After a quick web search, I saw that the show was that day but only going until 3 PM. I had some things I needed to do so that gave me a little motivation to get over my procrastination. Unfortunately, I didn't roll in there until about 2:15. And when I did, about half of the tables were already empty and another quarter packing up.
As luck would have it, one of the guys that hadn't packed up happened to be a big Cubs fan and was changing his collecting focus. I guess he was going more towards high end autograph/investment pieces. Not sure how that'll work out but that's good news for me. He had a ton of Cubs stuff, sorted by player, all in penny sleeves and top loaders. Good thing it was mostly big names as without a checklist/wantlist handy, because my memory on what I have is better with those guys.
Compared to what I'm used to paying, most of it was a little out of my price range. (I'm sure you Chicago area collectors would scoff at some of the things I balked at.) Had I not been pressed for time, I might have tried to haggle a little more on a nice bulk purchase but instead I got right to work sifting through the boxes. I passed on a few things that would have been nice additions at a slightly cheaper price but the dealer said he'll be back next month so hopefully there's no buyer's remorse in the meantime.
He had a color coded sticker system on the top loaders that told me what they were but they all got mixed up when I took them out to scan them. No biggie, I'll just treat it like I do eBay and average it all together. When all was said and done, I walked away with 50 something cards for $20. Nothing less than a quarter or more than a buck. And it was about a 50/50 split on cards for me and stuff I saw for some of you.
I'm going to break this down similarly to the way I do my repacks and throw a few superlatives out there.
Oldest card:
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| 1968 Topps #410 Ferguson Jenkins |
Pretty sure this was one of the dollar cards. The centering was great, the edges and corners were pretty sharp. The centering on the back wasn't as good as the front but there was no way I was passing it up whether I had it or not (I didn't).
Newest card(s)
A 2016 Topps Kris Bryant card. Wait a minute. That's a 2015 card, right? What kind of shenanigans am I trying to pull???
It actually is a 2016 card from the Berger's Best insert set. I'm glad I somehow managed to see the back of it and realized it was different from the 2015 version.
But that Bryant card is soooo January. The newest of the new were actually these recently released 2016 Gypsy Queen minis. I had picked up a team set of the regular sized version via eBay but usually just pick up minis as I see them. Although I was eagle-eyed on the Bryant, I didn't realize the Fergie was a foil edition until I got home and scanned them. I just knew I didn't have any of the GQ minis from this year so I pulled it aside.
The only other 2016 card I picked up was the "base" version of the Clark insert card from this year's Opening Day set. It'll go along nicely with the gifted autograph version I got the other day.
Most represented player: Ryne Sandberg
It used to be pretty rare that I could add a new Sandberg to the collection so imagine my surprise when I found 6 new-to-me Rynos and a significant upgrade in my 1984 Topps, mostly from my time out of collecting (mid 90's to mid 00's). I have a couple other Cubs cards from that Laser set but this is my first Sandberg. And yes, that Skybox Circa Boss card really is that weird teal color. I'm glad I picked up the red American Pie card even though it looked familiar. Turns out I had a blue version but not the red. I love the horizontal die cut hologram card that made him look all googly eyed in the scan. One of these days I'll sit down and catalog my PC of this guy.
Other nominees included Sammy Sosa with some home run swagger and Kris Bryant with some Minor League League Leader cards that didn't end up in team sets I had previously purchased.
Odbballiest:
I don't know the Santo is really an oddball but I did want to show off that nice deckle edge card I picked up. And when I picked up the Banks, I thought it was older than it was but either way it was new to me.
Most Confusing:
I mostly sat out last year from collecting so this Javier Baez card out of 2015 Topps Archives confused the heck out of me. After deciding to collect autographed versions of the cards depicting Cubs players with their Topps All-Star Rookie trophies, I thought I had seen them all. Apparently, Topps stiffs guys like Sandberg who made the team but then gives them to guys who weren't on the team? I guess if the opportunity presents itself I'd try to get one signed but I won't be going out of my way.
Accidental doubles:
After arriving home, I discovered both of these cards already in my collection. Or at least logged into what is the start of my spreadsheet. But at less than a buck apiece, I certainly am not complaining about these two beauties. The Kessinger is almost certainly an upgrade to whatever I had and the Bryant/Russell will easily find a home in my horizontal collection and more than likely, the Horizontal Frankenset I'm passively putting together.
As I said, this was about half of what I pulled. The rest will hopefully show up on some other blogs in the next few weeks. A couple of things went out Monday morning and others will go out later this week.
Well done!
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