Savvy Shopping: Way Back When

About 2-3 months ago I mentioned on a Savvy Shopping post I bought some cards, 50 of them to be exact.  It was the post with the Iverson jersey and Naturals jacket.  Anyways, I was checking my desktop and noticed I scanned the cards but never posted them.  Since I'm procrastinating and waiting for another World Cup match to begin, I guess its time to show them.  Let's dig in.

Let's start with some Hostess cards.  While you can find these if you look hard enough, I was quite surprised to see them pop up in this box.  It was worth it just to find these cards.  I think I actually picked up two of the Sandberg card as I know I got a double and only scanned 49 cards.  I wouldn't mind finishing this set one day, but I'm not in a rush.  Even if I don't, with the exception of Pendleton, all these guys are PC's so they fit into my collection.

Bottom row starts with my least favorite of the 90's Triple Play sets, but I'd take them any day over the 2010's versions.  I don't plan on set building it, but again, Fielder is a PC, and while not officially a PC I do collect some Coleman cards.  I'm always tempted to go back to my childhood and buy a box of Triple Play cards, and one day I might do it.  I doubt its anytime soon.

Next is a Post Cereal card of Greg Jefferies.  I didn't have too many of the yellow border cards and since it was the only Post card in the box, I grabbed it.  Finding 50 cards was a little tougher than I thought, so some cards while I didn't need were still nice to get.  The last card is a checklist card of 1987 Fleer featuring the Royals.  I don't carry a phone with me so I couldn't tell if I needed it or not so I took a chance.  I can't remember if I updated my lists from these cards, but I know I at least checked to see if I had them.  I have a big mess to go though on my desk, and one day I'll get through it.

Speaking of which, I am currently adding in ALL of my cards into the Trading Card Database.  It's going to take quite a while, but I hope once I get them added I can see what I have, keep some, and them trade, sell, or donate some.  I still have a list of all the bloggers who have sent me cards so they'll be the top priority, but after that I'll try to get some sent out to some bloggers.  My master plan will be to cut my collection in half in 4 years, then half again 2 years later.  I have about 5000 cards sorted so far, and if I had to venture a guess, about 50,000 more to sort.  A lot of fun days and nights ahead.  If the weather stays near 100 much of the summer, at least I'll have something to do.

Okay, back to cards.

This box had a lot of cardboard such as the Rollie Fingers and Paul Molitor cards.  They were bowed quite a bit but still, I couldn't pass up these cards.  I don't PC Rollie, but since I don't have many of his cards, it was a safe assumption I didn't have it.  I do PC Molitor, and was 95% sure I didn't have this one, so it was an easy choice.

The Arthur Rhodes gold card got me excited.  Not because I knew it would make me rich, but the 1991 Best was some of the first Minor League cards I ever got, and it reminded me of how much I loved the set as a kid.  I never had a gold card, so that was a bonus, and on top of that a player who had a nice long career, so double bonus.

The bottom row is a couple Scott Bailes cards I found.  I always forget why I collect him, but I would guess I'm on the verge of being a supercollector.  The reason I do is because I needed one card of him since he played at Southwest Missouri State University, now Missouri State University, and I always think he went to Mizzou.  I think I can stop collecting his cards, but I really should see how many I have and see what I have left to get.  It really shouldn't be that many.

1990 Donruss never appealed to me, but I couldn't pass up these four red cards.  The Bo Jackson I thought I needed, and can't remember if I did, and the other three are PC's and I think I had them all.  Oh well, two HOF's and Lou who I would put in the Hall, so I'm not complaining.  The John Davis and Terry Shumpert cards I got because I figured I needed them.  The Sandberg I got because again, a PC.

I got a bit concerned but curious when I found some basketball next.  I was happy to find the Reggie Miller (always been a fan), and glad to find the McHale (I don't care who he supports politically).  The reason for concern and curiosity was because I was halfway through the box and didn't want to sift through 300 basketball cards.  On the flip side, there wasn't a lot of gloss left, so if it was b-ball, they would be some older ones and maybe I could have found some KC Kings or some other good cards.

