Card Shows > COMC Sales; Card Show Recap #15

After what was a relatively long debate, it was decided that I would skip the annual COMC Black Friday sale and instead, take a trip to the once-a-month or so Mansfield sports card show. Rather than waiting in line with dozens of other people at a Target or some other store, I'd much rather be at a baseball card show, searching bins of cards.

I'll spend the next couple days or so to talk about how special this show was, but I'll start off with something that I search for at nearly every show I've ever attended.

Dime boxes.

Yes, even at a card show with around 70-80 vendor tables, I still couldn't resist the urge to go through a row of my favorite dime boxes at the show from a dealer I've been doing business with as long as I can remember. Plus, due to how crowded his booth was, he allowed me to take a box into the hallway and pick out what I wanted there. How could I possibly say no?

Even though I'm not actively collecting the massive set that is Panini Chronicles, I'm piecing it together with whatever I can find for a good enough price. That said, I wasn't expecting the 2 per hobby box Spectra cards to be in the dime bins, let alone a parallel of one of them numbered out of 99. 

Consisting of all rookies, the 4 Spectra cards I found were definitely a shock, but I knew that even though I don't collect any of the players and will likely never complete the set, they'd make awesome additions to my collection of 2018 Panini Chronicles cards.

While I'm talking about unlicensed cards, I should definitely make note of the abundance of Panini Donruss Optic parallel cards in the dime boxes today with specific players appearing more so than others. In fact, I spotted 3 players with 2 different parallels in the bin, the first being Salvador Perez. The orange is not numbered while the aqua parallel is serial numbered out of 299 copies.

Next up is Dallas Keuchel, the free agent lefty who I also picked up a duo of Donruss Optic parallels of. The orange on the left is the same as Perez's first parallel while the 2nd is some sort of orange and yellow combination that I can't seem to identify, but it too is not serial numbered.

Finally, the last of the 3 players is Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard who, unlike Perez and Keuchel, had 2 different numbered cards as opposed to 1 or 2 non-numbered parallels. First up is what I believe to be a red parallel numbered out of 199 while the 2nd card is a Diamond Kings card with another parallel that I can't seem to identify. That one is numbered 50/50, a true steal for only a dime.

Wrapping up a majority of what I picked up for unlicensed cards is a duo of Panini Donruss Aurora inserts from 2018, an insert set I'm very pleased Panini decided to bring back. Like the 2017 versions, the Aurora inserts are vibrant with tons of bright and eye-catching colors. The 2 players I picked up, Ichiro and Buster Posey, are both at or very near 100 cards with Ichiro currently closing in on 200.

Speaking of top-tier players collections, guys like Ichiro and Ken Griffey Jr. benefited from the dime boxes, as usual, this time with cards from the 2007 Bowman's Best set. Like the Aurora cards, the 4 guys of whom I found Bowman's Best cards are all players I heavily collect, 3 of them being Gold Tier PCs.

Bowman's Best was far from all that I brought back of high-end cards. A couple 2013 Topps Tribute World Baseball Classic cards found their way into the bin which was met with appreciation on my part. After deciding only 2 picks up cards of guys I collect, 3 players (Joey Votto, Jimmy Rollins, and Miguel Tejada) were chosen, players from 3 different countries (Canada, Dominican Republic, and the U.S.).

Rounding out the rest of the high-end cards I brought back is another addition to my Corey Seager player collection which has become abundant with lots of prospect cards, parallels, and rookie cards. This time, the newest addition is a Topps Museum card from his rookie 2016 season.

With all the various sets put out, especially by Fleer and Donruss, in the early 2000s, it's difficult for me to be familiar with each and every one of them. Up until today, I had little to no knowledge of the Donruss Greats set having only recognized 1 year or so of the set. 

With the help of these 4 cards from 2 different sets, I'm able to gain the slightest bit more knowledge of past released and picked up some nice cards for a few '70s and '80's PCs while I was at it.

I suppose the same could be said for this set from 1996 though I'm still not certain what the set is referred to as. Even so, knowing the name would help my understanding of the confusing decade of cards that is the 1990's. Plus, once again, I'm able to boost a couple player collections along the way.

The things I've been talking about are major aspects of what makes the dime bins so enjoyable and interesting to look through, even if it means limiting the number of new vendors I'd get to do business with. By finding new products and insert sets, I'm able to develop a deeper understanding of the crazy and sometimes overwhelming hobby of collecting cards.

Guys like Vladimir Guerrero were examples of common denominators between the 2 different insert sets I found from the 2001 Upper Deck Vintage product, the first year of that specific Upper Deck set.  The simple black and red combo make the Retro Rules cards appealing, but it's the font used for Matinee Idols that makes the card look almost like a comic book, especially with the green or red color in the background.

