October 2023 Chantilly Card Show

So, according to my immaculate record keeping, this post looks like the first real baseball card post I've done in this space in the past 8 or 9 years so here goes nothing.

I recently had the pleasure of heading up to the October Chantilly card show with my nephew Blayke, my good buddy William (he writes foul bunt), and William's friend  Jesse.  My nephew is somewhat new to the world of collecting.  He's mostly into football cards and specifically the Bears.  Justin Fields is the player he's taken a liking to collecting.  I know next to nothing about football cards and football in general.  I grew up playing baseball and in the fall during football season, I was on a travel team.  The Chantilly show was the first big show he'd ever been to and my sister probably hates my guts even more now that he was able to spend all but 10 bucks of the budget she gave him. We'll see if I get a Christmas gift this year....

William had Steve Carlton and Cal and Billy Ripken autograph tickets and Jesse was going to meet Wille Roaf.

I've gotten everything I wanted signed by Cal so I didn't set aside budget to do so.  I was on the search for bargains this particular show.  The Chantilly show is a bit weird these days.  Bargains are still available to those who seek them out (me) but most vendors have their tables chock full 'o showcases, chock full o' graded cards that I choose to not spend my money on.  I get it, the vendors need to make money because the cost to set up is sky high and they need to make that money back.  They aren't making that money back by having a bunch of dime and quarter boxes.  That's what my local hotel and moose lodge shows are for. Plus, those shows don't require me to wake up at the crack of dawn to drive 2 and a half hours to get there.  I digress, minor rant over.

I spent a lot of time walking the floor searching for deals and I found a few.  

Early at a table where I talked to a gentleman about minor league ball I found this camo parallel of Jordan Westburg from 2021 Bowman ( I think).  Westburg made his debut this past season acquitted himself well enough.  I don't think the Orioles brass trust him enough because he never played any shortstop (that I know of) but he's been sharp with the glove at third and second.  He hit well enough so hopefully next season he has a break out.  I met him at a Baysox game last year and he seems like a good person so he's easy to root for.

At the same table, I picked up this autograph of Silas Ardoin from this year's Pro Debut.  I actually like the design of Pro Debut better than I like the design of this year's flagship.  There isn't an awkward headshot of the player taking up space down on the left of the card.  Anyways, I saw Ardoin play last season while with Delmarva and again this season while he was with the Baysox.  He's gunning for a back up job in Baltimore with eyes on taking the starting job when the O's inevitably trade Adley to the Yankees for a bag of baseballs and a scorebook.

Trevor Bauer may not be everyone's favorite player but I find him interesting in how he prepares for games and his youtube channel that gives us a look into the behind the scenes of Japanese baseball.  William was able to buy this one for me for 5 bucks.

I found a couple of Topps Chrome Cosmic Mike Trout cards in a 12 for $10 box so I was happy to grab 'em, I grabbed a bunch of other Orioles from this years Bowman Chrome to round out that purchase. I didn't snap a picture of 'em

These 5 Orioles card will go into my "One Card of Every Oriole" Collection, they came out of a bulk purchase I made for 15 bucks.  

Included in this purchase was these 3 Cal Ripken Cards.  As we were leaving the show, I lamented to William that I didn't buy a single new Cal Ripken.  I was wrong when I got home and started digging thru my spoils.  I'm closing in on 2100 unique Ripken cards.  There's still plenty I don't have but it doesn't stop me from tryin' to collect 'em all!  

I didn't even spend half of my budget at the show.  I couldn't find some of the stuff I was specifically looking for and printing out my set wantlist was pretty much a waste of paper.  I realized while reflecting on the days events that driving to the show, being at the show and dinner afterward with Blayke, William, and Jesse was more fulfilling than filling my binders with pieces of cardboard.