NSCC Pick-Ups: The Emergence of Cragislist Reseller.

It took me a while to hook-up my old scanner to my dying laptop (the old one, not the new one), but I'm finally ready to show off some of the goodies I got at the NSCC.

The anticipation must be killing you, I know.

EVERY SINGLE CARD you will see in this post was purchased for a dollar or less. Yes, I am a cheapskate. But for those of us who collect cards from the 1990s and early 2000s this is golden time and we have one website to thank for it.

Craigslist has become a dumping ground for ex-collectors looking to get something (anything) for those old cardboard boxes in the attic.  Sure, many Craigslist offerings are of Junk Wax Era cards, but every once and a while you'll come across a listing that might have some good stuff.

And we're not the only ones who have noticed.  There's a new class of dealer that begun to pop up at shows over the last few years, and until somebody else comes up with a better name I'm calling him "Craigslist Reseller."  Craigslist Reseller pours over card lots that potentially MIGHT have decent cards, buys them in bulk, then rents a table at a card show and has collectors (like me) have at it for a low fixed price (usually $1 a card).  Craigslist Reseller usually doesn't bother actually looking at all the cards before buying them, or at best, samples a handful to see what he has.

One Craigslist Reseller whom I overheard said that every once and a while, one of his dollar boxes will yield something like a 89 UD Griffey RC or a low-numbered 90s insert.  And if somebody happens to find such a card in a box full of Juan Gonzalez and Mike Mussina rookie cards?  All the better because he's made a customer for life.

So thank you Craigslist Reseller.  Because of your efforts, 1990s card collectors are happier than a pig in shit.

And on that note, take it away Bixby Snyder.

 

1991 Stadium Club Charter Member Membership Card (paid $0.25)

To Mr. Jeffrey Batt, wherever you are, thank you.  I thank you for having the foresight of signing up as a Charter Member of Topps' Stadium Club over 22 years ago.

You may remember that two years ago at the NSCC, I bought the 1991 Stadium Club Charter Member set for $10. It had the keychain, the Nolan Ryan ingot, and the 50-card box set, but it was missing one piece: The Charter Membership card.  Missing, until I found Mr. Batt's card two-years later in a quarter box.

What exactly did you get with this card anyway?  10% off NSCC admission?  Buy-one-get-one free at Papa John's?  Airline miles?  Was Karl Malden a closeted card collector and did he "Ever leave home without it?"  I wonder if any famous people were Charter Members, and how much their cards would be worth.

A pair of 2001 Donruss gimmicked "Rookies" (paid $0.25 each)

Another two to cross off the ol' checklist.  At this rate, my 2K1 D'Russ Master Set will be completed sometime in 2132.

A shitload of Frank Thomas and Manny Ramirez 90s inserts (A buck each).

To give you an idea of just how many Frank Thomas inserts I pulled out of ONE DOLLAR BOX, the above photo is a fistful of top-loaders, spread out on my scanner.

I had TWO MORE FIST'S FULL OF BIG HURT INSERTS.

Let me repeat: I paid ONE UNITED STATES DOLLAR for each card.

And it wasn't just The Big Hurt, either. The same table had a dollar box of ManRam's.

The ManRam box had a dozen 1994 Leaf Limited Rookies Phenoms (serial-numbered to 5000) and a dozen more 1994 Sportflics 2000 Rookie/Traded "Rookie of the Year" SPs (case hits). There wasn't much variety, compared to the Thomas box, but I did manage to score some decent cards.

By far the best dollar box find I had at that table was this beauty.

That may LOOK like a 1995 Leaf Frank Thomas base card. But if you had a Sega Genesis, you know that this is the 1995 Leaf AKKLAIM Frank Thomas.  Each copy of Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball -- the third best Genesis baseball game released in 1995 -- came with one.
  Forty 2001 Upper Deck Pinstripe Exclusive cards (paid $0.25 each).

For the uninitiated, Pinstripe Exclusive is a pair of 56-card sets, one of Joe DiMaggio the other of Mickey Mantle, released in various 2001 Upper Deck baseball Hobby boxes -- the estates of both players were exclusive to Upper Deck that year, hence the name. Selected Hobby boxes had a three-card Pinstripe Exclusives pack inserted as a box loader -- and if I recall correctly, the DiMaggio's were in UD's "higher end" sets (SP Authentic, SPx, Sweet Spot, et al), while the Mantles were in the more mass-produced boxes (i.e. MVP, Series Two flagship, and the like). There were also game jersey, game bat, and cut signature cards also inserted into these packs.

This is a set I've gradually been piecing together over the last dozen years. I picked up over a third of the set for ten bucks. Not bad.

1996 Collector's Choice You Crash the Game Redemption Mickey Tettleton (paid $0.25)

Yeah, I know. It's Mickey Tettleton, big whoop.

Big whoop? Do you know how tough it is to find ANY of the 1996 You Crash the Game Redemption cards?

Oh, you do? Never mind then.

1997 Donruss Elite Turn of the Century Derek Jeter (serial-numbered to 3500 copies; paid $1)

About a couple of weeks before the NSCC, an eBay auction for a mid-90s Donruss Derek Jeter insert, (not unlike this 1997 Donruss Elite Turn of the Century insert) was brought to my attention.  It was the 1997 Donruss Preferred Staremaster and it was professionally graded a Mint "9" by PSA.  It was a nice card that I needed for my set, but had been bid-up to a point that was too expensive for my budget.  (Besides, I don't do graded cards.)

What was outrageous was what the seller threw-in a bonus: Five additional '97 D'Russ Preferred Jeter Staremaster's ALL RIPPED IN HALF.

The justification for ripping-up a card I would have easily paid $20 for (in tact) was to artificially decrease the supply -- the supply of a card that was serial-numbered to only 1500 copies.  What an asshole, I mean who RIPS UP A $20 CARD?

What does this story has to do with the Turn of the Century Jeter insert I found for a buck?  I don't know.  But someone on Twitter (I think it was Gellman of Sports Cards Uncensored) asked why Panini continues to use the "Turn of the Century" name as an insert in their handegg sets, when the Century "turned" 13 years ago.

Maybe it's the legacy of this 16-year old Derek Jeter insert?

1997 Flair Showcase "Row 0" Alex Rodriguez (paid $1)

My, my, how the mighty have fallen. If you know anything about 1997 Flair Showcase, then you know just how TOUGH this card was to pull. Even after a decade-and-a-half, and even after the PED allegations, this SHOULD still be a $25-$30 card.

The day after the NSCC closed, A-Fraud was given his 211-game suspension. I don't know if the dealer was preemptively dumping his A-Fraud's, or if this one just slipped through the cracks, but I was more than happy to take it off his hand for 100 pennies.

A pair of 1999 Upper Deck Ovation Tier 3 ReMarkAble Moments inserts (paid $1 each)

Speaking of 1990s Hobby superstars whose inserts have been devalued by PEDs ...


These may look like a pair of (pardon the pun) unremarkable Mark McGwire inserts from 1999 Upper Deck Ovation, and on the surface they are.  But these are cards M13 and M15 in the set.  Why is that important?

