Off topic - Sturgeon!

 OK, this is not going to be a sports card related post.  If you don't want to see pictures with me in them or with fish in them, you should probably leave now!!

My son has REALLY gotten into fishing the last few years.  I never fished as a kid, so we have learned together.  He would love to fish every day for 10 hours if I would let him.  It get's kind of tiring for me sometimes, but how can I complain when I have a kid that wants to spend time with me?

Anyway, he fishes for small stuff around here, trout, steelhead, carp, bluegill, suckerfish, really whatever is biting at the time.  And of course, he's always on the lookout for something different, and especially something bigger!

Well this last week was his 16th birthday, and I had promised him a couple of years ago that I would take him on a one day charter fishing trip for the big 16.  I figured he'd want to go deep sea fishing, but instead he chose sturgeon fishing, with the hope of getting something really big.  Spoiler alert, he was not disappointed!!

Unfortunately, I was pretty busy while we were out there, so the pictures don't really do it justice, but there are a few below.  We were out for about 7 hours, and we caught 9 sturgeon!  Far beyond our expectations!  On the drive over, he said that he just hoped to catch something bigger than him.  He's 5'5", 115 lbs.  I told him he had a good chance, but not to get his hopes up.

5 minutes after our first casts, we hooked one up, and he started the fight.  About 10 minutes later, with a little help, he pulled in this one:

It's about 4.5 feet, and probably weighed 35 lbs, but as you can see by his face, he was pretty happy.  It was a new personal best for him, if not quite his goal.  And no, that's not me in the pic, that's one of the guys running the boat.  Good thing they were there, because we caught a few that we would never have gotten to the boat without their help!

Like I said, the pics are not great (and definitely don't capture the sheer size of these things!), but here are a few (and some video).

This is my boy trying with all his might to pull a big one up from the bottom.  They are deep (50-90 feet down where we were), and a bear to bring up to the surface.  We would rotate, giving 3 or 4 of us a turn on each fish because it was so much work.  5-10 minutes on one person working, then hand it off to fresh hands.  And yes, that's ugly old me looking on.

Here we are after a long fight holding on to an 8 footer.  When you turn them over like that, they stop thrashing about.  Anything over 54 inches, you are not allowed to take out of the water.  And much bigger than that, you couldn't haul up anyway, nor would you want them thrashing around and wrecking your boat.

Here is a so-so pic of a 9 footer!!

And my son letting an 8 footer go:

And the last of the pics, a different 9 footer.  It would look a lot better if the tail wasn't pointing down.  To me it looks like a 7 footer there, but we measured it, and believe me, it was 9.

Here are videos of that one (I think?):

Unfortunately, we didn't get a pic of the biggest one.  It was so hard to drag it up that we were all exhausted.  In fact, at the end, the boat captain had to get on leather gloves and pull the last few feet up by pulling the line with his hands, because we couldn't pull it up any more with the pole.  Then we rolled it on its back, but before we could get pics, the sheer weight of it pulled it out of his hands.  My son tried to reach out and grab it, but if he had gotten a grip, it just would have pulled him into the water with it.  The captain felt pretty bad about losing it.

Here is some video of getting the 10 footer up to the boat:

And some video of losing him:

It was significantly bigger than the 9 footers.  Maybe it doesn't seem that way in the video, but in person, it was impressive, even intimidating.  The captain was guessing 11 feet, but my son and I are calling it 10.5 feet, just to be safe.  It was also much thicker, bulky!!  The captain said it likely weighed about 600 lbs and was probably 80-100 years old.  It was a real monster!!

Needless to say, my son had the time of his life, and wants to start saving money to go again.  The captain told him it isn't usually this amazingly good, but I don't think he cares.  We ended up catching 9 total, with lengths (a couple estimated, but most actual measurements) of: 4'6", 5'5", 6'1", 8'1", 8'3", 9'0", 9'4, 9'7" and the whopper at 10'6"!!

Next post will be back to cards, thanks for reading!!

Volume discounts and a Schmidt RC?????

 OK, the title kind of gave away the finish on this post, but the rest of it is fun too!  Skip to the end if you like.....but if you want to see some other great cards I picked up at a recent show, read on!

I spent way more than usual at this show (~$65), but it was worth it as I got some awesome deals!  Oh, and my scanner was out of commission, so you get phone pics today instead of scans.  Here are some highlights of my finds.

I LOVE gold refractors, and they don't usually come cheap, so I was really happy to add this one of a solid catcher.  This was in a 50 cent box, but I got a volume discount.

Cool 2014 Finest of The Captain.  I believe this was a quarter.