Luckily there weren't a lot of b-ball, and next I found a few football.  I was sure I had this Derrick Thomas card, but come on, it's DT, no way I'd pass it up.  I might start a war here, but I still say if Derrick won a Super Bowl and played in a bigger market he'd be bigger that LT.  I know BIG IF's but even if he wasn't recognized more worldwide, he's still legendary in Kansas City.

Anyways, I found more baseball and a couple cards I was certain I didn't have.  The Saberhagen is better now that I noticed Jack Morris on it too.  I think Saberhagen is similar to Derrick Thomas.  Bret did win a World Series, and a Cy Young, and eventually played in the biggest market (with the Mets), but if the Royals played better in the late 80's and early 90's Saberhagen would get more recognition.  Kansas City is the 29th largest metropolitan in the United States, but its still considered "small market".  Go figure.  Anyways, the Willie Wilson card was one I never seen before aside from online, so I knew I didn't have it.  Overall, I'm doing good in this box, but I was starting to grow tired of seeing 1985 Mariners cards.  I was hoping to find more dazzle.

Well, it may not be dazzle, but its some Royals cards, so that's always good.  The Orta, Biancalana, and Jones cards I didn't think I had, the rest I kind of figured I did.  Again though, I needed 50, and I'm going to find 50.  The last two I got because they went to Mizzou.  The Laudner I was 99% sure I had, but the Mathis I was unsure.

Hmm, I did scan the Sandberg twice.  Thought I only scanned 49 cards, maybe I shorted myself.  Oh well.  Anyways, more Royals, most I likely had, but even if I did, I'll take a double of George Brett.  It turns out I needed that one (I remember that), so score one for me.

So the last scan.  Like I did that day going through the box, I'm getting tired.  Soccer is back on and I'm ready to wrap this up.

HOW BOUT THAT!  Let's finish with a bang.  It's not everyday you find loose Starting Lineup cards, so even if I'm not a Roger Clemens fan, that's oddball enough to pick up.  A couple catchers who are among the all time best, and I wasn't passing them up either.  Not only that, but early Pudge.  Also when Fisk was still an All-Star.  Not shabby.  Next is the Baseball Heroes card of Ted Williams.  I never got into the Baseball Heroes stuff Upper Deck produced, but my collection is lacking of Williams cards so I grabbed it.

Bottom row has a couple of the 1988 Pacific Legends set.  Its a set I don't see too often, but one I wouldn't mind putting together one day.  I don't really know anything about Mike McCormick, but still no doubt was going to get it.  I know some about Gil Hodges, and wasn't going to pass it up either.

Lastly are some stickers.  I think I might have got another one too making it 50.  By this point I looked through all the cards and needed a couple more to get to 50 and I grabbed these.  I figured I might use these on a project I abandoned at the moment, but I still don't regret getting them.

Overall I think I said on the original post that I had half of these cards already, but it was still fun to go through them, and the half I didn't have made up for the ones I did have.  I can't complain one bit.

So World Cup is on, and I need to get back to sorting cards, so I'll wrap it up.  Thanks everyone for reading, and I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Garage Sale-ing! The Rest of the Story

So my last post was some cards I found while hitting some garage sales.  I mentioned I bought other items and today I thought I would show those off.  The best deals I got was at the first sale, so I'll save that one for last.  So in no order here is what I got the first week of June.

When I find a helmet, its hard for me to pass it up if the price is right.  Even if this is one of those kid's costume ones, its still in nice shape.  The only table at this one sale that didn't have prices on it, so I asked and they said a buck.  I can't haggle with that, so I bought it.  The same table had a few (maybe 10) basketball cards too, but again no price and no real interest I passed on those.  That sale though had a lot of office supply stuff and I might have spent longer there browsing if it wasn't so hot.  Seeing it was just about noon though and inside a garage with no air, I hurried up a bit.