The first five cards in the 15-card ReMarkAble set were seeded into packs at the rate of 1:9.  The next five at 1:25.  For the last five cards (M11-M15), the ratio was 1:99, or, one in every five boxes.

Yeah, it's Mark McGwire; but it's also a pretty damn tough late-90s insert, and I got two of them for only $2.

1998 Donruss Crusade (green) Abraham Nunez (given to me for free by Chris Thomas)

Don't you just love it when someone buys a rare insert on eBay only to discover that he already has it? And then they just give it to you for nothing?

... and finally.

2012 Upper Deck MLS Quad Materials Sebastien Le Toux and three other stiffs.

Is that not an AWESOME card of Sebastien Le Toux or what?

I heard the other guy on the left ain't too shabby either. The two on the right? Pure shite.

The Siege of Atlanta (A Ken Burns Production): Part Two

"I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are. If I killed them all there would be news from Hell before breakfast."
-- William Tecumseh Sherman

DAY TWO

George Will, The Washington Post: "Baseball card collecting, it is said, is only a Hobby. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or Hobbies, are created equal. All I remember about my wedding day in 1967 is pulling a Milt Pappas card out of a pack and wondering where the facsimile autograph was."

Narrator: "Day Two of The Atlanta Campaign started bright and early for the combined forces of Harris and Thomas. After a hearty breakfast at a Norcross diner, they returned to the site of the previous day's skirmish."

Shelby Foote, Historian: "The Saturday of a three-day show tends to be the most heavily attended, and this show was no different. Saturday usually brings out the civilians and curiosity seekers, and with Matt Ryan and Jason Heyward signing autographs the Atlanta Show was no different. But what was considered a "Big Show" for the locals, for the Yankees? Well, boredom began to set in."

General Christopher Harris: "I do not know what to think of these Rebel cardshows. I do not know what to think of Rebel collectors. But I am already bored. For all the time and for all the money we've spent just to get here, I must say I am disappointed."

Narrator: "But for all the inaction in Harris' forces, it was nothing to the boredom experienced by the 84th New York Regiment."

Doris Kearns Goodwin, Historian: "Let's face it, cardshows are nothing more than a big, giant, ahem, sausage party. So if you're like me and actually collect cards, and are at a cardshow, you do get many of the same looks. Oh, she must be here with her boyfriend, or she must play for the `other team;' and yes, like 99% of female card collectors, I have been asked if I wanted any WNBA cards.

"So when I take a closer look at Brigadier Lulgjuraj and her plight during the Atlanta Campaign, I can't help but feel a little sympathetic."

Brigadier General Susan Lulgjuraj, Commander, 84th New York Regiment: "This sucks. The only thing I've collected in Atlanta is a cold. I've found only one Derek Jeter card to add to my collection, I feel sick, and I'm spending most of my time getting hit on by 16-year-old boys in the FCB chat room. I truly wish for this campaign to be over, and quickly, and I hope to the Almighty that I never come back to this miserable place again."

N: "Day two of the Atlanta Campaign was turning into a stalemate. Over the course of the day General Harris spent a grand total of $26, $16 on top-loaders and cardboard boxes.

Perhaps the best score of the came from Major General Campbell, who pulled out of a dollar box a double-jersey, double-autograph, of Prince Fielder and Mat Gamel serial-numbered to 39."

"Day Two of the Atlanta Campaign ended in disappointment. At the end of the evening, Harris and Thomas took out the frustrations at a minor league hockey game."

Harris: "With Michael Vick here tomorrow, I am hoping that the action picks up. If not, we shall leave this miserable city with more cash than I know what to do with."

The Siege of Atlanta (A Ken Burns Production): Part One

You cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I will. War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it; and those who brought war into our country deserve all the curses and maledictions a people can pour out.
--William Tecumseh Sherman
Letter to the city of Atlanta, 1864

DAY ONE

Doris Kearns Goodwin, Historian: "The Atlanta campaign in 2011 was a turning point. This cardshow had been organized on such short notice, ummm, eight weeks I believe. So, there was a lot of last-minute changing of plans and whatnot. But what's amazing is, somehow, they were able to pull it off."

Narrator: "For the final assault on Atlanta, The Union was under the command of an experienced General, General Christopher Harris of New Jersey. Known for his wit and sarcasm and his take-no-prisoners approach of dollar boxes, Harris was no stranger to the South. "

"Early in the War, Harris' troops laid siege to North Carolina, and for the last few years had been roaming the card shows of Northern Virginia. But this would be different. Never before had Union forces penetrated this far South.

Daniel Orkent, The New York Times: "The Hobby in The South is a little different. It had been a few years since a `big show' had been in Atlanta, or anywhere in The South for that matter. And while card shows in The North, White Plains, Philly, Chantilly, always have about 200-300 tables, this one would only have 100."

N: "General Harris would be joined in this campaign by Colonel Thomas and his 14th Ohio Regiment, a battle-hardened crew eager for action; Brigader Lulgjuraj's 84th New York; and the 61st Georgia Volunteers a.k.a. `Campbell's Mad Junkies.' It would be a formidable force, all prepared for the invasion of Atlanta."

General Chris Harris: "I must be honest, I don't know what to expect from this campaign. But I do know one thing; we shall whip those Rebel dealers out of their singles, rookies, and wax. We shall whip them without mercy. And when those Rebels ask for mercy, we shall whip them some more."

N: "General Harris rendezvoused with Thomas' forces south of town, then marched northeast to establish base camp at the Hilton Garden Inn in Duluth. Along the way, the marching armies stopped for provisions at The Varsity in Gwinnett."

Harris: "The chili dogs are not as good as the half-smokes at Ben's Chili Bowl or the Shirlington Weenie Beenie, but damn that's some good eating."

N: "After establishing base camp, Harris and Thomas made their initial assault."

Shelby Foote: "When the Union forces arrived at the hall, I'm sure they didn't know what to expect. I'm sure they were pleasantly surprised to see all the singles dealers, but with only one dealer with any significant wax, they had to be disappointed."

Harris: "If this were a Yankee card show, there'd be dozens of tables full of wax, new and junk. I was hoping to score some 90s wax, but no. I only bought an HTA box of 2011 Topps."

N: "Day one of the campaign ended, with minimal damage inflicted. Harris managed a box of 2011 Topps and some cheap singles. Colonel Thomas went through a couple of dime and quarter boxes. Afterward, the combined forces decamped to the Duluth Hilton Garden Inn, then went out for drinks at the Taco Mac with Major General Campbell."

Doris Kearns Goodwin: "The first day of the Atlanta Campaign started off slowly. You kind of had the feeling that, ummm..., the Union forces were kind of, feeling the Rebels out. You could tell that as the weekend wore on, the Union would step up their attack."

Top 10 FCB Show Pickups.

There wasn't much wax available (other than new or junk) at the FCB Atlanta National, but it was a treasure trove of cheap 1990s inserts. And if there's one thing I like more that 90s inserts, it's cheap 90s inserts. Here is just a sampling of the cards I got, all of which I bought for less than a dollar.

#10 1994 Score Rookie/Traded #RT158 Jose Lima.

Books: $5
Sold: $0.10



What's the deal with a 16-year old rookie card of a dead pitcher? Plenty. This is short-printed.

