Spring Philly Show 3/6/22: Part One - Incremental Gymnastics

 

So here's the deal. 2022 is looking like it might be a pretty big card show year for me.

I mean, there's the usual Philly show, three times a year, and I've been making the last few so I might keep those going. And also...the National's on my coast this year. Atlantic City, baby. So that makes four big time card shows within an hour of me this year. Also, I know there are shows in Philly, but I imagine those are for the more 'mojo collector'y type people. So, four big shows.

This past weekend was the first of the four. Philly Show, Spring Edition. And I'd say it was a cool one to start with.

I didn't get anything signed, but it was Eagles day in Valley Forge. Boston Scott, Jevon Kearse, guys like that coming around. LeSean McCoy, one of my Eagles heroes as a kid, was there, even taking the mic at one point and clowning around, so that was pretty cool. 

Of course, there were intriguing card acquisitions all around. As usual, I stuck to budget items, cards that could be bought in bulk for under a dollar apiece that appealed to my odd collecting habits. Here are my findings. 

Also, before I go...now I can say I own one of the 1996 UD VJ Lovero inserts. Go me.

Dealer #1: Modern Nickels

Somehow, nickel bins have become a frequent occurrence at these shows. It used to be a wild sighting, out of the blue, that sort of thing. Now you see a couple. I'm not saying they've lost their majesty, but these nickel boxes weren't the flashiest ones I've leafed through. A lot of this stuff felt like it should be quarter bin material. Lots of rookies, lots of shiny. Which is fine, you know, I'll gladly take some rookies for 5 cents each. But this one lacked a lot of the bizarre factor I love from discount bins.

Still, a modern A&G insert of Ryan Howard is kinda cool. Yes, he's no HOFer, but I like that Topps still likes remembering how awesome he was in his prime.

These boxes had lots of recent stuff. Sets I didn't have a ton of. Modern Gold Label, Spencer Howard airbrushed into a Rangers uniform. And Sixto Sanchez. Right now, you can still get Sixto Sanchez cards for a nickel. I am hoping they will never be this cheap again.

Rookies from last year's SC. Anderson and Kaprelian I'm expecting big things from. Kremer has very big hair. 

Yes, I did end up finding some 2022 Topps at this show, to say the least, including these two rookie pitchers that I'm expecting big things from.

National Baseball Card Day issues through the years. For some reason I don't think I had any from Upper Deck's 2008 go-around, including Ian Kennedy's rookie. And I'm still trying to get some 2021 ones, and another Sixto will help.

Recent Topps inserts. I still collect Trevor Bauer. I'm...conflicted about it, don't get me wrong, but the guy is a strikeout artist that kicked off a generation of them. 

I love finding 2020 Turkey Reds I don't have. The Pettitte is a chrome one. 

More recent Topps inserts. Somehow I didn't have that Thames already. Goldy's is a 2021 DH Debuts one that...is a big deal considering what's being implemented this year.

I forget if I had the Raines or Alomar of these in chrome before. Lol. Guess I do now! All from 2019 Update's insert set.

This guy had a lot of Panini stuff mixed in. These were from the 86D subset from 2020 Donruss, all are welcome. Heck, you love to see guys like Bert Blyleven and Dale Murphy thrown in.

A few Allen and Ginter inserts. Somehow I hadn't come across any of the 2008 States ones, so even a Carpenter was welcome.

Panini time! All of these were cool DK base cards. Like...Mickey Cochrane. What a choice, man.

Assorted Panini inserts. All of these look cool. Panini's inserts, if they had logos, would be LAUDED. LOOK AT THAT ARTIST'S PALETTE ONE. Stare Masters is such a good idea for an insert set.

Assorted Diamond Kings from over the years. Including a rare Marlin Starlin.

These are from a few Finests ago, and I like them a lot. Somewhat Fleer Showcase-esque.

Some SP inserts from the 2000s, which I was not expecting to find in there. I have seen those Authentic Speed ones in a ton of dime boxes recently though, even with other newer stuff dominating the bins. 

This was the closest these nickel bins got to strange- some 2002 Studio Stars inserts, looking exactly like credit cards. I love 'em so much. These may not have been the most exciting ones to start off with, but they definitely filled some needs.

Dealer #2: In Close Quarters

This one was also early in the card show day for me. A few different dealers here, one of which was from the Pittsburgh area, so says he, but had the oddest sort of Canadian twinge to his accent. Quarter bins were the lowest value boxes, and...there was a lot of cool stuff in here. Like, these were quarter boxes that felt like dollar bins, honestly. Like...a Gypsy Queen Mike Trout insert for a quarter. That's...low, for him. And that was the beginning of this ride.

A few in here were things I'd seen online but never in person. I'd heard about these hobby-only Topps 2020 inserts but never pulled any, obviously. They're pretty cool, honestly. And these Chronicles Magnitude clear ones are very cool as well. I'm still not sure if Mickey Moniak's gonna be a thing in Philly, but he sure looks cool on one of these.

A few more from 2021's 70 Years series. I kinda like the use of more modern sets like 2009 and 2003 Topps in here. Though it's very obvious that they just...still had the 2009 Topps template lying around. 

More modern reprint inserts. How did I not have that Pence? Two of these were the hobby exclusive refractor-y ones. Did not expect multiple Dale Murphys from here.

These two I needed for my 2017 Archives set that I'm still sloooowly trying to build.

Two different inserts focusing on other types of cards. The Maddux is from 2000 Pacific Invincible, the Bellinger is a recent GQ insert. Both are very cool.

Also shocking- multiple recent Panini issues of Pete Rose. I love 'em when I find 'em, cause Topps literally will not bother to give him a contract, so even a Phillies one was great.

Hall of Famers. I have no idea how I didn't have that 2010 Topps Munson insert yet. 

Panini DK inserts of rare Hall of Famers. SATCHEL PAIGE on a DK inserts. PAUL WANER. Again, say what you will about the lack of logos, but they are great at player selection. 

ICHIRO INSERTS TOO. I can't really say no to those.

One of the other dealers at this table had some quarter Bryces, specifically for the Philly audiences, so I bit. Some of these I forget if I had already, but the NBBCD one was definitely new to me, as was the 2018 Heritage one. 

A bunch of older Pro Debut in this boxes. Ray's is not only a Pro Debut PRC, but a zero-year card, as he's with the Hagerstown Suns, which were a Nats affiliate back then. So is the Ramirez, and I liked the posed shot quality. Castellanos's is not, but it's still a cool one.

Exclusives for quarters! The top two from Skybox were exclusives from the 2000 National in Anaheim. Bottom two were 2019 NBBCD hobby exclusives. Lots of Cal action. This is probably the wrong time to bring this up, but I met him recently. Good guy. Maybe I'll do a post on it, I dunno.

MORE NBBCD CARDS. The majority of these were from the 2021 edition, and are all welcome.

Requisite golds of all-star infielders for quarters. Not bad at all. I think Cabrera might still be playing? Maybe he'll sign somewhere?

TOPPS SPs FOR QUARTERS. This shocked me. And these are pretty good ones, too. Palmer and Hoffman are HOF issues, Buehler's is a great batter hitting shot of a great player. And...I got 'em all for 25 cents each. AND,

I got this one for a quarter.

It's a 2020 card of Anthony DeSclafani base card. Which is all well and good, Jersey native and all. Flip it over, though,

...yeah. Numbered to 300. Statcast variation. So that's pretty damn cool.

I'll post the second half of my findings tomorrow. We haven't even gotten to the dime boxes. We haven't even gotten to...the wildest dime boxes I've encountered in some time.