After taking a break from sales to cool off a bit, we hit a few more sales in the afternoon.  Someone I knew from school was having a sale so I stopped in to browse.  As luck would have it, she was on the phone the entire time so I couldn't catch up with her.  It was mostly kids clothes and such so I didn't see much there, but I did spot this basketball.  I have never seen a WNBA branded ball so I got this one for 50 cents (maybe a buck), and was happy.  I haven't been into the WNBA since their early years, but I think it has more to do with being disgruntled with the NBA and the TV schedule of the WNBA more than the actual gameplay itself.  Quite simply, if WNBA was on more and maybe advertised more I would probably watch it.

I like seeing tins at garage sales.  I love the advertising aspect of them.  Most of the time I don't get them because I don't have the room, and I don't need them, but I spotted one in this box that I couldn't pass up.  The problem was, they had no prices on them.  I have many gripes about garage sales, but the biggest is no prices on items or something to tell you the prices.  I was about to move on when the woman came out of the garage and proclaimed they were all free!  I liked what I saw and grabbed the box.  I do have a rule though when I go to sales and that's if I find free stuff I will take it, but only if I find something to buy.  If I don't find something to buy, I'll give them something for the free item.  I couldn't find anything besides an under the cabinet CD player which I didn't need, so I offered a buck for the entire box.  That amounted to about 10 cents a piece or less, so I thought it was a good deal.  The woman didn't argue and gladly took the buck.  I think both parties were happy.

So let's take a closer look at what I got.

So far, not so bad.  10 cents each I can't complain all that much.  Thought these aren't the tins I was looking for.

Can't have Kisses without some Hugs.  And that Hugs tin was really dirty.  Luckily I cleaned them all up and most look nice as a couple have rust spots, but still can't complain. 

This is the same tin, but wanted to show more of it.  This is possibly my favorite of the bunch, but wasn't the reason I wanted the box so bad.  At this point though, I felt I got my money's worth.

I really liked this one, and while I have no plans to use these tins at the moment, if I do, this might be the one I use first.  I've seen this tin many times but not sure if I ever had one like it.  This made the box worth it.  Still not the one I wanted though.

THIS WAS IT!  Before I could say anything about this tin my mom saw it and said "we used to have one like that a long time ago".  That was exactly the reason I wanted it.  Childhood memories come and go and sometimes for the oddest things, but I will always remember us having this tin, even if I don't know how we got it or what we used it for.  I could have just grabbed this for free and left, but I felt paying a buck for childhood memories and getting some other tins was well worth it.

So for those keeping track, I've spent 3 bucks so far.  Add the 4 bucks for cards from the last post and I'm still under 10 bucks.  We finally get the the first sale we went to where I spent the most, which was 9 bucks.  Yes, all the items in the last two posts cost a total of 16 bucks.  First to show the item that got me in the door so to speak.

I can't explain my fascination with furniture.  It's like luggage, I don't need more, but I somehow talk myself into it.  When I saw this for 5 bucks I balked a bit at it.  The price was right, I just had to think of how to use it.  I have a stand for my TV, so don't need it for that.  I have too much clutter by my desk or I could use it for my printer and scanner.  Maybe I could use it by my bed for my laptop.

Eventually I did decide to get it because my mom talked about wanting a night stand or something by her bed.  I felt it would work perfectly for her.  Once we got home and tried it out, its a perfect fit, and one of the better deals I've made in a while.  I was quite happy with it.

The thing is though, I might have passed it up if I didn't see this items and found them so cheap.  You ever been to a sale and think "I would have paid more if they wanted more"?  That's how I was, so the best way to do that was to get that cart.  So for 9 bucks I got a cart (which by the way was also worth it just for that) and these two items, my favorite by far of the weekend.

Even with a bad year, I'll always be happy to find Royals items.  A fleece blanket with the Royals is even better.  The best item I ever found at Savvy Seconds was a St. Louis Cardinals blanket someone made that was 4 bucks.  I always feel a bit bad using it because its the Cardinals, but I wouldn't trade it for anything... Well, maybe a million bucks, but you get the idea.  Last Christmas my friend got me a Royals fleece that I use quite often sometimes now when I turn the A/C on and it gets super cold.  This blanket however is totally different.  When I saw the 2 buck price tag on this one I snatched it up immediately, and then the other one too.  Which let's see that one even though its the same.

