2/3/18 card show report: in Spring Training form

With my first 2018 purchase post in the books I'll now move on to the four (so far) shows I've attended this year.  I had to skip January's due to poor road conditions caused by typical winter weather, but once February rolled around I was back to digging through my favorite seller's boxes for PC and trade bait.  I dropped my fairly common total of $30 and got a fun bundle of stuff including a small handful you can see on this evening's TMM post, plus the PC additions below:

Getting over my Detroit-only rule for Granderson has benefited my collection of the former face of the Tigers.  I added to my small group of him as a Yankee with this Liquorfractor from 2011 Topps Update.

It was a good day for Griffey as I found this fun insert trio.  First is '95 Stadium Club Virtual Reality, a set where Topps simulated the strike-cancelled games of '94.  In case you don't remember, Ken was one of the more interesting cases as he'd bashed 40 HR before the games stopped so he had plenty of time left for a shot at Roger Maris' then-record.  They estimated he'd go for another 15, still a fine season.  Three years later he finally got over the 50-dinger mark by hitting 56 in consecutive seasons.

Card #2 is from a 2001 Upper Deck Reserve insert called Royalty.  Any objections to Griffey's inclusion?  Yeah, I didn't think so!

Last up is one of my favorite somewhat recent Pinnacle inserts, Awaiting the Call from 2013.  Of course Junior didn't have to wait long--just the requisite three more seasons until he was first eligible.  Of the 10 players in that set only Fred McGriff and Edgar Martinez haven't been granted admission.  Two other notable members, Jack Morris and Alan Trammell, did this year, though!

Speaking of HOFers here's another 90s great, Tony Gwynn.  This quartet starts with another '95 Stadium Club Virtual Reality, and Mr. Padre is another fun case because he was chasing the .400 batting average mark, a number not seen since Ted Williams in 1941.  At .394 when the games stopped, Topps' simulated season had him eclipse the mark and then falter late, landing at .391 overall.  Wow.

Then we go on a nice run of late 90s/early 00s inserts.  From Upper Deck's insane '99 HoloGrFX product I bring you a possibly Pacific-inspired Future Fame die-cut.  I've got a few of these in my collection and it still surprises me how crazy they are every time I see one.  Next is a not-much-less bonkers SPXcitement insert from UD's 2000 SPx product.  And then we go back to the subtler stylings of 2002 Fleer Tradition and a Diamond Tributes insert to the recently-retired icon.  I may not have loved every design that came from the era but I maintain that the hobby is worse for lacking the creativity and choice of this era.

No point in breaking up this HOFer party just yet!  Here's a fun pair of base cards of Barry Larkin from the same time frame as most of the Gwynns above.  To the left is 1998 Flair Showcase (Row 1), another set that makes me pine for the good old days of 20 years ago.  As long as I can still track stuff like this down I'll be smiling like Barry.  On the right is a base from Topps' 2001 Reserve set.  Yep, Topps and UD both released products called Reserve in '01!  I like the simple, borderless design here.

One of the guys who had the best day was Greg Maddux as I added six new cards of him to reach a milestone-worthy 400.  An early Dufex-type 1993 Select Chase Stars was a great way to start and things rolled from there including a couple more nice issues from the 90s:  '94 Leaf Statistical Standouts and a '95 Stadium Club base.  The aughts were great as well thanks to 2000 SP Authentic Midsummer Classics (one of my favorites on the day), another 2000 SPx SPXcitement (the red works very well with Atlanta's unis) and another solid 2002 Fleer Tradition insert, Grass Roots (although that "green" is not quite the hue I would have gone with).  Nice bunch of Mad Dogs!

This doesn't happen to me that often at shows:  I found a fun oddball card that I needed, this time of Larkin's former teammate Hal Morris.  Meat company Kahn's apparently had these cards made as far back as the 50s and as recently as 2009, and the Reds got their own team sets a nice number of times in the 90s and 2000s.  The one you see above is from '95 and I'd say it looks pretty good for a food issue.

Last up is the Iron Man, the big winner on the day thanks to this fun mix of base, inserts, and a team card.  The latter is card #1, basically an upgraded version of the '97 Score design, which I already liked.  A die-cut 1998 Paramount Team Checklists insert is a particular highlight here and continues to make Paramount's case as one of Pacific's best brands.  Fleer Mystique, Upper Deck MVP, and Leaf Rookies and Stars cards from 1999, 2001, and 2002, respectively, close out that era and are then joined by fun base from 2007 UD Masterpieces (one of several Ripkens in the set) and 2016 Donruss (good to have it back!).  Having recently hit the 700-card mark, Cal maintains his lead over Barry Larkin (for now!).

That's it for this show but the fun doesn't end here since I still have three others to cover at the time of this writing, so look for those recaps soon.