2026 Card Show #5 Recap

Saturday brought an unexpected trip to a card show.  I had plans to do some yard work, but it starting raining about 6 in the morning, and the forecast called for off an on showers all day.  For once the weatherman was right on that prediction.  My nephew also wanted to attend a show before he goes back to college in a couple of weeks.  We found one about an hour and half drive south of us that I had been to before.  I checked the show's Facebook page to make sure it was still being held since the National was also going on.  It was, although half the tables were Pokemon.  We did managed to find a few cards in the two hours we spent wandering the aisles.  I will add the promoter did a great job of dividing the room into sports and non sports.  Saved us a lot of time.

My first purchase of $2 added 3 Altuve cards to my son's collection including the first 2025 Topps Flagship card I have seen.

My second $2 purchase was for a needed 1965 Topps card.  There is a slight ding in the upper right corner, but otherwise it is in great shape.  I spent about 15 minutes talking to this older dealer about the current trends in the hobby.  Both of us shared a distaste for grading and flippers who have seem to overtaken the hobby.

My last purchase came from a dealer with nothing but $1 boxes.  I started with a 2026 Bowman insert of Cardinals #1 prospect Rainiel Rodriguez and a nice Pujols die cut that will be trade bait.  

Hard to pas up autographs for $1.  There are plenty of team collectors on TCDB who will gladly take these.

Last are a couple of 2026 Bowman Chrome parallels and a 2016 Topps Chrome purple refractor numbered to 275.  

This is my first show with my nephew.  Although he is 21 years old, he is just getting into cards.  He plays Division 2 baseball for a small school in Wichita, KS.  Last year his roommates busted packs on road trips and got him hooked.  I forgot how much fun it is teaching someone about the hobby.

  

  

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #149

Things did not start well for the Cardinals in their four game series against the Cubs last night.  After a 90 minute rain delay, they forgot how to pitch and lost 7-3 and dropped to .500 for the first time since April.  I said at the beginning of the season they would do well to finish .500, but the early season success left me more optimistic.  The overuse of the bullpen is finally catching up and the top four hitters have cooled off.  Maybe they can salvage a split this series.  

At least I had some cards to scan last night while I was watching the game.  First package came from member Geoff2568.  Despite the post office's best effort, the cards arrived 6 week after they were mailed.

I would like these 2026 Donruss cards more if the images were not so zoomed in.  Give me a little background with the picture.

I was really happy the package arrived with this 2002 Elite short print.  It is rare to find these at shows.

Doyle has turned in a few good outings recently in Double A.  He might get a late season promotion to Triple A.  On the outside chance the Cardinals are still fighting for a playoff berth, he might get a call up as a reliever.

The second package came from member oodrivero.

Funny how long it takes to get the last base card to complete a set without short prints.  I can now cross 1998 SP Authentic off my wantlist.

Some of the late 1980s and early 1990s minor league cards had two versions.  One that came in packs, and another that was a stadium giveaway.  These 1989 ProCards are the latter, as they have a Field company logo on the back.   

  

Mostly Legends and Numbered

I completed one of my larger trades on TCDB last week with member PIANELLI.  Pete and I have traded many times across two different sites.  He collects Hall of Fame players and always has some extra Cardinals to send my way.  This most recent trade brought 15 cards in my direction.  I only scanned nine of them, as the rest will be used for autographs.

My 2025 Prizm team set is now complete.  I really wish Panini would change up the Prizm design more from year to year.  It is very tough to tell the base cards apart.

This 1977 Hostess Brock is in great shape.  Whoever cut it out from the package did a good job.

The numbered portion of the trade is highlighted by a 2011 Topps Tier One Mize numbered to 50.  

Not sure I would classify Goldschmidt as a legend just yet, although he is having a decent season for the Yankees.  He should hit 400 home runs before he retires.  Add that to 7 All Star games, 4 Gold Gloves, and an MVP award and he should be a Hall of Famer.

These two are not legends, nor or the cards numbered.  It is strange how a few years ago these two and Jordan Walker all played third base, but know none of them are playing the hot corner in St. Louis.  I will still add nice refractors of them regardless of where they are playing now.