I love these too!  The old Pacific sets really did some fun stuff.  The string was hard to get into a top loader, which is how I store my cards.  Same 50 cent box as the Perez.

I already had all of these, but they were in a quarter box!  I would have grabbed 50 of them at that price!

OK, this one I am confused on.  See the white border on the top and left of this card?  It almost seems miscut, but usually there is not a white section between cards in a sheet that would show on a miscut card.  Especially in this set.  The card looks and feels just like others I have from this set though.  And the back looks right too.  Any thoughts?  For a quarter, it was still a no-brainer.

This one I pulled out of the 50 cent box just because I didn't have any early Rizzo's, not because I really collect him.  When I got it home and looked it up though, it looks like I got a steal at that price!  Lucky me, I grabbed 2 copies of it.  Anyone want to trade for the other?

This was in a quarter box as well.  It's not just the SP version (according to COMC), but the SP Rare version with him holding all those presents.  Whatever that means, I like it!

Oh yeah, I love me some Ichiro parallels!  This one is numbered out of 450.  Was in a volume discount stack that I will talk about later.

Another 50 cent steal here, though I didn't know how big of a steal until I got home and found out that this is the 2011 Topps Update SP Legends variation.  I'm feeling pretty lucky!

One of several Urias cards I found at the right price.  I just didn't really have anything cool of his.  Still don't have an actual RC though.

And another 50 cent find, this strange "Peach" parallel Machado.  It is serial numbered, but I can't remember out of what.  Volume discount stack again.

Solid, if "ugly Panini" Griffey parallel.

I quite like this set, like many others.  This was one card that I actually feel like I overpaid for.  $1.

A quarter may be overpaying for this too, especially since it off centered.  But I like it.

The flashiness got me here, but I don't feel bad for 25 cents!

This one was in that volume discount stack.  Got it home and found out it's a pretty good card!  This insert set must be one of the semi-popular ones from the years when I was out of the hobby.

And these Happy Days stickers were quarters too.  Just couldn't pass them up.  They are from a 1976 Topps set.

And finally, we get to the main event, and where I spent most of my money.  I was at a table with a dealer that is new to these shows, building the "volume discount" stack I keep referring to.  Some nice cards, for sure.  The dealer was quite a talker, telling me all about his wife not liking cards all over their house and other stories.  Then he pulled out a small stack from behind the table and showed me a couple of cards that I was VERY interested in, but figured I had no shot at due to my tiny budget.  They were pretty beat up.  He pulled one card out and mentioned that he had offered it to someone earlier for $50 and that they might come back later to get it.  I (expecting to be laughed at) offered him $25 for it.  He didn't laugh!!  But he didn't say yes either.  He hemmed and hawed, while I looked through the stack he had brought out.  I grabbed one more old beat up card from the stack, and the other cards I had been piling up, and made another offer.  I offered $40 for the "volume discount" stack AND the 2 cards below.

And he took it!!

As you can see, they both have serious flaws, especially the 3rd year Alcindor.  How much do you think I cared at that price?

What a show!

Minis

 

I don't want them.  Claim them in the comments.  PWE delivery.  Claim lots so I don't have to send out too many envelopes!

Card shows rising

 I had thought that the card shows in this area had reached their peak, but I seem to have been wrong.  By "peak", I am referring to their frequency and the number of dealers, not the quality.  A year ago, we had one monthly show in Portland, which technically had 2 days, Saturday and Sunday, but really Sunday was just a whimper, with lots of the dealers not showing up.  These probably had 40-50 dealers.

Then the dealer numbers started swelling.  We now likely have 75 or so for each show.  And from what I hear, Sunday is almost as packed as Saturday (I always go on Saturday).

And if that wasn't enough, just this past weekend, they slotted another show in-between the regular March and April shows.  So only 2 weeks between shows!  I still feel like the drop off isn't far away, where we will start retracting some as a hobby.  But what do I know, almost all of my predictions are wrong.

Anyway, here are some of the cards I picked up last show.  First up was a dime box filled with nothing but Ken Griffey Jr!!  The vast majority of the Griffeys in the box were mass produced, junk sets and the like.  But there were some diamonds in the rough!  I walked away with 36 cards, the coolest of which are here:

Jackpot!!  And yes, that is an actual Griffey RC down there, even if it is a little beat up, for a dime, I was pretty happy.

Next up are some funky lookers.  I couldn't figure out what these were for a while, I had never heard of the Topps Chrome Sonic set before.  These were in a 3 for a dollar box, which worked for me.  The Bogaerts is numbered /99.

The Rizzo will probably come up in some freebies soon, but the others I am keeping.

