Card Show Bounty Baseball style....

At the last card show of the year I managed to pick up some baseball cards. Hard to believe, but there was a couple of sellers there with baseball cards.

Of course, the one list I forgot to bring was my vintage Topps Braves wants/needs. No matter, carry on.

1958 Joe Adcock. These first 6 cards cost me $15. Not great, but something about beggars and choosers comes to mind.

 1954 Bowman Jim Wilson.

 I was thrilled to add this ultra rare sideways variant of this 1972 Hank Aaron card. This could also qualify for Night Owl's badass club in my opinion.

 A 1955 Gene Conley. And I already have it. Always bring your lists kids.

 a 1975 Topps Mini of Johnny Oates. And I already have it. Always, ALWAYS bring your lists kids.

 I was able to add another card to my 1976 Topps set. Only 24 more to go!!!!!!

 I got these next two cards for a $1 apiece. Both black bordered Braves from 2009 OPC baseball.
Brian McCann and

 Jair Jurrjens...

 These next two cards were gifts from two different attendees.
First, a John Smoltz that you can literally use as a mirror. The scan does not reflect that (see what I did there?) But it is that shiny and smooth.

 and a Gold 2011 Bowman Chipper!!!

I also got a few vintage cards not seen here, but they have been mailed off to other bloggers. Or soon will be.
It was great to be able to browse some old baseball cards again.

What $17 and the last card show of the year brought me...

I went out to the local rec centre for the last card show of the year. I took my usual $20. Let's see what I procured.

I actually bought quite a few cards this time, which is unusual. Normally I come home with 4 or 5 cards. 15 cards came home in my pocket. All for $17.

Maybe the best of which is this beauty. A 1967 Philadelphia Dan Reeves Rookie.

 A wee off center and a couple of creases... but for $2 I could not say no. This makes 3 cards I have out of the 11 card team set. Only 8 more to go!!!! The seller said he'll bring more Cowboys next time for me to go through....

Hmmm... I need a coin to find out the answer. Or I could Google it. How times have changed.
Not too bad though... 16 touchdowns and over 1300 yards. And to think you just thought he was a Hall of Fame coach.

For the rest of my card show booty, you'll have to cross over to my other blog, Just A Bit Offside. Thanks. See you there.

The new season begins for card show booty.

This past weekend brought the very first card show of the 2010/11 season in Calgary. It's a small show held in the lobby of a curling rink/hockey arena. If you were with me the last couple of years, you've heard me talk about it before. This is the show where I learned that most card dealers are paranoid xenophobes. Remember?

Anyways, a new season brings new hope. I walk in to see the same dealers near the entrance as last year. But it's an 'L' shaped hall, let's see what's around the corner....... meh. Not much. Oh well, let's dive in.
The first dealer on the right as you walk in the door. He actually has a little stack of 1971 OPC baseball in the middle of one of his tables. Around 40 cards.... all commons. Surprise! No price. Okay bud, how much? Here's where it gets good. And I'm not making this up. He looks over at me, looks around, looks back at me with this wide-eyed expression, and says to me, 'Hang on a minute.' and leaves. He crosses over the hall to a dealer around 30 feet away and preceeds to BUY A BASEBALL BECKETT FROM HER!!!! He jogs back over madly flipping through the pages until he finds the page listing for '71 OPC and begins to tell me what certain cards in the set book for.
Sweet mother.
He finally stammers out that he'd let some of the cards go for around $2 each. Others might be more.
He doesn't even know what the hell he's selling.
I chuckle and walk away, not even looking at whatever else he has. How many people around here are collecting the 1971 OPC baseball set? You lost out dumbass.

Not a lot else at the show caught my eye, except for one guy off in the corner. He had a few monster boxes of cards that were all labeled, sorted, and PRICED! Every card had a price. And it had nothing to do with Beckett either.
I looked through a few rows of cards, grabbing 5 I knew I didn't have.

A 1971/72 OPC Doug Favell
Three 72/73 OPC's.... first Rogie Vachon

Dunc Wilson

and Jim Rutherford

finally, a 70/71 OPC Al Wilson.

This guy prided himself on top condition cards, and these are. His sticker price on these came to $8, he gave them to me for $5. Without me asking.

We chatted about the old days, collecting these cards, laughing at some of the wonderful photoshopping. He'll see me again next month.

The other guy? Not so much.

Sebastien Daniel!

the last of my card show purchases was this Sebastien Daniel Sisti card. You might know him as Sibby Sisti.
A 1951 Bowman card #170
with a slight character mark in the lower left corner.

a mouse maybe? A hungry two year old? No matter. Sibby set me back $3. Normally I don't buy Tiptons (does this count?) but I couldn't resist.

