I went to a card show today! My first in over a year! It was held at the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds and was the biggest show I have attended here in Oklahoma. It was huge, but it included Pokémon and TCG and I expect it was dominated by those sellers. To be honest, I barely got inside the doors. Two of the sellers I buy from at every show were set up next to each other right by the entrance. I never got past their tables.
Overall, there was nothing I would consider a noteworthy pickup. It was all set needs. Mostly commons, but with a few minor stars and a couple of HOFers that aren't particularly popular in the hobby. I did manage to find a few 1967 high numbers, which was a pleasant surprise. Overall, it felt good to attend a show again.
However, this post is about something different: mail deliveries!
As long as it has been since I went to a show, it has been even longer since I added something to my Johnny Antonelli player collection. And I added two this week.
I found this 2009 Heritage buyback on Ebay for less than $20 and I grabbed it immediately. I have a complicated relationship with buybacks. I don't consider that the foil stamp conveys any transformative effect to the card. This is, and will always be, a 1960 Topps card. But the online resources consider this different, so I will continue to add them provided the price is reasonable. I've seen other Antonelli buybacks, but prices in excess of $50 are not reasonable. So, this is my first buyback card in this player collection.
This is the real star of the two. It is a 1971 House of Jazz card. These were issued by the House of Jazz record store in Glenside, PA as a store promotion. There are 35 cards in the set and it boasts an impressive checklist for an unlicensed set. There isn't a lot of information on the store, though a quick Google Maps search shows that the address is now home to a counseling service and a community development organization. The checklist itself is dominated by East Coast teams but seems to lack any thematic organization. It includes all-time greats, stars, and utility players (Peanut Lowery!)
The set itself would be fun to build, but the rarity of the set makes that a non-starter. I have only seen the Antonelli a few times, certainly less than 4, over the years and it normally sells in excess of $300. I can only imagine what the Lou Gehrig and Jackie Robinson would sell for. When I saw this on eBay for $99, I mashed that But-It-Now button immediately. This is probably the second most rare Antonelli issue behind the 1958 Packard Bell (of which I have only seen once) To say I am stoked is underselling it.
What I am listening to: Life During Wartime by The Talking Heads
I still haven't been to a card show this year. I ended up skipping the March show as it was the same weekend I was leaving for the CONEXPO-CONAGG trade show in Las Vegas and I needed to get some things done at home before I left.
I didn't take a lot of pictures this year as the trade show was huge and I had specific things I wanted to achieve. But, I couldn't pass up the opportunity take a picture of this Komatsu WA700 loader staged as if it was dumping a load into an (also Komatsu) HD605 70-ton haul truck. The company I work for predominately uses Caterpillar products in our operations, but we do have similar Komatsu equipment in our fleet. Anyways, on to the main topic.
It is only a quarter of the way through the year and I've already completely messed up one of my goals for the year, though not necessarily in a bad way. One of my goals for the year was to almost finish the 1967 Topps baseball set. Almost in that I wanted to get the set complete except for the high number Tom Seaver rookie card. However, in a turn of good fortune the company I work for gave out bonuses and, for once, I didn't have any adult obligations laying claim to the windfall. So....
I won't deny that I was a bit sick after placing my bid as it was for a price that makes the third most I have ever spent on a card. The centering is off, but I've never been a centering absolutist. As long as there is border all the way around, I am fine. It isn't obvious from the image, but there is border along the bottom. I put it at 80-20 centering top to bottom. I probably won't change my goal from almost completing the set. I need 53 more cards and 51 are from the sixth semi-high series and seventh high number series. Lately, they have been getting really strong prices, and I am not confident that I can pick up more than one or two at a time. But, I am pleased to have this one out of the way.
What I am listening to: Blind by Korn (Believe it or not, I had this teed up before it went viral as Mason Miller's entrance song)
