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.
A few more cards to throw into the trade bait pile. Have a lookie-look.
Will Clark: 2010 Panini Century Collection Jersey (#ed /100, I think)
Adam Lind: 2012 Topps Golden Moments Relics
Jeudy Valdez: 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Signature (#ed 41/50)
Steve Garvey: 2012 Gypsy Queen Framed Mini Relic
Phil Rizzuto: 2012 Retired Number Patches
Isaac Galloway: 2008 Playoff Contenders Autograph
Rafael Furcal: 2000 Topps Stars Game Gear Bats
Kevin Youkilis: 2012 Gypsy Queen Relics
Kurt Suzuki: 2009 Topps Heritage Clubhouse Collection Relics
Dontrelle Willis: 2006 Sweet Spot Signatures (#ed 011/125)
Mark Buehrle: 2006 Flair Showcase Stitches
John Buck: 2011 Topps Lineage 1952 Autographs
If you see anything you like, leave me a comment or send me an email (dustinhoff86 at gmail dot com) with an offer. My want lists are at the top of the page, as is a link to the rest of my trade bait that's looking for a good home.
I was very saddened to hear the news about Stan the Man passing. Baseball will miss him, one to the best players and one of the best humans ever to play the game.
I don't have much of a Musial collection, but I did snag this just a few weeks ago in a lot labeled "Old Baseball Cards." If I broke it down by card, I ended up paying about a dollar for this, for a true legend. It's pretty beat up, but totally a gem to me.
Here's my other Musial, which I bought from my LCS for $2. I really love this subset, and what an honor it is to own and be able to show off this work of art.
The blogging world has already said just about every great thing and interesting fact that can be said about Stan, like how his career hits were split up dead even: 1815 at home, 1815 away. I love that our community can come together to educate and celebrate our heroes. I'll end with a Costas quote that's probably already been posted dozens of times this week: "[Stan] didn't hit a homer in his last at-bat; he hit a single. He didn't hit in 56 straight games. He married his high school sweetheart and stayed married to her. ... All Musial represents is more than two decades of sustained excellence and complete decency as a human being."
