I can't be relying on card shows

For the longest time, I've built a good portion of my vintage collection at card shows.  Sometimes you pay more, sometimes you pay less, but the major advantage of buying at shows is that you have the card in hand.  You can look at it, judge for yourself how good the quality of the card is.

Things have changed a bit now that I'm in the deep south.   Shows aren't as prevalent down here, as I've only found 2 shows that run once a month down here.  I could drive to N. Florida if I wanted to hit some more shows, but that's about a 4 hour drive.  Not something I prefer to do.

Well, I decided to change my purchasing habits a little bit with my last COMC order.  I plucked out a trio of '59 Topps cards, a set that kind of fell by the wayside the past few months.

These 3 cards combined cost $2.66, a little under a dollar a card.  I've been paying $1-$2 for commons at the show, so I'm saving a bit of money here.  Yes, I may be taking a bit of a chance on quality, but the scans have been good on COMC so I'm confident that I can start putting a dent in my vintage want lists in this manner as well.

These 3 cards also brought my total cards in hand for the '59 Topps set to an even 60%.  Still a lot of big name, big money cards to go, but hopefully I can start pecking away at this set again.

Maybe the card show this weekend will help...

Thanks for reading, Robert