the '72 Clemente I featured yesterday.)

For now, though, let's give these quarter cards a little love. I still can't believe they're now all in my possession.

All it took was a little loose change.