Dime Box Digging From the Card Shop

About a week or so ago now, I mentioned I made a trip out to Maverick's in Dayton with my aunt. During my visit, I happened upon a rarity in card shops I visit, a dime box. Of course, I couldn't resist digging through it. 

I grabbed a bunch of these "Salute" inserts from 2018 Topps. Randy Johnson was the first one I came across and wasn't too enamored with it but then I came across more of them and nabbed the ones you see here. Plus, who can pass up cards like this for a dime!

Found two new Jim Thome cards to add to my Indians binder. 

A lot of the newer cards in the box were of the Bowman and Topps base card variety from 2018. That's not too say that those aren't nice cards but I'm not really a Bowman collector and I've already got a bunch of 2018 Topps. I was more on the lookout for cards like this. Random cards, like the Wil Myers Heritage Minors card or Jose Abreu in a throwback Sox uniform.

I also like finding cards like this from a time period that's pretty foreign to me at least in the world of card collecting. I always forget Zack Greinke started with the Royals and I think this might be my first Royals card of his. Barry Zito and Ben Sheets on a card together? Sure, ok. 

This may look like any standard Yoan Moncada card from 2018 Donruss on the front but there's something I didn't notice about it until I prepped these for scanning.

It's a blank back! I'm not sure what the odds were on the blank backs or even if these are classified as a parallel or short print, but regardless, it's cool.

I'm attracted to cool shiny cards like these when I find them in bargain bins. The Addison Russell card qualifies as a zero-year card since he never officially suited up for the A's before being swapped to the Cubs.

Late 80s Donruss Rated Rookies? Yes please.

Once I got past the mass of 2018 Topps and Bowman singles, there was really good stuff to be had. While I'm not actively building the set, I'll still grab some 1980 Topps singles just for the heck of it.

I'll also grab any random mid-80s cards that catch my eye. Honestly, how can you pass up any Mariners card with the old-school trident logo?

More random 80s. I might be able to use Julio Franco for my 1984 Topps set (which reminds me I really, really need to go through that and update what I need/have) otherwise, he'll find a home in the Indians binder.

And what's a dime box without oddballs? These pop-ups are from 1989 Donruss All-Stars. It's a 20-card set featuring the starters from each league and the two managers. I might need to find more of these.

Speaking of cards I need more of ... do you realize how long it's been since I've actually had one of these cards in my possession? Probably since these came out and I got rid of my original collection long, long ago. If you're not familiar, these cards are from Kraft and were found in packages of Kraft cheese slices. I know what you're thinking and no, they were not in the same wrapper as the cheese slice. These were found at the bottom of those multi-packs of cheese slices in the grocery store.

Here's what the backs look like. Honestly, it's easy to confuse the front and back sometimes but the card number helps. You'll notice the pull tab at the top as well. If you were to pull that, the player would pop out of the card and you'd get stats. I don't intend on pulling the tabs on any of these but I'm definitely going to try to find more of these.

All totaled, I dug out 35 cards from the dime box on just a quick rummage through it. That's 35 interesting cards I can now add to my collection. Just goes to show if you see a dime box, start digging ... you never know what you'll find.

Winnings From Wes

I'm pretty sure I just hit the motherlode.

As everyone is aware by now Wes of Area 40 (and various other blog names) has gone into blogging retirement but went out with a bang. In addition to the crazy box busting and pack ripping he did, he also ran a contest, that being to guess the number of hits (relics, autographs, and otherwise) he'd get in the mega-break and that person would win a prize pack. I believe the final number was 352 or thereabouts and on a whim I guessed 350. 

Well, wouldn't you know who won the pony.

It turns out I was pretty much right on the money so in addition to the cards from the break, I won the prize pack. I'll get into that in a bit, but first, the cards from the break.

Before the break, Wes announced that he'd only be sending out the hits and I believe donating the base cards. Serial numbered cards count as hits apparently. I'd forgotten that I'd claimed the Flames in the break so I was a bit surprised to see these. The Joel Otto card is my first hockey buyback.

The Bengals were the one team I remember I claimed in the break. I was expecting the Peter Warrick card but the Akili Smith relic was another nice surprise. I'm actually excited for the Bengals next season as they'll have a new coach and hopefully some new tricks up their sleeve after they (finally) parted ways with tired old Marvin Lewis.

That does it for the cards from the break and if that's all I would have gotten, then I would've been fine. But there was more .... oh, so much more ... and that's where the cards won in the contest come in.

First, there's this Jimmy Garappolo booklet card. I've never owned a booklet card until now and I have to say, it's pretty neat. It's a pain to store though. It came in a small case so I think I'll keep it in there until I figure out a way to store it.

However, this is a card that's easy to store ... and probably a sought after card, it being a Tom Brady rookie card. To be honest, I'm not a Patriots fan, however this is a card that I'm happy to add to my football collection. It's in good shape too. 

The majority of the cards included in the prize pack were rookie cards. This is a duplicate as I broke a Pro Set set last summer and donated the commons. For now, it's in the football binder next to the other one.

A few other rookie cards here of two top quarterbacks. I always find it interesting to see cards of Brett Favre as a Falcon, considering he only played 2 games for them as a backup quarterback before being traded to the Packers for a first-round draft pick.

Lastly, at least for the world of football, there's this. A 1968 Topps Bob Griese rookie card. Sure, it's miscut and looks like maybe it was trimmed or cut a bit? Not sure. Also, the back is a little beat up. However, it's still an awesome card and one I'm now lucky to have in my collection.