Now this one I just bought for the craziness factor.  Same 3/$1 box.

Don't really know who Oscar Colas is, but I like having at least one card from over the top sets like this. 

This 2nd year Ichiro was in a dime box.  I didn't even notice the tiny "Limited Edition" text in the lower right until I got it home.  I wasn't collecting then, so don't know if that is special or not, but I will certainly take it for a dime.

And last up, I actually spent some money!!  If you look at my card show purchases regularly, you know that I am usually a strict "cheap box" guy.  But since I sent my copy of this next card off to a fellow blogger a few years back, I have always itched to get me another copy.  But the price was always too high.

Anyway, in a stack of cards for a bargain price, I got this:

Since it was in a stack, I can't really say how much it cost, but based on the total price of the stack, I would estimate that this cost me $10.  Great deal!!

Thanks for reading!

Variations and other card show finds

 The current methods used by card companies to drive collector interest are wide and varied.  Refractors, serial numbers and parallels are the most common, but there is a real niche for the variation crowd.

Today's variations have their roots in the variations of the past, which originally, were mostly printing issues.  They seem to have happened when card companies switched factories or equipment mid-stream, or were due to other quality control issues.  One example is the 1962 Topps tint variations.

They are subtle-ish, but obvious when they are side by side like this.  Seems to me that this was just printing issues, but they are considered variations.

Today's variations have gotten a lot more involved (and purposeful), mostly by using completely different photos with the same card number. Or another common variation, the nickname variation, where instead of the players name on the card, you get their nickname. The current semi-standard for photo variations seems to be the regular base card, then a SP variation, and often a SSP (Super Short Print) variation too.  Lot's of times these photo variations are of the same player, but it is common to have a legends variation, where the base card is a current player and the SP is a retired legend.

All this makes me super happy I am not a set collector that cares about all the variations!!  

I have mixed feelings about variations.  A few I really like, and others make me wonder why the hobby has gone down the tubes.  And there isn't a lot of rhyme or reason to which variations I like and which I hate.

Anyway, enough with the preamble, I am actually posting about some pickups from a recent card show.  Of course variations feature prominently in the cards I will be showing.  Some I will be keeping, and others are up for trade if anyone is interested. And some are just available to claim for free. I apologize that I didn't scan them separately, but I will try to note anything that is available for trade.

Here are some cards!

These were all dimes or quarters, even the rookie year Ichiro.  That one surprised me.  Some good color/sparkle in here with the Arraez, Franco and Scherzer.  I absolutely love the Aaron with Mays, my two favorite players of all time.  Some really cool oddball-ish vintage with the Hubbs, Herzog and Cochrane.  The Herzog is from the 1975 Fleer Cloth Patches - Laughlin Pioneers of Baseball set.  My first time even hearing about that set.  The Cochrane is from  Shakey's, a Seattle area restaurant and is a 1976 issue. The Ruth/Gehrig is not a variation, but it looks like it could have been.  What the heck, the Ruth/Gehrig is up for grabs, along with some actual variations later in the post.

I also found some basketball cards, from sets I have a hard time finding in my price range.

Not superstars, but good cards, especially when I find them cheap.  Takes me back to my childhood.

And I finally found some of those Laughlin stickers from the early 70s that I keep seeing on other peoples blogs!  Happy to add a few of these.

OK, finally the first of the variations!  This one is from 2022 Topps Update.  Remember how I said I like some variations and hate others?

Well this one is a love for me!!  I'm keeping this one.

Here are a couple of other sweet cards I picked up for what I thought were pretty good deals.  Certainly not quarter box though!

However, once I got them home, I realized that the Cabrera is a dupe.  So it is on the trading block.  And the Henderson, while kind of awesome, I am just not sure about.  It may be semi-rare (I don't see ANY on COMC), and hopefully someone will want to start up a trade for it?

Here is another pic of it, as you can see it is more orange than the scan shows.  After a little research, I believe this called a Tiger Stripes Prizm.

And let's finish off with more variations!

Mantle - 2018 Optic Nickname Variation

Altuve - 2018 Optic Nickname Variation

Colon - 2021 Donruss Holo Orange Nickname Variation

Tatis - 2022 Donruss Nickname Variation

Tatis - 2020 Donruss Nickname Variation (Panini couldn't decide which nickname was best, I guess)

Judges - One of these is a photo variation, I couldn't be bothered to figure out which one...

