5-6-2017 show report: Junior's top 10 and more

It's hard to believe it's been almost a month since I went to my most recent card show, but that's definitely correct since there's another one coming up this weekend!  I'm just now getting around to posting my pickups, though I wanted to get caught up on trade packages first.  Speaking of those, I'll likely have news on some going out pretty soon.

So a few Saturdays ago I headed back to Taylor for my usual show experience, which at this point is pretty much limited to stopping by one seller and flipping through his dime, quarter, $0.50, and dollar boxes for all the loot I can handle; his prices are great and I spend more than enough time going through his abundant boxes, so that's usually enough for me.

This time I plunked down $30 for just a buttload of cards, lots of which will be heading out to folks like you soon.  Until then, I hope you'll enjoy what I picked up for myself, including a few cards over on TMM, plus these:

We'll start the first group of Griffeys I grabbed, which range from 1993-2000.  That first card you see is actually a pre-production sample from '93 Topps, with the biggest difference being a gray oval on the back describing it as such; the text of the write-up is also slightly different.  Below that is Ken's second of three issues from the very cool '98 Score Complete Players insert.  And the last card in this bunch is one of Junior's five variations from the Magic Moments subset out of 2000 Topps.

I dug out another four cards--all of which are a bit more recent--to make it an even 10 of the Kid.  The 2015 Donruss Preferred is my favorite as it's a fun throwback to a cool product, but the 2017 Donruss base is nice as well.

I managed to hit all four of my big non-Tigers/Wolverines PCs again, so of course Tony Gwynn was represented.  Leading off is an insert called Hyper from 1999 UD Ionix, Upper Deck's answer to the question "Could we make a chromed out version of a design even Pacific would be embarrassed to use?"  My absolute favorite of the bunch is the beautiful Gallery card from 2003.  Topps doesn't make them like they used to....  A couple fun Panini-branded cards close out the quartet, including a Diamond Kings callback and a cool college photo.

It's not easy to find stuff of Barry Larkin--still my biggest Michigan Baseball PC guy--in these boxes, so I grab what I can get.  In this case my reward was this reprint of his '95 Topps base.  Can you identify which of the 1,000 reprint sets it came from?  Time's up:  it's 2011 Topps 60 Years of Topps.

Old stalwart Greg Maddux was good for a couple post-retirement appearances on pre-retirement cards.  First up is a very cool insert called Heritage out of 2001 Topps Gallery.  Sort of combining two of Topps' brands, or at least the names, it's extremely appealing visually, plus it's printed on a very nice, glossy card stock.

That's joined by a Purple parallel from 2006 Upper Deck Future Stars (#d 1247/1799) where he's pictured with the Dodgers.  By my count I have five such issues in his album currently, along with two more I'll show off whenever I get around to it.

I also managed to turn up three Ripken inserts, which is not a bad haul when you're pulling things from discount boxes.  The first card is an interesting example of a cross-promotional set--Opening Day 2K cards were available in 2000 from packs of Topps Opening Day, Fleer Tradition, Upper Deck Victory and Hitter's Club, and Pacific.  This Fleer version has the same style back as that year's Tradition product, and apparently call cards have that foil logo along the right edge.

Besides another forgettable mini Topps insert, I also found another fun recent Diamond Kings insert.  The back of this one mentions one of his more memorable dingers, the one he hit at the 2001 All-Star game, his final such appearance.  It was a first-pitch shot at Safeco in Seattle on a pitch some suspect was grooved in to him out of respect by Chan Ho Park, the kind of fun moment you might see at the Midsummer Classic before it "mattered".

I don't remember if I found this in the quarter or $0.50 box, but I was still surprised to find a numbered Verlander card this cheap at a Metro Detroit show.  I'm guessing many of you recognize the 2008 Upper Deck Heroes design, and of course this is one of its many, many colored parallels, Beige, numbered 192/299.  The back notes that Webb won the '06 NL Cy Young, Verlander threw his first no-no the following season, and King Felix added a one-hitter himself that same year.  Webb would put up one more outstanding year in 2008 before shoulder injuries derailed his career;  Verlander would add a second no-hitter to his résumé in 2011;  and Hernandez would one-up Verlander with a perfect game in 2012.

That's it for now, but don't forget to check out my Michigan Football and Hockey haul over at TMM this evening!