Baseball Card Show Purchase #8 – 1985 Topps 120-Card Pete Rose Limited Edition Set!!! YES!!!

Baseball Card Show Purchase #8 – 1985 Topps 120-Card Pete Rose Limited Edition Set!!!  YES!!!

This purchase was by far the best one of the night for me.

I have seen, and have wanted, this set for my ‘Big Red Machine’ collection for the last few years.  I have been watching them sell on Ebay for the last 2 years, and they sell in the range of $10-$20 depending on their condition.

I saw the box sitting on the table of the dealer that I always spend the most time with.  I asked if he knew if the set was complete or not, and he was unsure.  I opened the box and found quite a bit of room for the cards to move around so I was guessing that it was not complete.  Still, the set looked to be in great condition as all of the cards appeared to be crisp and clean.

I asked for the price and he told me to just take it.  I didn’t feel right in doing so, so I grabbed a few singles out of my pocket and forked over three of them.  He did not seem to care either way about getting money for the set, and I left with a very big smile on my face.

As soon as I got home, I opened the box and found the set to be complete!!  All 120 cards were present, and they all look G-R-E-A-T!!!

Here is the set:

Give me some time, I am going to throw this bad-boy into some 9-card pages and scan the full thing.  And when I do, I will show it off so you can see the complete set.

Best buy of the night?  Oh, Yeah!!

Baseball Card Show Purchase #7 – Lot Of 3 1992 Topps Manny Ramirez Rookie Cards!!!

Baseball Card Show Purchase #7 – Lot Of 3 1992 Topps Manny Ramirez Rookie Cards!!!

I cannot believe that I found these three cards in the dime bin at the show.  And they were all together in the multi-row box making pulling them for my purchase even easier.

Say what you will about Manny Ramirez, but adding rookie cards of him to my collection seemed like a great decision.  Maybe I will hang on to them?  Maybe I will offer them up as a future contest prize on the blog?

Either way, buying three Manny Ramirez rookie baseball cards for just thirty cents was a deal that I could not pass up.

Here they are:

Baseball Card Show Purchase #6 – Bill Madlock 1974 Topps Rookie Card

Baseball Card Show Purchase #6 – Bill Madlock 1974 Topps Rookie Card\

This was my lone ‘vintage’ buy from the show.  And while I was not seeking the card out purposely, I recognized that finding it was a great chance to scoop up a rookie card of one of the most underappreciated hitters of the 1970′s - Mr. Bill Madlock.

Madlock played 15 seasons in the major leagues.  He retired with a .305 batting average alongside 2,008 hits.  He led the league in hitting in four different seasons.  And he has 11 seasons of hitting .300 or better on his resume.

A huge score!  And it only set me back fifty cents!!

Baseball Card Show Purchase #5 – Ian Kinsler 2005 Topps Rookie Card!!

Baseball Card Show Purchase #5 – Ian Kinsler 2005 Topps Rookie Card!!

Don’t tell anybody, but I am secretly an Ian Kinsler fan.  And you may not believe this, but this is the first card of him that I have purchased for myself.  Sure, I have pulled his cards from packs, but all of those have been sent to other collectors.  This is the first card of Kinsler that I have bought – And I plan on holding on to this one!

He reminds me a lot of Joe Morgan – I believe that their skill sets are very similar.  And I also believe that there are not very many 2B’s in the league today that can do what Ian does on a regular basis.  The only one I can think of off of the top of my head is Dustin Pedroia.

This is not the start of an Ian Kinsler collection, but I was not going to pass up buying his rookie card for $0.50.

Enjoy.

Baseball Card Show Purchase #4 – 1981 Fleer Kirk Gibson Rookie Card

Baseball Card Show Purchase #4 – 1981 Fleer Kirk Gibson Rookie Card

I’ve been wanting to add a rookie card of Kirk Gibson to my collection for some time.  And while my preference would have been his Topps rookie card, I was not going to let his Fleer rookie card pass me by if I was able to find it affordably.

I would certainly say that $0.50 is affordable so I scooped it up and added it to my haul.

Have a look:

Gibson was a monster at the plate – even though many know him for his heroics as a Dodger in the 1988 World Series, he was putting up some solid number in Detroit earlier in the decade!

Baseball Card Show Purchase #3 – Lot Of 3 1990 Frank Thomas Rookie Cards!!!

Baseball Card Show Purchase #3 – Lot Of 3 1990 Frank Thomas Rookie Cards!!!

You can never go wrong when adding rookie baseball cards of a future Hall of Famer to your collection.  Even more so when you are paying just $0.10 per card.

Yes, I said $0.10!!!

I paid thirty cents for these three Frank Thomas rookie cards.  And I would do it again, and again, and again!!!

Baseball Card Show Purchase #2 – Lot Of 2 Johnny Bench 2004 Upper Deck Timeless Teams Legends

Baseball Card Show Purchase #2 – Lot Of 2 Johnny Bench 2004 Upper Deck Timeless Teams Legends

Two more beauties pulled from the dime bins at the show.

These two cards are from the 2004 Upper Deck Timeless Teams set tagged as ‘Legends’.  And they feature the great, Johnny Bench!

I have a few of these cards of other players and I have always liked them.  It was a no-brainer to grab the two cards of Bench and put them in my stack.

The cards honor Bench’s 1975 and 1979 seasons. 

Have a peek:

I have to say that the coloring of these cards is so strong.  They are not ‘over-done’ but very vibrant.

And I love the image that was used on the 1975 version!

Baseball Card Show Purchase #1 – 2007 SP Legendary Cuts Cal Ripken Jr. & Brooks Robinson

Baseball Card Show Purchase #1 – 2007 SP Legendary Cuts Cal Ripken Jr. & Brooks Robinson

I pulled both of these cards out of a bargain bin in which each card was a dime.

The cards are from the 2007 Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts set.  And I think that when put side by side, it is obvious that the colored player picture cards are so much better looking than the Black and White versions.

I have to admit that I really like the alternate versions of the Orioles logo that Upper Deck used for the team logo.

Have a look and let me know what you think:

Sorry Brooks, but Cal wins this battle.

Baseball Card Show Review

Baseball Card Show Review

Well friends, another baseball card show has come and gone.  And this collector has some new cards in his collection as a result.

The show was much smaller this month than the prior month, and I am not sure why.  The attendance level was pretty much the same size, but I would estimate that the decrease of dealer tables was right around 25%.

Still, I scored a nice lot of cards out of ten and fifty cent bargain bins.  And my final purchase was absolutely my greatest one!

Check back with ’30-YOC’ all day long; I will show off my haul from the card show.  And I think that there is something in there for everyone to enjoy.

Thanks for reading.

 

Ken Griffey Sr. ‘Fab Five’ – Card #5 – 1975 Topps

Ken Griffey Sr. ‘Fab Five’ – Card #5 – 1975 Topps

Now that my Ken Griffey Sr. player collection is complete, it is time to show of my favorite five cards from the set.

Card #5 – 1975 Topps

 

If you had asked me four years ago about the 1975 Topps baseball card design, I would have chuckled and told you that it was one of the worst I had ever seen.  Fast forward to today, and I have a lot of appreciation for the set and its place in baseball card history.

As for Griffey, the 1975 season was his breakout season.  Sure, he had suited up for the Reds in 1973 and 1974, but he became a full-time player in 1975.  His numbers were solid – .305 batting average with 141 hits, 95 runs scored, and 16 stolen bases.