A Crazy Card Show Saturday

It was a wild day at the card show yesterday, with mini collections, set building, dime boxes, bargain vintage, and proof of extra-terrestrial life?

From a box of 2 for $5 relics/autos, I picked up a handful of Twins! Berrios, Mauer, and BOOF.

That's 2 for $5, so card #4 is America's Sweetheart, A.J. Pierzynski.

Just a small sample from the dime boxes I came across - there were cards from the 80s up through 2019 Gypsy Queen. I spent just $10 but probably an hour of digging to get there...

It took a lot less time to to make the decision on this card - I mentioned I was looking for this last month to the vintage guy when I was browsing the basketball stack, and like magic it appeared on his table this month. Funny how that works!

Wilt Chamberlain was good at basketball.

While on the subject of vintage, there were several monster boxes with $1 vintage from 1958 to 1972 - the mid to late 60s had the best condition of the bunch, and that's where I picked up some fun ones. Jack Acker was... what, hanging out behind his house when the Topps photographer dropped by?

I've been critical of the 1953 set in the past, but there are some gems to be found in the set- this one of Jim Hearn in the late afternoon haze with a stern warning for gamblers on the outfield wall is a great exception to the boring repetitive '53 portraits.

Meet Joe Black, 1952 N.L. Rookie of the Year!

I only added 5 cards to my 1959 set build, but you'll see that they are all doozys. Al Kaline, never salty. This is just one of his 3 cards in the 1959 set, still seeking the Baseball Thrills and the base card.

Bang! POW! ZAP! WHAMMO!

Finally, for just $2, I've uncovered the mysteries of the cosmos - we are not alone! (This is Carl Engstrom, who trained Angelo Poffo how to wrestle. Angelo was the father of Randy and Lanny Poffo - Randy was better known as the Macho Man Randy Savage!)

Satch

This card took a long time to find its way to me. I had tried bidding in several auctions over the last two years, but someone always wanted it a little more than me - last week this one popped up as a buy it now, and despite the wrinkles and soft corners, it's a beautiful card. And if I'm being honest,  a few wrinkles seems appropriate for a card depicting Satchel Paige.

I wonder how many conversations this card sparked, kids asking their parents why Paige's career was "long deferred and much interrupted." 1953 was his final MLB season, (though he would return for one night in 1965) and this is his only Topps card from his playing days. Now that I've finally picked up this card, I can set my sights on his only Bowman card from 1949 and his MLB "rookie" card from 1948 Leaf. Just gotta win the lottery!

You Say Sat-ur-day, I Say Card-Show-Day

OK, I know I said I wasn't a fan of 1953 Topps, but every rule has its exceptions. They look fantastic in hand, and if they have been kept in good condition, they look great. This is just my 3rd '53 card, along with Player Collection guys Minnie Minoso and Elmer Valo.

I'm not going to run out and build the set, but this was a fun addition.

I'm still a big fan of the Horizontal '52 Topps cards - Sievers was available for a steal!

Things are moving ahead on the 1959 Topps set build.

My first two All-Stars from the back end of the set, I have a feeling some of these will have me muttering to myself before this set is completed.

I really like the backs on the All-Star subset.

The cartoon on Whitey Ford's card cracked me up - it was the batter's expression that did it for me.

Found a quarter box! I knew I'd find a Ranger Vlad in there eventually.

Some '80s goodness!

I don't know what I'm doing with these.

Or these...

But hey, Here's Tony Gwynn wearing Scott Sanders' jersey in a spring training game!

This was a special Eddie Murray Rookie card.

It's O-Pee-Chee! I had a great day at the card show - it's been a few months since I made it out, so I was happy to finally make the trip.

Archives Announces Its Presence With Authority!

 Topps Archives hit shelves on Wednesday, and I did not lollygag, picking up some hanging packs from Target.

 A nice callback to the 1988 Topps design, the same year the film came out. Is Bull Durham your favorite baseball film? It's definitely in the top 5 for me. I will be looking for more of these cards as the season goes on.

 A couple current Twins and a couple former Twins. It was a nice touch to change the "40" to "65" in the 1991 design, and Buxton's portrait is about as close as you can get to the feel of the original 1953 set, but couldn't they have tried to digitally turn the photo into a painting? Or paid for a person to actually do the paintings?

 The inserts call back to the 1985 set - I got all the Alomars!

 Sorry, I had to hang onto these, despite having lots of Braves and Red Sox collectors to trade with. These were too good to part with.

A page worth of keepers, always nice to see the Expos get a little love.

The cards are still "delicate" like last year - I could be wrong, but they feel a little less dainty than 2015, but still pretty soft and susceptible to dings and dents. 1991 is one of my favorite designs, so I expect to pick up a few more singles of that design as they pop up around the card shows and websites.