No Brainer or No Brains? The BINDER

    I've kept all four or five of my blog readers at suspense long enough.  At the end of my last post about the card show I went to a few weeks ago, I posted this picture of a binder cover: 

    While digging through a value box of fifty cent cards, the seller asked the few of us standing there if we were interested in any full binders of cards. My interest was piqued and I politely said "I might."

    My experience with binders at shows has been mixed. They have been either completely filled with a full set of 1990 Fleer that the 9 pocket sheets are more valuable, a complete set of  1953 Topps that I could never afford, or they could be a cardboard gold mine.

    I made a great buy on a binder last summer, at the behest of my friend Blake, that was a gold mine of football cards.  I sold a few the next day and then passed the rest off to my nephew who then made some money off of it.  With that experience in my back pocket, I asked "What's in the binders?"

    "There's four binders left here of player collections. Manny Ramirez (meh...), Jeff Bagwell (a little more interesting...), Tony Gwynn (ok, I have a not-so-great story about him, so meh.....) and...

"CAL RIPKEN JR."  

    My interest went from about a three to an eleven.  I've improved my poker face over the years, so I tried to play it cool.  I have just over 2200 different Ripkens in my collection and it gets tougher to find new ones to add even with new products being released all the time.  I definitely did not want to find that the binder was chock full of 1989 Donruss, 1993 Topps and off-brand Star Ripken cards from the early 90s.  I definitely do not need a ton of dupes either. I get it, the cards from this era are plentiful, but even if it is Cal, I don't need 50 copies of the 1988 Donruss with Cal Sr. and Billy.    

    I said I'd love to take a look.  Right inside the front cover was this:

The seller mentioned as he handed me the binder there was more than 600 cards inside so it doesn't take a rocket surgeon to understand where that information was gleaned. $55 would be a good starting point in negotiating if that was what the purpose of this pink sliver of a Post-it note indicated. I began to flip through the pages and here's a small sample of what I saw:

    I know that binders can be a lot of work to break down and sell off.  Even if the seller wanted to pull all the cards and put them into sleeves and toploaders, it could take hours just to do that and then you have to price it all out. It seemed he thought it would be more work than it was worth. I saw a few cards from my quick glance that I could use so if the price was right, I was gonna buy it, damn the torpedoes!  I'm no stranger to hard work and this is a hobby after all.  I figured whatever cards I didn't need, I could figure out something. 

    After I finished flipping though he said he'd sell me the entire book for forty dollars!  There is no doubt I broke my poker face but quickly inside the terror welled up when remembered I only wandered into the mall with $30 in my pocket.  I fast-walked to the ATM that was at the other end of the mall only to find it was completely out of cash.  Thank the lord we live in an age where phones are our lifelines and he luckily, he said he'd take Paypal, so I paid him that way.  

    In total there were 77 regular 9 pocket pages in the album and 2 in the back that had a few jumbo sized cards.  When I pulled all of the cards out of the pages there were 739 cards.  I know the math doesn't check out but there were plenty of pockets that were double or triple stuffed.  

• I'd estimate that 65-ish % of the cards were from 1995 through 2001.  That's good!
• Most cards were in near mint condition. 
• There was one 1990 Topps that looks like it was a wallet card for a while and an '87 Topps that had some, what I thought was bubble gum residue on the bottom.  I know it was not gum residue, ask me how I know! 
• There were no cards newer than 2012. 
• The most duplicated card was 1991 Leaf with 10 copies, 1991 Leaf Checklist with 9 copies, and 1993 Leaf and 1994 Pinnacle tied with 7 copies apiece.  
• I paid 0.0541272 cents per card

    I ended up with 5 Set Needs. I'm working on completing '07 UD Masterpieces again, so these four cards from the binder will go in to the set:

There was an '08 UD Masterpieces SP in the binder so there's one less to chase down now

There ended up being 23 brand new additions to my Cal Ripken Collection!  Here's a few of my favorites, even though I love them all:

Most of the needs were from 1999, 2000, and 2001.  I was still collecting at this time, just in a smaller capacity.  I was in high school at this time, so playing baseball, watching baseball, playing N64, schoolwork, cutting grass for neighbors, working on the farm, partying and chasing girls divided my time.  All these activities, are listed in no particular order. We were all in high school once. HA!

