Came For Supplies, Left With a Bit More

It's not always intentional, but I often find that a quick trip to my LCS for organizational supplies turns into a reasonable Baseball card purchase. Like today, for instance, when I left the card shop with the penny sleeves and top-loaders that I needed along with a stack of Baseball cards as well.

The perennial dime box pickups will be showcased at a later time, but for now, I'll be concentrating on the cards in the $1-$3 range that I chose for myself. 

Every month or so, the card shop that I visited earlier today replenishes these boxes with new cards, featuring rookie stars, retired players, or serial numbered cards.

At a place like the Baseball card show, I could see these same cards going for twice the amount of money that I paid at my LCS. It's likely that the sheer volume of memorabilia that card shops sell allows them to price some cards slightly lower, including the cards in the $1-$3 range that I carefully selected. 

After scanning through the dime bins and locating what I needed for supplies, I found myself with around $10 left in the budget for any other cards that I wanted. Ultimately, I wound up with 7 cards in this price range, including a wide variety of cards from all 3 categories that I previously mentioned. 

The only disadvantage of buying $1 vintage cards is that I often end up with cards of lesser-known players and not guys that I collect. The advantages are every other factor in this case. 

As my Dad is quick to tell me, vintage cards aren't going to be common and available forever, and when it comes to teams that I'm fond of, I have no problem sparing $1 per card. In addition to the Red Sox and the Cubs, the Pirates, Expos, and Oakland A's are among my favorite Baseball teams. 

In particular, the Pittsburgh Pirates and their fabulous uniforms and players throughout the 60s and 70s put them in the top 5 on my list of favorite MLB franchises. 

Unbeknownst to me until I looked up his age just a few moments ago, Vladimir Guerrero Jr turns 20 years old today. Still, after spending multiple seasons in the minors, Baseball fans, including myself, are anticipating the MLB debut of this renowned, talented player.

Although I expect more combo cards to be produced that show Vlad Jr. with his father, this specific piece is from 2016 Bowman, Guerrero Jr's first season in the Toronto Blue Jays' organization. If he pans out the way he's supposed to, Vlad Jr. could continue a family legacy like no father and son ever have before.

2 years after the 2017 Bowman set was released and I'm still finding myself loving these chrome reproduction cards as you'll see later on as well. I've seen enough of these reprint cards to have a reasonable idea about the checklist, but this is the first time I've seen Hank Aaron's reprinted 1948 Bowman card, for he wasn't even in the original '48 Bowman set.

Aaron's my favorite player in Baseball history, so I take as many opportunities as possible to add to my player collection of his. That's why this 2017 Bowman reproduction wasn't the only card I picked up of the (former) home run king today.

In what could quite possibly be my first serial numbered card of Hank Aaron, I selected an amethyst parallel as my most expensive card of the day ($3). 

From 2017 Topps Museum, a set that I've purchased many individual cards from beforehand, the unique colored parallel is combined with an iconic uniform and a simple black border. If the cards from this high-end product weren't so hard to come by, I could definitely envision myself attempting to complete this eye-catching base set.

On most days, a Hank Aaron parallel numbered out of 99 copies, would be the highlight of a quick trip to my LCS. However, for the mere price of $1, I was able to pick up an unbelievably low-numbered card. 

In one of the greatest deals I've ever gotten for a single card, I purchased this Phil Rizzuto orange refractor for only a buck, and it's serial numbered out of 25 copies on the back.

Based on the 1951 Bowman set, Rizzuto's card features a background reminiscent of the original set. At the same time, however, the orange border somehow works with the vintage-style design.

Serial numbered 9/25, the card backs also remind me a lot of the early 50s Bowman product. The card back of the 1 original card from 1951 Bowman that I own, Casey Stengel, has its similarities to this reprint.

Rizzuto is one of the player collections that I don't get the chance to add to all that often, much less a numbered card. 2 HOF numbered cards plus 5 other cards for either $1-$2 each. Honestly, it's hard to beat that when you're only going to your LCS for supplies.