Sibby broke into the league in 1939 with the Boston Bees, and stayed with the franchise until retiring with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954. Included in that is a stint with the U.S. Coast Guard 1943-45.

Sibby is also famous because of The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book in which the book ends with the line, Good Night Sibby Sisti, wherever you are...

This now becomes my oldest baseball card. I have several tobacco cards going way back, but they all feature Indian Chiefs or Flags, or Actors....

What's your oldest baseball card?

Like Lemmings to a flame....

You knew I had to pick up some hockey while I was at the show... it's like a rule or something. Like Lemmings to a flame, or moths leaping off of a cliff, I buy vintage hockey.

I've been looking for a good copy of this card for awhile now to send off ttm for an auto. Phil and Dan Bouchard were the original Atlanta Flames. I sent off for Dan's auto last week, Phill will go next week.
A nice '73of Canadian Hero Paul Henderson for .50 cents. If you find cards of Paul for under a buck, YOU MUST BUY THEM. It's in our constitution.

You guys have that guy who warned you about the British coming, we have Paul Henderson. Both saved their nations from oblivion.

Paul is currently battling cancer... I feel sorry for the cancer. Go Paul!

Of course I picked up a card of the Road Runner.

Yvan is one of my faves from my childhood.

And a card of one of the Mahovlich brothers. This one is of the Peter the younger.

and of course what would that be without Frank the Elder?

Next, a couple of Rookie cards. First, Michel Plasse. Michel played for several teams in his career, but is most famous for his time in Colorado, playing for the Rockies.

Don Cherry, former coach of the Bruins and Rockies always has this to say about Michel whenever he sees a picture or "highlight" of him on TV.

"There's ole Michel Plasse, the Human Sieve."

I was sad to find out this week that Michel passed away in 2006.

Speaking of Don Cherry, the other RC I bought was of one of his two main goalies during his time with the Bruins.

Gilles Gilbert.

People often think that Gerry Cheevers was Don's main goalie, but it was actually Gilles. Four division championships in 5 seasons. Bounced out of the playoffs by Montreal every time.

Lastly, and completely random, Ed Giacomin, the Rangers All Time greatest goalie.

8 cards from '73/74 for $12. I'm a sucker.... but a happy one.

Wally Moon Wannabe?

Some more singles from the weekend card show.... Night Owl had asked to keep a look out for a Sandy Koufax. Any Koufax.... This was as close as I got. Well, actually, there was a gentleman there who had a 1966 Koufax that he rescued from some bicycle spokes somewhere. He had it on "Show special" for $300, down from $350. If I had cash, $280.
It's still there Greg. Sorry pal.

Anyways, from the same guy I got the '71 OPC from, I found this beauty for .50 cents.
Bill is so blinded by his eyebrows he is mistakingly hacking away at his Rookie trophy.
I also grabbed a few '75 OPC, including the Wes Westrum card. Better known as the San Francisco Giants Team checklist, unmarked, for a buck.

Yes, I put Dodgers and Giants right next to each other. What are you gonna do?

Along with Wes, I grabbed a couple of cards of rookies. Pitchers.....

and outfielders....

again, .50 cents each.

Later today, my hockey singles... (you knew there had to be some, didn't you?)

And then, the best baseball card at the whole show. Yes, even better than that $300 Koufax. It is Awesome with a capital "A".

Free internet cookies to anyone who can guess the card, or even the set....

Card Show Pickups - OPC style

at every show, there's a guy. You know the one. He's got singles. At a fair price. And they're discounted even further. And the more you buy, the cheaper it gets. Remember him? Yeah, he was there. Saved the show for me. Not a game used patch card in sight. No autographed jock straps. Just old singles. Mostly hockey, but in a box, off to the side, was baseball.
Inside I found some '71 OPC.
I bought them all.

First up, a stack of 44 cards, he called them "fillers". Total cost - $4. Did I mention it included 8 high numbers???
Next, some really nice looking cards. Two team cards. (my scanner ate one of the borders, but it's there)

Buford and Bench!

Rookie Stars!!! (Who?)

an unmarked checklist, no creases, just the famous chipping on the left side.

and a Home Run Leaders card, featuring the Natioal League.

all six of those cards for $12

Out of the 50 cards I bought, only two ended up being duplicates. So I'm happy there. And of the "fillers", I'm happy with the quality of 25 of them, so that doesn't leave too many to be upgraded when/IF I ever get this set done.

