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.

Argh! Check Out Me Pirate Treasure

I recently traded with Brian over at Pirates Treasure Room. And this trade was epic. It's one of those trades that take a long time to complete, and that only builds the tension for an epic transaction.

I'll only be able to include some of what he sent, and I really tried to edit myself so this post wouldn't go on forever. It was tough to do, though. I just had to keep scanning all of the glory.

We'll start off with the vintage. The constantly mustachioed Jack Morris makes a bottom-right-corner debut, and then there's good old Freehan showing off his catcher's mitt.

From some Tigers classics to the new kid, our new fifth starting pitcher in the rotation. We really need someone to fill this spot, and maybe Turner's the guy.

Brian sent along some always-appreciated Ripkens for the player collection. I'm surprised how well the hologram card scanned. It looks better in the scan than in person.

Some nice Cabby and Pudge cards for the collection. I'm a big fan of the Stadium Lights inserts, and this may be the sweetest card from that set. And a numbered floating heads card is always cool.

I'm surprised I didn't have this card where Verlander is securing his alibi with a newspaper. The bottom right card here is a genuine Verlander rookie from 2005. I always love picking up one of these.

Now we're onto the hits, and they were plentiful. I'm not a big fan of this GU set, but leave it to Verlander to make this set look awesome.

Speaking of Verlander and awesome, check this thing out. I don't collect Mags or Granderson all that much, but I love this card. Simply amazing, and the lowest numbered Verlander GU card I own. This is a new favorite of the collection.

Brian didn't mention he was sending any Pudge cards originally, so this is a bonus, and a helluva bonus at that. Pudge is looking extra puffy in his windbreaker.

Another sweet Pudge GU card here, featuring my favorite things: Pudge, catcher's gear, and a Tigers uniform.

Thanks, Brian, for the fantastic trade.

Be sure to check out Pirates Treasure Room to see the most amazing Pirates card collection in the blogosphere. 

Contest Plug--Win the Duke

I just stumbled onto Cards Beyond Oceans, a cool new blog. They're having what they call a "small" contest, but it's anything but small. You can win a Duke Snider relic auto. Now that's what I call a huge contest. Go check it out and enter here!