Cardshow Post and Contest Pimpage

 I was able to carve some time out last Sunday to make the commute to my first card show in Normal, IL.  The round trip traveling time was about 100 minutes and I put a $30 cap on my spending budget to see what it must be like to be in Robert's shoes (author of the fantastic $30 a week habit blog).

I arrived to find 5 of the 8 dealers crowding a table while participating in a rambunctious box break of 2013 Series 2 Topps.  They were fun to listen to as I perused their tables.  I pulled aside cards and made stacks so I could "check out" with them when they were all finished with their break.  Who needs the National when you can frequent quaint little shows?

My first find appealed to the young collector in me.  I started collecting in '88 and was always really enamored with the other sets from the early to mid 1980's.  Someday I will chase the '87 Topps set, but this time around I was able to pick up the '86 Topps set for a cool $5.  That price is way cheaper than what you'll find it going for on Ebay, heck, that $5 wouldn't even cover shipping!

Next I was able to pick up all the 2013 Bowman parallels from a dealer's collection for less than the price of a pre-Puig inflated jumbo pack.  Forty-one parallels in all!  Some helped fill wholes in the FrankenSet and others helped make some upgrades.  I have a TON of gold parallels and I'm trying to add some variety, so this was a pretty good deal in my eyes.

At another table I ran into a box marked "Relics: $2 each or 6 for $10."  Nice.  I love digging through boxes!  I won't show what I picked out, because I just found myself $10 worth of some really nice trade fodder.  I wouldn't want to ruin any surprises!

Lastly, another gent had two 5,000 count boxes of cards in top loaders.  There was no rhyme or reason to the boxes and most of the cards didn't have prices on them.  In the end, I picked up the 1996 Score Tim Salmon at the top of the post and this Eric Davis for a song.

"Look, Mom!  It's my first baseball card!  Isn't it great!"

"Eric!  You're eyes aren't open and how many times have I told you to smile for the camera?!?"

Can't you just envision a conversation like this playing out with Eric Davis and his mother?  Meanwhile, this card will go in to the trade bait stack.  I wonder if anyone would be interested?

In summary, I came in about five dollars under my budget for the card show.

Wait, five dollars?  Well, that's perfect!

You see, there's a great $5 contest that's being held at Thorzul Will Rule.  I'm still not quite sure who Thorzul is or why he will eventually rule, but that's besides the point.  Check out the auction I almost won for my entry.  Man, some Dimwit would have been happy with this steal I'm sure!  Too bad I got sniped by another bidder at the end.

What are you waiting for!  Head on over to Ebay and get started!