Card Show-Off: Vintage Rookies at WAR

I'm finally getting to posting the rest of this card show. The magic word today is vintage. Well-loved vintage, of course. Read on for the big rookie WAR.

But first, we'll start with this beauty. For $2 the thrill of Duke Snider's wall catch is mine to behold. Now, Topps might have their fancy-smancy short print Great Catch cards this year, but they're not as cool as this one. Which would you rather have, a slightly scuffed-up '59 Snider in action or some over-hyped picture of Mark Reynold bumbling over a tarp roll? Gotta love that vintage.

The deals go on. These were dime and quarter box finds, and finds they were. Bask in the glory of a rare smile from Mr. Gibson. I think my favorite in this group is the Post Minnie.

Now we're getting into my favorite finds: vintage rookies. These, also, were quarter box finds. Sure, these aren't Hall-of-Famers, but they're names we know and love. Those are exactly the rookies I'm always looking for. Let's play a little game. Of these semi-star rookies, who was the best bargain statistically, going by the very simple stat of career WAR. In order, Tasby has a sad negative WAR of -0.6. Tommie Agee, who was 1 hit shy of 1000 career hits, has a WAR of 25.5. Frank the Tank Tanana (no one called him that), who is a Detroit native and one of those Tigers pitchers from my youth, has a WAR of 57.5. Finally, poor Bill Buckner had a surprisingly low 14.7 (they must be counting a certain game against him).

These, too, were amazingly quarter box finds. Are you kidding me!? Look at those giant trophies! Let the games continue! Matty Alou's WAR is 23.3. Crusty Rusty Staub has a WAR of 45.8. And finally Bert Blanco Campaneris racks up a sweet 53.3.

So, the biggest bargain by WAR is Tanana.

And in case you don't know like I do exactly what a WAR is and how it's calculated, here you go (according to Wiki):

where

Well, that's some highlights anyway. Simple as a quarter box.

Card Show-Off: Rookies for a Quarter

Following up the last card show post and the mystery of the Willie Mays goo, today we delve into the modernish stuff. All of it comes from the bargain boxes. Without further ado:

We begin with an assortment of rookies. I love rookies, and these were some nice ones. The Gordon is numbered, the Putz is uncirculated, and Lester is an XRC. Not a bad mix. And they're even better when they each came out of the quarter box. Even better when they were actually 5 for a buck. And then the dealer cut me a deal. I freaking love card shows. Anyway, onward with more from this quarter box.

More great steals in this grouping of rookies from the quarter box. I'd been after a Quintin Berry rookie every since his great season last year. I wouldn't mind seeing him back in the lineup. The Pence is nice, and you have to love Buster being haunted by a red demon cloud. Probably best of all is the Carlos Gomez, which is a blue refractor. Gomez is having a career year, and it's cool to have one of the better rookie cards of the dude who keeps showing up on the highlight reel.

Man, when I was a kid, this was the insert set to get, from '92 Score. I pulled a Musial when I used to rip these. Now I have Mantle and the trio. Now I just need the Yaz to complete the set. According to COMC, there were only 150000 of these made. Holy rare junk wax, Batman!

More goodies for the player collections. That Pudge chrome is sweet.

And a few more. I'm such a sucker for shiny parallels. However, I hate the Moments and Milestones sets, which are completely unwieldy for player collectors. But their damn non-rare numbering sucks me in. There were a bunch more Verlanders in this quarter box, but I only picked up these two. Notice the eBay 1 of 1s. 150/150 and 002/150. Hell, what isn't an eBay 1 of 1!

This oddball Whitaker from the dime box may be my favorite find of all. I'm not sure if this is an iron-on or a shrinky-dink or what. Oh, COMC says it's a "Rub Down." Sexy. I love how much those Italian Topps affiliates tried to jam onto these cards. Busy? No way. Just exploding with sophisticated design.

Overall, a great show. Those bargain boxes always make the trip worth it.

Card Show-Off: Vintage Dime Box Treasures

The Vealtones are so backlogged we actually have two card shows to showoff. To start, this one was a mall show in Grand Rapids, a show that happens a few times a year. It takes me about an hour to drive to, and it's usually worth it. This time, yup.

I love the Baseball Thrills subset, and this triptych of Mays' famous catch might be the coolest card in the set. The price tag was--you won't believe this--one dollar. That's right, for just some round corners and subtle creases it was just a single solitary buckaroo.

I didn't even look at the back of the card until I got home, which is when I said, Oh, I see.