I forgot to mention, the second one was still in the bag.  WHAT!  Since they were folded and I knew I was going to buy them anyways, I didn't look at them much until I got home and unfolded them.  When buying them, I noticed the Academy Sports logo on there and thought something made them special.  This couple by the way were so nice, we talked for a few minutes before I even bought these items.  It was funny they were Royals fans since they lived in Cardinals country (even the HS mascot is the Cardinals).  But nonetheless I was happy and felt I made out like a bandit.

So when I saw these when I got home and saw the logo, I had a really good feeling these were Stadium Giveaway blankets.  I looked high and low for something on google to assist me and after about 10 minutes came across the site I've forgotten about 100 times but always come back to.

Stadium Giveaway Exchange

It turns out this was a giveaway from September 21, 2013 when the Royals played the Texas Rangers.  They only gave out 10,000 of these blankets, and now I am in possession of two of them.  Since the temperature is in the upper 90's and I have 2 other blankets, I haven't used these just yet, but this fall I have a feeling the one that isn't bagged up will get some use, maybe at my desk. 

So you would think finding cards would have made me happiest, but as Peanuts once referenced in a title, Happiness Is A Warm Blanket Charlie Brown.

Thanks for reading and have a great week!  As for me, with hot temps, I think I'll sort some cards and finally start seeing what I can trade or sell.  It should be an interesting few weeks.

Garage Sale-ing! CARDED!

Last weekend my town had city wide garage sales.  Its not very big, so around 15 or so sales.  The plan was to hit them on Saturday.  It just so happened about 10 or more towns in the vicinity also had city wide sales, so I figured I'd hit a few other towns on Friday, then hit mine on Saturday.  The problem was though the weather forecast was really hot, and with a late start it was inching toward 11 before we hit the first sale.  So after about a little more than an hour and 12 or so sales, it was too hot and we called it a day.  The next day a brief heavy rain made us believe most of our towns sales were closed so we didn't even attempt to hit any on Saturday.  All in all, I was okay with hitting a dozen, and hope I get the chance once or twice more this summer.  Having said all that, I have two posts to show.  Today's will show one sale I went to and the cards I found.

Hidden on a table under some other items, all I saw was the $4 price tag and BRAVES.  I moved the stuff and found some pages of cards and picked them up.  They were all rubber banded together, and I was intrigued.  However I had doubts when looking at the top page.  A couple Ozzie Smith's which I may or may not have, but this reeked of late 80s early 90s "every collector has these" cards.  However on the back I felt something that wasn't a card page.  It felt like paper.

I turned it around and saw that these pages were included as well.  The back page was the Joe Montana page and that made me a little excited.  I remember having these as a kid, and in fact still have the binder I put them in.  I don't know what I ever did with the pages themselves.  I'll show the other included in just a bit.

At this point I had a little bit of hope it was more than just the same run of the mill cards, but still 4 bucks was a bit more than I wanted to pay for a few sheets and some old cards.  So I flipped through a couple more pages of cards.

So, all the pages aren't full, but I'll look past that.  However I realize this is pretty much all sports, and these NBA stickers were cool since I didn't really collect them as a kid.  Also being able to add a Reggie Miller and Michael Jordan to my collection would be nice.  Even if they are flimsy stickers, both PC's are in need of any help they can get.  Still at this point, while it was getting better, I wasn't sure 4 bucks was worth it.  So I flipped through another page or two.

BINGO!  Some Mizzou cards I didn't have and ones I've only ever seen online figured no matter what $4 was worth it to me.  Even as a die hard Mizzou basketball fan I had a hard time remembering any of these guys aside from Monte Hardge.  I noticed there were some cards peeking inside the sleeves too so I was hoping for a full set, but at worst figured they'd be doubles.  They were doubles, but I'm still not mad.  So for 4 bucks I added a wide assortment of cards to my collection.

