The Best Deal of the Whole Show? National Recap Part #3

Although I wanted to stick primarily to vintage cards and set needs at the show while not spending too much on player collections, I did find a deal too good to pass up. It was from the same vendor that I bought the 20 for $20 cards from, shown in yesterday's post. 

As I approached the booth, I spotted a dozen people shuffling through card bins and filling up boxes. Then, I saw a sign that read the following.

"Fill a 400-count box for $30 or an 800-count box for $50 and get a free t-shirt."

Immediately, I knew I was going to be at this booth for a while. So, I picked up a box and got to work only to find myself running out of space in the 400-count box while in the middle of the best box, by far, that the vendor had. Ultimately, I decided to ask for an 800-count box knowing this would be my one major player collection haul for the entire show, so I might as well make the most of it.

I eventually filled the 800-count box and got the free t-shirt which I gave to my Dad. I then chose the highlights of the 800 cards once I got back to show off here on the blog.

The Upper Deck Goudey set may not have lasted too long (2007-2009), but it did become one of me and my Dad's favorite sets to collect during that time. However, we never got much of the 2009 set, which is where these cards are from. In each of the years of the set, there would be some cards just like these with quick fun facts and cartoons behind the photo of the star player.

Just in case you were wondering, 800 cards for $50 ends up being approximately 6 cents per card. So for every card, I show here on the blog including the 2013 Topps Finest base cards which happens to be my favorite Finest set ever, cost me just 6 cents each. Still, the best part of this deal is that even though 800 cards is truly excessive, I really wanted every single card I bought which is very good when doing a player collection haul like this.

This purchase also served as my very first look at certain sets or cards, including the purple refractors from 2013 Topps Chrome. As much as I really like what I've seen from the 2018 Topps Chrome sets, I still long for the days when sets had borders since they really helped to enhance the colored refractors in the set.

In addition to the purple refractors from 2013 Topps Chrome, I also found a blue refractor which looks more blue in-person of Salvador Perez. Not only does the blue go well considering that it's also the Royals team color, but it's not even my first blue parallel Salvador Perez card, the other one being from 2014 Bowman.

I didn't care that the card was slightly miss-cut then and I still don't care now. Point is, I'm crazy about the framed parallels from Topps Gypsy Queen, and of all the things that Topps cut from the set in 2017, I wish more than anything that these remained. 

Although it doesn't really look like it when it's scanned, this Kevin Youkilis card from 2012 Topps Finest is actually an x-fractor which have gradually become a thing of the past over the last few years. Apparently, they're still available in Walmart Topps Chrome mega boxes, but I wouldn't know since I live closer to Target.

While we're on the subject of chrome cards, we might as well talk about a very underrated aspect of chrome card collecting; Topps Stadium Club Chrome. Although they can be tough pulls, the cards are still around in 2018 Stadium Club and are possibly the only thing that could make Stadium Club images even better and that's making them chrome cards.

The shade of green is actually a bit lighter in person, but that doesn't change the fact that this color parallel is still very unfamiliar. As far as I'm concerned, I've never seen a color parallel like this in Topps Flagship before which is why I'm fairly sure these parallels only lasted a couple of years.

Of all the MLB teams, there were quite possibly more Cincinnati Reds cards than cards of any other team, though it was a close call with the Atlanta Braves. Most every Reds card besides Joey Votto and some Barry Larkin was a card of a member of the Big Red Machine. The cards above of Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, and Joe Morgan are some of the highlights of the Big Red Machine cards that I brought home with the Joe Morgan being my favorite.

I originally thought these were either 2 of the same card or 2 different numbered cards of Johnny Bench from 2012 Topps Gypsy Queen, but I ultimately realized that one of them had to be an image variation. The problem is I'm not sure which is a base card and which is the image variation SP. 

This seemingly never-ending cluster of Big Red Machine cards continued with a couple high-end cards of Reds legends and Hall of Famers. The Joe Morgan card is from 2013 Topps Museum which happens to have a stunning base design while the Tony Perez card is a super shiny base card from 2016 Topps Tribute.

The cluster of Big Red Machine cards quickly turned into a cluster of 2012 and 2013 Topps Archives cards. Not only did I add a huge stack of 2012 Topps Archives base cards to the box, but I also found 2 absolutely awesome insert cards from 2013 Topps Archives. The Johnny Bench is a super cool design and a well-chosen image, but I'm crazy about the Mike Greenwell card since I've never seen him represented in any of today's sets. Even though I don't know what either set is based off, I still am incredibly happy with these 2 cards.

I also found another Topps Archives insert card, this one from 2012 Topps Archives where they recreated the 1977 Topps Felt Patches cards even though they had also done them a year before in 2011 Topps Lineage. Still, I don't have many of the originals, so I guess I'll take any chance I can to get more familiar with the set.

Speaking of getting familiar with sets, I've never seen these red parallels from Topps Heritage before in my life. Either they're some retail exclusive thing or they ended before 2016 which is when I got back into the Topps Heritage set. Or it could be a combination of both. Either way, I still think they're pretty cool.

In fact, I even found 1 from the 2013 Topps Heritage set of none other than Craig Kimbrel. While he's been struggling a bit as of late, I'm still happy with the fact that I was able to find some cards of his for the Kimbrel Collection at The National.

In fact, my next Craig Kimbrel card would come not too long after as I added yet another card to my Kimbrel Collection while picking up my very first card from 2018 Topps Finest at the same time. Topps Finest has always been a set that's interested me, and I've always thought of it as Bowman's Best without prospects. However, there not being any retail options for the set which there should be and the extremely expensive cost of hobby boxes causes me to quickly lost interest.

As we reach the end of the post (though I could've gone on), I deem it the right time to show off what's likely my favorite card from the entire 800-count box, 2016 Topps Gypsy Queen Rod Carew. In addition to the awesome Minnesota Twins jersey, the Rod Carew card is also a high number SP. A short-printed card for 6 cents? That's a no-brainer.