I'm not even sure what this is, but I'm pretty sure this giant glob of tar or spit chaw would ensure that Beckett would refuse to ever slab this card. Still, I'm thrilled to get this for a buck.

I have a very modest and informal Rollie Fingers player collection, which I was able to add to. These all came out of a dime box. I love the Kellogg's card. Rollie's mustache may've been at its creepiest in his Brewers days.

More randomness from the dime boxes. These will all be making their way into trade packages for my pals eventually.

More from the dime box: semi-star rookie cards. I'm a huge fans for rookie cards, especially when they cost me a dime. Dang, I didn't realize Mr. Kingman had 442 career home runs. And Reuss had 220 wins. Nettles, well, he had a brother named Graig.

Two fellas I can never turn down for a bargain: Sparky and Bill. Sparky will eventually become a formal player collection, once I get my crap together. Did you know he own a baseball signed by the Pope?

Out of all these great vintage treasures, these were my favorite find. Out of the dime box comes these presidents. I love political cards. I love art cards. I love minis. These are all of the above. I guess they're 1974 Panographics, according to COMC. I don't know anything else about them, but I'm curious. I especially love the Teddy Roosevelt card. I took a doctoral lit class based on literature associated with Teddy. The man was brilliant, read a book a day and remembered every single word he read. Too bad our presidents don't herald literature like that anymore.

Anyway, great finds. Next post, I'll show the modern cards.

Card Show-off: Dime Box Attacks!

Time to finish up showing off my goods from the card show. Today, we'll rehash my favorite part of the card show: the dime boxes.

OK, I only wish these were dime box finds. These came out of a 6/$5 box. Each of these are numbered. The 2004 Throwback Threads card is as cool as it gets for a Tigers collector. Pudge, Trammell, and Mr. Tiger all on one card. Yes, please. And some sweet Verlander parallels, copper Topps and light blue Heroes. I might just have to go after a Heroes rainbow or two one of these days.

Now we're back to talking dime boxes. I snagged a gaggle of these cards from the 1983 Kaline story set. I didn't even know about this set, but now that I do, damn, gonna have to finish this sucker. These cards are fantastic.

Here are some more glories from this set. I love the cameos, including the whole 1974 all-star team. And that top right card is a masterpiece. We have to have a closer look:

Perfect.

More goodies for my various player collections. Just when I think I have all the Pudge rookie cards from his 1991 I find another. And up top, there's Cobb being a douche.

Along with all the cards above, I snagged one of these Mars Attacks cards from the same dealer's table. Just one. He noticed, and offered me all of them he had as an add-on to the already great deal he'd given me. These are a few of my favorites. Who of us cardboard connoisseurs don't appreciate the history of Mars Attacks? Some of us more than others, of course.

To wrap this up, some randomy randomness. Refractors, gold, and the Finest I could never afford when I was a kid. 

Not a bad dime box haul. At most shows, I usually end up with a lot more randomness and much less for my actual player collections. I managed to stay on track this time and get stuff I actually needed. Well, the word "need" is always relative to a cardboard addict.

Card Show-Off: Dime Boxes: I've Got a Golden Ripken!

Yesterday, the blog hit 100 followers, and I'm thrilled. Thanks, everyone, for reading. The final push past 100 might have something to do with my contest, which you should enter if you haven't and you like vintage cardboard. If you don't like vintage, well, that just makes me a little sad.

Following up on yesterday's post, it's time to show you what else I got at the Holland, Michigan card show. As I said yesterday, those Dutch are known to be famous for their wooden shoes and windmills and silly hats, but are secretly also known for their great deals on vintage AND their wonderful dime boxes.

This one actually came out of a 3/$1 box. And it's a very intriguing addition to my Ripken collection. I have no idea what this card is, but it's made of metal, probably pure gold. It looks a little like the early '90s Bleachers cards, but I'm not too sure.

And the back doesn't help much. It does appear to be numbered out of 10000, and is this Japanese writing? Whatever this is, I'd have to say this is one of the most oddball finds out of the bargain boxes.

One whacky oddball calls for another. Check out the Bo Jackson card I snagged from the dime box. What was he thinking to have posed for this shot? The '90s were full of bad choices for all of us. Flanking Bo's big mistake, we have a great Rollie card and those 3000 Club Fleer inserts I'm a big fan of. They're thick as a game-used card and cut really cool.

A few more unidentifiable Nolan oddballs, and a 1990 Leaf, all a dime a piece. 

