2023 CARD SHOW - PART 6 THE SAD REMAINS OF THE GLORIOUS QUARTER BOXES

I LEFT THE COLLECTOR'S TABLE WITH A BAG FULL OF GOODIES AND ABOUT TWENTY BUCKS IN MY POCKET AND HEADED TOWARD THE BACK OF THE ROOM. OCCASIONALLY THERE'S A GOOD DEALER AT ONE OF THESE TABLES BUT RECENTLY IT'S BEEN THE GUY WITH SEVENTEEN TABLES OF THREE DOLLAR BOXES ON THE LEFT AND THE ANGRY VINTAGE DEALER ON THE RIGHT. I USUALLY IGNORE THESE GUYS FOR DIFFERENT REASONS, THREE DOLLAR BOX GUY JUST HAS TOO MUCH TO DEAL WITH, I'D BE THERE FOR A MONTH TRYING TO GET THROUGH EVERYTHIGN TO FIND THE ONE HIDDEN GEM. VINTAGE GUY HAS NO PRICES ON ANYTHING AND I'VE ALREADY SEEN HIM BE RUDE TO CUSTOMERS SO I DON'T EVEN WANT TO DEAL WITH THAT MESS. HOWEVER IN THE VERY BACK BRENDA USUALLY SETS UP WITH TONS OF QUARTER, DIME AND EVEN NICKEL BOXES. THIS IS ALWAYS MY FAVORITE STOP AT THE CARD SHOW

SADLY THIS TIME THERE WERE A LOT LESS BOXES ON THE TABLE AND MOST OF THEM WERE WRESTLING CARDS OR PHOTOS AND MEMORABILIA. I'M NOT SURE IF THEY'VE JUST RUN OUT OF QUARTER BOXES OR THEY GOT BOUGHT OUT BEFORE I GOT THERE OR WHAT BUT SEARCHING THROUGH A DOZEN QUARTER BOXES WASN'T IN THE CARDS FOR ME TODAY. THERE WERE A FEW DOLLAR BOXES FILLED WITH DECENT STUFF AND ONE QUARTER BOX THAT WAS MOSTLY FILLED WITH EARLY 80S TOPPS THAT WERE SELLING SIX FOR A DOLLAR. EVEN THOUGH ONLY ABOUT A FIFTH OF THE BOX WAS NOT THE 80'S TOPPS THAT WAS STILL ENOUGH FOR ME TO FIND SOME GOODIES. BEHOLD MY TREASURES: 

1970 TOPPS IN THE QUARTER BOX IS ALWAYS WONDERFUL. THERE WASN'T MUCH 70'S STUFF IN THERE BUT I DID FIND A COUPLE I COULD USE. THIS VIC DAVALILLO LOOKS GREAT WITH THE BATTING CAGE AND RANDOM DUDE WANDERING AROUND IN THE BACKGROUND

RON PERRANOSKI'S CARD IS MUCH LESS INTERESTING AS HE IS BEING PHOTOGRAPHED A MILE FROM HOME PLATE IN THE OUTFIELD. 1970 TOPPS IS NOT A SET I'M FOCUSING ON AT ALL BUT YOU BET I'LL PICK EM UP CHEAP

1977 TOPPS IS A SET I'M FOCUSING ON RIGHT NOW BUT IT WASN'T WHEN I WAS AT THE CARD SHOW BECAUSE I WAS STILL LOOKING FOR THE ACCURSED 1976 ROSE. IF MY CALCULATIONS ARE CORRECT, I STILL NEED SIXTY-NINE CARDS TO COMPLETE THIS SET (nice) BUT IT'S MOSTLY COMMONS AND THE ONLY CARD I NEED THAT MIGHT BE A LITTLE PRICEY IS JOHNNY BENCH. BUYING BENCH CARDS IS ALWAYS A DELIGHT SO I'M NOT EVEN WORRIED ABOUT IT. I DOUBT I COMPLETE THIS SET THIS YEAR BUT I BET I CAN KNOCK A TON OFF THAT LIST