Card Show Pick Ups - Part Two

On to some of the purchases I made. Factory sets. I know, I know, a set builder buying factory sets. Complete. In a box. No packs. No trading. Blasphemy!
Well, I couldn't help myself. Early '92 was when I had stopped collecting. I'd had enough. I closed my shop and walked (ran?) away from the hobby. For 15 years.
As a result, I never finished my '91 OPC hockey set... and of course never started my '92 set.

And at $10 for the pair, I couldn't resist. He wanted $15, I offered $10, and he accepted. We chatted a bit, he remarked about how great these were for the kids and somone was going to be very happy when I got home. Uh.... kids? Yeah. Yeah, these are for the kids... yeah.... gotta go now....

These of course will not stay as factory sets for long. They'll end up in binders alongside the rest of my OPC sets.

Now one area of the show that I was most unhappy with was wax. It seems like very few dealers wanted to bring any, and those that did got together the night before to discuss pricing. When every dealer has the same price, I call B.S.
Not only that, but the prices weren't show prices either. They were full retail. And if I'm going to pay full retail on wax, it ain't going to be from anybody at a show. I'll buy from my local card shop. Makes sense, yes?

As it happened, my LCS was there, and while I didn't spend too much time looking at his stuff (that's what his store is for) I of course spent a little $$$ at his table.
I grabbed one of these for $20.

Can anybody guess what it is???

Settle down, there's no contest here, move along.... It's a box of 99/00 McDonalds hockey packs. 100 of 'em.

Should be an interesting break. Next up, part three or part last, the singles......

Card Show Pickups, Part One - the swag

So as you all know I went to the Super Bossa Calgary Sports Fan Fest Extravaganza yesterday. I had asked in an earlier post some thoughts as to what I might find. Thanks for all of your support, however it is painfully obvious that not many of you have ever gone to a card show in Canada. (Canada, not toronto)

There were no oddballs (except for a couple of the dealers) no quarter boxes, no dime boxes. There was virtually no football, except for the Calgary Stampeders booth, but if you've ever watched them, you'd understand, there was no football. There was almost no baseball. At all. More on that in post Part Three.

It was hockey, hockey, hockey. And a lot of dealers had large stacks of autographs. But I didn't bite. If I want fake autos, I'll get them off of ebay like everyone else.

But first, we start off with the free swag promised us. On the show sell sheet, it states that Sunday is
"Collector Appreciation Day! Each paid admission will receive one of our famous "Bossa Super Bags!" with Upper Deck hockey packs, rare hockey cards, autographed memorabillia, and more!"

Okay, let's take a look at what $16 paid admission ($8 each as my wife came with me...) gets. Here are the rare hockey cards.

some 2010 cards called Biography of a Season, and three Sportflic type 2006 cards, all of Crosby/Ovechkin.

No packs. None.

In one bag there was a 1/32 scale Diecast Vancouver Canucks Zamboni. Lame. So lame, no photo for you.

In the other bag was an autographed picture of Doug Gilmour.

Not bad. Can't complain about that. But not exactly what the show sell sheet was promising.

Meh.... no big deal. Next post, the purchases....

what to do at a card show...

Calgary is getting a card show this weekend. Supposedly a big one. Autograph guests and everything.
Details LINK here.

I've never seen a show like this in Calgary before. I don't know what to do. Should I bring my wantlists for '71 OPC baseball? Or will it be 80 tables of this year's hockey???
Can I expect reasonable pricing from a show this size? Or will every dealer go scrambling to a beckett everytime I ask "How much?"

I have a feeling that I'm going to spend a lot of time today getting my wantlists ready, only to be disappointed on Sunday. (that's when I'm going)

I have an original jersey of the Tampa Bay Lightning from when they joined the NHL. I'd love to get Phil Esposito to sign it, but paying $79 to stand in line for three hours ain't my thing.

Hmmm... I can already feel my expectations dropping..... Oh well. It should still be fun to see stuff, even if I can't afford book price.

Anybody need anything?

Going to a cardshow and what did I find?

Sweet F.A. baby.

It's a smaller show (15-20 tables) held the first weekend of every month in the lobby of a hockey/curling rink.
There was a women's hockey tournament going on, so it looked like a lot of people were there, but in reality maybe 20 customers.
I have never seen so much overpriced cards in my life. No dealers, only wannabes. Every seller there was between 48-65 years old. Unwashed. Still living in his mom's basement. You know what I'm talking about. Stereotypes exist for a reason kids!

Everwhere you looked it was quadruple jersey autographed game worn jock super refractors. Millions of them. And no prices. Anywhere. Warning! Warning!