Here are my dime box Ripkens. I was excited to pick up the 2001 Topps Traded reprint, which cost a bit more; it's probably the closest I'll ever come to the white whale that is Ripken's best rookie.

And this 1995 Topps Traded Mariano Rivera is probably the closest I'll ever come to his white whale rookie. A great find for a dime. As is the Wally auto. I have no idea if it's real, but it's worth a gamble for a dime. 

Lots of Topps Gold, which actually came out of a nickel box, and will one day become trade package extras.

A dime box auto, a nickel box Romero rookie, and that Paulk is numbered to 50, so who cares that I have no idea who he is! The Mantle has felt and the Jackie is Chromed out. This grouping defines the hodge-podge that is the joy of the dime box.

Love those tobacco and Goudey reprints.

Though I don't find them often, Sparky and Tigers team cards are always a great dime box find. I'm pretty sure these team cards were a bit pricier, but such is Michigan. If you trade with me, Sparky and Tigers teams are always welcome adds to a trade package.

This was not a dime box find, nor was it five dollars. You can't get much cooler when it comes to a well-designed GU card than this one: numbered, baby blue, Mr. Gwynn, pinstripe. Perfect.

That wraps up this show. I'm headed to my first card show of 2013 this weekend, so wish me luck. I hope I get some finds as sweet as the Dutch gave me. Don't forget to enter my contest!

Card Show-off: Dimes, Quarters, Dollars

A few months ago I attended a card show in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, at the Soaring Eagle Casino on the reservation. They do a couple cards shows a year here, but this was the first one I'd ever gone to, even though it's the closest to my home town. I happened to be visiting the 'rents on a weekend when they were having one of their shows.

So, hells yeah I took a drive to the casino. 

The room they were in was your basic mid-size conference hall, and there were about a dozen different card dealers, as well as a dozen different coin dealers. This was also the first time I ever shared my card show with coins. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Do coin shows have dime boxes, and if so, are they actually dimes, and if so, then that's probably not much of a bargain. 

Well, I didn't ask the coin dealers about their dime boxes, but the card show had some.

I'm always on the lookout for dime box rookies, and here were a few nice snags. Starting top right, we have one of the players involved in the epic naughty Tigers trade of Furbush for Fister. My wife's favorite joke: "Fister, I hardly know her." Yeah, my wife is awesome. 

Technically, this isn't Cole's rookie card, but it's close. I really dig Ramon Hernandez 1996 rookie. What a classic catcher pose. I was surprised to find that Ramon is still playing ball. I thought he'd retired a while ago. And he's still catching at 36.

Believe it or not, this was the first time I saw an '86 Topps Canseco in the dime box, which is considered his XRC, as is the 2003 Upper Deck Michael Bourn. I dig XRCs. They're like rookie cards but ever Xier. 

I was happy to add an Andrelton Simmons to the collection, as well as another McCann and Werth rookie. The Kimbrel is an X-Fractor, which is not an XRC, but it is about as crazy as putting a quarter in a dime box at a coin show.

Glorious Pudge Rodriguez dime box cards! Love 'em. I'm totally hoarding 1991 Topps Traded Pudges.

These were three for a dollar, and great deals. This Greenberg card is a masterpiece. And this Cabrera is not a rookie, XRC or otherwise, but it's close and I needed it for the collection. I just had to have this Zumaya card. Poor Joel. He was throwing more 100+ fastballs than any other pitcher before he got injured in 2010. What a sha--Hey! That's Mr. Verlander by Joel. Sweet!

I'll save most of the huge "hits" for next post, but I'll show a few autos I got for one dollar a piece. Ryan Perry is no longer a Tiger, but he was on this card, and I love the design of these 206 autos. Personally, I think we made a big mistake trading this kid for Collin Balester last year. Perry is still pitching for the Nationals, and I think he has some potential.

Speaking of Tigers that are no longer Tigers, here's my favorite current traded Tiger: Casper Wells. I have a few of his autos from Razor. I love the look of his signature, and his name is so cool. Plus he's from Grand Rapids, Michigan. It looks like Casper might get some real playing time next season with the Mariners. I hope so.

Next post, come back to see the big hits! 

Psst: they're not that big.

Trip to Fenway: A Boston Dime Box

I recently made a trip to Boston for work. I ended up getting a hotel right by Fenway, which was awesome. I'm not a Red Sox fan, but what baseball fan wouldn't be excited to see Fenway? I celebrated the historic park by jogging a few laps around it at night, which was the highlight of my trip.

