1/7/23 card show report: sure, January

This post which will probably be my last one of the month will cover the show I made it out to three weekends ago. That's the opposite of what happened at that time last year when some circumstances, largely the weather, made a trip to Taylor a no-go. I was happy to get this year in show-going off on the right foot!

On one hand I felt like this trip was a bit less successful than usual because for the roughly two hours I spent there digging through boxes I didn't come home with a ton, having spent "only" $45. However, the dearth of stuff I wanted in the higher-end boxes made me spend more time in the dime boxes, which I was very happy to see. I never ignore these because I know how many gems can be pulled from them, if not in value at least in sets and designs I appreciate.

My cost breakdown that Saturday from my usual seller was as follows:

• 70 dime cards
• 10 $1 cards
• 6 that were 3/$5

He knocked the price down a couple bucks to $25. While I was waiting for him to get back from one of his smoke breaks (gross habit but it never affects his cards so it's fine) I looked through the box of stuff owned by a guy who sometimes splits a table with him. His prices tended to be on the higher side but he was open to negotiation, so I grabbed cards he had labeled for $10 and $15 and offered him $20, which he accepted. One of those went out in a trade package and you'll see the other below momentarily.

First up is the trade bait that didn't get mailed out or set aside:

A '95 Pinnacle Artist Proof in a dime box? Yes please! That's former Padres pitcher Joey Hamilton practicing bunting in the cage. Ex-Giants bopper Matt Williams is next with a '95 Donruss Long Ball Leaders insert that was also just ten cents. That was the case as well for former UNC WR Brandon Tate's 2009 Bowman Draft Blue parallel (#051/199). Should any of these interest you, please feel free to comment below or make an offer for them on TCDB.

Next is the small amount of baseball I picked up for myself:

Mr. Padre features on a 2020 Diamond Kings All-Time Diamond Kings insert, which is merely a shadow of the good old days of the insert, but still nice to see all the same. I was a bit surprised I didn't have Maddux's 2000 Topps All Topps insert, but I didn't mind the risk of a double for just a dime.

And the big pickup this time from the second seller I mentioned is Cal's 1996 Leaf Limited Lumberjacks insert. I believe this was the second year the original instance of Leaf released these super cool chase cards that had a real wood feel to them and that were numbered to 5000 copies. I'm always on the lookout for amazing 90s inserts like these so I didn't feel bad about throwing down $10 for it, even if that ended up being a bit of an overpay compared to eBay. It's not like I spent a crazy amount on my other pickups that day, plus, as everyone knows, 90s inserts rule!

Meanwhile, my football pickups were relatively more plentiful:

Most of them came from the dime box as well, and Texans WR Nico Collins was the big winner with six additions to his PC (currently 31 cards). Five of those are base or Pink parallels from 2021 Panini Chronicles (base, Legacy, Panini, Prestige) and the one that set me back a buck is a very sharp 2022 Donruss Elite Status parallel that's a beautiful blue and numbered /499.

Joining the latter in the dollar box was a pair of QB J.J. McCarthy's Bowman University base from last year. My first cards of the stud signal-caller who led Michigan back to the NCAA playoff may be airbrushed due to licensing issues, but it's not the end of the world, and I'm sure I'll get some "real" college uni cards soon. For now I'm excited to have a start to his collection.

And last up is one more dime card that I couldn't resist. Out of '22 Panini Illusions it's Charles Woodson's appearance in the Clear Shots set. These acetate inserts are both colorful and see-through so they're fun to look at. I love seeing the GOAT DB continue to pop up in products like this years after his retirement.

Barring unforeseen circumstances I should be back in action in Taylor next Saturday so hopefully I'll have another show recap for you in the next couple weeks. Until then I expect to be covering my Sportlots package from late last year (which arrived earlier this month), one or two new eBay buys, and at least one new TCDB deal.