Spring Philly Show 3/6/22: Part Two- The Expected and the Unexpected

 

So. I had already been through some jacked quarter bins and some rookie-centric nickel bins. And I still had some ground to cover in Valley Forge.

There were lots of tables of big mojo sales, lots of vintage collectors, lots more appraisal people. It's clear that the hobby is changing still and benefitting more and more younger people, and that's kinda what this show is beginning to gear towards. Lots of overpriced product across numerous tables. Hell, even Pokemon cards are getting sold here, cause they're spiking now. 

There is still a place for the fringe collector like myself, which is why I keep going. On with the next table.

Dealer #3: 8 for a Dollar Guy Returns

Last Philly show there was a guy who brought a shelving unit with a few sleeves of 8 for a buck bins. I think this was that same dealer, but the guy who was there last time wasn't there this time. So I think it's the same guy, just...he wasn't there one of the times. But these were definitely his bins. They went along the same type of logic- some new stuff, some REALLY new stuff, and a lot of 00s stuff hiding between them. Also, there was a Bartolo Colon I didn't have. This was somewhat of a theme on Sunday.

The assorted other stuff I mentioned included 90s inserts and subsets, as well as...2003 Leaf. Yeah. A 2003 Leaf pre-Sox Ortiz. How about that?

Usual suspects. All welcome. 

A few Panini inserts from 2021 products. Overdrive is apparently a Chronicles subset, and it looks very cool. 

Another 2030 insert, and what is becoming a nice little page of Pujols Dodgers cards.

Fledgling numbered cards. You could tell that Upper Deck was new to numbering cards in 1999, as they serial numbered this Roberto Alomar card to 4225. That's...a pretty normal print run, guys. Not sure what's so great about it. And while he's been streaky as hell, 100 Miles Giles on a 2021 gold card felt like it was worth 12 cents.

A few PRCs too. Kyle Gibson's wasn't his Pro Debut rookie [that would be 2010], but it's a welcome one. Ironically playing for Fort Myers, and ironic because I got his autograph at a Spring Training game in Fort Myers about 5 years ago. Hader's is a Bowman PRC, and also a zero-year card, from before the Carlos Gomez trade would send him to Milwaukee.

The big thing about this dealer is that they had a lot of 2022 Topps.

A LOT of 2022 Topps. So I indulged. I haven't found any on shelves, he had a ton of commons, I bought a bunch. Here are some of the highlights:

Rookies. I don't know if any of these guys are gonna be worth something in a year or two, but they definitely could be. Especially Jake Meyers. 

Star Cards. All welcome, especially the Wheeler. Posey's is a fitting sunset card.

Guys I don't think I expected to find for 12 cents. How is that Arozarena affordable? How is the Kelenic affordable? Those two are gonna be running the league. 

City Connect uniforms. A lot of people don't like these, I think they're cool. I think Topps does too.

-Great Photography. I like a lot of their photo choices this year.  Gurriel's reminds me of the...somebody on the A's card from 2003 Topps. Bobby Crosby maybe? Mark Ellis? It had the American flag in the back. That gives me the same feel. You don't always see those top 4 stripes in there, and it's important. 

-2021 trade deadline guys. These all should have been in 2021 Update, but I'll take 'em here. I love Kimbrel's Field of Dreams uniform. 

2021 Waiver deal guys. These are stints I never thought Topps would document, and here they are. Bravo.

Finally, two guys I needed to find in these uniforms: another Dodgers Pujols, and Anthony Rizzo in pinstripes. Looks great, too.

Dealer #4: THE MOST INSANE DIME BOXES I'VE SEEN IN A WHILE

I cannot tell you the amount of times I said 'oh my god' under my breath while thumbing through these. This guy had a TON of dime boxes, all strewn about, and they were very popular, lots of people around me looking through them. It was right near the autograph lines, so I could hear the frenzy of LeSean McCoy fans lining up. But the real show, with apologies to shady, was in these boxes. 

93 SP for 10 cents? Even for a Hall of Famer? That's just the tip of it.

1998 Ultra is so underrated. This Kerry Wood is a rookie card! And he's already getting a great shot. That Piazza has been on some blogs before.

