This last card show had some excellent bargain boxes, as most shows do. Heck, if I knew ahead of time a card show wouldn't have any dime boxes, I wouldn't even show up, probably, maybe, OK, just a brief appearance.
One thing I'm always looking for are cards for my player collections and priority hunting is for Ripkens and Pudges:
Some of these were dime box finds, like the newest Pudge rookie added to the collection, the '91 Classic. The Heritage and Co-Signers came out of a quarter box and are numbered. Good finds for the ol' Pudge collection. I usually find a ton of new Ripkens in the dime boxes, but only a few this time around. But that's fine. I found lots of other goodies.
And what do I look for after these player collections? Certainly not Cabrera and Verlander cards. Those are too pricey at card shows in Michigan. But that doesn't mean there aren't other good Tigers cards to find.
I love all of these Tigers cards, and all out of the quarter box from the dealer who sold me the questionable Keller that has been deemed genuine by my brilliant readers. Topps Gallery was an amazingly well-designed set. The Greenberg is fantastic. And you can't go wrong with an Art Deco Trammell short print.
So what the hell is the Jeffcoat doing in this bunch, in this post about Tigers and player collections? Mostly, it represents my laziness in cropping scans. Secondarily, this card reveals where my dime box hunting gets a little weird. The Jeffcoat is not just any old '91 Topps card. It's from the Desert Shield set. I was always curious about this set, and I've never actually seen one of the cards. And when I see something in a dime box I haven't seen, time to snatch that up. Of course, I'd much rather have a Desert Shield Tigers card, but Jeffcoat will stand in as my cardboard history of the Gulf War for now. And yet another reason to love a dime box: the ability to find war memorabilia for a dime.
Moving on to more bargain box Tigers...
Most of these were a quarter, I think. The Denny Martinez rookie was perhaps misplaced as a Tigers dime box card, and now I don't know if I should put that card in the vintage Tigers binder or the vintage rookies binder. A good problem to have. Of course the Aber is great, and the Zernial was an absolute steal for the condition. But one surprise to me was how nice the '61 set looks. I dig these posed shots, which go a little farther than just being headshots. Chiti and Osborne look classy in the poses of their positions.
Now we're moving on to the real meat of the bargain boxes. I found these and the rest in this post in a 50 cent box. I was never a fan of the '58 set, but its crazy colors are growing on me--Maxwell looking like a Valentine's Day card--and, of course, they use the awesome fat-faced yellow Tiger spewing blood, or maybe that's its tongue.
Sure these are beat-up cards, but in fine shape for me to put together a team set with. There's especially something nice about the hole-punch that I appreciate. I see it a lot. Does this mean some kid strung their cards up on a string? I dig that.
Here are the most-destroyed cards of the bunch, but still for 50 cents, an awesome deal. Birrer hit two three-run homers in one game, which got him his nickname of Babe. Unfortunately, that was about all he did in his career. That, and join the Vealtones Battered Vintage Tigers Collection.
I have a few more dime box treasures I'll save for my final card show post.