Midway through '94SR/T's production run a press plate needed to be replaced. Unfortunately, Pinnacle's computer database accidentally deleted Jose Lima's card, thereby making Lima's card a short-print. Rather than leave a hole in the middle of the plate, Pinnacle filled it by double-printing John Mabry's card. Towards the end of the production run, the plate broke again. This time, rather than fill Jose Lima's space with John Mabry, Pinnacle filled it with a redemption good for a card of the first player drafted in 1994 to make his Major League debut.

Unfortunately for Pinnacle Brands, then came the 1994 Baseball Player's Strike, and the cancellation of the remainder of the 1994 season. Pinnacle later announced that the "September Call-Up" card would be redeemed for a card of Alex Rodriguez, the first player selected in the 1993 Major League Draft.

So now you know the story of how that A-Rod redemption came to be. And knowing is half the battle.

#9 1993 Topps Black Gold Redemption "B"

Paid $0.10


Don't ask, but I have a thing for expired redemption cards. So when I found this one, I had to get it.

But it wasn't until I got back to Virginia that I flipped over the back.



I thought Topps destroyed old redemptions? Did Brian not bother to turn it in? Maybe I ought to pay Mr. Daley a visit?

#8 1998 Bowman's Best #178 Maggilo Ordonez RC

Book: $5
Paid: $0.10



It's not every day you see a $5 rookie card inside a ten-cent box. So yeah, I got two.

#7 2006 Artifacts Auto-Facts Signatures #AF-DY Dmitri Young AU /300

Book: $10
Paid: $1



I think I'm going to start collecting Dmitri Young cards, because, like, he's The Man. And you know it.

#6 1993 Leaf On The Fast Track #5 Juan Gonzalez

Book: $2
Paid: $0.33



On The Fast Track is a tough, tough, early-90s insert. They were only available in retail jumbo (or "Magazine") packs and seeded at the rate of about two per box. Raise your hand if you've ever seen a 1993 Leaf retail jumbo box.

This Juan Gonzalez joins Steve Avery as the only two '93 Leaf On The Fast Tracks I have in my collection.

#5 1996 Topps Gallery Photo Gallery #PG10 Ken Griffey, Jr.

Book: $10
Paid: $0.50



Gallery is a product that Topps needs to bring back, but never will because if they did, they'd probably turn it into 2008 Stadium Club. So whenever you see a one-per-box insert of Junior from an awesome 90s set in a 2-for-$1 box, you buy it. No questions asked.

#4 1994 Leaf Limited Gold All-Stars #3 Roberto Alomar /10,000

Book: $2
Paid: $0.50



Whenever there's a two-per-box insert of a Hall Of Famer in that same 2-for-$1 box, you also buy it, no questions asked.

Oh, and did I mention this one was serial-numbered?



#3 2001 Bowman Reprints #17 Whitey Ford

Book: $5
Paid: $1



You'd think that with all the 2001 Bowman wax that was busted, that there would be more of the two-per-box Bowman Reprints in circulation. I guess I'm not looking in the right places, but this is the first one I've ever bought.

#2 1993 SP Platinum Power #PP9 Ken Griffey, Jr.

Book: $8
Paid: $0.50


Back in 1993, pulling this card out of a pack was the equivalent of pulling an autographed triple-swatch Nuclear X-Fractor serial-numbered to ten. This card defined the term "Mojo."

I remember ripping a box of SP back in '93 and not getting a single Platinum Power. (I did pull three cards of some stiff named Derek Jeter, though.) This card was a $25 card at one point. Now it's dollar box fodder.

Kind of makes you wonder just how much those autographed triple-swatch Nuclear X-Fractors will be worth 18 years from now.

#1 1986 Donruss The Rookies #33 Bip Roberts

Book: $0.50
Paid: $0.50



OH NOEZ!!!! IZ BIPPED MAHSELVES!!!!

Chris Goes to the Freedom Card Board Atlanta National (So you don't have to)

And now, a visual representation of all my FCB-Atlanta Show Purchases

To give you the indication of what kind of show the 1st ever Freedom Card Board National was, observe...



Those two cards on the far left represent all the cards from 1989 or earlier I bought the entire weekend. Not pictured a 1986 Donruss The Rookie of Bip Roberts -- that's already been sent out, if you know what I mean.

The middle stack are all the 1990s cards, and on the right the 2000s. If tough to find mid-90s inserts were your thing, then this was the show for you.

Not depicted: The autographed Michael Vick helmet I'm giving my dad for his birthday (please keep it a secret), an HTA box of 2011 Topps Series One, and a random sack of 2010 Panini World Cup stickers The Cardboard Junkie gave me, that I haven't even looked at.

And all for 50 cents

There was a cardshow in Tysons Corner this past Sunday -- think old school show from the 80s; 30 tables in a hotel ballroom. That kind of show.

Normally I don't do these "what I got at the cardshow" posts, but there was this 50 cent box and you will not believe the shit I got out of it.


The Rookie Card of the greatest footballer America has ever produced. (Sorry, Landon; but she's actually won a World Cup -- two in fact.)


Hmmm. I never knew Richie Ashburn was in 1998 Collector's Choice. Turns out, he wasn't. This was part of a wrapper redemption thing that UD did at the '98 SportsFest show.

For the uninitiated, SportsFest was a National-caliber show promoted by Krause Publications back in the late-90s/early-00s. There were actually three SportsFests a year: One in Philly, and the others in Chicago and Anaheim.

I was living in Nebraska at the time, which, not coincidentally, is where Ol' Whitey grew up.


A Platinum Medallion of Cap'n Cheeseburger, serial-numbered to 50. That's like a penny for each serial-number! Pretty cool how I figured that out, huh? Anybody know any CC-Supercollectors?


A dead Allen & Ginter Rip Card of some San Diego clown. It's almost as if Topps wants you to rip open this card.

For some reason, I'm beginning to collect dead Rip Cards. I guess I can show my grand kids some of the dumb things card companies used to do. No big deal, right...


And over in the next column of the box was this. But this ain't no ordinary Chipper mini.

Take a look at that card number. Yepper, that's the Rip Card-exclusive Chipper mini. A $40-$80 card, sitting there for the taking in a 50 cent box.

A WINNAH IS ME!

The Philly Show was Discovered by Me.

The Philly Show was discovered by me. Oh sure, they've had the Philadelphia Baseball Card and Sports Memorabilia Show since 1979. And yes, they've had some decent-sized crowds. But until I starting writing about it a few years ago, no one outside the greater Philadelphia tri-state area knew it even existed. Hell, no one outside the greater Philadelphia tri-state area even knew they had the best card show in America right in their backyard! That is, until I started to write about it. Ergo, The Philly Show was discovered by me.

Oh sure, there were card shows in the Philadelphia area. But did you ever see Pete Rose signing autographs at the George Washington Motor Lodge? Did Shane Victorino ever make an appearance at the Ft. Washington Expo Center? Were Cliff Lee, Steve Carlton, and Mike Schmidt ever within 20 miles of Reading, PA? No. And why not? Because I didn't write about them. Sometime around 2001, I posted my first review of The Philly Show to this very website. The Hobby, and The Philly Show, hasn't been the same since.

