This has been a fun month. I added three new cards to the collection, none of which I thought I would have a chance at just a few weeks ago. I'm still waiting on the final one to arrive and will hold off on posting about them until all are in hand and proper research has been conducted. One of these purchases took 9 months of back and forth to get a deal done while another has perhaps only 9 other copies in existence. All three are making my annual collecting highlight reel for 2024.
I attended a local card show at the beginning of the month. This is a reincarnation of a small show that set up in a hotel conference room last winter. This year's iteration had moved to an indoor youth sports facility and was located in a concourse between an active soccer field and a kids' cross fit camp. Most of the dealers were actually collectors seeking to thin out collections or make a few bucks on the side to fund their hobby. I saw only two setups resembling a going concern. Things were mixed - my kids had fun finding their favorite Pokemon while nothing matched my admittedly narrow collecting focus. The bargain boxes actually offered variety and I was heartened to see some pretty good cards mixed in with the usual fare.
While primarily a set collector, I have two retired players for which I actively seek out cards. Jose Canseco was previously identified as a favorite from my childhood. The other player, Charlie Bishop, received a post all of his own this month explaining what kicked off this odd player PC.
I had some fun this month taking my wallet cards on one last spin before retiring them for new ones. There will be pictures posted a in a couple weeks, but in the interim I wrote up a few details about one of my 2022 cards: The 1987 Fleer Barry Bonds rookie. There was also an enjoyable attempt at creating my own wax pack wrappers. I packed them full of goodies and sent them to a few fellow card writers. Most have been delivered at this point, though there are two still awaiting mailing addresses.
In addition these projects, seven card profiles were posted to CardBoredom in January.
1952 Topps
- Brooklyn's Chris Van Cuyk may have the been the first ball player caught saying "cheese" for a camera
- Pittsburgh's Murry Dickson could double as a magician at your next party (though you should watch out for the bank robbers)
- The Giants needed someone to hold down center field while Willie Mays was in the Army. They called Chuck Diering for the job.
- Solly Hemus talked his mind...a lot. An underrated ballplayer and overrated talker.
1993 Topps Finest
- Erik Hanson was amazing for the Seattle Mariners teams of the 1990s. Several ligament injuries later he left the game, but not before scoring a sweet car from Ken Griffey, Jr.'s ever-rotating garage.
- Oakland's Bob Welch won 27 games in 1990. It may have been luck, but Oakland racked up a lot of victories that year and someone had to be there to earn the credit for it.
- A lot of people said there would never be another Nolan Ryan when he retired in 1993. That was exactly the moment that Randy Johnson became the Ryan Express.
