When I got there, I waited out front for a few mins before I met Nick and we went inside. Surprisingly, a lot of vendors were already set up and ready to rock and roll. This is what it looked like inside (I took this photo at around 12:30PM).
When we were first inside, we found Nick's friend and I bought a nice bunch of cards from him and also the vendor that was right in front of him. Below are the goodies I grabbed:
The Cossa and Zadina were from Nick. I had told him I would buy that Cossa from him and he said he had a Filip Zadina Future Watch Autograph that he didn't want, and I told him I'd give him $5 jokingly, but it turned out we just did the deal. I gave him $13 for the 2. The Dubois, Turco and Drury were from Nick's friend and the last 2 OPC Platinum's were from the vendor in front of Nick's friend.
We then walked around a bit and found this guy from Cleveland who was set up and he had a few boxes of 25 cent cards. I dug out a few treasures there and also some from another guy from the Cleveland area a little way away from that vendor and found more 25 cent treasures. I had grabbed 7 from each, but they refused $1.75 and insisted I pay $1. Works for me! Nothing too outlandish in the bunch below.
After walking around for a bit, it got hot...and smelly, but we pushed on. I found another guy who had a huge box of refractors, and he also had a smaller box of rookies. Each was .25. I dug into 3 rows and pulled out some decent ones. Was shocked to find 2 of the Silver Nunn's and a Pink Nunn in that box (not pictured). Also, a Kwame Brown Refractor Rookie? Really? Only 25 cents...crazy. A buddy of mine bought a Silver Nunn and also the Pink almost immediately after I got home, so they were already packed and shipped out before I even got to this post. I do still have the 1 Silver Nunn though. Is that card a short print or something? I saw some insane prices for it on eBay. Anyways, here are some more 25 cent Silvers, Refractors and a Donruss Rated Rookie.
Eventually we went back to Nick's friends table because he had a fan, and it felt good when it blew on you. My goodness the heat. I also spent more money there and at the table across from him. Found the Olave and Brown while digging at the place diagonal from Nick's friend along with the Jordan and Harry Auto. The Benson was at the table right across from Nick's friend (I'd name the guy, but I never asked his permission to use his name on the blog). The McMann in the 2nd picture was $1 from that same vendor and the rest were either 50 cents or $1 from Nick's friend.
Then we decided to take a stroll to the far end of the show. This mall is pretty big, so it took us a while to get there. We made it to this one vendor's table who had a lot of hockey binders and some newer hockey cards. We stopped to look a little bit, but the prices were pretty astronomical. I really wanted a Sebastian Cossa Future Watch Autograph he had, but he quoted me $140 for it. That's when I knew it wasn't a place I wanted to spend my money. Although that might have been a fair price by eBay standards, it wasn't for me. We kept moving along. Nick was ahead of me about 10 feet because I stopped to look through a Rubbermaid bin of 1988 Topps Grocery Packs another vendor was selling for $3 a piece. It took me about 30 seconds to find the one I wanted. It had the Hawk, Ron Darling and a Tom Glavine Rookie on the front. SCORE! I'll pay $3 for this thing all day long.
After this purchase, we found someone else selling a bunch of cheap hockey cards. 50 cents each! We both dug into the stacks of cards. I found some nice 1997/98 Pacific Revolution Ice Blue parallels and a In The Game Expired Draft Redemption card (Marek Zidlicky) and a cool acetate insert of Zach Bolduc and what should have cost me $2.50, only cost me $2. The guy didn't want to deal with coins, so I guess one of the cards below was free. The Leetch Rookie Card came from Nick's friend who sold it to me for 50 cents. So, this picture is my 50 centers.
Then, we walked around basically making sure we hit every table. We stopped by one more time to chat with Nick's buddy because he sold him a bunch of stuff and then we decided to leave. While moving toward the door a card caught my eye. I jerked my head back and made my way back to it. The vendor instantly knew what I was looking at. He said, "The Brett, eh?" "Oh YEAH!" I said back. He had a BEAUTIFUL George Brett rookie. It was priced at $95. He told me he priced it to move. I checked my cash, and I only had $51 left. I told him this and he mentioned the ATM around the corner. At this point, I text my wife and said, "Is it cool if I take out $50 more for a George Brett Rookie?" My wife realizing how much I love George Brett said, "Of course! Buy that thing!" So, I told the vendor I was going to grab some more cash. I went back 5 minutes later, and he says, "Instead of $95, let's make it $85." His wife who was sitting down next to him was all smiles. I had told them how I sold my Brett Rookie when my wife and I were building the house we were in. It was one of the cards I was meaning to buy again, but if I did, I wanted one in better condition. Well, mission accomplished! This thing is a beauty!
So, I guess the show was decent. The Brett certainly made up for a bit of a bust (for me personally). It was so dang hot, there were a ton of Pokémon cards, a lot of people smelled bad, but I went. Cards haven't really been the main focus of my attention lately and maybe I was trying to find a spark to keep my interest going, but it's been a struggle lately. So, I decided to take up skateboarding. You heard that correctly. I have been riding for a little bit this past week. I'm going to try to blog about it as much as I can (until winter comes). At first, I was going to make a blog about the old History Channel Show Down East Dickering, but I scratched that for this idea. If you want to check that out, it's located right... HERE.
As usual......Thanks for reading!
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