3/18/18 card show report: Paul and some PCs

Today's show post is a bit of a curveball for a number of reasons, starting with the fact that it was the second one I attended last month, meaning it was also in a different location (Troy instead of Taylor).  It also involved meeting Paul from Scribbled Ink on his home turf as he lives nearby.  As in the other cases where I met fellow bloggers it was a fun meetup and we both posted the results of our in-person trading (his, mine).  Lastly it meant finding cards from a different seller, and let me tell you that was the hardest I've worked at a show to spend $30, but I came back with some fun stuff.  Just 12 cards for me, though (in addition to some trade bait), with the other five viewable on TMM tonight.

Here's part of my small haul:

I generally don't have much luck finding vintage stuff in the cheaper boxes like these--which were either $0.25 or $0.50 apiece before volume discounts--and even when I do it usually isn't the home team.  That made it an easy decision for me to add this pair of '59 Topps issues to my pile.  Maxwell, a native of the western part of the state who went to WMU, was primarily an OF in eight solid seasons in Motown sandwiched by stints with both Sox (and a four-game cameo in Baltimore).  Zernial, meanwhile, was also an outfielder though most of his career was spent with the Philly/KC Athletics and White Sox before ending his career with two seasons in Detroit.

Of course these made for fun additions to my minuscule collection of cards from that decade!

Next I tracked down cards from just a pair of PCs, starting with this fun insert starring Barry Larkin.  Hailing from 2001 Fleer Triple Crown, this Crowning Achievements card honors Barry, Andres Galarraga, and fellow HOFer Craig Biggio in reaching the 2000-hit mark during the previous season.  Larkin would play four more seasons and reach 2340, the Big Cat would finish at 2333 in the same span, and Biggio would last the seven more campaigns he needed to eclipse 3K and finish up with 3060.  Great players on a great insert!

A favorite PC guy on some stuff from a couple decades ago?  Why yes, I do believe I have room for the "90s inserts rule!" tag today.  Here's a fun trio featuring Greg Maddux, starting with 1993 Triple Play League Leaders, which notes Mad Dog and HOF closer Eck as '92's Cy Young winners.  Greg won the first of his four straight while my namesake was good enough to land both the pitching award and MVP as well.

#2 is the 1997 version of one of Upper Deck's more notable redemption/game cards, the Predictor.  For those of you that don't remember, you could redeem these for better cards if the predicted event (which you had to scratch off in this case) occurred.  I'll be leaving this one unscratched, of course, thank you very much.

Last up is a very foil-y insert from 1999 Upper Deck called Immaculate Perception, a solid play on words.  The "Decade Dominators" stamp over his right arm brings me right back to the 90s when UD and Fleer used these various icons to note milestones and achievements instead of making subsets ad nauseum like Topps.

Oh yeah, and here's one more card of his I grabbed, though it wasn't in the cheap boxes, obviously.  I believe $3 or so was good enough to pick up my 14th relic of the pitching legend, a Fleer Sweet Sigs Ballpark Heroes Jersey Silver jersey (#221/224).  When it comes to guys like Maddux I don't mind paying a bit more than I usually would for a relic like this, which was definitely a nice way to cap the show for me, besides meeting Paul, of course.  And now it's his turn to join me in Taylor the next time we can both go!

I've got just one more show to recap now, the one from earlier this month, and then it'll be back to regular programming, including a couple trade packages.