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #148

It has been awhile since I was able to make consecutive 2 for Tuesday posts.  It is nice to have a flow of cards coming in again.  Today's first package came from member bdhrbob.  Bob and I have traded Cubs for Cardinals multiple times across 2 different sites.

Cardinal fans are pretty excited about Rodriguez, although he joins an already crowded catching situation.  He is only 19 year old, but could see a debut next year.  The kid can hit.  The Svanson finished my 2025 Topps Chrome Update team set.

Stadium Club looks good in almost any color.  I prefer the red background for obvious reasons, but sepia and lime green are not bad.

I am not a fan of the Topps Holiday buybacks, but it is hard to say no to a Musial card.  Do we really need buybacks of a card that is not even 5 years old?

The second package came from member Rooty10.  This was a Royals for Cardinals trade.

Chipping away at the 2025 Topps Chrome Platinum team set with 2 Hall of Famers and a Gold Glove winner.

The second Winn of the package is the only Cardinals in 2025 Bowman Chrome.  Finishing off today is a 2020 Topps Chrome Prism refractor that finishes my team set.

  

  

The Final Game and a Costly Reminder

Friday morning was my son's final baseball game, most likely ever.  He graduated high school in May, and will be moving on to college in August to pursue a degree in music education.  After not getting much playing time his senior year, it was nice to be able to look forward to his travel ball season knowing he would get a start each tournament.  In his 5 games as the starting pitcher, he was 4-1 with 3 complete games.  Good way to finish his career.

Shortly after my son started playing travel baseball as an 8 year old, anytime we would go to a tournament we would try to find a Walmart on the way home and buy a blaster box.  Being his last one, we had to stop.  We were hoping to find a box of 2025 Topps Chrome Platinum, but the Walmart only had Topps Series 2, Bowman, and Donruss.  He opted for the Bowman along with a fat pack of Series 2.  Here is what $40 got us along with a stack of base cards.

I was not expecting much from the Topps pack, but was a little disappointed with only 3 non base cards.  That was a waste of $7.00 .

The Bowman blaster was better.  We got a few of the big name rookies in the a paper portion.

The chrome portion had a couple of decent rookies.

Each pack had one insert or parallel.  Nothing outstanding here.

The final insert was the only card we will keep from the box.  My son pulled this in his first pack.  I would guess the cards we got would run us about $10-15 at a card show.  The enjoyment of opening the packs counts for something, but overall this was another example of why I do not buy packs very often.

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #147

What a great night to be a Cardinal fan last night.  Watching Jordan Walker win the home run derby was awesome.  How clutch was it to hit six home runs on his last swing while being booed loudly.  I hope it does not mess up his swing for the second half of the season.  He has came a long way since last year.  While waiting for him to hit in between rounds, I was able to scan a couple of trades for today's post.  First up is a colorful four pack from member dwunder20.

A 2011 Topps Update blue border and a 199 Fleer Warning Track parallel.  The Fleer looks great with the matching text.

A purple refractor and black border parallel of two members of the 2011 World Series team.  Besides 1985, that is my favorite Cardinals team.

The second package came from member WSFNYC.

My first cards from 2025 Topps Chrome Platinum include the derby champ.  Check out the sideburns on Torre.

Another trade, another Molina.  I am inching my way to 800 different cards in my collection.  Only 16 away.

   

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #146

I finally received a second trade package yesterday so I can make a 2 for Tuesday post.  I will start with the most recent trade that arrived yesterday from member MCMH CARDS.

My Series 2 team set is now complete.  Nice to get the last three cards in one trade.  I also received a couple other base cards that are headed to my sister who is a Dodgers fan.

The second trade package that has been sitting on my desk since June 20 came from member guags.

For a two year span, my son received the SI for Kids magazine.  Not a single Cardinal was included in any of those issues.  This Scott Rolen card is from 2007.

Both Saggese and Liberatore have underachieved this year.  I thought Saggese would be the primary utility/backup infielder, but he was sent down to Triple A a few weeks ago.  Liberatore has pitched OK, but the lack of options has kept him in the Majors.  Regardless I will still add nice parallels to my collection.