The garage sale gods strike again

I used to think garage sales were all baby clothes and self-help books.

Maybe most of them are. Yet, for whatever reason, I'm lucky enough to live in one of the only halfway decent garage sale pockets in the nation.

Some of you may remember the impressive pit of cardboard I stumbled upon in some guy's garage a few weeks ago. This morning, my mom discovered that the very same seller was advertising yet another sale on Craigslist this weekend.

It was almost a reflex to hop in the car and take the ten minute drive over to the guy's house. Some of the best days for new baseball cards are the days when you're not expecting to find any at all.

The guy remembered me from the last time around and I was glad to see that he had some new cardboard available. Still, a good chunk was the same stuff I'd picked through a few weeks ago.

The deal wasn't as staggering as the last time, but, then again, I doubt anything could be. I ended up with around 60 cards for 12 bucks, about 20 cents per.

The guy had a friend lurking around who claimed that this 2014 Donruss Yasiel Puig was going for something like five bucks on Ebay. I basically paid two dollars for this card alone, only to arrive home and find that what the guy was saying was complete BS.

It's still a nice addition to my growing Puig collection and I'm glad to have it, but I always feel a little queasy when I overpay for a card.

That aside, my latest garage sale dig was a blast.

As I noted the last time, the guy who I bought all these from is a more high-end collector. He was quick to show me his latest mojo hits, namely a Kobe Bryant autograph and some kind of Larry Bird/Magic Johnson thingamajig.

He even had a '65 Topps Roberto Clemente lying around as if to torture me. If I were to make an ultimate top-ten want list, that one would be on it. Unfortunately, the $60 price tag didn't match up with the three five-dollar bills in my wallet.

Maybe next time.

It's funny to observe the reactions of high-enders when they see the type of cards I buy. These are pretty much your run-of-the-mill base and low-end inserts. The guy tossed them aside like he was allergic when he was totaling everything up.

More for me.

I found myself wondering just how much Donruss this guy bought as I was digging through his cards.

The bulk of my purchase the last time around was mostly Donruss, and he had a whole bunch of new ones out this afternoon. Like most people I've heard from, the guy thought this set was a massive disappointment.

Aside from the colorful "No-Nos" series, I wouldn't say I particularly like any of these insert designs. But they're hard to pass up at bargain-basement prices.

I get the feeling I'll be finding tons more of these in discount bins soon enough.

This one was in a little box of randoms the guy had strewn across his table.

I'm making a more concerted effort to collect Hideo Nomo, so I couldn't let it go. Numbered out of 999 copies, it's from one of those early 2000's Leaf Limited sets. Which, as I found, don't scan very well.

I think it was priced at a buck.

Great shots of double plays and pitchers covering first from 2006 Topps.

These high-end people don't know what they're missing.

I don't know if Gold Label gets enough credit.

I have a hard time finding these things anywhere. Topps brought the brand back this year, but, of course, they made it into some impossible-to-find insert series. I still haven't seen one in-person.

Me, I'll just bask in the glory of Gold Label's heyday.

Back when people were drooling over Jack Cust and Sean Burroughs.

I think the reason my stack cost a little more this time around was because I bought more of the guy's penny-sleeve-and-toploader cards.

From what I've seen, that's basically a red flag to most high-end collectors that says THIS CARD IS WORTH SOMETHING!!! (And yet I still find unsleeved Bryce Harper rookies in dime boxes.)

Not a lot of them were priced, but I'm betting they contributed to the bulk of the twelve-dollar total.

I've been on the fence as to whether or not I actually collect Bo Jackson lately, but I guess I'm finally taking the plunge.

Buying this nifty '89 mini finally convinced me that, yes, I collect Bo Jackson now.

My eyes are trained to scope out even the most well-hidden baseball cards.

I found this one innocently tucked next to a couple piles of football and basketball singles. I don't know that a lot of other people would've even noticed it, but I did.

A life of discount bin hunting will do that to you.

Unlike the previous Donruss inserts I featured, these were in sleeves and toploaders and priced at a buck a piece.

Those "Hall Worthy" inserts are actually pretty darn ugly, but I only have one other card of Tim Hudson as a Giant.

Into the pile it went.

I had to rub my eyes to make sure I was seeing this right.

Is that actually a NICE card from Prizm?

Guess the brand isn't a total waste. It came out kind of bluish in the scan, but this is one of the purple parallels, numbered to just 99 copies. I plopped down a buck for this one of Freddie Freeman, one of my newest player collection inductees.

Up to this point, I don't know that I exactly got much of a bang for my twelve bucks. I needed every single card I've shown thus far, and some of them are rather nice. But for twelve bucks? I don't know. A decent deal, but not eye-popping...

Any inhibitions I had were put to rest by the last card I bought this afternoon.

My eyes lit up when they saw Jackie here.

The guy told me he'd bought a mini-box of Stadium Club and wasn't a fan. After that, I was secretly hoping that he'd have a few singles mixed in with his selection. And he did.

Most of the others were priced higher than I was willing to pay, but I think I forked over two bucks for this one. Coincidentally, this was this first card I saw while trying to get a glimpse of the (then) new Stadium Club release a few weeks ago.

Love at first sight.

As I was driving home, I racked my brain to try and figure out what I did to get on the good side of the garage sale gods. Nothing came to mind as I admired Jackie at the stoplight.

Your guess is as good as mine.