---

First off, I want to say that DC drivers are the worst. It took me four and a half hours to get from Fairfax, VA to Valley Forge, PA -- a drive that should have taken no more than three hours. Yes, it snowed. It snowed a lot. It snowed all the way to Baltimore. But that doesn't give you an excuse to drive 40 MPH on the Beltway.

I finally arrived around 2PM. Unlike earlier this year, the card show did not need to share the facility with a gun show. Just as well, I brought that can of "Chemical Billy" I got here back in March. You know, just in case. You never know when you'll need to soak a Joe Collector with Bear Mace.

Speaking of JC, he was out in force in Valley Forge. Your humble correspondent personally saw Joe rip a box of the new Topps Unique, pick out the "hits" and (and I'm not making this up) throw away the commons. As in, throw them in the garbage. I attempted to recover them, but the coffee grounds and nacho cheese sauce made them a terminal case. This guy deserved a Macing on pure principle.

In the end, I picked up a Hobby box of '09 Topps 206 for only $72. I also bought $100 worth of assorted inserts and SPs for $65, and $6 on top-loaders.

Total Spent on Cards: $143
Admission: $6
Tolls: $9
GRAND TOTAL: $158

What I Got at the Chantilly Show: 10/30/09

What I Got at the Philly Show: 9/26/09

One box of Goodwin Champions: $68
62 $1 inserts: $62
Admission: $6
Tolls: $9
Grand Total: $145

What I Got at The White Plains Show (8/14/09)

What I got at the Midtown Sports Card Show: 6/13/09

Hey kids? Do you like shiny baseball cards with autographs of obscure minor league prospects, most of whom will never make much of an impact in the Big Leagues? Do you yearn for manufactured letter patch "cards" with barely legible autographs? How about gobs and gobs of current year inserts scattered around higgledy-piggledy around an eight-foot table, all hopelessly disorganized? Have we got a card show for you! The monthly Midtown Sports Card Show at the Holy Cross Catholic School in Manhattan!

I found an ad for this show in the Beckett show listings. It sounded like a good day out; so, why not? Upon entering the school, I felt like I had stepped in a time machine. It was like I was at a card show in the late-80s/early-90s -- about 20 tables in a postage-stamp sized school gym. But size and location is where all similarities end.

This is no exaggeration, but literally every dealer had stacks of 2005-08 Bowman Chrome singles. Not regular Bowman, but BowChro -- and very few of them base cards. If you're dying to finish off that '06 Bowman Draft X-Fractor set (And who isn't? Am I right?), you would have hit the jackpot. There was some vintage, but not much; and 90s and mid-00s stuff, forget it. That is, unless you want to pick through the massive piles of scattered top loaders that seemed to be on every table. I think I saw only one dealer who properly displayed his cards in a showcase and a couple in cardboard boxes. Since I didn't arrive until 2:30, and the show closed at 4:00, I had no interest in picking through 15 table's worth of random cards.

Only one dealer was selling wax of any kind, and once again, it was Seymour the Wax Man. I told you about Seymour last year during my visit to White Plains; he's a regular on the New York card show circuit, and occasionally makes his way down toward my neck-o'-the-woods. Seymour came prepared with four tables of new wax, and some old stuff as well ('93 UD for $25, '95 SP for $25, '97 Ultra Series Two Hobby for $95). He also had HTA boxes of Topps Series Two and Bowman for $85 each, and regular Hobby wax for $50 each. I was tempted with a box of '09 UD Series Two for $65, but given my recent experience with UD, I wisely took a pass.

I left disappointed with the selection, and in the end the only thing I bought was an HTA box of '09 Bowman for $85. But, if you've got nothing planned for Saturday afternoon, July 11, and are a train ride from NYC, go check it out -- if only for the novelty of seeing what a card show used to be.

Tolls, Parking, and Train Fare: $24.95
Admission: $1
Total Spent on Cards: $85

Grand Total: $115.95

Fear and Loathing in Delaware

Newark, the third largest city in the State of Delaware. Home to the State's flagship University. But we're not here to see the Fightin' Blue Hens. Our destination is the Aetna Fire Hall for a good old fashioned card show.

Shows like this were commonplace back in the 80s and 90s. The concept is simple: some local dealer rents out a conference room at a motel or fire hall, set up about 20-25 tables, and presto. Instant card show.

Santa Claus sent me one of those cheap battery-powered camcorders for Christmas, so I thought I'd use it to show you the scene. You know, video gonzo journalism. But the fascist at the door ordered me to put me camera it away.

I had to settle for shooting this in the parking lot.



All in all, a good way to kill a Sunday afternoon.

What I Observed (and got) at the White Plains Ass Slap: 11/29/08

Yes, it was White Plains weekend. And you know what, The Slap couldn't come soon enough. After all the turkey, bad football, and annoying relatives, a Saturday afternoon in White Plains was definitely in order.

For the first time in a long time, the show was in the basement of the Westchester County Center. The folks at JP's Rock Solid Promotions were punked out by a stamp and coin show, which booked the arena floor so into the basement we all went.

If you've never been to the basement of the Westchester County Center, consider yourselves lucky. It is the tenth circle of hell. Imagine the usual White Plains show, but compressed into a space the size of your typical middle school lunch room. Combine that with the atmosphere of a medium-security prison and you have a dreadful scene.

Now that I'm on the subject, for those of you that have small children or babies, do me a favor. Do not ever take your kid to a card show like White Plains. It's bad enough that you have to constantly run into other collectors while navigating the extremely narrow aisles. I don't need to be constantly running into your wife/girlfriend and your four-year-old. It's called a babysitter, look into it jerky.

In fact, when I'm dictator, my first decree will be that all children under the age of eight shall be prohibited from attending sports collectible shows.

---

As for the show, Jim Rice -- one of the show's autograph guests -- no-showed. Not that anyone seemed to care. (This is, after all, Yankee/Met country.) Now if this were a little further to the North and East, you would have heard about the riot already.

One of the regulars at White Plains (and at most other card shows in Northeast) is a dealer named Seymour. He always rents six tables and stacks them high with all the latest wax. I purchased a box of Allen & Ginter for $65 and an HTA box of Topps series two for $45 from him, but then the conversation turned to another Topps product.

"Say, are you collecting Stadium Club? I can cut you a deal. $175!"

The price tag on his stack of eight 2008 Stadium Club baseball boxes had already been marked down from $225 to $200 to $185. I replied, "Nah, that's alright."

"What's the matter, you don't like Stadium Club?"

"I like Stadium Club, just not 2008 Stadium Club. It's overpriced and uncollectible."

At this point Seymour lowered his voice and said, "You know what, you're right. But I'm stuck with all these boxes that aren't moving. You know, I have to wonder what Topps was thinking. It great that they brought back the Stadium Club name, but $25? For one pack? In this economy? And all those autographs? Who's gonna collect that?"

To which I said, "Yeah, sometimes I wonder too. I wonder if whoever came up with 2008 Stadium Club even collects baseball cards?"

He nodded his head in agreement.