THERE WAS A LITTLE PILE OF 1985 FLEER IN THE BOX AND I MANAGED TO FIND FIVE I DIDN'T HAVE. I DON'T REMEMBER THE REST OF THIS SET BEING AS COLOR COORDINATED AS THESE FOUR BUT I GOTTA SAY IT LOOKS PRETTY GREAT. SPEAKING OF SET COMPLETING, I REALLY GOTTA FINISH OFF A FLEER SET THIS YEAR. i NEED ONE CARD FOR 1981 AND THREE FOR 1984

STEVE JELTZ ROOKIE CARD! FOR A GREATER APPRECIATION OF HOW GOOD THIS IS WATCH THIS VIDEO

PETE ROSE CARD OUT OF MY DAMN HAIR, GOTTA LOVE IT. THIS CARD CONFUSED ME AT FIRST BECAUSE 1) I DIDN'T RECALL ANY OTHER 1986 FLEER SPECIAL SUPER STAR CARDS WITH THIS SHINY GOLD BORDER AND 2) HOW MANY BASEBALL CARDS FEATURE A LIMITED EDITION COMMEMORATIVE PLATE. SUCH A WEIRD CARD

WOOOOOOO! OLD FLEER INSERTS!!! I LOVE THEM, EVEN PETES. THE 1986 FUTURE HALL OF FAMER SET WAS EXTREMELY ACCURATE WITH THIS ONE EXCEPTION

THERE WERE TWO DIFFERENT FROM THE SET IN THE BOX AND I GOT THEM BOTH BECAUSE I FORGOT I HAD A WANTLIST FOR FLEER INSERTS ON MY PHONE. GOOD NEWS: I DID NEED THE ROSE BECAUSE OF COURSE I DID. BETTER NEWS: I ALREADY HAD ROD CAREW BUT NOW I HAVE TWO ROD CAREWS

I NEED SO MANY 1984 DONRUSS CARDS THAT I HAVE NO QUALMS ABOUT GETING ONE I NEED EVEN IF THERE'S A BIG RIP IN THE TOP OF THE CARD.THIS IS THE LAST CARD OUT OF THE BOX THAT I ACTUALLY NEEDED OFF A WANTLIST, THE REST ARE ALL THINGS I JUST COULDN'T LEAVE BEHIND

REGGIE JACKSON SUPER VET! I ALWAYS SEE OAKLAND TO CALIFORNIA AS REGGIE'S ALPHA TO OMEGA BUT IT'S REALLY KANSAS CITY TO OAKLAND. THIS WAS TOO GOOD TO LEAVE IN A BOX WITH 1985 TOPPS

I ALSO REFUSED TO LEAVE BEHIND SCHMIDT EVEN THOUGH MY WANTLIST SAID I DIDN'T NEED IT. I EVEN TRIED TO PUT IT IN THE BINDER, BUT MIKE WAS ALREADY THERE. YOU CAN'T TAKE CHANCES LIKE THAT, WANTLISTS CAN BE WRONG

I DIDN'T EVEN LOOK AT THE WANTLIST, THIS CARD SLAPS. OF ALL THE 1984-85 SET I REGRET MISSING OUT ON BECAUSE I WAS DISTRACTED BY OTHER COLLECTIONS IN THE MID-80S THIS ONE IS THE MOST PAINFUL REGRET. I LOVE THIS DESIGN SO MUCH

BY FAR THE WEIRDEST THING I FOUND AT THE ENTIRE CARD SHOW WAS THIS 1974 ALL-STAR CARD OF FISK AND BENCH IN ALARGE, VERY OLD PENNY SLEEVE. THE CARD WAS BEAT ALL TO SHIT BUT IT STILL SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN IN A QUARTER BOX. THAT'S NOT THE STRANGE PART. THAT'S THE CARD THAT WAS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SLEEVE

A 1986 BIG LEAGE CHEW HANK AARON HOME RUN LEGENDS CARD, ALSO BEAT ALL TO HELL. THESE CARDS ARE USUALLY A BIT DINGED UP BECAUSE THEY WERE INSERTED LOOSE INSIDE A BAG WITH A WAS OF BUBBLE GUM BUT THIS ONE GOT SOME EXTRA ADDED BEATING. WHY WAS AN AARON ODDBALL CARD PUT IN AN SLEEVE WITH A 1974 ALL-STAR CARD? WHY WERE THEY BOTH IN A QUARTER BOX? YOU GO TO CARD SHOWS LOOKING FOR UNEXPECTED TREASURE AND THIS IS ABOUT AS UNEXPECTED AS YOU CAN GET

