The year of the garage sale

This has truly been the year of the garage sale for me.

After years of being continuously shut out by people advertising their "must-see" baseball cards, I've finally started to hit the jackpot here in 2013.

I stumbled upon a nice batch of garage sale goodies a few months ago, one that featured a "Dime Box Dozen" need at the time.

Oh, and you might remember that other little find of mine. The one that included a '66 Hank Aaron and an authentic '67 Mickey Mantle, among many others.

Despite the fact that winter is starting to close in, my dad found an ad for another local garage sale that supposedly had cardboard. We decided to check it out this past weekend.

The guy had some of the nicest pieces I've ever seen at a garage sale. A Dwight Gooden autograph and Ryne Sandberg manupatch were among the few I can remember.

Also on display were a few gigantic quarter boxes. Unfortunately, they were all football. The guy said he was still in the process of sorting through his baseball stuff, as he only had a small selection of baseball quarter cards available at the time.

Although there wasn't much, I did manage to snag a few goodies.

While Playoff Contenders may be a flat out forgettable set, this "Big Papi" is pretty nice.

Among the other quarter gets were a few 2013...sorry, 2012 Panini Prizm cards I still needed.

I'm amazed at how often I've been able to find these things in discount bins this year.

The guy also had a few makeshift repacks available for 50 cents a piece.

While I don't have an exact number, I'd guess each one contained about 50 cards or so. The two I grabbed were entirely filled with 1992 Upper Deck singles.

On top of one of the grab bags I bought was this Ken Griffey Sr. "sunset" issue, one that was a gaping hole in my collection of cardboard finales.

The fun of simply digging through these homemade repacks would've been worth the 50-cent price tag alone.

That said, there were a few random gems that struck my fancy.

I'm a big fan of any eyeblack-themed cards, and that Sierra is one of the better night shots you'll ever find.

Surprisingly, I nabbed a few new mini-collection nominees as well.

Former Blue Jay hurler Jimmy Key is featured running the bases on the back of his '92 UD issue, something which wasn't a common feat in the post-DH/pre-interleague play era.

It seems like every football-related card I own features a Texas Rangers pitcher. That Jeffcoat is one of a decent amount I have.

Given that Nolan Ryan popularized the workout routine of tossing the pigskin around before starts, I guess that's not too surprising.

These are just a couple fun randoms that I thought were neat.

Since he's standing next to a New York Met, I'm guessing that shot of "El Presidente" was snapped during an All-Star Game.

Upper Deck chose to feature Greg Briley in a catching pose for his '92 UD issue.

I guess the fact that he never played a single big league game behind the plate didn't much matter to them.

This, though, is one of the nicest Upper Deck cards I've ever seen.

I absolutely love how we get to see the play developing at third base in this beautiful shot. (There aren't a whole lot of "play at third" cards, now that I think of it.)

Perhaps we're witnessing the beginnings of a triple play here.

You never know.

Okay, while a few recent unlicensed issues and a couple '92 Upper Deck grab bags are cool, they're not among my greatest finds ever or anything.

So, then, what the heck made this garage sale so special?

This did.

I saw a few vintage pieces scattered next to the guy's selection of jersey and autograph cards. This '68 Pete Rose made me stop in my tracks.

The price on the back made me hesitate a bit, though. He wanted ten bucks for it.

While I was mulling over the possibility of dropping that kind of cash on "Charlie Hustle", the guy came over and asked if he could help with anything. I guess he saw me holding the '68 Rose with a great deal of intrigue.

What he said next nearly knocked me off my feet.

"You can have it for a buck."

A buck?!

Sold!

I'm not sure why he priced it so high if he was willing to let it go for a single dollar. Either way, though, I'm not complaining.

Sure, it has its fair share of creases. And, although you can't see it in the scan, this piece almost surely suffered water damage at some point.

But who cares about that?

I found a '68 Pete Rose for a dollar! If that's not a great find, I'm not sure what is.

The story wasn't over there, though. I went back to the guy's garage sale the next day and unearthed a couple more great scores which I'll show on this blog in the future.

And, in a shocking new community development, he said that he's planning to open up a real, actual, brick-and-mortar card shop in my neighborhood. I'll believe it when I see it, but I must say that I'm excited to see such a thing.

If there's one thing my town could use, it's a card shop.

On top of all that, these great finds have certainly taught me something.

Never lose faith in garage sales.