I found two dudes selling football and baseball, and pulled a Kenshin Kawakami '09 Ballpark autograph /200. No price. *sigh* "How much?" I ask. "Well son, that card books for over $80, but I've never seen it sell on ebay for less than $100. You see, he's Japanese! It's rare that us white folk ever get to see a card like this. Them Japs snap 'em up so quick!" he says, snapping his fingers. I look around, assuming I just transported into middle Arkansas. Nope. Still surrounded by women on skates. "But I'll let you have it for full book. A steal!" he says.

I'd already walked away. I found one when I got home. Better snag it before them foreigners do, eh?

Wow. It didn't get any better. Finally I paid some dude $6 for 18 cards from the '76/77 and '77/78 OPC hockey sets. I think I got raped on that too... but I was busy looking over my shoulder for the Japanese.

And then I left. Thank the gods it was free admission and I could go watch some hockey after...

Card Show Results

I went to a local show on Saturday. It was -26 out, but I had to go anyways to pick up a christmas gift, so I thought what the heck.
It's a smaller show that happens every month during the hockey season. Usually 10-15 different sellers with 2-4 tables each. No goody bags, no advertising... either you know about it or you don't.
As soon as I walked in I was greeted by a fellow behind two tables. He was very friendly, but didn't have anything I wanted. too bad, he was the kind of guy you wanted to spend money with.
I casually walked to, and browsed every table from every seller.
As far as the eye could see... hockey singles. And very few autos... almost exclusively jersey cards of various value. All overpriced. And I do mean, overpriced. At every table.
Only one seller had wax. Her "show specials" were last years Upper Deck Series 2 hockey at $65 a box and this years Upper Deck series 1 hockey at $85 a box. I can get these from the shop I usually buy at for $55 and $65 respectively. Not surprisingly, she also had around 40-50 of the latest Beckett Hockey laid out prominently at the front of her area. So I left her behind, and onto the next guy.
Boxes of modern hockey singles, with some '70's OPC hockey singles in grade VG at best. Nothing is priced. Great. Okay, here we go..." How much are these?" I ask. He says "the 'OPC are 3/4 Beckett, and the rest is 60% Beckett. Just for the show only, after that, they go back up." Should I explain to him how Beckett lists NearMint value? Nah... lost cause.
Only one hope left. This table, manned by a different dude every time, always has things besides cards. Sometimes books, pennants, figures, lunch boxes, whatever he can scrounge.
No dice here either. Although he has a sign saying to ask to see cards of other sports. Cool. Show me.
He proudly brings out his baseball box. 3 for $2 during the show. ExMt '89 Donruss and '91 Score. Um... no thanks. He also has a set. A 1991 Pacific Nolan Ryan Texas Express hand collated set, missing only three cards, for half price. $25 and it's mine. It's rare you know, he tells me... Ryan will be in the Hall of Fame one day.
Really?
Fascinating.
I have 17 of these sets, will you buy them for $15 each? No? How about $15 for all of them? They're rare you know.
Still no. Maybe I should've offered to take out three cards from each set....


I left with nothing. First time ever. I need to go visit Sportslots for awhile.....

I slipped up....

So I found out about a little card show that happens once a month during the hockey season. Today was the last one until September. So I popped by. I'm saving for OPC baseball and maybe '09 A&G, but I went anyways.
Just a few local collectors selling off their singles and hits from a winter of busting cases of hockey.
One guy was selling off some boxes cheap... but I was saving for OPC baseball and maybe A&G.

He was very persuasive. $100 got me this.
and this.

Just what I needed. Another set to finish.

Why do I do this?

Last of the Card Show Bounty.....

This is the last of what I picked up at last weekends card show. As some of you know, I've been building the 1971 OPC baseball set. A lot like the Topps version, but different.
I'm not sure how, but I found a guy at the show who had a few off grade '71 OPC's mixed in with a bunch of other baseball gems like '91 Upper Deck, and '86 Topps.

I picked out a few, and asked how much? (is it too hard to put a price on your stuff people?)
Wait for it..... you know what's coming next.... " Make me an offer" he says.
Wonderful. Someone who doesn't know a damn thing, but doesn't want to admit it.
"I'll give you 12 dollars. Take it or leave it"
"Okay" he says.

Tom Seaver, with some love creases...
Al Kaline, all 3 corners of him.

Billy Martin, with his 17th team...

Rod Carew, looking good all around.

Billy Williams, my scanner didn't like the bottom part of his card.

One of my favourite announcers, Don Sutton.

Teddy Ballgame. I think this may be my first real card of Ted Williams. Cool.

The backs, which is what makes them O Pee Chee.
First year and first game in 1969??? I'm not old enough to know for sure, but I hope they're talking about managing.

and............... ROLLIE!!!! sans 'stache.

so that's it... 8 cards closer......