Here is the rest of the scans I took once I was at home and saw what else was in the collection.

I know Frank Thomas was a big star around the time these came out, but was a bit surprised out of all the players they chose The Big Hurt over the rest of them.  I'd have probably gone with Griffey.  Maybe they had more I can't remember though.

The top cards aren't miscut, I just messed up scanning them.  These cards were well handled, but I'm still not mad about it.  Chances are I have most if not all of these, but getting some Hall of Famers is never a bad thing.

I love those Minor League cards, I remember having the Quinten McCracken and maybe even the Kirk Presley.  The Finley card was nice to get though I might have it already too.  I don't remember having a Marlins card like the Santiago being stamped, so not sure if that was common or if it was a different release, at any rate, I miss the old jerseys, colors, and logos of the FLORIDA MARLINS!  I've always been a big fan of Jose Oquendo, so I was glad to see this card.  Lastly, I was really excited to find that Barry Bonds card.  It will fit nicely in my PC I have of him and I've never seen it before.  Aside from the Mizzou cards, this might be my favorite from all the cards.

While this was all baseball and basketball, one football card made it in.  A Randall Cunningham card from the odd Pro Line set.  It was kinda fun seeing it as it reminded me of my dad.  Every time he saw Randall Cunningham on TV he would call him crybaby.  I don't know how or why it happened, but I remember him saying "oh, quit showing crybaby" or something similar.  The basketball cards were also nice to find.  More stickers and I forgot the Nets were those jerseys.  I was real happy to find a Chris Mullin card since I don't know if I have any or very few if I do.  Then I looked over and saw that All Rookies card.  After some research I found out it isn't a true rookie card of Jason Kidd, but its still a nice card to find in a collection.

Overall I got about 20 pages and about 130 or so cards and stickers.  So it was under a nickel a card so I can't complain at all.  Especially since I got about half of that Mizzou team set and added a few new cards to add to PC's.

I bought a few other items at the sales too, but no other cards.  Next time I'll show the other stuff I got, and I was pretty happy with the results, especially the very first sale we hit.  All in all, it gave me a spark to hit some more sales this summer.  Even if I don't find cards, just getting out will be fun.  Thanks for reading and have a great week.

Repack Box: Disappointment Until the Last Drop... OR....

Recently I saw a blog post from someone who posted about a $20 box of cards that had a Ohtani card plus 10 packs (and 5 extra packs of Triple Play).  I saw my local Walmart had some for sale and I figured if nothing else, maybe the Ohtani and a couple other cards would make me break even, and I could find a few cards to add to my collection.  Let's see what I got.  I was a little disappointed for the first few packs to be honest.

Starting with the 5 packs of Triple Play, I didn't expect anything.  I did get a couple cards I didn't have of A-Rod and Pujols, and the Verlander as well.  The Chipper sticker is new to me, so that was good.  The only thing the set did right was the Hall of Fame cards, and I did get the Reggie Jackson card, so I was quite happy with that.  However, after opening 5 packs of Triple Play, I wanted something better.

Then I opened the Prizm cards.  I actually like these cards, and was glad I got the two packs that came with it.  However both packs felt funny.  Remember opening old wax packs with the gum inside and the gum was in millions of pieces basically dust?  Well that's what these cards felt like.  I'm not sure if they were water damaged at one point or something, but they are off.  After that the thrill seemed gone.  But I did find a few cards I didn't have, even pulling a Royals card I needed.  Ozzie is a new edition as well, and I think Waino and Pedro can fit into my collection nicely.  I also pulled a Carlos Correa card, which I thought was pretty sweet.  Overall the cards I pulled were nice, but the texture of the cards brought my spirits down.  The next packs I opened didn't thrill me much either.