LAST CARD I PICKED UP OUT OF THE BOS WAS THIS 1998 CIRCA THUNDER BOSS INSERT OF TRAVIS LEE. THIS WAS PRETTY MUCH THE ONLY CARD IN THE BOX MADE AFTER ABOUT 1997 AND I HAVE NO IDEA HOW IT GOT IN THERE. THERE'S A REALLY GOOD CHANCE I ALREADY HAVE THIS ONE BUT I CAN'T PASS UP A 90S INSERT THIS WILD LOOKING AND EMBOSSED EVEN AND STILL SLEEP AT NIGHT

I REALLY TRIED TO FIND SOME STUFF OUT OF THE DOLLAR BOX SO I COULD GIVE BRENDA MORE THAN THREE BUCKS FOR EIGHTEEN CARDS BUT I HAD ALL THE VINTAGE ALREADY AND I WASN'T INTERESTED IN THE MORE RECENT CARDS. I WENT TO PAY BUT SHE INSISTED THAT THERE WASN'T THREE DOLLARS WORTH OF CARDS IN THE PILE I HAD AND ONLY CHARGED TWO. BEWILDERED, I ARGUED A BIT BUT EVENTUALLY JUST GAVE HER THE TWO BUCKS. SEE WHY THIS IS MY FAVORITE SELLER?? I DON'T KNOW WHEN I'LL BE BACK TO THE NEXT SHOW BUT I HOPE SHE'S THERE WITH A FRESH BATCH OF BOXES SO I CAN GIVE HER MORE MONEY. AND FORGET MY USUAL TRIP AROUND THE REST OF THE SHOW, I'M GOING THERE FIRST

UP NEXT: A WHOLE NEW AREA FULL OF ALL NEW DEALERS!

1985 Donruss Rack Pack - Part 2

Skeeter's in the hizzy!The first section had a Hall of Famer, a Veteran's Committee selection in 2025 and a Diamond King. What's in the second section? Rookies? All-Stars? Nothing in particular? Let's find out...

530 Skeeter Barnes - The original Crash Davis. He also apparently has a barbeque joint in Nebraska named after him.

399 Charlie Leibrandt - This photo looks unholy. Everything's out of focus except his face and those eerie Village of the Damned eyes.

268 Ernie Whitt - One of about 137 otherwise decent catchers who played horribly the moment they put on a Braves uniform.

136 Kevin Bass - The Astros stripes go well with the Donruss stripes, don't you think?

613 Joe Cowley - The Yankees logo is covering up the Olan Mills logo.

32 John Morris Rated Rookie - John didn't make his debut until 1986 and he did it with St. Louis, but he made The Show!

39 Shawon Dunston Rated Rookie - Yeah! Our first good rookie! Good being a relative term, of course. I thought he was good at least. He was the #1 overall pick in 1982. You have to appreciate the Sealy Posturepedic ad in the background if nothing else.

89 Jim Sundberg - The backs of these cards have the player's contract status, a stat that would be useful today. Jim was signed to a 10 year contract throu 1990. By 1988 he had been traded twice and cut by the Cubs.

567 Dan Gladden - I'm Gladden I got his card! Haw Haw! Dang, tough crowd...

436 Frank Viola - Frank was a damn good pitcher. Not much more to say than that.

304 Jose Cruz - Jose Cruz was the Astros back in the '80s. I didn't realize his son played a few games with the 'stros last season.

173 Don Baylor - Man, this pack is loaded with solid non-superstar type players. I could have sworn Don played a season with the Braves, but I must be confusing that with his time as the Bravos' hitting coach. The Braves brought in so many washed up old players at the end of their careers in the late '80s that it would be plausible.

531 Randy Johnson - who will forever more be known as "No, the other one".

400 Tom Burgmeier - Tom was a good lefty reliever. Every team needs one, but no one collects 'em.

372 Bob Welch - Yet another solid player. I got another Cy Young winner along with Viola. I bet I could put togather a pennant winning team with the players out of this rack pack.

58 59 60 - Lou Gehrig's feet.

