November 9th Regency Mall card show: From the Penthouse, to the Dump and Back

I went to the local card show last weekend at Regency Mall.  The mall itself actually used to be named Regency Square back when I was a kid and I remember going back to school shopping quite a few times there.  When I was a kid, we were probably about an hour and a half away and going to Richmond was a big deal.  Regency Square was awesome back then like most were back in the late 80s and early 90's.  

The Penthouse if you will.

It's no secret that shopping malls have slowly declined in the last 15 or so years and Regency has not been an exception.  Regency actually started to decline in the mid 90's with new malls springing up in the area and the changing consumer tastes. Not that Regency became a Dump by any means but it definitely went into a steep decline until it was redeveloped a few years ago.  It has been turned into somewhat of a mixed use development but it still is around.  Not quite the Penthouse it once was but at least its not totally gone.

What does the history of the mall have to do with baseball cards? Not too much but it does somewhat tell the story of my experience on Saturday. I apologize for the weird mix of phone pics and scans.  I'm lazy today.

I arrived around 11ish since I had a few errands to do beforehand (blowing leaves, free document shredding.. to name a few).  The first table I came to had an assortment of  dime, quarter and dollar boxes. My kind of table.  I started off with these from the dime box:

We don't leave rookies of star players to rot in the dime boxes.  The Big Unit insert is the blue bordered parallel that definitely wasn't going to be left for other vultures. Most any of these cards pictured can be had in trade if you'd like to strike up something.  

I also picked up these 3 cards of Japanese players.  I recently started a binder of only MLB Japanese players and these will fit nicely into it.  For a dime a piece I'm happy.

I moved through the show being a bit choosy with my smaller budget.  I picked up the trio of cards for 3 bucks at another table.  It seemed the seller was just more of a football and basketball guy and really just wanted rid of the baseball stuff.  I'll take a rookie card of Mike Cuellar and two numbered Orioles HOFers for 3 Washingtons anyday.

The next table I came to was a guy who I'd never seen before at local shows.  He says he only sets up to get rid of his excess cards and that Regency has the most affordable table cost.  We talked for a bit and I found out that he was also an Orioles fan.  He is a big Jackson Holliday fan, whereas I've taken a liking to Jordan Westburg.  He was very reasonable on prices on his other Orioles cards.  I picked up the following for 10 bucks:

I think the Hobby Rip Night Gunnar is somewhat rare. The Hobby Rip night cards are only issued at special events at official Topps Hobby Shops as far as I know and haven't seen many in the wild.  Maybe its because there has been no official Topps Hobby Shops in Richmond for quite some time, but I believe that is going to change with Graybo's opening recently. The other cards in the scan are the red parallel Gunnar SC rookie, Chrome Cosmic Adley, Rainbow Foil Grayson, and a black parallel '88 of Moose.  Cannot complain for 10 dollars.

The next batch of cards is a culmination of pickups during the day.  The All-Aces insert from 2023 Topps flagship products caught my eye and decided to collect the entire run much like Chris of Nachos Grande.  The guy running his table wanted $5 a piece but I talked him into 6 dollars for the trio and another 2 for the Harper Black Gold from 2023 Topps Update.  The 2024 Topps Update Black Gold set is pretty much hot off the presses and I found the 7 you see here for a buck a piece.  What luck knocking some of the biggest names off the WANTLIST in one fell swoop. With Judge, Ohtani, Soto, Jackie, Mantle, etc off the list early I might finish 2024 before either of the past 3 years of sets!

I also found this beauty in the same row as the all of the Black Gold inserts.  I had been seeing Yamamoto rookies all day and I knew this one was different.  SSP different.  We don't leave cards like this behind!  

The show had begun to wind down for me at least and I wandered back over to my bathrobe Blakes table and hung out and helped him run his table for the rest of the afternoon.  Blake's good buddy Tom who also helps him out was also there and we talked sports and random stuff between the spurts of business coming by the table.  Tom had cracked a box of 2024 Stadium Club baseball and a box of 2024 Donruss football. and was kind enough to give me the stack of base cards he didn't want.  He also gave me the Chrome Orange parallel of Felix Bautista that he pulled. I'll hand the Donruss Football cards off to my nephew.  I can safely say Tom is now my friend too!  I'll keep on the lookout for good Cubs stuff for him .  

One of Blakes customers brought a stack of cards for sale and I cherry picked the following two cards for my last 5 bucks in my pocket.  

The show wound down and as I was helping break down the table, I noticed a table near the mall entrance had a small sign that said FREE.  Right in my price range.  I tried to not be greedy but once again, I could't resist some of them.  I've removed them from the top loaders so you can see them.

These toploaders are literal toast (worse than a Crackhead Gary toploader) but will be fine for me shipping out Sportlots Orders. Check out my store HERE.

Also at the same FREE table, I there was a showcase that had a small hole in the bottom wood that was up for grabs.  Once again, as a bottom feeder, I grabbed it and carried it to my car for my nephew.  He's setting up at card shows in his local mall (in Roanoke, VA.) selling his excess cards to fuel his cardboard card addiction.

I had not planned on staying for trade night but I was Peer Pressured into it by Tom and Blake.  The Card Show and Trade night was put on by Three Point RVA, the card shop in Regency mall. The had free pizza.  How could I resist free pizza and trading sports cards?

