7/3/26 card show report: just a bit in July

July was once again a two-show month for me, but unlike June, both were my usual monthly gig in Taylor thanks to a quirk of the calendar. Tonight I'm covering the actual July show, which I attended the day before Independence Day.

I ended up spending "just" $75, a decent amount, and fortunately more than the previous month at the same venue, though based on my keepers a good chunk of that cost went towards trade package fodder, so I don't have a ton to show off here. That's fine by me since it means less work!

The baseball content was limited to just two players. Pitcher Tommy Henry, the pride of Portage Northern High School, got card #19 added to his collection: a 2019 Bowman Draft Sapphire Edition base. Yep, we've got way too many products again these days, but in a much worse way than in the 90s when there were at least multiple quality manufacturers. Anyway, I don't get to add to his collection too often--this is only the third card of him I've landed this year--so it was a fun pull out of one of the boxes I perused.

Meanwhile, the summer of Pudge continues. I've added a bunch of his cards this year via multiple sources, and now I have almost 450 of the HOF C and former Tiger. The best card here leads off: 1995 Flair's Hot Gloves. This beauty of a chase card uses a Gold Glove motif to highlight some of the best in the game, and as always, the 13-time winner of that award had to be included.

That's joined by 1998 UD's hobby version of its 10th Anniversary Preview insert which threw it back to the OG '89 set that has become iconic; '99 Upper Deck's Textbook Excellence, a set that again wisely includes the catching legend; 2000 Upper Deck's Pennant Driven, starring a guy who won two flags (including 2006 with Detroit) and one ring (with the '03 Marlins); and an insert called 1941 Series from 2003 Upper Deck's Play Ball product that calls back to a legendary set.

My personal purchases were so limited that I didn't even come home with any football items for myself this time, but I did match baseball's count with a half dozen basketball inserts featuring a trio of ex-Wolverines. LeVert was a Piston last year but was moved to Milwaukee in a July deal that involved six teams. Here's how it looks on basketball-reference:

Well ok, then! Anyway, that '23-'24 Silver Prizm from Panini Prizm is his 75th card, good for 6th place in my basketball collection. The slightly younger Jordan Poole is next, and he owns the #8 spot in that PC with exactly 70, partially thanks to this colorful quartet which includes Panini Prizm Ice and Silver Prizms, plus Panini Select Blue Cracked Ice and Green/White/Purple Prizms. And lastly, older Wagner bro Mo lags behind the crowd with just 28 cards, paling in comparison to his star sibling Franz, who claims 72 cards among Michigan Basketball guys I collect. At least the Reactive Yellow Mosaic from '24-'25 Panini Mosaic looks very cool, and paired with Orlando's team colors almost gets a maize & blue tribute!

That was it for July show #1 but the good news is that I was able to enjoy some fireworks at the end of the month with August's show rolled around. I'll likely catch up on one or two other posts before I cover that, but I think some of you might enjoy it. Until then, may your remaining summer days be enjoyable as the sunshine and temperatures fade almost as fast as the Tigers, leading us right into college football season!