I definitely never saw packs of Donruss Class of 2001 on the shelves. 

I'll gladly take Pacific inserts from this era.  I used to hate Pacific but my tastes have completely changed.  LOVE Pacific these days.  There are so many rare inserts of Cal that I need to chase down.

I think Cal was a spokesman for Fleer around Y2K and there's a ton of inserts of him I don't have from that time period.  They're more affordable than Pacific, its just a matter of winning the lottery

A shiny Fleer Brilliants blue parallel.  I like the blues better than the dull chrome base set.

Its hard to tell but these three are all parallels.  I guess they are just plain foil parallels but they sure hold a finger print well! I'll probably polish them a bit with a microfiber towel before I put them in the PC albums 

    When I created my Orioles Team set binders I truly agonized over whether or not to include Cal in them or not.  From 1982 to the present, he's in just about every release.  It adds up after a while but I ultimately decided to include him.  It just wouldn't seem right to exclude him even if it means I have dupes of lord only knows how many Ripkens. I also have my other Orioles player collections that I duplicate with Team Set cards.  Either way, I was able to find 40 Cal additions to the Orioles Team Set binders:

    At the end of what I took, I ended up with 671 cards I didn't need, and 1 totally random Mark McGwire Topps Micro from 1992.  68 useful cards might not seem like a ton but I would make this buy 100 times out of 100.  I pulled about 70 or so cards to send to COMC, and listed probably about 125 more of them on my Sportlots store.  I even was able to swing a trade of 30 or so of the lower end inserts at the latest card show this past weekend.

    If there's anything that you saw you might want or know any Ripken collectors that may be interested in trading, please, please don't hesitate to reach out.  I'd love to get back into doing more blogger trading!

    I'll close this post with a picture I snapped of our family dog Parker, semi-snuggled up with the empty binder after I pulled the cards out:

February 1st Regency Mall Card Show: No Brainer

The most recent card show I went to was the one that was held at Regency Mall in Richmond.  I mentioned a few posts back that when I was growing up, a lot of my back to school shopping was done there.  The mall declined and has been redeveloped as a multi-use town center and has made come back.  Even so, the quarterly card shows, put on by Three Point RVA, that have been held there the last few years has packed the mall with the most people it's probably seen in 25 or 30 years.  Going to this show is a no brainer if you're involved in the hobby in the Richmond metro area.  This particular show nearly filled the entire 2nd level of the mall, so there was plenty of cards to peruse.

Cal Ripken was always known for being a heady ball player.  His baseball knowledge led him to being a leader on the field from the shortstop position and made his team better just by being on the field.  Of course, he accomplished plenty through his athletic ability also, but he was the total package ballplayer because of his baseball IQ.  I was able to pick up this image variation SP from 2020 Topps of him doing a press conference probably thinking about a situation on the field.

One of the first tables I came to was a father and son seller that I've become acquainted with over the last few years.  They mostly deal in mid to higher end cards,  but at this particular show they had their value boxes and of course I had to dig in.  Searching through the boxes, I did have to check the back of both of these Vlad Daddy cards to see if they were reprints of some sort.

These two cards are not reprints and as you can see, there were the price tags on the cards.  It goes without saying, I did not leave these behind!

Another card that came out of their boxes with this Mark Reynolds rookie autograph from 2007 SPx.  Since he was a UVA guy and an Oriole legend (!), this was an incredibly easy two bucks to spend!

I was able to pick up this Green Cracked Ice parallel of Yennier Cano.  A steady force in the O's bullpen the last 2 years, I have confidence he can keep up up this year.