After making this purchase, and bowling over about five stray toddlers, I went looking for cheap singles. White Plains is a Mecca for cheapskates like myself who rummage through the $1, $5, and $10 boxes. I picked out about $30 worth of 2006 and 2007 Bowman base set autographs and another $16 worth of various inserts from such boxes.

---

Other observations:

For the first time in my life, I witnessed perhaps the single greatest autographed insert card of the modern era: a 1992 Score The Franchise Triple-AU of of Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, and Carl Yastrzemski. It didn't have a price tag, and I wasn't about to ask.

Some a-hole had packs of 1997 Metal Universe for $5 each. $5 for a pack of '97 Metal? Yep, $5. Why? Because it has an "A-ROD AUTOGRAPH!" Yes, 1997 Metal did have an on-card autograph of Alex Rodriguez. Too bad it was a redemption.

Another a-hole had a 1993 Donruss Don Mattingly (base card) for sale. It was graded PSA10 and he wanted $20 for it. First off, who the fuck sends '93 Donruss singles to be graded? And who the fuck would want to pay hard currency for a GRADED 1993 DONRUSS DON MATTINGLY BASE CARD?

Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects is live, but no one seems to care anymore. I didn't see a single waxbox sold.

The same can be said for the new unlicensed Donruss Elite.

I was tempted to buy a waxbox of 1992 Score Italian Soccer for $5, but thought better of it.

Total Spent on Cards: $156
Admission and Parking: $11
Tolls: $16.70
Grand Total: $183.70

White Plains: Not Quite as Decadent and Depraved.

I got out of my car around one in the afternoon and no one spoke as I crossed the Bronx River Parkway towards the arena. The air was unusually warm. Inside, people hugged each other and shook hands...big grins and a whoop here and there: "By God! You old bastard! Good to see you, boy! Damn good...and I mean it!"

In the air conditioned snack bar I met a man from Long Island who said his name was something or other--"but just call me Vito"--and he was here to get it on. "I'm ready for anything, by God! Anything at all. Yeah, what are you drinkin?" I ordered a Pepsi.

"Look." He tapped me on the arm to make sure I was listening. "I know this White Plains crowd, I come here every show, and let me tell you one thing I've learned -- this is no card show to be giving people the impression you're a non-collector. Not in public, anyway. Shit, they'll roll you in a minute, knock you in the head and take every goddam card you have."

"Say," he said, "you look like you might be in the card business...am I right?"

"No," I said. "I'm a writer."

"Oh yeah?" He eyed my ragged book of wantlists with new interest. "Is that what you got there -- notepads? Who you write for?"

"Stale Gum," I said.

He laughed. "Well, goddam! I read that page all the time!" He was laughing wildly. "Hell yes!"

I shook my head and said nothing; just stared at him for a moment, trying to look grim. "There's going to be trouble," I said. "I'm here to cover the story."

"Story?"

I hesitated, twirling the ice in my Pepsi. "On the floor. 2008 Bowman Baseball." I stared at him again. "Don't you read my site?"

The grin on his face had collapsed. "What the hell are you talkin' about?"

"Well...maybe I shouldn't be telling you..." I shrugged. "But hell, everybody else seems to know. Everybody's been ready for weeks. They brought 25 cases. They've warned us -- all the press and bloggers -- to wear helmets and special vests like flak jackets. We were told to expect rioting..."

"No!" he shouted; his hands flew up and hovered momentarily between us, as if to ward off the words he was hearing. Then he whacked his fist on the bar. "Topps! Those sons of bitches! God Almighty! The White Plains Show!" He kept shaking his head. "No! Jesus! That's almost too bad to believe!" Now he seemed to be sagging on the stool, and when he looked up his eyes were misty. "Why? Why here? Don't they respect anything?"

I shrugged again. "It's not just Topps. Beckett says box loads of Celebrity Cuts are coming from Donruss -- to mix with the other wax and attack collector's wallets all at once, from every direction. They'll look like all the other high-end packs. But when the trouble starts...well, that's why I brought this." I then showed him my can of "Chemical Billy."

He sat for a moment, looking hurt and confused and not quite able to digest all this terrible news. Then he cried out: "Oh...Jesus! What in the name of God is happening in this Hobby? Where can you get away from it?"

"Not here," I said, picking up my wantlists. "Thanks for the drink...and good luck."

He grabbed my arm, urging me to have another, but I said I was overdue on the floor and hustled off to get my act together for the awful spectacle.

I went to one table to pick up a box of '08 Upper Deck series two, but the moon-faced young swinger in charge said they didn't have any. "You can't buy one anywhere," he assured me. "It ain't out for another couple a weeks. Besides, our pre-sells have been booked for six weeks."

I leaned closer to him, half-whispering: "Look, I'm from stalegum.com. How would you like to write for a Hobby blog?"

He backed off quickly. "What? Come on, now. What kind of a blog?"

"Never mind," I said. "You just blew it." I swept my wantlist book off the table and went to find some cheap inserts. A man in a gimmicky T-Shirt is a valuable prop in this kind of work; I have lots and the most prominent of all is a very official, navy blue thing that says "Rated Rookie." I bought it from a website somewhere, and they told me how to use it. "Never mention your website until you're sure they've seen you in this shirt first," they said. "Then, when you see them notice it, that's the time to strike. They'll go belly up ever time. This thing is magic, I tell you. Pure magic."

Well...maybe so. I'd used it on the poor geek in the snack bar, and now I felt a little guilty about jangling the poor bugger's brains. But what the hell? Anybody who wanders around the world saying, "Hell yes, I'm from Long Island," deserves whatever happens to him. And he had, after all, come here once again to make a nineteenth-century ass of himself in the midst of some jaded, atavistic waxbox freakout. Early in our chat, Vito had told me that he hadn't missed a White Plains show since 1996. "The little lady won't come anymore," he said. "She grits her teeth and turns me loose for this one. And when I say 'loose' I do mean loose! I toss ten-dollar bills around like they were goin' out of style! Wax, singles, rookies...shit, there's dealers in this building that'll do anything for money."

Why not? Money is a good thing to have in these twisted times. The Hobby, meanwhile, continues its grim slide.

---

My attorney was unable to accompany me to White Plains. But I remember what he told me before I left.

"As your attorney, I advise you not to buy 2008 Bowman wax. With all the gimmicks and autographed "rookies," it's a junkwax product now. You'll be able to get a box for half-price after the baseball season ends."

My attorney is a very wise man. He's not just some dingbat I found on the Strip. I think he's probably Samoan.

---

I came for a cardboard riot, and left a bit disappointed. Although 2008 Bowman was live, and in ample supply (Hobbby: $60-$63; HTA: $89-$95), it wasn't selling. In fact, in my three hours at White Plains, I did not witness a single box sold nor did I see a single collector carrying around a purchased box. Maybe card collectors are starting to get hep to Bowman? Either that, or they all have my attorney on retainer.

It wasn't just the Bowman wax. The entire Westchester County Center was a morgue. The last show... The Hobbyists were packed into that place like a Tokyo subway car. Shit, there were so many dealer tables, they had 'em stacked up on the stage! This show... Nothing. No junkwax. No loose packs to review on APAD. No, nothing.

