Yesterday I attended the big show at the state fairgrounds that goes off twice a year. The last time I was there was in September and I obtained the majority of cards from three dealers who are almost always there and almost always get the majority of my business.
I was so confident that they would be there this time that I didn't bother to update my blog want lists or to finally figure out how to access my TCDB want lists on my phone. I just took my hand-penned want list for 1969 Topps and 1979 Topps football and stuffed them in my pocket. If two of those dealers were there, then that would be sufficient.
Well, neither of the two were there. This was a crisis because they are there so often I automatically thought something was wrong. Then I realized just about all my vintage options were gone. The crumpled list in my pocket was useless.
It was time to regroup, though after I did, I walked the show with a lot more uneasiness than I usually do. Not only were my regulars gone but I picked up on an obvious lack of vintage in general. This is a big show, so that shouldn't happen. But I pressed on.
The one of my three regular dealers there I saw right away. He always has the latest sets available in binders to pick through. I grabbed the Heritage High Numbers one and pulled out all the Dodgers I needed -- which finished off the set for me!! I also added a card from one of the High inserts.
I also looked through the 2025 Series 1 binder and grabbed what I thought I needed. A lot of guessing here. I did fairly well though. After I was through I have two final wants to finish Series 1. Surprise, surprise they are Mike Trout and Bobby Witt Jr.
Shopping at a card show without a net means scanning desperately for sure-things. What do I KNOW that I need?
An easy way to that goal is to find someone with cards sorted by stars and track down some Dodgers.
This is what I pulled from the Kershaws at one table. Again, I wasn't too clear on whether I had some of these already, but others I knew were new-to-me right away. It turns out only the Greatest Players Kershaw was a dupe -- really only one of 3 dupes that I bought that I can't redistribute to some other portion of my collection. Not bad!
The MVP Trout-Kershaw Chrome card was actually from the Heritage High table (same with the Montefusco at the top of the post). I got a pretty good deal on that one.
I added just two cards of Mookie at the table, too.
The dealer I know from the show in town was there. It was his first show at the fairgrounds and I was surprised to see him there. Right when I was talking to him, I got an ebay notification that the Topps Japan Paul Skenes card had sold and I got distracted. But I came back several minutes later and added these two Dodgers parallels (yes, against my better judgment I added the Gypsy Queen nonsense). I also picked up a couple cards for other collectors there.
Shortly after that I found a couple of other dealers who I know from the Watertown show. This was all right! My fairgrounds usuals might not be here, but at least I found someone I knew and I know their wares, too.
I started picking through the loose discounted vintage cards the one dealer always has.
The two 1969 Topps cards are the only ones I found there (I did see a Nolan Ryan for a price I couldn't pay). The 1970 Topps booklets I've kind of ignored but now that I have the main 1970 set complete, I feel like this is the next step.
I also grabbed two Hostess cards in hopes that I needed them. The '78 Parker I did. The '79 Yount I had, but it's actually an upgrade over the one I owned with absolutely no borders.
Now, since I didn't have the regular dealers to blow cash on, my money wasn't flying out of my wallet as fast as it usually does. While buying the vintage cards from this one dealer, who has always struck me as someone who is just a couple sales away from living on the street, he suddenly pulled four cards from behind his display.
"I just got these ones," he said with not a hint of salesmanship. "Maybe they're something you'd like."
I don't remember what two of the cards were, just that they were vintage. I took the other two home with me. "OK," I said to myself. "Here's the one who gets the cash I was going blow on the other tables that aren't here."
That's a second-year Bob Gibson and the last 1951 Bowman Dodgers card I need that isn't one of the four final big stars. Roe, with obvious issues, came real cheap and the Gibson came with a 10-dollar discount.
By then dealers were closing down. I spotted another dealer that I knew from the mall show in October but it was too late, all of his stuff was put away. And that's how I drove home with some cash left over, which almost never happens.
It was a scramble, but I did pretty well. Here are the cards that I was most pleased with discovering weren't duplicates:
5. These three 2025 Topps cards. Since 2025 Topps is about the newest thing on my want lists, what I need hasn't stuck in my head. I lucked out on these three, especially since there are two "Jungs" in the majors now.
4. This 2014 Kershaw red hot foil parallel. So many parallels in 2014 Topps and so much chasing back then. I would have guessed I had this Kershaw already but I didn't.
3. I figured I had this 2018 Heritage New Age Performers insert Kershaw, too. But to my surprise, this is the one New Age Performers set that I have ignored. No idea why, but I hadn't grabbed any of the Dodgers in this set yet. Both Bellinger and Seager are now sitting in an online cart.
2. I mentioned the Yount already, but the 1967 Larry Dierker is a nice upgrade, too. I took a chance on it after looking at the card number and seeing it was a semi-high number card. The one I have is very off-center.
1. But the best one for me is Preacher Roe. I'm constantly mixing up '51 and '52 Bowman needs. That should end soon as '52 Bowman is almost done as far as the team set and '51 will hammer me over the head with Snider, Hodges, Campanella and Reese.
So that was the whole trip. And it was a trip. I'm starting to feel like I'm outgrowing the down-and-back long road trips -- meaning I'm getting old and tired. But I did feel like I did pretty well with cash left over.
Oh, yeah, I can use it for the next show, which is .... this weekend.
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