Another good section, I wish I had bought a couple more of these things now. Is the Clemens hiding in the last section? You'll find out tomorrowish maybe as long as I don't get swamped with work.

1985 Donruss Rack Pack - Part 1

Here's that '85 Donruss rack pack I bought from Dave & Adam's. If you're jealous, go get your own. I think the big names in this set are Clemens and Puckett. I have maybe 150 cards from this set and at least 20 of those are Braves so I'll take anything but doubles.


434 Ron Darling - This was the last Met Paul's Random Stuff needed, but it looks like I'm too late to send it.

302 Rich Dotson - Rich is sporting the bright red White Sox unis of the '80s. This set had a weird color quality to it that shows up well on this card.

171 Alan Trammell - The first really good card! The back notes Alan's World Series MVP. There's s bump on the top of the card but who cares.

529 Sixto Lezcano - What a great name. Red uniforms (or even maroon stripey ones) look good on this design.

398 Mike Hargrove - Grover! Cool stuff on the back: One of Mike's two home runs in '84 was his first ever grand slam vs. Seattle on 6/23/84.

267 Matt Young - There's another Matt Young in the Braves farm system and this guy always screws up my google searches for him.

135 Jerry Hairston - I knew he had two kids in the majors, but I didn't know his dad played four games for the White Sox and his brother played three for the Cubs.

612 Ruppert Jones - Ruppert picked a good year to play one season with the Tigers. Did you know he was an RBI Baseball legend?

483 Dave Owen - This guy is entirely too happy for my liking. If I have doubles I know where this is going.

26 Bob Brenly Diamond King - Bob Brenly was a Diamond King? Really?? The back states he led the Giants with a "lusty .291 average". Ick.

88 Mike Flanagan - The design looks pretty good with orange too... Those lines sort of morph into whatever color is around them.

566 Brian Harper - Ok, the lines don't morph into yellow too well. Brian didn't get good until he went to the Twins. Why couldn't Lonnie Smith have knocked that ball out in '91?

435 Spike Owen - The only Mariners captain in history. That old trident logo kicked ass.

303 David Green - What is David wearing, a neck warmer?

172 Wade Boggs - The second really good card in the pack! Boggsy looks like he just got completely fooled by a pitch.

40 41 42 Lou Gehrig's crotch - Lou wasn't known as the Iron Horse just for the streak. Awww yeaaaah.

Not a bad start at all! Tomorrow I'll post Skeeter's section.

UPS Finally Showed Up

My Christmas gift to myself showed up today. I probably would have had it last week had I not waited until Christmas Eve to place the order, but now I have a box to rip this week. I got it from Dave & Adam's mainly because the box was cheap as dirt and they had all those Holiday promotions going on. I felt bad not buying from the local shop, but I'll make a trip to the brick & mortar store later this week to show them some love. Here's what I got:

Forty-two bucks for a box was worth it to get a couple of autographs and hopefully a chunk off my want list. Packs are 5 bucks each at the shops, this way they're $2.33 each. Not too shabby. I'll be ripping this all week a few packs at a time for your viewing pleasure.

I picked up a couple of other cheap things to qualify for the free packs for spending $50. I actually would have bought this rack pack of 1985 Donruss even if I wasn't trying to spend more money. I love the design and I have very few cards from this set so why not? This pack has Ron Darling, Skeeter Barnes and Marty Barrett showing on top, with Lou Gehrig puzzle pieces on the back. I think I'm going to split this pack rip into three posts to keep everyone from overdosing on Timelines.


1991 Traded set for three bucks, how can you beat it? The Bagwell, Giambi and Ivan Rodriguez rookies would probably set you back a buck a piece if you bought 'em seperately. This will also cap off the '91 set I'm trying to build.

Here's my two free packs for spending a whole fifty bucks at one throw. As you can see there's a lovely holiday sticker on one of the packs. I was torn between these and three packs of Bowman Basketball. I decided the chance of me getting a decent framed card or an autograph was better than pulling an Al Horford rookie so I went with the Masterpieces even though I've got the set. I'm sure people will be begging me for my doubles once I open them anyway.

Not a bad little haul, eh? Look for the first two packs of Timelines to be ripped this evening.