All of these are up for grabs

Ruth - 2021 Topps Legends Variation

Gwynn - 2020 Topps Legends Variation

Clemens - 2022 Topps Update Legends Variation

All of these are up for grabs too

OK, now for clarity here are all the cards that are available, either for trade of to claim for free:

Up for free!  Just claim in the comments.  I'd rather you claimed several, but if you only want one, that's fine too

2010 Topps Ruth/Gehrig

Mantle - 2018 Optic Nickname Variation

Altuve - 2018 Optic Nickname Variation

Colon - 2021 Donruss Holo Orange Nickname Variation

Tatis - 2022 Donruss Nickname Variation

Tatis - 2020 Donruss Nickname Variation

Judges - 2018 Donruss version 1

Judges - 2018 Donruss version 2

Ruth - 2021 Topps Legends Variation

Gwynn - 2020 Topps Legends Variation

Clemens - 2022 Topps Update Legends Variation

Up for trade - comment or shoot me an email
2001 Bowman Miguel Cabrera

2022 Panini Prizm Rickey Henderson Tiger Stripes Prizm

Cards come to my home

 Time to show off and thank a bunch of you for cards that have arrived at my home in the last months that I have not been posting.  As you all know, getting cards in the mail is usually a highlight of a day or even week.  Well here were my highlights!  I apologize if I don't get all the details about these packages quite right, I am getting old.

Dime Boxes - Nick put up a bunch of cards for people to claim as part of his 10 year celebration.  I grabbed a bunch of fun!

Some rookies highlight the top row (My first Seikya!).  ANY Willie Mays from the playing days is something I want, so this badly creased 72 is right at home here.  I've started really liking picking up decent looking Quisenbery's.  The rest are awesome too, but that's all I am saying.  Thanks Nick!!

Croc sent me a prize package for winning a contest on his site.  I don't remember what I did to win, but the prize was a big batch of pure random awesomeness.  The next 4 scans show a small part of what he sent.

There were a lot more of these old Action Packed.  I never really like them when I see one in a box, but when I had this big batch in hand, they appealed to me more.  Some really great old players that I grew up reading about.

Basketball and football fun was included too.  And that bottom row is O-Pee-Chee!  I love vintage OPC.

More OPC, and some always welcome 60s vintage!!  And something I always appreciate, a custom blogger card! I always, always keep these, they are great.  And croc's certainly has personality!

And we will finish off Croc's part of the post with some pure random.  Great, great stuff!  My favorites are the Ripken, Canseco and believe it or not, the Albert Belle!  Thanks Crocodile!

On to a mailing from Gavin at Baseball Card Breakdown that is long overdue.  And featuring customs that many of you have already seen, the sun treated 91 Fleer!

Yep, I got Griffey, and I love it.  Here it is with the holiday themed overlay:

Gavin sent a very nice custom blogger card too that is definitely a keeper for me.  Thanks Gavin!

And not to be left out, Johnny has sent me several PWEs over the last couple of months.

Johnny is taking my blog name to heart.  As many of you know, he puts some thought into as many of his mailings as he can.  And while I am not much of a collector of the newer Diamond Kings, these were appreciated, and the 2004's are actually needs.  Thanks Johnny!

If I missed anyone, I apologize.  Now that I am back to posting, I hope to get these up more regularly.

Broken tools

It's tough when the tools you use every day break.  Here are a couple of my favorite 'broken tools' cards:

Bo brought this broken tool on himself.

Duane probably didn't break this bat like Bo did, as he has slightly fewer muscles.

But the tool I am talking about wasn't a baseball bat, it was my blogging tool.  All my regular readers may have noticed my absence lately.  Well it wasn't because I didn't want to blog, it was because my computer broke.  And broke bad!  And yes, I know you can blog from your phone, but I am really getting old, and it just wasn't worth it to me.

Obviously I have finally fixed the old adding machine though!!  In my younger years, I built computers all the time, for myself and others.  But once my son got into computers, I retired and he has been the computer tech for friends and family for the past 10 years or so.  Unfortunately, he recently took a job on the other coast, and for some reason, refused to fly back to fix mine for me.  I replaced the motherboard, CPU, RAM and Video Card.  Hard on my eyes and fingers.  I procrastinated a lot!

I've also been out of town a lot lately going to my daughters college track meets.  We are pretty proud of her for getting a full athletic scholarship at a D1 school.  Especially since she has the handicap of sharing half of my genes.  Pretty impressive!

All that procrastination and travel added up to me not posting in forever, and I've also not been reading/commenting on other blogs as much as I would like.  Hopefully all that gets back to normal now.  A few posts I hope to write in the near future include

1. Catching up on incoming cards from several of you
2. Card show! recap
3. The current blog around - alphabet challenge
4. Probably a few of my small giveaways
And hopefully more!