One of the things I do to earn a little extra spending money is to keep the basketball game clock at the junior high where my wife teaches at. She does the book while I am on the clock. It works out well, as we both get paid $35 cash per night for about 2.5 hours worth of work. The junior high games are very laid back compared to the high school games. Out of the 12 nights we worked, I can only recall one issue with a coach or fan. It makes the games so much more enjoyable.
The season wrapped up last week, so we came home with a nice stack of cash. Since weather this past weekend was still cold and dreary, we decided to take a trip to a card show in St. Louis and spend a little bit of the cash. It is a show that I have been to before that offers a nice blend of current and vintage cards. Best of all, very few gaming dealers though this time there were a handful more. Not a big deal, as there were still over 80 dealers with sports cards. We arrived about an hour after the doors opened to find the parking lot was full. We had to park at a nearby Target and walk. As you would expect, the show was packed. We spent close to two hours there and $80.
My first purchase was ten Cardinals for $2. The top three 2003 Flair Greats are from the Home Team boxes that are not easy to find. I had to do a double take to make sure the price was correct. I picked up the two blue GQ cards to make an even ten.
The other five cards include three 1992 Pacific McDonalds cards I hope to use for autographs, a Hrabosky card I needed after I had my first copy signed, and a LaRussa regional card for trade bait.
The next dealer had showcase full of 1960s cards sorted by year. I was lucky to find this 1960 Crowe gray back variation I needed to knock my team set down to the Stan Musial card to finish it. $1 very well spent.
I have boughten from the next vintage dealer a few times. He has a great set up of commons sorted by number in monster boxes, the showcases full of high dollar cards and short prints. The two 1959 cards are not in the best shape, but good enough for place holders. The three 1964 cards include two high number short prints and the batting leaders card. The last 1964 card I need is the Bob Uecker high number. Price tag on the lot was $68, but he gave them to me for $50. I love getting a deal without even asking.
Another vintage dealer I have purchased from had similar setup, but he also had a box of just Cardinals. This 1965 Topps high number looks great on the front despite a little bit of water damage on the back. For $4, I will take it.
The next vintage dealer had three display cases full of stars. I grabbed this 1966 Topps card for $20. It is in almost perfect condition, just one minor corner ding. Only two more high number cards to finish this set.
My last purchase was a dealer with over 30 dime boxes sorted by sport. The tables were so packed, I had to wait over an hour for a spot to open up. I ended up with 30 cards included these five Cardinals I did not have.
Here is a sample of the other 25 cards I pulled for trade bait. Hard to pass up Hall of Famers, refractors, short prints, and numbered cards for a dime.
As I said in the beginning, the show was very busy. This is one of the few shows I attend where the ungraded vintage outnumbers the graded. If my budget allows, I will make another trip or two back sometime this year, as this show is held monthly.