I finished up with that particular seller pretty happy with how good of a start I had to the the show. I could have left the mall not spending another dime and been satisfied with my purchases but it was only about 10am.

For the next few hours, I was working on stretching my money as far as it would go.  I didn't have a huge budget and spending a good portion of it at the first table, I started searching the cheap-o boxes for cards that fit into my collection.  I can't complain with finding a Rainbow Foil parallel of Felix Bautista.  He missed last season with Tommy John surgery, but I believe he will be gradually worked back into the closer role this year.

I picked up a few parallels of so Japanese players for my album on the cheap. Kenta and Kodai, welcome to your permanent home.

Skipping ahead toward the end of my purchases, I was able to dig through Dollar Dave's boxes and find some Orioles autographs from the dark ages.  Tripper Johnson never made the majors but at least he had a nice and legible signature.  Dave Crouthers never made the majors either but went on to be inducted into his alma mater's (SIUE) Hall of Fame in 2018.  Travis Driskill had a long career in the minors until the O's gave him a shot at the majors where he was knocked around to the tune of a 5.23 career ERA.  Better than I did!  Steve Bechler, if you remember, collapsed during a work out in spring training 2003 and died.  The death investigation led to the chemical Ephedra being banned by the FDA. I'm glad to add all 4 of these cards to my collection.

Backing up, I made one more huge pick up.  It came from a seller I passed a few times because he had a crowd around his table.  He had about ten or twelve boxes of fifty cent cards.  I couldn't resist.  It was hodgepodge of cards from the 80's through the present.  There was plenty of cards that I liked but I had to restrain myself due to the constraints of my budget.  I was able to pull a few of the 2023 Topps Chrome Titans I need for my set.  I love the panoramic view of the stadiums on most of the cards and the larger than life Titans just looks cool, IMHO.

Also, in the boxes I pulled a few more of the 2022 Topps Chrome Heart of the City cards I need. Again, the skylines of the cities they represent is not something that gets put on cards that often.  I'm inching toward completing the entire set.

Another bunch of insert sets I'm working on is Black Gold inserts from all years.  The ones from the'93 and '94 are a little more common, yet I haven't completed them after thirty or so years (I only started truly collecting them the last couple years).  The newer Black Gold inserts from '21, '22, '23, and '24 Topps Update is what inspired me to go back and complete the old sets.  The newer ones are tougher to find at a decent price but at fifty cents a piece, these were easy buys.  I think the 2022 design is probably the weakest out of the revival Black Gold sets but I still like 'em enought to still complete it.

A couple of nice insert cards of guys I grew up watching. Kenny Lofton in criminally underrated and deserves to be in Cooperstown already.  He'll get there eventually. The Big Hurt is already enshrined there.  I have a couple pages of each of those guys (along with quite a few other great players) in my PC.  I enjoy picking up cards for these PCs because I tend to gravitate toward great photos or card design and not because they are just fillers from any old list.  Both of the albums are just fun to pull off the shelf and flip through.  Posting a random page from these binders could be interesting if I ever need writing inspiration.

Speaking of binders:

The last big purchase of the day was an entire binder of cards! It was very much a no-brainer purchase, especially for me. The opportunity was too good to pass up and had me running to the ATM to withdraw more cash.  I don't want to spoil what is contained inside, because it actually deserves its own break down post. I'm still wading through and processing what's inside and I hope to share very soon...  I'd love to hear if anybody has any good guesses on what lies beyond the front cover.

My Latest COMC order

    It seems to be pretty popular here in the blogosphere to do Black Friday COMC shopping and show off the spoils.  I've done COMC show and tell in the past, and so I'll throw my hat in the ring and show some of my favorites from this batch. I usually only ship cards that I buy on COMC once a year so this shipment of 266 cards was even larger than normal.  I rarely ever load money into my account and just spend what I am able to sell on my own.  This year I actually put sixty extra dollars into my account for the Black Friday sales.  In total, I spent $368.13 and got 266 cards.  I spent $1.38 per card.  I'm a value shopper to the extreme.