I helped Blake go through the pickups that he purchased to fuel his business and even did a trade myself.  I was able to trade the Yamamoto SSP for this card to a younger guy who had some killer cards in his trade box.  He went to the National this past summer and got a free pack of '24 Topps Heritage. I need to hang out with him because maybe his pack ripping luck will rub off on me.  This is the card he traded to me for the Yamamoto:

I'll take an autograph of a PC guy for a buck (my purchase price of the Yamamoto SP)!  

So, overall, a great show for me.  I spent about 40 dollars total and ended up with a bonanza of pickups.  It feels great to be in the Penthouse of card collecting and having some good people to share it with.  A big thanks to Three Point RVA for the show and trade night, Blake and Tom for putting up with me Saturday and you readers for checking out my card show haul.

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.

Card Show Report: CSA October 2012

     I went to a card show this past weekend.  It's the one I normally attend at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, Virginia.  It happens 3 times a year so luckily there is enough time for me to save up enough money to make going there worthwhile.  I usually go on Saturday or Friday afternoon but I had prior commitments this time that prevented me from going either of those 2 days.  I had to go on Sunday once before  and the crowd was not as large but everything seemed to be picked over.  This time was no different.  The crowd was small, dealers started packing up at noon, and everything seemed to be picked clean. I did get some good deals but I'll try my hardest to make it on Friday or Saturday next time.
     I had a plan that I formulated in the car that I was going to try to knock out a bunch of sets that were on my wantlist, pick up a bunch of Orioles cards for my team sets, and buy some much needed boxes and 9-pocket pages.  Once I walked thru the doors, I think I forgot why I was there.  I got some cards from my set wantlists, almost totally struck out on my team sets, but thankfully restocked my supply of storage boxes and binder sheets.  One and a half out of three isn't too bad.
     The show wasn't a total loss though.  I picked up a bunch of cards for sets I'm beginning to build like 2011 Allen & Ginter, 1980 and 1979 Topps.  I knocked some wantlists down to next to nothing including 2012 Topps series 2, 2012 Allen & Ginter, and 2012 Bowman Chrome Prospects.
     I also picked up a bunch of great cards out of the bargain bins including those starter sets.  I didn't see any nickel bins but there were plenty of dime bins.  Here's a few that I picked out of the dime bins:

Yeah, a 1982 Donruss Jim Palmer does not belong in the dime bin.  It belongs in my Palmer binder!  Can't beat this one for a dime!

Not minis but great rookie cards of awesome players.  Pudge and the Big Hurt will end up in Cooperstown one day and Kid K's career has been great so far.  If he keeps it up, he might soon be mentioned in the same breath as Koufax, Drysdale, Valenzuela, and Hershiser.  Each of these cards set me back a dime!

Whoever put this in the discount bin must have known I was coming to take a look see.  Davis has really grown on me during this past season.  He mashed 30 home runs and they all seemed to come in bunches.  Unfortunately for Birdland, he didn't hit any in the playoffs.  Instead he spent most of his time flailing at pitches in the dirt.  If he ever learns some plate discipline, he could hit over 40 bombs!  I still need a ton of Topps Chrome Orioles from 2012 including baseb card, regular refractors, Xfractors, Purple, and Orange.  Even if you have just one of them, please contact me.

Not everything came from the dime boxes but I did get great deals on these cards

I paid a buck for this sweet Nick Markakis from 2009 Topps Heritage Chrome.  I really think that if Nick wasn't out with a broken thumb (thanks a lot F.F. Sabathia), our playoff outcome could have been better.  Nick is the best pure hitter on the team and he's the most clutch out of anyone on the roster.  I'm pretty sure he could have come up with that key hit we needed.   That's baseball though, there's always next year.

There's no way I could resist this classy looking relic card of Jonesy.  It's numbered 28/35 which is pretty cool (right below his forearm).  I can't afford buying expensive boxes  like the ones that relics like this pop out of, so I let the suckers bust those boxes and capitalize buy buying the singles as they desperately try to recoup their loses.  I win every time because I only paid 6 bucks for this card.

I bought this card from the same dealer that sold me the Markakis Chrome above.  He had just traded a guy for it while I was walking up to his table so I got this card for 3 bucks.  WIN AGAIN!

I'm going to close here with another Ripken game used card.  I picked this one up for a measly 4 bucks!  I'm going to focus on the darkside of Cal's face.  I think that's the side of his face that likes the Yankees.  He sure had plenty of praise for the pinstripers during the TBS broadcasts of the ALDS and not much to say about the O's.  I understand that he's just doing his job but I think it not only broke my heart to hear him praise Arod and Jeter but it probably hurt a lot of Orioles fan's perception of him.  He probably felt he had to compensate because people that aren't normally baseball fan is a Yankee fan come playoff time (well except they don't show up to the park!) and he didn't want to sound like a "homer" .  He ended up over-compensating and .angering his fanbase instead.  It's OK to piss of the Evil Empire, Cal!  You're still my favorite all-time player though.  I'm sure he could win some of that fanbase back by doing some MASN broadcasts next year.  (GET ON IT MASN, SERIOUSLY!!!).

So, overall I had a decent time.  I think the crowd was small because football is in full swing and the O's and Nats had just lost on Friday night.  While not the best CSA show I've been to, but I still got some great cards!