Even More Card Show and Garage Sale Finds and Trade Pick ups...UPDATE: Dime Box Gold?

Last week I gained about 100 pounds of cards through various endeavors. First, there is a crazy long "garage sale trail" on the East coast of Michigan I spent some time on. Then, an area flea market that has numerous card shows is shutting its doors so I had to get at least a peek at the last show there. Some online trades came in too. There will be a lot to post and probably 90% will be left out. I already posted about a box of 1993 Donruss I cracked open from the card show so check that out if '90s cards are your thing. Lets start with the trade stuff since its the fastest to scan.

Online Trade Stuff:

I got this Miggy lot in return for a Sheffield lot a little larger than it. I threw in a lot of extras for the dude and I am super happy with this trade.

I absolutely love this card. The scan sucks as he suddenly has a white booger for some reason I should rescan it but I am just lazy enough not to. I paid a heavy price for this card. I was in a hurry to get this card before someone else sniped it from me so I "over-traded" for it. Cost me nearly 20 Derek Jeter cards on top of a lot of other strong modern "hits." Probably should have played this one closer to the belt but I got the card. I can always chase down those old Jeters if I want.

The trouble with trading right now in my Facebook groups is someone will post a card and never say what they collect just that they want to trade. Someone finally asks who they collect and it is ALWAYS: #1 Judge cards #2 Clayton Kershaw. It kills me. The wording itself of "Judge Cards" and not "Aaron Judge" tells me they want cards to flip and the resent Judge Stock bull crap is pissing me off. It also tells me they probably don't even know Aaron Judge's first name just that they see dollar signs everywhere and want to get in while the getting is good. It shouldn't bother me, people should be able to collect for whatever reason they want but it gets under my skin. Plus, I have Dodger trade partners already who I send Kershaws too, I don't need more. Collect someone else people!

Garage Sale Pickins'

I got the bulk of my garage sale cards at one sale. It was slim pickings and a heavy midday rain closed up a lot of sales. Here are pics of what I snagged.

I am going to look stunning in this fanny pack at the next card show! IT WAS FREE!

All the garage sale stuff.

Basketball rookie cards. 3/$1 why not? I was dying to find any cards at this time.

This gem was in with the rookie cards. 1971 I believe.

Anybody need Ricky Martin cards? Better yet, can anybody find me a worse pack of cards to receive?! I showed my brother and he said "No wonder Upper Deck can't be successful."

Breaking into the boxes:

Raining Diamond Kings!

 

Some barely-vintage stars. The bowman Shot Heard Around the World card is a new one to me.

A different Boone RC, Bosio Members Only, Dawson Heritage Studio card is very cool.

Didn't have this Wizard card. Wish the Alou was in better shape. Greg Vaughn showing off his barber's skills. This Rickey Henderson card is sweet too. Nice 'stache Ryno.

I was a HUGE Big Cat fan when I was 12 and 13 (my fat playing 1st base years). This Vinny card is a great shot.

One of the smaller boxes was a Pinnacle full set, or at least it said it was. I lost most of the box to the sticky-ickies but pulled out some decent survivors.

Gotta love a Thome RC and Manny before he was being Manny. The Canseco was stuck bad so I let it sit out overnight in my basement and in the morning it was free from the Bobby Thigpen clinging to it. Magic. The Griffey is an odd ball but collectors love their oddball Griffey cards.

Jackpot X2!

I have said before that I try to figure out how the cards in random second hand boxes had come to live together. The two biggest boxes had very diverse innards with the big box being 65% basketball, 10% baseball, 5% football, 1% hockey and 14% xmen. There was about a handful of cards in each box though that curiously had 5-10 duplicates in the box and in the same order. Mystery. This Mesa is one of them.

My first thought when I saw the Jose Mesa card. You're welcome.

Some of the highlights of the nonbaseball cards. Members Only Selanne, The Great One, Jon Barry RC. I was a huge Jon Barry fan when he was a Piston. Mario Elie First Day Issue card is cool.

Some more young NBA stars of the time. The Doug Weight card is an important one to me. When I was very young my brother and I stayed the night at my Uncle John and Aunt Donna's house. My uncle gave me a handful of hockey cards mostly Red Wings but this Doug Weight was one of the cards. All those cards are in the vault so to speak. They are probably meaningless cards but are priceless to me. The Marcel is a reprint but you have to collect a dude who has the same last name as you right?

