Time to get a grip

For me, it is time to get a grip.   This weekend was the second time in recent memory that someone has sent me a card for the SNI set, and as I began to put the card away, it turned out that I already had one in that spot.

Damn!

I've tried hard to keep this set up to date and the want lists correct.  It drives me nuts when I duplicate cards, I guess it's the OCD in me. 

Still, there were some great cards in the envelope that Nick from Dime Boxes sent my way this past week.

Maybe if I had this Bowman Chrome card of R.A. Dickey sooner, I could have used it as a device to remember to get a grip on what I'm doing...

I love how this card catches R.A.'s knuckle ball grip.   I've tried throwing it when I was younger.  It isn't easy, that's for sure. 

Next up is Shawn Green showing today's baseball players that it's OK to sign for the fans.

The now "unofficial" count for the serial numbered insanity set sits at 1100, with these next two cards bringing the set to that magic number.

Serial Number 414

I will always love the purple refractors from Topps Chrome.  Yes, I know it's a sickness, but there's something about them that appeals to me.  The Hill is the 46th Blue Jay out of 50 towards the SNI set.

Serial Number 1169

I didn't know much about Archer until I read up a bit on him.   He finished 3rd in the AL ROY race last year, behind teammate Wil Myers and Jose Iglesias.  Guess I better start following the AL a little bit more closely this year.  Archer is the 42nd Tampa Bay Rays card out of the 50 needed. 

Nick, thank you for the envelope, the cards are appreciated!!

Thanks for reading, Robert

I actually fared quite well at the card show

I've been showing little bits and pieces so far of the spoils from the card show I attended yesterday.

I did head to the show with the intention of getting as close as possible to completing my '73T set.  But when the first table you sit down at has a vintage box with cards priced at 50 cents - $1, sometimes those plans get sidetracked.

Especially when the box has a very nice selection of '64s.

Add to these the Berra and Killebrew cards I showed this morning, and I wound up coming home with 31 cards for the '64 set.  5 of these were numbered 550 or higher, and that includes the In Memoriam card for Cubs 2nd baseman Ken Hubbs who was killed in a plane crash in February of 1964.  I now have just under 3/4 of the set complete, needing only 149 cards to complete this beauty. 
There's still some heavy hitters to pick up, such as Aaron, Clemente, the AL Bombers card and the Phil Niekro RC.

Those weren't the only vintage I brought back with me, I did manage to grab some 68's as well.

This set wasn't a big focus, but the 15 that you see here put me over the 100 mark in terms of cards owned.  If I had been thinking, I would have grabbed the 7 more cards I need to get to the 20% goal I set for myself at the beginning of the year.  No matter, I should have those before too long.

Finally, I did manage to buy 19 of the cards I needed for the '73 Topps set.

The Walter Johnson card is just a little out of date....

Love the John Ellis card, it's not too often you see a card depicting a player arguing with an umpire.  I still need 47 cards to finish this set, but with some big names as Schmidt & Cey, Ryan, Clemente and Fisk to go, there's probably no timetable to finish this one.

Three sets that I have been working on for different amounts of time all had varying sizes of dents put into them.  For that I am grateful.

The show was packed, a good sign for the hobby.  I did overhear a couple of conversations between dealers and customers, both very optimistic about the hobby right now.

Considering that the show was advertised as a "vintage" show, and with the malaise that I see towards modern offerings, it's not really surprising that vintage shows are starting to pick up steam.

I'm already looking forward to the Robert Morris show in Pittsburgh in May.  If you're big into in person autographs, there's going to be a few big names there.  Steve Carlton, Maury Wills and Bryan Trottier are 3 names that you might recognize...

thanks for reading, Robert

Right now their chances are pretty good

Only 7 entries so far in my 1000th post contest.  Maybe I made it too hard?  Maybe I was a little too conceited in expecting congrats on that "milestone"?  Who knows?

If you're not sure what to do, check out this post.  If you need to still figure out which post is #1000, I'll give you a hint and tell you that this is post 1002.

And for those of you that have come here for the cards, I'll show you the pair of '64T cards that I showed off on twitter last night.

Not bad for $12 combined.  I'll show off the rest of the '64 stack tonight.

If you wanna see the best card I found at the show....take a look at this post.   Sometimes accidents are good.

Thanks for reading, Robert

So you're saying there's a chance

Well, I woke up this morning feeling pretty good and will make the trek to Ohio for the big card show.  Part of the reason I would like to go now is the envelope that blog reader Mark Hoyle sent me.  It arrived yesterday, jammed full of '73 Topps greatness:

Instead of trying to write something witty or clever, I'll just let you bask in the glow of 44 '73 Topps cards.  It's the right thing to do.

This haul drops my want list to a meager 66 cards, including the Schmidt/Cey RC.   So there may be a chance that I finish this set in Ohio today. 

I've been very lucky with this set so far, because of a large amount of generous envelopes/boxes like this that have come my way. 

Mark, thank you very much for these cards, they are fantastic and very much appreciated!!

Thanks for reading, Robert

Week in review: On the cheap again

I spent a good portion of the week enjoying the great envelopes that came my way, with the majority of cards inside hitting the want lists over many different years and sets. 

To be honest, I really didn't have to spend any money this week if I didn't want to, but I decided to work on one of my hockey want lists, and purchased 5 of the final 6 cards that I needed from the 1999-00 Upper Deck MVP silver signature set.  I just purchased them on Wednesday, so I don't expect them to hit my doorstep until some time next week.   The only card I need to complete the set is Mike Richter, card #133. 

I still have quite a few cards to display from a trio of envelopes that came in this week, but I wanted to show one card in particular:

A.O.

Thanks to Nick at the great Dime Boxes blog, I'm now one card closer to completing my '73 Topps set.  I'm debating whether I will head up to Strongsville, Ohio on Saturday to hit a card show.  It's about a 90 minute drive, but from what I've heard it's one of the better shows for vintage cards.  I already checked with my better half to see if she had any plans for me this weekend (luckily that was a no), so now I think it's going to be one of those times where I'll go if I feel up to it when I get up on Saturday. 

Total spent on cards this week:  $8.88

Yea, the 5 silver signature cards cost me that much because one of them is a Wayne Gretzky.  The shipper was cool and with the 5 auctions came free shipping, which I couldn't pass up.  I'll be sure to show them off on the hc blog when they arrive.

Thanks for reading, and happy Friday!   Robert