Let's Go to the Card Show: Dime Box Extravaganza

I went to a card show a couple weekends ago, the only one that happens anymore in the city where I live, Kalamazoo, Michigan. There used to be more shows last year, but there wasn't enough interest, and my lone presence scrounging through the dime boxes wasn't enough enticement for the dealers.

This show, though, has been going on for decades annually. And I always find good stuff. I'll start off this series of card show posts with every one's favorite: the dime boxes.

Actually, these all came out of a nickel box. Can't turn down reprints for a nickel, nor Fisk cards I don't have. I love Fisk's diving '82 In Action card. His action shots just tend to be epic.

Random rookies from the dime box here. I needed the Ventura. The others were just cool.

Here's some more complete randomness from the dime box. These cards are the size of tobacco cards but about twenty times as thick. I know nothing at all about this set, but the cards are so cool and weird. I guess the company that made them is in Michigan. Benton Harbor is about a mile away from Kalamazoo. Now, that explains nothing about what the hell these cards are, but they completely epitomize the joy of exploring the weird worlds housed in the dime box. After some searching, I did come across this House of David site, which these cards seem to be based on. Pretty cool bit of baseball history.

Some of these were dime box gets, including another House of David mini, and some of these were higher-end. The Gwynn was in the fifty cent box and totally tricked me. I thought it was his rookie, stupidly missing the modern Fleer logo on the bottom. I always love picking up framed Masterpiece cards, and that Ichiro card is stunning. The Biggio Artist's Proof is pretty sweet, too.

Some very nice Ripkens for the player collection. I'm always able to bring home a nice stack of dime box Ripkens at every show I go to. I had a few of these already, but would you turn down any of these for a dime?

On to the dime box vintage. Yep, these were all a dime, and mostly all from one dealer who always has tons and tons of early '70s cards in his dime boxes. They're not all in great shape, but not too shabby.

More cool dime box vintage. I have trouble passing up team cards. They make for great add-ons in trade packages. Speaking of which, I really need an Angels and Phillies trade partner; I have a ton of great stuff for those teams. The Denny McLain check list is all beat-up and written on, but it was a nickel, as was the Schofield/Lanier card. Awesome.

Not a bad haul, eh. I'm already jonesing to dig through some more dime boxes, one of my greatest joys of the hobby. I think it is for many of us.