Then again, it probably wasn't a smart idea to schedule the show during the first weekend of Interleague Play. In these parts, The Subway Series is a far, far better thing than the Super Bowl, the Kentucky Derby, and the Lower Oakland Roller Derby Finals all rolled into one. The White Plains show attracts a very special breed, and they were either out at Yankee Stadium, or home watching the game on TV.

I began wandering the aisle looking for something to bust. Leftover boxes of Topps Moments and Milestones for only $69. (Now with a complementary layer of dust!) A box of 2001 Bowman Chrome for $600. Some poor sap is probably dumb enough to buy that box, and he'll probably pull that Albert Pujols redemption card. Sucker. Monster box after monster box of commons and cheap inserts. I looked at those monster boxes and began to think. How would Jefferson Burdick handle the situation?

Panic. It crept up my spine like the first rising vibes of a wax frenzy. All these horrible realities began to dawn on me: Here I was all alone in White Plains, completely twisted and in need of a wax fix, with no attorney, not much cash, and no wax riot story for the blog. How would Jefferson Burdick handle the situation? Shit! I'm not even sure ol' Jeff could handle this.

---

I wound up purchasing a stack of 2004 Topps Heritage SPs interspersed with 2007 Fleer and Topps Heritage commons for $80. I also spent $40 on a stack of over 50 inserts from a dollar box -- ranging from 1994-2007. I was able to pull a 2001 Roy Oswalt Rookie Diamond King, so I can add that to the 2K1 D'Russ blog.

All in all, a pretty disappointing show.

Total Spent on Cards: $120
Admission and Parking: $11
Tolls: $15.70

GRAND TOTAL: $146.70

Fear and Loathing in Reading.

We were somewhere around King of Prussia, on the edge of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, when the pack busting jones began to take hold. I remember saying something like "I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe you should drive..." And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked like former late-night sports collectible TV hosts, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car, which was going about seventy-five miles an hour to Reading. And a voice was screaming: "GEM! MINT! TEN!"

Then it was quiet again. "What the hell are you yelling about?" my attorney muttered, staring up at the sun. "Never mind," I said. "It's your turn to drive." I hit the brakes and aimed the Great Black Tank toward the shoulder of the PA Turnpike. No point in mentioning the voices of Don West and Kenny Goldin, I thought. The poor bastard will hear them soon enough.

It was almost Noon, and we still had thirty miles to go. They would be tough miles. Very soon, I knew, we would both be twisted. But there was no going back, and no time to rest. We would have to ride it out. The fabulous Philadelphia Sports Card & Memorabilia Show was already underway, and we had to get there by four. And I was, after all, a semi-professional fake-gonzo baseball card journalist; so I had an obligation to cover the story, for good or ill.

I had $300 in cash, most of which was already spent on extremely worthless baseball cards. The trunk of the car looked like a mobile Shop at Home studio. We had two factory sets of '90 Donruss, 75 waxpacks of 1989 Topps, five waxboxes of 1991 Classic Draft Picks, a 800-count box half-full of Casey Candaele rookie cards, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored '90 Topps, '91 Fleer, '88 Score, '94 Stadium Club... and also a set of '81 Donruss, a vending box of '88 Topps, a case of '87 Sportflix, a rack box of '89 Score and two dozen '01 Donruss singles.

Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious junkwax collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can.

The only thing that really worried me was the '89 Score. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an '89 Score pack busting binge. And I knew we'd get into that rotten stuff pretty soon. Probably at the next Turnpike rest area. We had sampled almost everything else, and now -- yes, it was time for an '89 Score rack pack.

"Man this is the way to travel," said my attorney. He leaned over to turn the volume up on the radio, humming along and moaning the words: "K-Y-W! News-Ray-Dee-Oh! Ten-Sixty!"

You poor fool! Wait till you hear Ken Goldin's voice!

---

We drove around to the Greater Reading Expo Center and parked near the front door. "This is the place," I said. "Where's the '88 Fleer?" said my attorney. "The '93 Topps ain't working." I gave him the key to the trunk while I ripped into some '92 Leaf. He came back with two '88 Fleer cellos, opened them, then emptied the cards into an 660-count box. This is the main advantage of late-80s junkwax: it makes you behave like the village drunkard in some early-Irish novel. Which is interesting, because the brain continues to function more or less normally ... you can actually watch yourself behaving in this terrible way, but you can't control it.

You approach the entrance leading into the Greater Reading Expo Center and you know that when you get there, you have to give the lady six dollars or she won't let you inside ... but when you get there, everything goes wrong: you misjudge the distance to the front door and slam against it, bounce off and grab hold of the old lady handing out complementary EPSCC gift bags and you think: What's going on here? What's going on? Ah, devil '88 Fleer.

The ground floor of the Greater Reading Expo Center is full of dealer tables, like all the other card shows ... but even bigger. I came in wanting to buy wax; specifically the brand new 2008 Topps Heritage. I step up to the first table with '08 TH: going price $69. "As your attorney, I advise you to pay no more than $65 for the new Topps Heritage."

Eventually found what I was looking for: a box of '08 TH for only $62. This particular dealer also had a box of 1997 Pinnacle and I was tempted to pick it up. At only $15 it seemed like a bargain, and the perfect addition to our burgeoning junkwax collection.

"As your attorney I advise you not to buy the '97 Pinnacle box. Instead you should search for the $4 boxes of 1986 Donruss All-Stars that Scott wrote about on A Pack A Day."

Ah yes, the '86 Donruss All-Stars. Me and my attorney searched far-and-near for these boxes, but our collective efforts went for naught.

---

Sometime around two-thirty my attorney wanted something to eat. We were standing in front of former Phillies pitcher (and the show's autograph guest) Shane Rawley when my attorney began yelling at the people in line.

"Hey there? You folks wanna buy some junkwax?"

No reply. No sign of recognition. They'd been warned of this kind of crap: Just ignore it ... "Goddamnit, I'm serious! I wanna sell you some pure fuckin' junkwax!" But still nobody answered. I glanced over, very briefly, and saw four Pennsylvanian faces frozen with shock, staring straight ahead.

It was sometime around three when we entered the Greater Reading Expo Center's snack bar. There was something about the atmosphere of the snack bar to put me on guard. The cashier was passively hostile, but I was accustomed to that. All I wanted from her, was a Budweiser Select and a $5 basket of chicken fingers. No hassels, no talk -- just a place to rest and regroup. I wasn't even hungry.

My attorney had no cards, or anything else to compel his attention. So he focused, out of boredom, on the cashier. She was taking our orders like a robot when he punched through her crust with a demand for "Two cans of Bud -- and a plastic cup!"

My attorney poured the two cans into the cup and drank them in one long gulp, then asked for another can of Bud. I noticed that the cashier seemed tense.

Fuck it, I thought. I was reading the insertion odds on the back of my 2008 Heritage box.

---

What the fuck was I still doing here? I wondered. It made no sense at all. Since I was already here, I though I might as well buy a box of last year's Heritage, and found one for $60. After purchasing the box, we turned away and reeled off in the general direction of the exit.

"God's mercy on you swine!" I shouted at two dealers coming out of the men's room.