If I'm not mistaken, 2014 was the very first year of the revived Topps High Tek brand, a set that's been going strong with 5 different releases and the creation of Bowman High Tek, both of which have become extremely popular with higher-end collectors.

The different patterns made me pay extra attention when looking through these cards of Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez, just to make sure I was taking advantage of all the different variations these cards have. There appear to be 2 different parallels among the 2 players above, meaning I found 2 different patterns for both players. Not too bad.

I've been a dime card buyer for so many years now that it barely surprises me anymore to see somewhat recently released products already in the dime bins with even parallels and insert cards appearing there. While it wasn't a huge surprise, I gladly added cards from 2018 Topps Stadium Club insert sets into my player collections. Though Stadium Club isn't necessarily known for insert cards, I'm a big fan of this years' Power Zone design.

Finally, while I'm talking Stadium Club, I might as well bring up my favorite card from the entire dime box purchase; a Stadium Club Chrome Clayton Kershaw from 2018. another card I was baffled to see in a box where each card was just a dime.

Stadium Club Chrome cards are some of the more underrated cards you'll ever see along with Heritage Chrome. They don't get the recognition they deserve, yet they're also extremely rare meaning that you don't see them all that often. Seeing one in the dime bins is pretty special, but the fact that it's Clayton Kershaw elevates it to a whole new level.

It's Like An Online Card Show

Over the last number of weeks, I've taken time to explore Twitter for baseball cards, something I've stated numerous times I never thought I'd be doing.

 I was always satisfied with eBay, COMC, and Sportlots for my online baseball card purchases. I never thought I would need more than that.

Alas, I was quickly disproven as soon as my first ever package of baseball cards bought on Twitter arrived in the mail a few weeks ago. Then came a 2nd package, next it was a 3rd, and finally, my 4th package of Twitter cards arrived at my front door this week. 

Another example of a Twitter user I've seen other bloggers buy from, @mrbkscards had a massive sports card sale that took place over multiple days towards the beginning of October. Due to the number of cards available as well as a lot of them being of guys I collect, this haul ended up being, by far, my largest purchase of cards from the site so far.

Back when this sale was taking place, 2018 Panini Chronicles was still fresh in my mind having recently opened a couple blasters of the product. Unfortunately for me, I was unable to rekindle my love for the set at Target a number of days ago when I stopped by for cards around my birthday. 

Because the set was still very fresh in my mind when this sale occurred, I claimed as many Panini Chronicles cards as I could, though some had already been requested by other users. I ended up with a decent selection, including a handful of Orioles players like Austin Hays and Chance Sisco.

Due to the premise that the first person to claim a card receives it, I must admit that there were a couple of times in which I didn't necessarily know what I was claiming. All I knew was I really liked the design and the cards featured players I collect. I suppose it's somewhat like a card show given that you don't always know what you're buying, but you find the card for the right price which ultimately proves to be enough.

Some under-appreciated 90's cards were among the many cards I decided to claim as part of this massive Twitter sports card sale. From late 90's Stadium Club with a stunning photo of Manny Ramirez to Metal Universe with the ever-abstract backgrounds. From planets to waterfalls, that set sure is weird, and I love it.

Perhaps one of the better parts of this particular Twitter cards purchase is that I was able to discover some cards of players I don't necessarily see every day in the dimes bins at the card show. While there's never a shortage of Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez cards, players like Derrek Lee and Darrell Evans don't show up all that often. 

Even though I collect both of them and have no intentions of stopping, I can't say it's every day I'm able to add to their respective player collections along with Ryan Howard and Cliff Lee as well.

Even with an extensive variety of cards, I definitely found myself leaning towards certain sets in particular or at least certain cards from those sets. Specifically, a decent portion of what arrived in the mail from this sale were Topps Gypsy Queen framed parallels, one of the things I miss most from the old Gypsy Queen products.

Starting off, we have the bronze frame parallels from the 2012 GQ set. Although these were fairly pricey, it makes sense given the caliber of the players featured on these cards. To be specific, all Hall of Famers who remains legends in the respective cities.

Flash forward one year in Gypsy Queen and we have the white framed parallels from the 2013 set, another group of framed parallels that I deemed were worth it and scooped up during this sale. However, this group differs quite a bit from the first group due to the 2013 white parallels consisting of all current players, in 2013 anyways, with the exception of Bob Gibson.

Although the serial numbering is not shown on the cards, some of the framed parallels I picked up are slightly rarer than the others and cost me around the same price if I remember correctly. The Steve Carlton is another bronze parallel which Topps decided to serial number out of 499 in 2015 while the Juan Marichal is a blue from 2012 number out of 599 copies.

Among everything that I claimed via this mega card sale, I was most pleased when I found new cards for some of my top-tier player collections. Out of my hundreds of player collections, there are around 30 that are at the top of my list of priorities, including the 4 players shown above. 3 players (Nolan Ryan, Manny Ramirez, and Greg Maddux) have passed the 200 card mark while an additional 25+ players have PCs with over 100 cards in them.

