Baseball Cards

The worst are the ones where there is a “player worn” swatch, not even game used

Not baseball, but I think I'm going to buy my friend's son a basketball box for an upcoming birthday. There are a couple, Panini or Donruss, and both are $40 for 90 cards. I guess that's not bad.

https://www.mlb.com/news/fan-beau-thompson-collects-million-cubs-cards

Really? "ONE MILLION unique Chicago Cubs cards"--even with the glut, that doesn't sound right. For the first 70 years of baseball cards, you've basically got one or two companies producing them. 70 years x 30 cards x 2 companies = 4,200 unique cards. Double that to account for promotional cards locally produced: 8,400. Round that up to 10,000. Which leaves...another 990,000 cards since 1980.

Best rookie cards I own. I eliminated PED guys (A-Rod, Manny, etc...except one) and Alomar. None are authenticated, but I think they're all near-mint. Drives me up the wall that that matters.

https://i.postimg.cc/W3Ch8k4p/01.jpg

Arenado - 2013 Topps
Bagwell - 1991 Stadium Club
Beltre - 1997 Topps
Bonds - 1987 Donruss (seems to have retained some value)

https://i.postimg.cc/N00Fw49f/02.jpg

Freeman - 2011 Topps
Griffey - 1989 Donruss
Jeter - 1993 Topps
Jones - 1991 Bowman

https://i.postimg.cc/0yk2pfCd/03.jpg

Johnson - 1989 Topps
Kershaw - 2008 Topps
Maddux - 1987 Leaf
Pedro - 1991 Upper Deck

https://i.postimg.cc/fWCPVfJh/04.jpg

Piazza - 1993 Topps
Scherzer - 2008 Topps
Thomas - 1990 Topps
Verlander - 2006 Topps

Wish I'd bought a dozen Kershaws when I could have--$4 or $5 online.

No Betts or Trout or Pujols or Cabrera, unfortunately.

Card show! Toronto has a big one at the International Centre twice a year--made the drive in today to meet my collector friend for dinner (he helps one of the vendors there) and buy lots of junk. First one I've gone to in a few years.

Should have brought my camera; there really is kind of a Hunter S. Thompson in Las Vegas feeling when you step inside, a universe unto itself. The three most expensive things I saw, all the same vendor: game-worn jerseys from Tim Horton and Rocket Richard, both $150,000 (I'd say half to three-quarters of what's in there was hockey-related), and a Nolan Ryan rookie card for $130,000. I know it would require a miracle for someone to steal this stuff, but why would you even risk that? Are you hoping for a walk-up sale on such items? ("$130,000? Sure--is there an ATM in here?")

Gretzky rookie cards everywhere, graded from 1 ($500) to 9 ($30,000--except I swear it didn't look like it was in that great shape...do people counterfeit grading?). In the scoundrel department, an O.J. rookie card (5.5) for $750, and an issue of Playboy with Trump on the cover for $450. Every booth had its name displayed. Best one: Vandelay Industries.

And then there are people like me who are there to buy cheap stuff no one wants (often found in boxes under the tables with the expensive stuff). Some of these were $5, some 2/$5:

1) Blue Jay sets (30 or 40 cards each) put out by Oh Henry! Bought seven, from 1995 to 2001. Not sure if that's all of them--if not, I know I'll start obsessively looking for the others.

2) A nice Blue Jay set put out in 2002, can't figure out by who. Halladay and Delgado are in there.

3) Minor league sets: 1987 Bakersfield Dodgers (best player: Juan Guzman), 1995 Charleston River Dogs (Fernando Tatis), 1992 Calgary Cannons (Bret Boone, Andy Hawkins, pitching coach Ross Grimsley), 1993 Ottawa Lynx (Matt Stairs, Blue Jay broadcaster Joe Siddall!), 1985 Utica Blue Sox (literally no one...Ken Brett was manager, though), and a 50-card Southern League All-Star set from '91 (three Frank Thomas cards, also Luis Gonzalez).

4) Two K-Mart sets: 1990 Super Stars and 1982 20th Anniversary AL & NL MVPs.

5) Other stuff: two Barry Colla sets, Frank Thomas and the 1992 All-Star Game (Colla's a photographer who used to put out his own specialty sets); 1994 Topps Stadium Club "Members Only" (it's embarrassing to even type that...); a McDonald's/Donruss MVP set from '92.

6) 10 loose Topps Heritage cards, including Cabrera on the Marlins, Maddux on the Padres, Beltre on the Mariners and Red Sox, and Rogers Hornsby and Mel Ott.

7) Two unopened decks of Toronto Maple Leafs playing cards. That one's really mysterious.

Also two books, $10 each: Sayonara Home Run! The Art of the Japanese Baseball Card and The Card (about the Honus Wagner T206).

Somewhere in the building, today or tomorrow: Dennis Rodman, William Shatner, and some wrestler (couldn't tell you who).

Good thing I'm two hours away, else I'd probably be back Saturday.