Back From The National

Well, the last few days certainly have been an unforgettable experience. Days filled with baseball cards and one of the most memorable events of my life. However, it felt pretty good to come back home earlier today and get back into the swing of things, including beginning the recap posts of the crazy things I brought back from The National.

I certainly have some exciting stories. Staying at the same hotel as the Cleveland Browns, seeing 1952 Mickey Mantle cards at multiple locations at the show. I pulled some monster hits from Topps Chrome (both retail and hobby) and I even spotted a high-roller opening hundreds of dollars worth of products by the Topps booth and leaving the base cards (and some chrome refractors) behind on the table saying "you can take it if you want."

I sure as hell took him up on that offer. Dozens of Topps Chrome cards for free? I didn't even have to think about it. 

I'll likely spend a good portion of this week posting recaps of what I brought back from the show, starting with a quick post today showcasing some oddballs and a well-priced rookie card as a way to kick these recap posts off. 

As for some of the best deals of the show, I'll first point to this 1983 Fleer rookie card of Ryne Sandberg. Not only do I like the 1983 Fleer design and heavily collect Ryne Sandberg, but the card is made even better by the fact that Sandberg is wearing the early 1980's Cubs "pajama" uniforms. Even though his Topps rookie card along with Wade Boggs' rookie card from 1983 is more iconic, I'd take the Fleer card over the Topps if I had my choice. 

Another bargain at the show came at the hands of a case breaker whom I had bought some 2018 Topps Allen & Ginter base cards and inserts from. He had a couple of these 2007 Topps Heritage felt box-toppers still in the sealed packaging for only $1 each. Without even thinking twice, I sprang for both of them, the first being the Washington Senators which is one of the coolest ones to get, in my opinion.

The next one I pulled was of the Chicago Cubs and although I do already have this one, my old one was in far worse condition with a few stains on the box-topper. This will serve as a nice replacement and go very well with the other few I have from the set. When looking at the checklist after pulling these 2, I must say that there aren't really any other teams I'd rather get besides maybe the Red Sox and their short-lived 1950's logo showcased on the felt.

I'm trying to keep this post quick given that I'm still rather tired from driving home, but I had to show off these oddball circle cards from what I believe to be 1975 or 1976 after looking at what team each of the players is shown on. Like the previous purchases, I didn't think twice when I saw these available for a quarter each. Even though I'm not sure what these cards exactly are, that's what a card blog is for. So, if any of you know what these cards are, please let me know.

That'll be it for now, but I'll be back with more recap posts beginning tomorrow and extending throughout the week. All in all, the card show was a marvelous experience and I'm excited to show what I brought back from Cleveland.