A couple weeks ago, a co-worker noticed me looking at something sports card related and told me that 1) he also collects sports cards, and 2) there's a card show coming up in the town next over from me--on Father's Day.
I figured I could walk to wherever it was, since Cranford is literally three blocks from my house. Nope!
This card show was in a batting cage-type place in an industrial section of town buried near the woods. The TCDB ad said the show started at 10 a.m., while the Facebook ad said the "new" time was Noon. Figures it would be moved later on a holiday where I would want to be home with my kids.
Also, admission was $3 and I probably could have dodged it since I got there at 11:30 a.m. and walked right in to see the dealers setting up their tables (15 or 20 maybe) in a very small room. Had I stayed in the men's room for 20 minutes I would have already passed the empty table where someone would eventually collect entrance fees*
*and politely inform some kid bringing in a suitcase of slabs that there's a $10 fee for that. I knew that from the flyer but this jerk was all annoyed that he was being charged for his portable showroom.
However, I did the right thing and walked around the block until showtime. There was nothing nearby. Not a single store or restaurant or anything.
When the doors opened I did a quick pass through the very square room. First stop was a father and son selling some shiny cards at the front of the room. The little guy must have been 10-12 years old and dad was pausing in the middle of his deal to stop his kid from sounding too eager.
After a few minutes of perusing their table I produced a small stack of modern shiny. The kid negotiated a price with me, initially asking $75. "Would you take $60?" I replied. We agreed on $65, and he asked his dad to give him some change. Then the dad wanted to see what they were selling so I handed him the stack:
He grinned when he saw the Jordan Love, as my Packers hat indicated to him that I would want that one.
I was far too excited to see Tyler Booker in the box. Going to high school with an NFL player's uncle has made me PC an offensive lineman 😦who plays for the Cowboys 😶
There were a few other cards not shown here. You'll see them in care packages soon.
Another spin around the room led me to a table with a $20 box / $15 box / $5 box setup. Each had a discount for every 3 cards purchased, but I only picked one $20 card and one $15 card.
Am I crazy for handing over two Hamiltons for a non-numbered insert of Randy Arozarena? Probably, but forking over $15 for the Jaxson Dart was an even harder one to explain. Mr. Blue Tent got dragged in the local press for supporting Trump (I get that he's a mormon Ole Miss alum but.. why now?) and while I didn't want to look like a fan of the kid -- on or off the field -- that color match was too much to resist.
The $5 box had a lot more volume for my taste, and I seem to recall the final price working out to $3 each based on how many I picked out.
$3 for any Ohtani insert is an automatic 'yes', and the CMC (#d/75) was an easy PC pickup. I didn't need the Murray neccesarily but the color match, low numbering, and my total lack of New Orleans Pelicans made it appealing. Chase Shuggart wasn't the only Red Sox auto in the box; I initially had a Brian Johnson in my stack but chose Chase because Johnson's card and auto were far less appealing. [And, even though he was the longer-tenured Sox reliever,
his name alone makes me furious.]
From there I spied a box of vintage singles on a table to my right and began shuffling through 1950's commons. A Del Crandall 1950 Bowman RC was the only one I considered but the condition was probably below VG. Some '57 singles looked sharper; one in particular was really clean - but for the life of me I could not tell you who the player was. Also.. not a single '56 single anywhere in the box :/
I slid over to the modern cards on the same table and pulled out a stack while a woman pulled up to the vintage side and told the dealer her husband would be so happy to see a vintage box. (It was the only one at the show.)
Not all the cards had prices - which is usually a yellow flag - but the lady at the booth told me if I had a question about price I can ask her son (who was about 16-18 years old) I nodded and assembled the biggest of my four stacks.
Another autographed card of a subpar Red Sox reliever? Add it. Cool looking bat card marked at $4? Add it. Shimmerry refractors? Add 'em.
Loose Packers? Add 'em.
Even you, Josh Jacobs. Grrr..
Shiny and colorful non-Packers....
...including some more color matches and a Braelon Allen #d to 299? Why not.
All the loose cards were in a 50 cent box, which I'm pretty sure was part of this pile.
The most expensive single purchase of the day and the most impressive single card I brought home was this Dale Murphy '89 style orange refractor autograph numbered 12 of 25 (Christmas card!)
You never know what you'll find at a show, huh? I bought zero graded cards, zero vintage, and the only hockey cards I saw were some very reasonably-priced hobby boxes of 2022-23 Upper Deck series 1 for $50. I would have grabbed one if I didn't already have the set.
After a whirlwind 90 minutes I had spent about $250, seen every table twice, and picked up a lot of goodies for my PC and yours. So I called an Uber to take me home and while I waited... I stopped at the table by the entrance. Next to the overeager kid and his dad was a dealer with a box of loose baseball singles. They looked like 2026 flagship so I hurriedly pulled out my want list and grabbed what I could.
I meant to pick up two (more) Misiorowski RCs. I did not mean to pick out two Ryan Ritter rookies. With my ride on th way I was feeling rushed, and had to stop at 33 cards (not all of which I needed) The dealer looked through them all and gave me a price - $25. I didn't have time to haggle, but I did have time to add one card as I thought it over. A Ken Griffey Jr. Donruss parallel seemed a bit much so I plucked the Paul Skenes out of the box and told him that if he could add this I'll give him $25. "Deal!"
And that was the show. Oddly, the co-worker who reccomended it never appeared. His loss I suppose.
On the way home I stopped at an ice cream parlor, took my sundae outside and.. it immediately started to rain. I waited out the shower as best I could, with the cards securely triple-bagged in my backpack.
My next major sports card purchase will be in a couple weeks, when I visit my mom in CT. Now that I know what to expect it will be easier to buget my money there.