They looked at me, but said nothing. By this time I was laughing crazily. But it made no difference. I was just another cardboard degenerate. Shit, they love me on A Pack A Day. I felt like a monster reincarnation of Jefferson Burdick ... A Collector on the Move, and just sick enough to be totally confident.

Total Spent on Cards: $122
Admission: $6
Tolls: $7
Basket of Chicken Fingers and three cans of Bud Select: $17
Grand Total: $152

What I Observed (and got) at the "New York Ass Slap*," a.k.a. The White Plains Show: 1/19/08

I was supposed to hook-up with Ben Henry, but he forgot my cell phone number, and I forgot to ask for his. The great clash of the cardblogosphere titans will have to wait until the next pay-per-view, errr..., White Plains show.

Just as well. My adopted EPL side Fulham was playing Arsenal that morning on Fox Soccer. Couple that with the fustercluck that is the Cross-Bronx Expressway, and I didn't get to WHP until 2:30.

(Memo to self: Next time take the Tappan Zee. I don't care if driving 60MPH on the Bronx River Parkway is the most fun you can have with your pants on, TAKE THE TZ INSTEAD!)

By the time I finally arrived, most of the scheduled autograph guests had left. The only one left signing was former Gnats Giants and Eagles punter Sean Landeta. (Damn, I knew I should have brought that football.) Unfortunately, this being the "New York Ass Slap*," the only photos of Landeta available for sale were of him in Gnats Giants gear. I gave my free Sean Landeta autograph coupon to some guy who looked like Carl from the Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

Seriously, this guy looked EXACTLY like Carl. The only thing missing was the Foreigner Belt and the green flip-flops.


Anyway, here's what I got.

$55 in assorted inserts (mostly 2004-present).

Aww yeah, it's that time.

You know it's that time.

It's time for... $55 worth of inserts.

Aww yeah.


I had the $55,

I had to have the inserts.

Aww yeah.


Now, I could have bought $20 worth of inserts.

And that would have been, a LOT of inserts.

But I had to go all the way, baby!

With $55 worth of inserts.

Aww yeah.


Now I know what you're thinking; Chris, how exactly did you get $55 worth of inserts?

SHHHH!!!!

Don't worry your pretty little head off.

It ain't none of your concern.

Aww yeah.

$55 for a box of 2007 Topps Heritage

Believe it on not, but this is the first box of 2007 Topps Heritage I've purchased. I guess I've just become bored (or is it jaded?) with the whole "Heritage" concept. But I wanted something to rip, and this was the only wax available that interested me. It was either this, or a jumbo box of '93 Upper Deck.

The first pack should be posted to APAD by the time you read this, and a full review will be posted here shortly.

$40 in 2007 Ultra retail singles

Right as I was about to leave, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a dealer selling singles of Ultra retail.

A Hobby dealer who busts mass-quantities of retail? Yes folks, there is a God.

After I picked through the short-set singles, I asked the dealer if she had any of the short-printed rookies and Lucky 13s? To which she said (with a wink-and-a-smile),

"You must be one of them."

To which I replied,

"You mean, an actual collector."

We both got a kick out of that.

I'm now three cards short of completing the Ultra retail base set -- all of them from the short-set.

Total Spent on Cards: $150
Admission and Parking: $11
Tolls: $9.90
Grand Total: $170.90

* Thanks to A Pack A Day contributor Scott for coining the term "New York Ass Slap."

What I Got (and Observed) at the Philly/Reading Show: 10/13/07

Site: Greater Reading Expo Center; Reading, PA

After taking a practice GRE exam in the morning, I arrived in Reading around Noon. Stale Gum reader Scott, a teacher at a Philadelphia-area Catholic school, was the sole person to RSVP, and he didn't arrive until around 1:30PM.

Some observations:

• Although I miss the old Ft. Washington Expo Center, I'm beginning to warm to the new place in Reading. Yeah, it is 55-miles from Center City, but the Greater Reading Expo Center has one trump card over the old Ft. Washington Expo Center AND the Westchester County Center: they've got a liquor license. This may be the only card show in America where you can buy a beer. Awesome.
• We may have witnessed the last three unopened packs of 2001 Bowman Chrome Baseball left on the planet. I was tempted to plunk down $75 for the packs, and post the results to A Pack A Day, but thought the wiser. Besides, knowing my luck I would have pulled the Albert Pujols redemption.
• I think I also found the last two unopened waxboxes of 1994 Sportflix Rookie/Traded left on the planet. They were both in a locked display case, and didn't have a price listed -- didn't ask either.
• Judging by the amount of used baseball books for sale, I've come to the conclusion that every member of the '77 Yankees had their "autobiography" ghostwritten by Peter Golenbock.
• I was unable to find my latest "white whale," a 1994 Upper Deck Next Generation Alex Rodriguez insert. I great card from an under appreciated set.
• I had no idea that Frank Howard, the show's autograph guest, once played in Japan. Yep. The "Capital Punisher" played one game for the Seibu Lions, struck out, blew out his back, and never played again.
• The Fleer Ultra SE experiment has turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. 5-pack boxes were selling in the $44-$50 range -- well below the $100/box MSRP. Allen & Ginter is still hanging in there at just under $100/box.
• Question: Which waxbox do you think costs more? 1987 Donruss, or 2007 Bowman? The correct answer is 1987 Donruss at $30. Would you believe that the current year's Bowman is now going for less than $30/box? I guess all the autographs and Chrome cards weren’t such a great idea?
• I'm a total sucker for junkwax, and the table that had the $29 Bowman waxboxes also had some other primo junk. Unfortunately, it wasn't much of anything I was interested in. Examples:
• '93 Stadium Club series two: $8
• '93 Fleer series one Jumbos: $10 (If only I could go back in time and NOT buy that '93 Fleer jumbo box.)
• '94 Leaf series two Jumbos: $12
• '94 Pinnacle series two Hobby: $15
• '97 Pinnacle Hobby: $19
• '97 Score series one Retail: $12

As for what I bought:

One retail waxbox of Upper Deck Goudey. (Paid $50)

If you're still in the market for Goudey, avoid Hobby wax like the plague! Retail is where it's at. The only difference between Hobby and Retail is 1) the Sport King chiptopper, 2) one autograph, and 3) about $35-$40.

(Since I've already posted a Blaster break, and my product review on APAD, I won't be posting the results of this box here.)