Card Show Take Aways:

I said earlier that the closest card show to me is now no more. The last weekend for it ever was the past one. I had a very busy weekend but was able to get to the show for about an hour. Most tables were either empty already or were packing up 2 hours before the show was set to end. This may be a reason it is no longer being put on. I did my usual empty snap case buy at the door so I had an empty card holder in every pocket before I hit the dime boxes. The show was weak since everybody was leaving but I did find one table that had some 20 cent boxes and found some other decent deals. I bought a lot of stuff for other people as usual. I don't post that stuff as to keep it a surprise. Here is a bit of the stuff I found:

Apparently, Julie at Cracked Bat saw this box too and passed. I'm glad she did.

El Tigres' and home town dudes.

My first Jiminez card, it came in a mystery Tiger pack. I have always loved this Shelton card in catcher's gear. Nate Robertson and Don Kelly will always be personal favorites.

I don't collect hockey much as my hands are too full with baseball but I know what I like and I buy what I like. Its funny how a good deal can make you buy cards you already have, in this case the Fielder and Castellanos. The Vmart is a SP.

I didn't have this Verlander. The Kaline top left is a very cool card. I can't pass up on Fidrych cards I already have when they are priced right. I wish I had this Morris months ago for an auto. The Probert card speaks for itself.

Some Ryan cards on the cheap.

I don't collect Piazza actively but he was the Aaron Judge of my collecting hay-day so I buy based on nostalgia. Most of these are trade bait. Not the Hampton, I dig pitchers who can hit.

Some new Vizquel cards. I am still on the fence on Yelich. He was great in the WBC but I have to watch him a little more to decide on whether or not to collect him. I didn't notice until I got home that the two Colon cards have different fronts and same backs. The batting card is a photo variation that I can't find on ebay at all. I may try to sell that one for more dime box cash.

Everybody needs the bat boy card.

DIME BOX GOLD?!?!?!??!?!

Well after I made this post I dove into finding this card. It is listed in the checklist for the set as a photo variation. Stupidly, I thought it was 2017 Stadium Club but its 2016 so I had a hard time finding it. I still haven't seen any posted anywhere other than the Topps checklist. Could turn out to be my greatest dime box find yet!

Garage Sale $5 Treasure Box! Cards, Cards, Cards!

WARNING: This post will be lengthy and wordy but full of pictures. Feel free to scroll to the cards and skip the jibber jabber. I get excited.

The spoils!

As I pulled around the corner to my house a voice from heaven whispered into my ear "...cards..." as I drove past a small garage sale. With nothing better to do I grabbed all of my debt collection junk mail at the mailbox and wandered over to the sale. From the outside it looked like your standard garage sale with old tv's and tools. Then suddenly; a small sealed box of 1992 Topps Traded. Then I spotted a few Starting Lineup figures, and  a Macfarlane Griffey 3". I got worried. In my pocket was the cash I had scraped to get for the card show this weekend. I asked the guy nonchalantly "how much for the cards?" He said give me a minute and let me look them up online and I'll make you a deal. Then he pointed to another table I hadn't noticed and said "that box is five bucks," pointing to a large shoe box overflowing with early 2000 baseball cards. To shorten the story I will just say I bought the $5 box, a MLB baseball that looked game used for $1, a 2006 World Series collectors baseball $1, and 3 nerf guns for $1 each. Both baseballs were thrown in with random rubber and plastic t-balls so I don't think the guy even looked at them. Here are the treasures, oddities, and interesting contents of that treasure chest:

