2nd Card Show of 2021

 I found a three day card show in Mattoon, IL, which is a little more than a two hour drive from P-town. I decided to make the drive Friday, because the rainy weather wasn't going to allow for much else. 

1980's cards of HOF pitchers for the win!

The fifteen dealers had their tables set up in an abandoned JC Penny store and there was plenty of room for all. A few tables were vacant and I assume those dealers couldn't make it Friday but they would be in attendance the following two days. I bummer that I didn't catch everyone, but I suppose that's to be expected in rural Illinois.

The top two are magazine issued cards.

A couple have asked for more details of the Dale Murphy card. Here's a snapshot of the reverse side.

As you can see, it's been cut out and there's "1987 Baseball Card Magazine" directly below the Major League Totals data. 

The gentleman who had dime boxes at the last show in Peoria had set up shop once more and I dove in again. Most of the cards in this post are from this dealer. He was a pleasant fellow who I conversed with quite a bit while flipping through cards. 

1st and 2nd year cards of notable stars.

I don't mind idle chatter as long as I can still focus on pulling cards I like!

For example: Jim Thome rookies cards for a dime. Score!  Plus, who doesn't miss the designs and technology from the '90s?

Across from the dime boxes was a father and son combo who had a few cases of high-end graded cards and an entire table devoted to blasters, hanger boxes and retail boxes. I was disappointed to see the bubble hasn't burst on the retail market yet, as they were asking $35 for blasters of 2021 Topps Series 2. Bummer.

Parallels for a dime? Yes, please!

Another table had LARGE prints of the on demand Topps Living Set. I've always wondered who buys those. Up close they are quite impressive, but not enough for me to pull the trigger. 

Two of my favorite players ever. 

I finished at another dealer who I think will do very well at this show. He had a Cardinals case and a Cubs case with player stacks and each card was priced quite competitively. Two other cases contained star cards from vintage sets. All of it was very organized, easy to sort through, and priced for all to see... my favorite! I probably spent more than I should at this dealer, but I came away with great cards for my personal collection and a very cool record. 

I grew up watching This Week In Baseball, hosted by Mel Allen, and I also love table top baseball games. Totally a no-brainer purchase for me!  I'm thinking about framing this one and hanging it on the wall. 

Although I was hoping to find a "vintage" card of Tony Lazzeri as a Yankee, I will place this one in my HOF binder for the time being. Once a Yankee Lazzeri is acquire the one you see here will slide into a Cub binder for sure.

  I have a mini collection of Stan Hack and was really happy to finally track down this 1961 Fleer card. 

The above two "cards" are from the 1965 Topps Embossed set. I was never much a fan of these, but I couldn't pass them up at the price. 

This card is beautiful. Just. Plain. Gorgeous. It's from the 1961 Post cereal set. 

This is my favorite find of the day: The 1970 Topps Booklet of Ernie Banks.

Eight pages, if you count the front and back, in all.  They don't make collectables like this anymore!

Overall, it was a good trip. It was a lot of time in the car, but it sure did make my Friday fly by. I was able to catch up on my favorite podcast in the car and got a quick round of 9 holes of disc golf in at the local junior college in Mattoon.

The downside was I didn't find the last card I needed to complete my 1982 Topps baseball set. I thought it was done, but the other week I decided to quickly flip through to make sure everything was accounted for. Ugh. I came up one card short. #FacePalm

I have one more baseball card show planned for the summer, but this one is in Wisconsin. Should be fun!

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!