A stack of '90s inserts. (Paid $129)

1994 Leaf Gamers Barry Bonds ($5)
1995 Leaf Statistical Standouts Ken Griffey, Jr. ($8)
1995 Leaf Heading for the Hall Ken Griffey, Jr. ($6)
1995 Leaf Gold Leaf Stars Barry Bonds ($8)
1996 Donruss Hit Parade Ken Griffey, Jr. ($3)
1996 Donruss Long Ball Leaders Ken Griffey, Jr. ($6)
1996 Donruss Round Trippers Ken Griffey, Jr. ($5)
1996 Donruss Freeze Frame Ken Griffey, Jr. ($5)
1996 Leaf Limited Pennant Craze Ken Griffey, Jr. ($8)
1996 Leaf Preferred Steel Power Ken Griffey, Jr. ($5)
1996 Summit Positions Edmonds/Griffey, Jr./Damon ($8)
1997 Donruss Armed and Dangerous Barry Bonds ($5)
1997 Donruss Franchise Features Ken Griffey, Jr./Andruw Jones ($5)
1997 Donruss Power Alley Ken Griffey, Jr. ($8)
1997 Donruss Limited Fabric of the Game Ken Griffey, Jr. ($10)
1997 Leaf Preferred Staremaster Ken Griffey, Jr. ($4)
1997 SP SPx Force Jones/Guerrero/Walker/Rolen ($4)
1997 Ultra Fielder's Choice Ken Griffey, Jr. ($6)
1998 Studio Masterstrokes Mark McGwire ($6)
2001 Donruss Longball Leaders Barry Bonds ($6)
2001 Donruss "1999" Diamond Kings Ken Griffey, Jr. ($6)

I've rediscovered the joys of collecting 1990s inserts. Most of the current wave of insert cards aren't really worth collecting, and you just don't find these cards everyday. Give me 1995 Leaf Statistical Standouts over Generation Now any day.

Speaking of the Leaf Stat Standouts, whatever happened to "Material" cards anyway? You know, those cards that had the look and feel of leather, wood, polyester, etc., but weren't actually made of game used material? They were all the rage about a dozen years ago, but by the turn of the Century, the concept fizzled out. I guess having actual pieces of wood and polyester mounted onto a trading card (the gamer) killed that idea off, but I wouldn't mind them being brought back.

As part of my quest to build a master set of the Worst Baseball Card Set of All Time, I also picked up another two 2001 Donruss inserts.

Another reason why I've rediscovered the 1990s insert is price. You can now have these cards for a fraction of what they were going for just a few years ago. This particular dealer had a boatload of Ken Griffey, Jr. and Barry Bonds inserts for 80%-off Beckett HI. I don't know why those particular players, but I could have easily bought another $100 worth of cards from this guy. Unfortunately, I just got my car insurance bill. (DAMN YOU GEICO! DAMN YOU AND YOUR CAVEMEN TO HELL!)

Total Spent on Cards: $179
Admission: $6
Tolls: $3
Hot Dog, French Fries, and a Beer: $10
Grand Total: $198

What I got at the White Plains Show: 5/19/07

Site: Westchester County Center; White Plains, NY


Yeah, I know. It's been six weeks since my last post. Sorry about that. Time flies when your trying to get into a halfway decent grad school.


First off, I didn't wake up until 12:30 PM. I went ten rounds with one Mr. Jack Daniels at the Phillies-Blue Jays game the night before. Let's just say, I lost. That, combined with the bad weather, meant that I didn't arrive in White Plains until 4:00 PM -- an hour before the show's closing.


Pulling off the Bronx River Parkway, the lot was nearly empty, and the attendant let me by for free. (Normally you have to pay $4 to park). I still had to pay the $7 admission to get in show though.

With my elusive six-year quest for the mysterious 2001 Donruss Albert Pujols RC finally completed, I've moved on to my next "white whale:" The equally elusive twelve-year quest for the mysterious 1994 Score Rookie/Traded Alex Rodriguez Call-Up redemption card. The backstory on this card is worthy of an entire post (hmmm...), but much like the Donruss Pujols, the SR/TCU is one of those cards that I've always wanted, but have never actually seen for myself. Granted, I didn't have time to look at every table, but I didn't find the A-Rod SR/TCU here.


One Box of 2007 Upper Deck Series One (paid $59)
One Box of 2006 Flair Showcase (paid $49)


These were my fourth and third boxes, respectively, of '07 UD and '06 Flair.

I was debating on whether to buy either a box of last years Topps Heritage; a box of this year's Topps Heritage; or the box of last year's Flair Showcase -- as the going rate for all three the same. I was one Eric Chavez card short of completing the 100-card Flair short set, and only bought it just to see what fracture cards and inserts I could get. This particular Flair Showcase box yielded a Dice-K WBC insert, and a David Wright Fresh Ink autograph. It wasn't until after I looked it up in the Beckett, that I discovered that the Wright was short-printed to 100 copies and worth $60! I still didn't get that Chavez card I needed to finish the short-set. In three boxes I've pulled two Billy Wagner Legacy parallels, each numbered to 150 copies, but zero Eric Chavez's base set cards.

A stack of '05-'07 commons and short-prints. (paid $40)

This was mostly '07 Fleer singles and '06 Ultra Lucky 13s. I also got the last few cards I needed to finish off '06 Topps Updates and Highlights and '06 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects.

A stack of various inserts, and short-prints. (paid $30)

Among these were three '00 SPx autographed "rookies" (Octavio Dotel and a pair of scrubs), and a bunch of '06 Topps inserts. However, the big find was a Roy Oswalt 2000 Black Diamond Rookie Edition jersey card that books for $25. Not bad.

Total Spent on Cards: $178
Admission: $7
Parking: FREE
Tolls: $12
Grand Total: $197

What I got at the White Plains Show: 3/24/07

Site: Westchester County Center; White Plains, NY.

I've got two ten-page research papers due in the next month -- neither one I've actually started. But screw all that, it's White Plains weekend, and I'm there!

No sightings of the infamous, deplorable, Keith Olbermann, but the crowds were noticeibly smaller than in January. Kind of unusual considering that baseball is right around the corner, and White Plains is in the heart of Yankee country.

Two boxes of 2007 Upper Deck Series One (paid $55 each)

'07 UD was tops in my list for this show, and I was able to snag two Hobby boxes from the same dealer for $110. Box breaks forthcoming, but due to my academic studies, do not expect a formal review anytime soon -- if ever.

This dealer had both Hobby and Retail -- even though (as he said) Retail wasn't expected until later this week. The Retail boxes (which have 24 packs of eight cards) were $45, and Hobby (16 of 15) were $55/box. Considering that the cost-per-card were roughly the same for both formats (about $0.23-per-card) and Hobby promises two gamers and an autograph, I went with Hobby boxes.

A stack of '01-'04 Topps and Bowman Heritage singles (Paid $125)

Another case of "Animal Spirits." The dealer whom I bought the two '07 UD boxes from had a couple of boxes of old Topps Heritage singles, and I just couldn't help myself. (And yes, I paid $5 for another Marlon Anderson card: '02 Topps Heritage SP). This stack also included a bunch of '06 Ultra non-parallel inserts I needed.

Speaking of Topps Heritage, it is NOT selling like it used to. I mean, for Christ sake, I saw boxes of '07 Heritage going for $50! Which begs the question: Has Topps Heritage finally run its course? I'm not suggesting that Topps abandon Heritage altogether, but maybe put it on hiatus for '08.

One big ol' stack of late-90s and early-00s era inserts and short-prints (Paid $50)

This from the same dealer that I bought a bunch a late-90s and early-00s era short-prints and inserts from at the last White Plains show. If you were there, he was the big dude with the Reggie Bush jersey and the Bluetooth headset. I got three more '01 Donruss cards from this stack (a Nick Johnson SP, and McGwire and ManRam Rookie Reprints), and a crap load of other "junk" inserts.

Total spent on cards: $285
Admission: $7
Parking: $4
Tolls: $17.20
Grand Total: $313.20