Virginia Beach November 2023 Card Show

This past Saturday, I made the ~2 hour road trip to Virginia Beach to a card show.  I learned about the show during the Chantilly show a few weeks back and what peaked my interest was that 2 former Orioles were going to be signing autographs.  Mickey Tettleton has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid and I was able to learn more about Rudy May in my preparation to going. My good friend William made the trip up from NC with his Wood Ducks graphing buddy, Josh.

I have a soft spot for 1991 Topps and I remember getting packs of them after t-ball games that my dad handed out to the kids on the team.  I also have a memory of my cousins and I riding in the back of my grandfather's truck down to the corner store where he let us each pick a pack.  Our choice was '91 Topps or '91 Fleer.  Which would you pick?  I don't hate '91 Fleer like most people do.  I actually got the factory set later that year as a birthday gift (I turned 8!), that I purged from my collection a long time ago.  I've always loved this card of Tettleton and instead of getting the regular version signed, I decided on the Desert Shield copy instead.  I'm slowly working on the Orioles Team Set so even though my decision sets me back one from the goal, I decided it was worth it.  The card is just a "Baseball Card baseball card".  Mickey looks like he's sharing a light moment during a spring training game with a boyish grin on his face.  Mickey was very personable when William and I met him and we talked a few minutes about the current Orioles and their season.

I don't have the same memories of '78 Topps because I hadn't been born yet.  I do like the '78 design better than most of the '70s and early '82 offerings so my choice for this part of the signing was easy for me.  I also tend to enjoy getting cards signed that have an action photos shot rather than posed or portrait shots. As I say that, I do enjoy getting the '91 Crown Orioles cards signed (more to come on these in the future) event though most of the shots are posed headshots.  I also got one of those done (not pictured) by Rudy.  He was nice enough when he signed for me but I decided to not get a picture with him.

So, out on the show floor I was looking for deals.  Long time readers of the blog know I tend to stick to the dime and quarter boxes and rarely go showcase shopping.  I ran across a seller with a 5000 count box that was labeled "Refractors $.25".  Obviously, I did not find any red, gold, or any low numbered refractors but I was able to grab about 4 dollars worth of shiny goodness for myself, and a couple of friends.  The 4 pictured above is just a sample of what I snagged on discount.

I only grabbed one Cal Ripken this show and its one from this year's Pro Debut.  

A quarter box yielded a handful of this year's Topps Chrome Cosmic.  I think most of the stars might have been pulled out already but that's ok.  As a fan of the discontinued Fire brand, I think the Chrome Cosmic is an interesting product from a design standpoint.

Some more dimebox speculation/never too early/wishful thinking.  I've also stocked up on Corbin Burnes the last few years.  Just sayin'

My big splurge of the show was this Prism Refractor if Gunnar Henderson.  He's as good as advertised as I saw him play in Spring of '22 when he was with the AA Bowie Baysox when they came through town. This card wasn't a huge splurge in respect to some of the money I see change hands at card shows but I wanted to make a little investment in Gunnar since he's the odds on favorite for AL Rookie of the year.  I think I've accomplished that task over the last week or so.