Last year I hated the design of the 2017 Topps set so much that I avoided buying any.  I got three packs in this box, one series one and two series two.  Maybe it was reverse, but still I didn't care all that much.  My biggest gripe was it seemed the logos are stretched way too much on some cards, and other logos are so small.  Plus the design itself doesn't do anything for me.  At least 2018 looks better.  As for the cards I got, I pulled some good players so there's that at least.  Another Garcia and Wacha to add to my collection, and I guess I could start building a Sanchez collection.  I like the Archer card, I'll say that much.  I also got a couple gold cards, which, eh, do nothing for me.  Never really heard of Refsnyder before, so I guess I need to start watching or listening to more games.  The Diaz card is nice too.  I'm not ready to say I like the set, but I couldn't be too upset with what I pulled.

The Mother's Day card looks like the Rookie card.  I'll be honest though, I like that design much more than the base cards.  I was glad to get a Kris Bryant card as he's another I guess I should start building a PC for.  Also glad I got the Beltre card.  I never was a big fan of his, but I don't PC him, and figured I should have a couple of his cards now he has 3,000 hits.  Besides Pujols, I'm not sure when we'll see another player hit 3K.  It might be a while.  I'm probably missing someone though.

At this point I might have miscounted how many packs I got of each.  I think each set is represented in these scans so no big deal.  Anyways, at this point I wasn't too impressed with the box.  The Ohtani card looks like about 4 bucks in value if I tried to sell it, but I figured I'd keep it.  I'd be lucky to get half my money back.  Again, I'm not seeking to get rich on these, but I'd like to get at least equal values when I get these boxes, or at the least a fair amount of cards to add to my collection.

So, let's look at the Ohtani card.

Eh, its a Leaf card.  I didn't expect too much and I already saw the design, so it is what it is.  The card isn't on the Trading Card Database last I checked so I can add it on there.  Its another Ohtani card I can add to my collection, so I'm happy.  It wasn't the reason I bought the box anyways, but I was pleased it wasn't the same 2 I see elsewhere.

So let's open another pack.

I liked this Cooperstown set, but never saw any for sale so I only get them in boxes like these.  I opened it towards the end because it was a hobby pack and was hoping for something good.  I can't say any of these really fit any PC's I have, but it was nice to get a Seaver and the bottom two cards.  The scan is hard to see but the Edd Roush is a parallel card.  I would call it Green Camoflague, but forgot what the name of it is.  It was a nice pull.  I also like the Roberts card, but still prefer my cards to be square or rectangle in nature.

So with one pack left, another hobby pack, I was ready to admit defeat.  No way I buy another box of these, even if I need a fix.  This box did nothing for me.  But at least I got another Stars and Stripes pack, and a hobby pack at that.  One day I'd like to finish that base set.

I haven't checked to see what I already have, but this looks like a good pack.  There's another Rob Refsynder card, maybe I should start a PC.  The big thing in this pack was getting the Kris Bryant as he was the guy on the packs, so I felt like that was a victory.  Also getting the Schwarber card and this pack salvaged the box somewhat.  Still not buying another, but it gave me some closure.

Wait though, hobby packs are EIGHT cards to a pack, this is only 7 cards.  I forgot to show one off.

WOWZA!  I can't say I know Ian Clarkin, but this is HUGE!  I pulled an auto card, also a memorabilia card, and on top of that its SN#/10.  AND its 10/10!  Now normally I don't like to make money off cards, but I'm really going to have to consider putting this on Ebay.  It won't make me rich, and chances are I won't make my money back for the box on this one card, but the final card of the box really pulled me to even or maybe ahead.  I can't be mad at all now.  I have to scan this card really good because I can't find the actual card on the Database, as none like it have been scanned yet, but once I do, I might put it up on Ebay.

So this box went from Bust to Breakout thanks to the final card of the final pack.  It felt a little heavy when holding it, so I am surprised it hadn't been picked over before being placed in these boxes, but I guess it shows that you never know what you can find in these boxes.

That wraps it up for today, I should have another blog posted soon but don't hold me to it.  Might even have a couple.  I've been scanning more and should get caught up.  Also in the process of going through cards I should get rid of and might start catalogging them into the database, but we'll see what happens.  Thanks for reading and have a great day.