I'm not really one for basketball but I will admit, these are some pretty cool cards. I'm always down for vintage cards and the Robert Parish card fits that bill. Him and LeBron will go into my miscellaneous binder where all the random cards I have reside.

This was included in the prize pack as well. I've never bought any Benchwarmer cards and to be honest, it's not really my thing. I'm still not sure what to do with this as it doesn't fit my collection. (Update: This has already been claimed in a trade.)

Here's something very interesting, a 1/1 Dean Prentice game used stick printing plate. Prentice isn't someone I'm familiar with but it turns out he had a 22-year career in the NHL with primarily the Rangers but also with Boston, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Minnesota.

I still collect UFC cards even though I don't really follow the product anymore. It's more of getting the cards of the stars I remember from when I actively followed the product. I think I've seen a few Kendall Grove bouts back in the day but I don't really remember them. I did the swatch on this card though.

This would be my second Archives Signature Edition card. Personally, I think these cards are pretty neat and I guess they could be considered buybacks. Bour had a pretty good run as Miami's first baseman and finished 5th in Rookie of the Year voting in 2015. His power dropped off a bit last season and Miami shipped him off to the Phillies as a waiver trade. He's since signed with the Angels as a free agent.

Here are a couple unique cards. The first is a 1985 Chong Mark McGwire card of him with the single-A Modesto A's (now known as the Modesto Nuts). If I had to guess, I'd say it's his first minor league card but not sure. Also, I'm not familiar with the card maker itself. The Craig Kimbrel card is  a 1/1 game piece celebrating a career saves milestone. As of this writing, Kimbrel is still a free agent.

The rookie cards just keep on coming here with Ozzie Albies, Aaron Judge, Rhys Hoskins, and Shohei Ohtani. I've made it clear before that I didn't like Donruss last year but it chromes .... ahem, "optics" ... up pretty nicely.

The Mike Trout card is definitely not a rookie card, one of the few in the pack that wasn't, but it's a 2014 Bowman blue parallel numbered to 500. Pretty cool card and a nice add to my Trout collection. The Stephen Strasburg card is from the 2009 Upper Deck USA National team set. It took me a minute to realize that the multi-player card is a David Ortiz rookie card. It's still amazing to me that the Twins cut him loose.

Rookie cards weren't the only thing included, there were also these cool autograph cards. The Archives Snapshots brand is something I'm not familiar with but I guess they're going for a Polaroid picture design? It reminds me more of the basic design most promo pictures of boxers and wrestlers use with the wide white border at the bottom and the thin borders on the other sides. The Paul Konerko card is really neat as it appears to be a minor league card. At first I thought it was probably a TTM signature but there's a tiny little logo on the side that says is an "authentic" autograph.

I'm nearing the end of the package here and I'm closing out with my favorites. First, this well worn and well loved 1953 Topps Jim Fridley. Sure, the corners are rounded, it's creased, and there's some paper loss in the bottom right corner but that's a sign that it was well loved. It's vintage, it's not meant to be perfect.

Next, three of the top baseball rookie cards of the 1980s, that being a 1983 Donruss Tony Gwynn, a 1985 Topps Kirby Puckett, and a 1983 Topps Wade Boggs. I'd been eyeing the Gwynn and the Puckett on COMC for a while now but now I can take them off my want list.

This card, though, is my favorite card that was in the package. As those who have been around here for a while can probably tell, I'm a big wrestling fan. I grew up a WWF fan but when I discovered classic WCW, Sting quickly became one of my all-time favorites. He was also one of the sole reasons I watched TNA/Impact Wrestling on a weekly basis. When he finally showed up in WWE in 2014, I was excited. However, he only had a handful of matches and his career was ended in a match with Seth Rollins when he suffered a neck injury. This card instantly becomes one of my top five favorite cards in my collection and I can't thank Wes enough for including it in the prize package.

This has to be one of the most epic mailers I've ever received from Wes and since he went into retirement, it's most likely the last. Thanks for sending these Wes and I appreciate your contributions to our humble little community.

Four Packs of 2016 Topps Heritage High Numbers

I'll admit it, I was a little harsh on Heritage this year. The first four packs I opened back in the spring did absolutely nothing for me and the design was very bland with generic poses. As I mentioned a few posts back, I was at the card shop to get some supplies and wanted some packs to rip as well. There wasn't much that caught my interest, so I decided to give Heritage another try with some High Numbers packs. I wasn't expecting much based on my previous experience. I won't break it down pack by pack but I'll show off some of the better cards I pulled. 

So far, so good. Three decent rookies here and the Stephenson card is a short print landing 1 in every three packs. I'm not too familiar the Goeddel as I don't follow the Phillies that close but judging by his 2016 stats, he seems to be a serviceable outfielder.

Hazelbaker and Story had quite the hot start out of the gate at the beginning of the season (that feels like eons ago) but Hazelbaker fizzled off while Story kept plugging away until an injury ended his season. I like the Rookie Performers insert set as it provides a bit of color to an otherwise bland design.

When I pulled out the Joe Maddon card, I thought for a split second it was a relic card because of the design. Alas, it was not to be but still, another nice insert card. 

Lastly, the Mookie Betts/Xander Bogaerts "Beantown Belters" card is another insert according to the official checklist, although it could be easily be mistaken for a part of the main set. I like the background of the Tim Anderson card and could pass as a true "sunset card" as it appears the photo was taken at dusk.

I'm still not a big fan of the design but these four packs did help change my opinion of Heritage this year. I think the problem with my initial packs was that I didn't do my research and know what to look for. This time I did and was pretty happy with my findings. Happy enough, in fact, to go get a blaster of this at Target. That's another story for another day.