I have bought a few of these crazy boxes from yard sales and garage sales in the past and often try to play detective to figure out the collecting habits of it's previous owner. What year are the cards? Are there any teams/players missing? Are they sorted in any special way? Question after question pops in my head and I try to get down to who this collector was and why it came to be that I could purchase their prized possessions at such a dirt cheap price. This collector had me thrown for a bit of a loop but I can assume a few things from the box. Here is what I deduced:
1. 90% of the cards came from 4 sets; 1989 Upper Deck, 1994 Upper Deck, 1995 Upper Deck and 1999 Fleer Ultra
2. Most of the cards looked as though they had been removed from their packaging, looked at once and tossed in this box. I assume the 1989 Upper Deck were purchased later than 1989 and as boxes and not a complete set because there were duplicates and the only card I know was missing was the Griffey RC. Case closed on those cards. He bought 1989 Upper Deck looking for Griffey and tossed everything else. 
3. All the stars and even inserts were in the box. Most of the time these boxes lack the Nolan Ryan, Ken Griffey Jr., and Cal Ripken Jr. cards that should have been there. This one had them, other than the missing Griffey RC. Even all the teams were accounted for including the Tigers.
4. This collector must have been a high dollar card collector and had no time for commons or even basic inserts. Jackpot for me!

I'll start off with probably the most valuable card in the box. This Morneau RC is gold and numbered on the back. I found only one on eBay running $27ish. Its a cool card and a sweet find in a $5 box. My second favorite comercial of all time is for MLB the show the year Justin Verlander said "I know Morneau better than Morneau knows Morneau and Morneau knows it." My first favorite being everybody's favorite; Chicks Dig the Longball.

The stars were well represented in the UD Choice cards from 1999. This box is funny because it basically filled in the years I was away from the hobby and barely collected. God sent me this box.

I did have these as a kid. Some of them at least. I was in love with the pictures of the stadium outlines on these. Very cool cards from Upper Deck 1994.

This set I don't know much about. It looks like there are variations of cards based on the Biggio's and I can't tell what is an insert and what isn't but the cards look really cool. 1998 UD3, I guess. There were a few Tino Martinez in the bunch. He was the reason I even tried batting lefty before I could switch hit.

Some Fleer Laziness!

Which frame came first? I doubt Cal wore his hat like that often.

I had never seen this card before. Now I have 3 of them. This is why Fernando Valenzuela is a badass with style.

An insert set of prospects. That Konerko guy was alright. I probably pulled 10 different AJ Hinch rookie cards from this box.

I didn't know the Electric Diamond variations included the star rookie cards until now. Now I have to chase the Tiger ones.

How quickly they grow up. Great infielder!

Another insert set that had the players embossed on the card. Very cool.

Some random cards from the box.

There was a stack of POST cards in the box so if anyone needs any of this years cards I have duplicates of almost all of them. I thought POST did a great job on these cards even the backs. The Sabo and a Mark McGwire from another pic were oddballs.

Another different set that was in the box. Mike Hampton could rake, eh?

Some more randoms. The Dempsey was a strange card. The oldest in the box and all by itself. I have no idea what the DiMaggio is. Had a lot of Guerrero's and Ortiz in his Twins uni.

Some more randoms. The Piazza is gorgeous. The Giles card is a great picture. The Milacki card is now my worst cut card I own. The Coleman is numbered. Love Big Daddy cards even in the halos uni.

Look how young Edmonds and Colon look, two of my favorites. The two Nolan Ryan cards are sweet!

Another insert set I am assuming. Kerry Wood was included so I threw two more Wood's on the page.

A Guillen I had never seen before. Fullmer could demolish a ball. Pena RC I think. I don't remember Mike Lowell as a Yankee.

The Wagner Electric Diamond is sweet. I have that Johnny Damon card signed. I think I posted about it years ago when I got it.

Another insert set. These cards were in great condition. I know I have found them peeling and faded a lot of times. I guess there were variations on these too look at the gold and silver Nomo's. There were a ton of these so if anyone is looking for a certain player let me know I probably pulled it.

I have never even heard of Topps Gold Label. These cards did not scan well. They are beautiful thick cards much like the old Flair.

So many 1994 and 1995 Electric Diamond cards, the thought of trying to collect the whole set in them crossed my mind many times. I couldn't take pictures of 10% of them. Check out the White Sox Jim Abbott card. That one is new to me.

More of those.

This set had great pictures. I love a good landscape card and Upper Deck really tried on this set and it shows. The Abbott Electric Diamond is cool.

The 1999 Fleer Ultra had the "Gold Medallion Edition" randomly thrown in. I received a couple dozen of those. I wish they were embossed with a serial number on the back not just the label.

A couple of new Tim Salmons to round it out.

I had a stack 2 feet high of cards I wanted to scan and show but my scanner sucks and takes forever and there are just too many cards. Probably my best garage sale buy to date.