1996 TOPPS LASER. This was a big double-take for me. How in blazes did this end up in there. What an odd set. I'd never had any of these before, and these three are welcome in all their weird glory.

Miscellaneous 90s/00s randomness. A 2001 Topps insert of Rickey Henderson ON THE MARINERS. Early Hideo Nomo Bowman's Best. A 1997 Score rookie of Astros Bobby Abreu. Madness.

A lot of these boxes skewed 2000s. These were from one of Upper Deck's Yankee-centric sets. I don't think I had any Bill Dickey cards before this. Not many people make Bill Dickey cards.

Both of those 2008 Ring of Honors were new to me, as were these 2009 Bowman WBCs.

...2004 SPX. SURE. I'LL TAKE SOME OF THAT. 

Even stranger was the appearance of pre-2009 Heritage, rarer than hell these days. Especially 2007 Heritage, which I rarely see anymore. Bagwell's is a sunset card.

And some 2001 Heritage showed up here as well, which I'm cool with as long as it fills some collection needs. Harold Baines got a card in 2001 Heritage. That's...pretty insane.

Also some new-to-me Panini stuff in these. I dig the Beltre insert.

Some donruss classic subsets. These are always winners with me. That Killebrew is awesome.

Multiple Masahiro Tanaka inserts. Again, these boxes were just crying out for me at this point. 

Some retired GQ issues. Bob Lemon peeping his head in, along with Reds-era Frank Robinson.

I didn't need any of these for my Archives sets, they're strictly for the collection at this point. 

Most startling development- this dealer had TONS of Fleer Greats sets. Like...tons. 

All of these were from the 2002 set, including Lefty Grove and Dizzy Dean, because why not?

All of these are from the 2000 set, which is admittedly the most rudimentary of them all.

All of these are from the 2003 set. Like...Mickey Cochrane and Carl Hubbell cards. That's the kind of stuff I prioritize in dime boxes.

And these are all from 2003 Flair Greats, which I've encountered quite a bit of at card shows. Also, a surprising amount of Jimmie Foxx Red Sox cards in these posts.

All of these from 2003 Upper Deck A Piece of History. There's another Mathews as well.

And these are from 2003 Sweet Spot Classic, a set that was new to me. Podres I love finding cards of, and Jim Bunning barely gets Tigers cards anymore.

Some more niche ones- Foxx is from a Fleer set for the 100th Anniversary of the Red Sox, while Stargell was from a Front Row semi-oddball type issue. 

Onto the cool, mojo-ish things. Some 2000s Bowman rookies. Wang's isn't the true rookie, but Lucroy's and D'Arnaud's totally are, which is cool. I think D'Arnaud's is worth more than Lucroy's at this point. And also, zero-year card.

Some 2003 Traded rookies that had invaded me, including a Dodgers Victorino, a Rangers A-Gon, and a gold numbered LaRoche rookie. Cool stuff all around.

Slightly more niche, but...this guy had an Aaron Rowand card numbered to 500 in there. I don't care if I don't collect him anymore, that's pretty cool. 

Pro Debut stuff. Kaprielian's wasn't the Pro Debut rookie but it is a Yankee issue of the guy pre-Sonny trade. Dunn's is a pro debut XRC, and a zero-year Mets issue. Urias's is a Pro Debut XRC, which is welcome at this point. Bell's isn't a Pro Debut XRC, but it's still pretty cool.

This is a pretty cool one, a 2002 Bowman rookie XRC of Francisco Liriano, back the he was with the Giants, so yet another XRC. Rookie card of a great player, too. 

and then...

We started with Bart, we'll end with him. A 1996 Fleer Excel minor league issue of Bart, looking young and thin. I've become a major Bartolo Colon collector, and this is a pretty cool piece of it now. I do have his 1996 Topps rookie, and this, a minor league card, is a nice companion to that. And for 10 cents as well.

I don't think anything else could top that 10 cent bin, so I left after that. Overall, some pretty incredible stuff from this show. Makes me excited for the next one...which might just be the National, actually.