    Here's a shot of my invoice.  I was targeted to ship in early January but I actually got it right before Christmas.  I'm just late posting....
 

    These three fill some sets. The Gorman Thomas was the last Diamond King I needed from 1983, Harper was the last of the 15 Chase it Down I needed to complete that insert set. The Pro-Vision Sheffield is from 1993 and the price was right.  1993 Pro-Visions are actually much rarer than other years.

    I added the Post cereal box cards from the early 60's to my Orioles team set lists and binders.  These three are in pretty good shape and exceptionally cool

    Trey Mancini has been a favorite of mine since he carried the O's through a dark period.  I read he's trying to make a comeback this coming season, so I wish him well.  Since he left Baltimore, his stats have declined severely so we'll see if a team gives him a shot to see if he has something left in the tank.

    More Mancini hits.  His cards are really cheap right now.  I'm happy to take them off of the hands of the sellers.

    Austin Hays is another former Oriole (although more recent) that I have a PC of.  His cards are also cheap and I'm more than happy to grab a few nice hits at a low price.

    Jordan Westburg is a player I've really taken a liking to.  He reminds me a lot of JJ Hardy and Cal Ripken with their steady play, are all business between the lines but have easygoing, soft-spoken demeanor off the field.  It also doesn't hurt that I ended up talking to his parents the whole game when he was in the minors.  When he was with Double-A Bowie, they were in town to play the Flying Squirrels, I ended up striking up a conversation with a couple during the game.  I didn't know it until after the game was over that I had been talking to Jordan's parents the whole game!

    Of course, I had to indulge in Cal Ripken cards.  This Cal to Greatness is #11 of the 15 card set and finishes off the insert set for me.  Cards 11 thru 15 of the Cal to Greatness set are actually much tougher to find than cards 1 through 10.

Its not often I'm able to find numbered Cal cards for less than ten dollars.  I was ecstatic to get this Big Boppers from 1998 Upper Deck Retro for a great price!

Diamond Producers was quite rare (case hits) back in 1997.  It took me a while to find a Ripken at a price I could stomach.  It was a near instant buy when I saw it pop up.

I bought this card the night Corbin Burnes was traded to the Orioles.  He was great for the Orioles this year.  I'll miss him every 5th day but I understand why he wanted to play for the Diamonbacks.  Good for him and good for D-backs fans.

It's not often you run into Albert Belle relic cards.  ESPECIALLY ones where he is pictured as an Oriole.  Old school Pacific is just the best.  

I'm not going to bore you with all the team set fillers and such that I got in this shipment.  This was just the highlights that I wanted to show off.  Hopefully, you've all enjoyed the cards as much as I have.

January 4th Colonial Heights Card Show: A Return to Form

    I started off the new year heading to one of my local card shows.  Originally, I hadn't really planned on going, but at the behest of a few friends who were attending and Blake setting up shop there, I made the game time decision to go.  The last couple of Colonial Heights shows have been sparsely attended by sellers and buyers so that was why I was going to skip it and just spend a Saturday at home.  I'm glad I went because it exceeded my expectations.

    I didn't end up spending a ton of money (never really do) but I did find some quality.  I can't complain about adding a Stadium Club Chrome Cal Ripken for a buck. No, hats off to you, Cal.

    I've started paying closer hobby attention to buying cards of Japanese players and placing them in a dedicated binder.  Each player will end up having a page or two of cards, though Nomo, Ichiro, Ohtani, and Koji may end up with more than that. These two cards will look great in that album.

    I've sort of stopped buying base cards at shows unless they are in the quarter and dime boxes.  The value just isn't there and they are printed to the moon and back.  Parallels are where its at for me these days.  Red Stadium Club Heston? Check, Ginter Chrome Cowser? Check. Raywave Eflin and Mullins? Check and Check.  A buck a piece? Check.