I also managed to find a card shop in walking distance from Fenway. It was overpriced on many things, as everything in Boston was (hell, the airports sold cheaper sodas than the shops in the city), but I found some great cards and a few sweet deals.

I'd been wanting this Wertz card for a long time, and this one was in pristine condition. I paid $6 for it. Usually too much for me. But that's the price of doing business in Boston, I figured. And this card is a masterpiece. I love the lone slide going on here and Wertz's goofy looking smile. 

The people who worked at the shop were completely polite and kind, and one of the guys kept pulling boxes of vintage for me, even though I couldn't afford the slabbed Hank Greenbergs and Al Kaline rookies. Once I told him I was a Tigers fan, he started digging up some unique stuff for me, including this:

A 1967 Norm Cash. Nothing special here, you say, besides that penciled mustache some cardboard vandal decided to give Norman. Well, you're wrong. This is a first for the Vealtones Tigers collection. We're going international! This is a Venezuela 1967 Topps card. The main difference is that these cards have a slightly green tint.

No stats and a bunch of Spanish on the back. Neato, right?

Now, I did nail a few sweet bargains. The shop mostly had vintage and high end hits, but the shop owner did pull a box of newer bargain stuff that was all half off, which made each one of these cards cost about a dime.

These are just a few of the highlights. I dig the Best cards which are super thick and numbered, and I didn't know this Straily guy was actually starting to do some solid pitching in the majors. Best of all, of course, are the Avisail Bowman cards. These are my first Avisail cards of any kind. I've been trying to find them for a decent price, hell for a buck or two, and I snagged two of them for a dime each. Not bad. So, I did find some bargains in Boston.

All in all, it was a productive trip. Fenway was nice, the city is beautiful, and I love that accent. The only thing that would've made the trip better would've been if I would've had a beer with Carl Crawford Cards.

Card Show-off: Sweet, Sweet Dime Boxes

I just attended a card show last weekend, but I won't post about it here, as I am backlogged with not one, but two card shows I still haven't posted about prior to the most recent one. I can't think of a better way to jump back into a few weeks off of blogging than to do some card show posts. Who doesn't love a card show post?

So, this one was in South Haven a few months back. South Haven is a little tourist beach town on the coast of Lake Michigan, and they somehow manage three or four card shows a year. They're small shows, but the dealers are all super nice and I always find great stuff.

Some sweet dime box finds:

Sweet Lou, that is.

More from the dime boxes. I snagged a bunch of Archives from the '90s, and here are a few of my favorites. Yogi and Duke earn honorary awesome-status and get to hang with the Tigers.

I also found these reprints in the dime boxes. I have a lot of trouble turning down interesting reprints for a dime.

Some sweet Pudge cards. I'm getting close to a binder page full of 1991 Topps Traded Pudge doubles. I just can't not pick these up for a dime.

And a few Ripkens I needed.

These were just random cards I liked. I love these framed Gypsy Queen cards. Intrigue caught me with the Griffey; I didn't recognize the make of it. Mother's Cookies? And this is my first 1993 Finest card. When I was a kid, I dreamed about being able to afford a pack of '93 Finest.

Last up were some of the more impressive rookies I found in the dime boxes. Believe it or not, this is not the first time I've found a Halladay rookie in a dime box. I'd been trying to find a Oswalt rookie for a good deal for a long time, but I didn't expect to get it for a dime. It's pretty unlikely I'd pick up a Shawn Green rookie, even if it was a dime, unless it's a 1992 Topps gold parallel. In my head I still imagine these as super rare, exotic cards. I remember sending away 347 wrappers for three gold cards when I was a kid.

And finally, one more rookie:

This may be the best thing I ever found in the dime boxes. A for-realsie Topps Derek Jeter rookie. The bottom isn't cut off. It was just my scanner. But you can see why this was in a dime box. There's some paper loss at the bottom. Still, what a deal, right? I can't help liking Jeter, since he's from Kalamazoo, and he's just a fun player to watch.

I actually got into an argument with a colleague of mine at the bar during the playoffs. She heard me saying I respected Jeter, and she had a little blow up. I hadn't heard this, but apparently Jeter gives the girls he sleeps with gift baskets on their way out in the morning that include signed baseballs and, I don't know, Yankee-brand bubble baths. She pointed out how insulting that is. But, hell, that's better than most of the world gets (both men and women) after a one night stand. My wife and I agree--you could do worse than getting a signed Jeter baseball after sleeping with a celebrity.

This wraps up my dime box card show post. I have one more post to do from this show, and then I'll get to the others...eventually.