Saturday is Card Show Day!

It's the first Saturday of the Month, and that means there is a card show happening. I went right for the maximum value this time, scoping out the dimeboxes full of 90s inserts like the one above.

A lot of retired players on new cardboard, and more of those inserts . . .

Beltre and the Big Hurt

'ol Satch, Gil Hodges, and Yaz.

This card was not in a dime box, and I'm not sure what this card is - the vendor I bought it from knew about as much as I did - that it was a Yomiuri Giants card.

Here's the back, enlarged for easier reading. If anyone can tell me what this card might be, it would be appreciated. I think it is probably a reprint, or at least a more modern card, based on the condition of the card. My guess is that it was printed in the 80s or more recently than that.

I also added two more 1956 Topps cards, I'm now down to single digits!

It wouldn't be a Minnesota card show without some Minnesota Twins - it's getting hard to find new to me Kennys Vargas cards, but this one numbered to 15 was just what I needed.

I did a tiny bit of prospecting too - Berrios is probably going to be called up this week after Kyle Gibson was demoted and his replacement was a reliever. Fernando Romero has just one year of pro ball under his belt - he was promoted mid season last year and started 2017 in AA, his third promotion since the start of last season. His first two starts of the year were rocky, but he's settled in and has been striking out about a batter per inning. He's 22.

New York State of Mind

Bo from Baseball Cards Come To Life! had a biiiiiiig stack of Twins to send me, but I will start with one of the 1979 Topps needs he checked off for me, from his local New York Yankees.

I somehow managed to miss out on Denard's Rookie Card until now, happy to add it to my collection!

The Cards came from the 2000s, the 90s and even a few older 80s like this Fleer Star Sticker of John Castino.

One of the best sets of all-time right here. Jack Morris is pumped.

We could be here all night showing scans, but it's safe to say that Bo knocked this one out of park. Gardy tossing B.P. and the pre-rookie Torii Hunter were certainly highlights.

Thanks again for the trade, Bo!

Not All Who Wander Are Lost . . .

Like Wander Javier, for instance - that's just the dude's name. Also, Julie from A Cracked Bat - she had a little wander away from the blogs for a bit, but she's back and we're all very happy to see her posting again!

Julie sent over this nice mailer last week, and it had plenty of shiny new Twins for me.

Minis!

These are from 2006 - I may have purchased a couple packs of cards total that year, and none of these guys were in there.

Do not adjust your set - Fleer issued B&W and Sepia toned parallels in their Tradition set - they have an old school texture to them as well - printed on honest to goodness cardboard (probably).

Bert!! The scan is missing out on the trippy refractor-y colors on this card, it's fantastic in person.

This was probably my favorite card in the package - it's a vivid shade of blue and hopefully a future MVP on the front!

Thanks so much, Julie! This was great!

Walking the Transatlantic Triple Plank (A Transatlantic Triple Break)

Matthew of Bob Walk the Plank fame sent over the latest Transatlantic Triple Break. Matthew, Kevin, and I feasted on 2016 Topps Archives one more time.

These are probably not new to you, savvy collectors, but I enjoyed these quite a bit!

As is often the case, Matthew also loaded up the mailer with hits!

Signatures like crazy!

Torii two I's with the card numbered to just 215 (Skybox does things their own way)

Morneau is a free agent again, hope he finds a good home (maybe in his home country with Toronto?)

BOOM. that's a real Killer.

Matthew, thanks again as always!

... And This is Why I Have Wantlists

I sent a #supertrade over to Cardinals blogger Kerry from Cards on Cards, focusing on wantlist needs- and Kerry came up big with a super return trade of his own.

These were not on my list, but they are my first cards from this set - they all fell into that gap of not collecting in the mid 2000s.

Four more that would have been on my list, if I had gotten far enough into it (I'm still looking at 1997 cards to see what I want to add to my collection).

Then things get really interesting - Kerry assaulted my 80s and 90s junk wax list with some fantastic cardboard gems.

There were too many to scan, but suffice it to say, this was an impressive mailer. I leave you with a near perfect Jim Leyland card, the only thing missing is a lit cigarette dangling from his mouth.

Thanks Kerry!

Trading and Upgrading with The Collector

That's the finest Dave Winfield I think I've ever seen. Chris from the blog The Collector contacted me to set up a trade. He's also working on the 1956 Topps set, and I had some cards I could send his way from several of this set builds.

Some 80s Goodness!

There was a strong group of Twins, I'm already adding to my new Denard Span PC!

That 1956 card is SUPER sharp. Just a really great card, it might be the best conditioned card in my whole set. A couple other Horizontal Heroes make an appearances as well.

A few more pieces of Flair and the 90s great Upper Deck Holo FX, this time featuring Hall of Famer MIke Piazza.

This one is my favorite in the package, though. Like the 1956 card, this one is in fantastic shape. Allison and Killebrew had several big time power seasons in the 1960s, aptly titled as Terrors for opposing pitchers.

Thanks for the trade Chris!

Back For More

Once I get on a roll on COMC, it can be hard to stop - the 50 under .50 was such a big win! I went back again once those cards arrived and made a much smaller order of a small handful of cards I had been looking to add for various reasons.

 So 90s! This one was on my Arbitrary List. I originally put random cards on that list, but generous and well meaning collectors would send me those random cards in the mail, so I had to switch it up - now it's always a random sampling of cards that I don't own but would like to.

 This card is so cool. The Crystal Ball had no idea what was in store for LaTroy, who retired following the  2015 season.

 Kennys! This insert has a Superfractor look and feel to it, but it was much much cheaper than a 1/1. Vargas ended being included in Series 2 for the Topps flagship set this year, I was not expecting him to be included but I am hopeful that he will get another shot at the big leagues soon.

 My first Byung-ho Park card! He's been able to provide plenty of big homers, but the league seems to have found some weaknesses in the strike zone, and he struggles a little with big league heat. It's his turn to adjust, or Kennys will be taking his place until he figures things out!

TONY O! This is a hand cut card from a 1971 Milk Duds carton. It's seen better days, but a little love just made it cheaper for me!

ok,  I got a little lazy with the scanning on this one - Museum Collection is printed on a fairly thick cardstock, I think that may have confused my scanner a bit.

So there you go, 50 under .50 and here's 5 under $5. A little something for everyone!

Quality via Quantity

 I've been reeeeeeallly slow about updating this summer - This post was inspired by Night Owl's 50 under .50 - I logged into COMC and went to town with Twins cards (and a few others, like Moises up there) -- everything under 50 cents!

 Horizontal Heroes!

 I steered clear of the true vintage cards this time around, but I was able to find cards from several generations of Twins teams.

 It was great to get the band back together - Jacque Jones, Torii (from the first stint in MN), Corey Koskie, Christian Guzman, Brad Radke... and BOOF.

 Lots of Super Shiny deals to be had, including a 2015 Bowman's Best Brian Dozier.

Picked up some junk wax too - it was a great deal, so why not???