    Raywave parallels of good young players? Check x4.  I play close attention to Andrew Abbott since he's from Virginia, and played for perennial ACC contender UVA.  Can't beat these for a dollar a piece.

    I did a bit of dime box diving and was able to find a few Orioles I liked but also these rookies from 2022 Topps Heritage High Numbers. They may seem random to you but I can explain.  Winder and Overton are from the Richmond area so you never know who you might run into around town for autograph signings.  Not that I carry these cards around all the time, lol.  Ethan Roberts has ridden the shuttle back and forth between Triple-A Iowa and Chicago the last few years.  He's a big card collector and is pretty active on Whatnot.  He often hangs out in Blake's stream as well as a few others and is an overall cool dude.  When the Cubs came to Baltimore last summer,  Ethan was nice enough to give us tickets to one of the games.  Five of us made the trip up there and we got to sit in the Cubs player's family and friends section.  It was the only place at Camden Yards where I stuck out like a sore thumb since I was wearing all of my Orioles gear.  Here's a view from our seats:

    Unfortunately, right before the game, Ethan was optioned to Triple-A, so we didn't get to see him in person but hopefully when the Cubs play the Nationals this year, we'll be able to meet up.

    Overall, the Colonial Heights show was a return to form. It was great seeing friends again after the holiday season and to look through some cards. I can't wait til the next show.

Trade with gcrl of cards as i see them

 its never too late to say thank you. i completed this trade with jim (gcrl) back last summer and somehow never posted the spoils.  i think i scanned the cards and got caught up in going on vacation, kids birthdays, back to school, etc... you're not here for excuses but for the cards.

i have never traded with jim before even though my blogging career stretches back to 2009 and him predating that.  ive been a follower of his various blogs over the years but never reached out to see if we could swap some cards.  i'm glad we were able to help each other out with our respective collections.

back when the conlon collection came out ('91-'95), i was between 8 and 13 years old and i was definitely not interested in collecting cards of "old guys". even vintage from the 50's, 60s, and 70s i shunned in favor of '91 donruss, '92 fleer, '93 upper deck....  obviously, my appreciation of players from the pre-war era had grown over the years.  what's old is new to me.  i decided to complete the entire run of conlon collection and binder-ize it. the whole 1430 card run fits snuggly into a 5 inch binder, even though i'm missing a few cards from the 92, 93, 94 sets and all of '95.  '95 is especially tough to find for a good price. i'm guessing they didn't print much of it. either way, jim was able to send a couple needs from the set including the zach wheat i scanned below.

another 2 sets i'm working on completing (again) are the '07 and '08 upper deck masterpieces.  i purged pretty much all of my complete sets probably about 7 or 8 years ago and both masterpieces sets were part of the liquidation.  i missed this classic set so i started working on them again as i found random singles in dime and quarter boxes. i don't think i'll find the '08 sp's in the dime boxes, but you never know, ive found some real gems value shopping. this koufax would look great signed and I think that lance berkman is a criminally underrated player.

gypsy queen had some great insert sets over the years and i think one of the most memorable is the 2 year run of dealing aces was probably my favorite.  can't complain with getting a insert of kid k.  i'm also working on several other gq inserts sets. check my lists.

the revival of the black gold inserts by topps really caught by my nostalgia bone.  since i was a child of the 90's seeing black gold cards really brings me back.  i'm working on that original run of black gold sets as well as the current run out of tipps update.  out of this current run of sets, i think that 2023 is my favorite design: 

jim also included a few random o's cards from various years that ended up in my team set binders.  i have separate pc binders of certain o's players including cal and mike so i end up doubling up on the hofers when it comes to my whole collection.

sorry jim, that it took so long to publicly say thanks for the great additions to my collection!