It's adding to these player collections, finding oddball cards, numbered cards for the right price, and a few others included is part of what has helped make Twitter one of my favorite new places to buy cards. As the title suggests, buying cards on Twitter is a lot like my own online card show.

2018 Panini Chronicles Take 2

Due to time constraints on Monday, I was unable to attend the Mansfield card show, a fairly large show a little bit of a drive away from me that takes place around 1-2 times per month. If you've seen my recap posts from the past trips to the Mansfield show, you know I've had a great time and have done very well there.

Like I said, I wasn't able to go Monday due to not having enough time, but that doesn't mean I completely shut myself out of having cards. After having very good luck in my first Chronicles blaster and picking up another handful of cards from the set at my local card show on Sunday, I found myself taking another trip to Target for not 1 but 2 additional blasters of Chronicles.

The way I figured it was over this weekend, I spent around what I would've spent at the Mansfield show, just not all in one place. Additionally, besides my birthday coming up in a little over a week, I won't be buying many new cards until Black Friday where I'm debating between a trip to the same Mansfield show or taking part in the annual COMC Black Friday Sale.

The first blaster delivered 2 numbered cards, and I was interested to see what the next 2 blaster boxes would bring. Needless to say, they did not disappoint. 

While I love the light purple color that showed up on the scan, this is actually one of the parallel cards I ended up pulling during this 2-blaster break. Granted, it's difficult to get overly excited over Chronicles base parallels, but at least it's a low numbered card (77/99) and a rookie card as well. Plus, the Chronicles base cards from this year are ten times better than last years', so there's definitely something to be said about that.

It seems as if it's pretty easy to get lucky with certain rookies in this set, even if it gets to the point where you pull 2 cards of the same player in 1 pack. While that happened to me in the first blaster with Ozzie Albies, blaster box #2 delivered the same luck, only this time it was with Red Sox 3rd baseman Rafael Devers who I also pulled 2 cards of in 1 pack with those cards being from the Illusions and Phoenix sets.

The early parallel card pulls and landing 2 of the same rookie in 1 pack clearly show how the 2nd Panini Chronicles retail break is similar to the 1st, and the number of veteran cards pulled also help to demonstrate how similar these breaks have been, though only 2 doubles were pulled. This time around, each blaster brought with it 4 veteran cards with the highlights shown above, including my first veterans from each and every one of the 4 subsets shown above.

While the Ohtani cards per box did not stay the same after pulling 2 in the first blaster, I still landed a couple of them in this 2nd Panini Chronicles break. The Status card at the top of this post is from one of my favorite sets in Chronicles, but it's the Classics Ohtani that shows the 2-way player hitting instead of pitching that became my absolute favorite Shohei card pulled.

Even with the purchase of a few revolution cards at Sunday's show, this subset remained duplicate-free until I pulled matching J.P. Crawford cards in the 2nd and 3rd blasters. Regardless, these 2 new boxes also delivered some nice new cards that I need from the 25-card checklist, specifically Ronald Acuña Jr.

And speaking of the future 2018 NL Rookie of the Year.

The baseball card gods sent me a numbered card of Acuña to go with the Revolution card, making this Prizm Hyper parallel my very first card of Ronald Acuña Jr. of the entire Chronicles set. I have to say, I really love the way these Hyper parallels look, especially with the Prizm set design. A testament to what Panini is capable of, you wouldn't necessarily notice right away that this card if unlicensed.

As for the next numbered card, the big names kept on coming as Mike Trout and this Select Aqua parallel was the next numbered card to come my way. Also numbered to 299, the bold color choice for this Mike Trout card is one that I can definitely get behind, even if it is a little bit of an odd choice for a parallel. Although it doesn't do as good a job of covering up the no logos as the Acuña card, it's a numbered card of Mike Trout. There's really not much else I can say.

Well, besides the fact that this wasn't the last numbered card of the box, nor was it the lowest numbered card, and it didn't end up being the last of the big name numbered cards either.

As if pulling numbered cards of Acuña and Trout wasn't enough, the 4th and final numbered card to come my way, proving the theory that numbered cards are about 2 per box, is a Contenders Optic Pink Wave parallel of the 2018 AL Rookie of the Year, Yankees 3rd baseman Miguel Andujar. 

After pulling the Devers Blue Ice parallel in box 1, this becomes the 2nd parallel card I've pulled from the Contenders Optic subset and the 3rd rookie parallel pulled (Devers, Acuña, Andujar).

I really do comprehends that I've probably just had very good luck thus far, but I strongly recommend taking a small gamble with the purchase of a $20 blaster box of 2018 Panini Chronicles if you don't mind the no logos. It definitely wins the award for most improved product of 2018, and it's very easy to make back every penny you spend on it just by selling a couple of the nice rookie cards you pull.