A Little Trip to the Monthly Card Show

Hey everyone, last weekend we had our monthly card show at the Radisson here in Colorado Springs. It's a pretty small show, with one or two big vendors. One of them has one of the nicest vintage collections I've seen and he's a great and friendly guy. The other big vendor tends to have the "big" modern cards like the Ruth I picked up a couple months ago. Anyways, nothing too big this time around. I found a vendor with a dime box or two and I spent $1.00 on this:

A 2000 Bagwell from Fleer eX, a nice green parallel of Hunter Pence from Platinum. Springer and Altuve inserts. A nice Arian Foster insert and JJ Watt base that I didn't have. A Roberto Osuna mini from Bowman chrome as well as a blue parallel Brad Peacock from his A's days. I couldn't pass on the 93 Warren Moon acetate. Finally, a dual rookie of a couple of Mets who ended up in Astros unis: Joe Smith and Carlos Gomez! Also, screw Carlos Gomez.

Next up, I found a table with $1.00 cards that were 7 for $5.

A trio of Carlos Correa cards I didn't have (or can't find!). A nice 1968 Topps HR leaders with Aaron, the Toy Cannon, Santo and McCovey. What a great card for less than a buck! Snagged a nice Verlander rookie from Fleer Tradition, and a Dallas Keuchel rookie (sans beard) from Bowman Chrome. Finally, a /150 1st Bowman Chrome of the newest Astros OF, Michael Brantley. I'd have been perfectly happy leaving the show with all those cards for just $6 but I made it to a table with these beauts and I couldn't resist:

National Card Day 2017 Yuli rookie auto /175 for $10, absolutely. Jeff Bagwell from Legacies of Baseball (woefully underrated set IMO) for $20? Sign me up? Throw in the Hakeem/Drexler /25 patches for $15, don't mind if I do. Overall, a highly successful trip to the card show for yours truly.

Have a great week everyone!

Boooooooring...

I know, this blog is boring. It's kind of stuck in a rut right now. Here's the deal: at the end of December, I was basically laid off. There weren't any more construction projects for the two companies I had previously worked for so they couldn't just keep me on overhead in these trying financial times (sarcasm font in full effect). Oil and Gas just isn't what it used to be. Anywho, I've moved back to Colorado and been on the look for work. We have some savings and it's been a bit of a welcome respite after 8+ years on the road moving from one construction site to the next. So, while it's been great to be home and relaxed, the downside is that my "card budget" went from "pretty decent" to "NOTHING" pretty fast.

So, while I don't really have anything to share as far as new cards and purchases, certainly there must be something else to chat about right? What about you? What are some go-to topics when you hit when you're in a buying freeze? What do you do to get the writing juices going again?

I really should be spending this time organizing the collection - you should see my desk right now, it's a nightmare. Speaking of nightmares, we have filled in our time by playing a lot of board games. We recently picked up Mansions of Madness, part of the Arkham Horror series of games that loosely follow the H.P. Lovecraft stories. Ok, I'm rambling, y'all have a good one.

Redeemed - A Panini Story

I'm not trying to dog on Panini today, I'm really not. They have their flaws, to a lesser extent than Topps does, but both companies continue to fail at one thing pretty consistently: redemption fulfillment.

I get it, you want to put together a great product, but you can't always guarantee that the cards will be signed and returned timely. Thus, you use those horrid stickers. Then you make a product where you guarantee on-card autos. Short of sending a rep with the cards to the player's house and sitting with him while he signs all 10,000 of them, then fly back - again I get it, there's not much you can do. Wait... I thought that's what you SHOULD be doing.

Anywho... I redeemed this one a while back and sat patiently by the mail box. Finally, months later, it has arrived...

First of all, sorry for the horrible picture - but due to the Optic "chrome" nature of this one, it was near impossible to get a good angle on it, anyone got tips on how to take a pic of these type of cards without the glare and reflection problems? Anywho, let's get to what Panini did RIGHT here... Great looking on card auto and used a photo where the lack of logo doesn't kill the card. Well done Panini.

Also, I'm digging the Panini CS stickers holding the card in, I'm converting all my storage of hits from binders to top loaders anyways so now I don't even have to remove this beaut from the holder!

Have a great day everyone!