A Little Change Did Me Good...

Tis the season for change, right? Why not? Things are changing me for me in good ways lately. I just landed a new job as a reference librarian, which is a great change since I'm going to be graduating in May with a degree in Library Science. I had been searching for a while, and to celebrate the end of stressful time, I decided to hit up an area card show. Of course, I'm still not getting PAID the new money, so I decided to use some old money - namely, all of the change I could find in our apartment. It ended up totaling over $58 and I even held a little twitter contest for whoever guessed closest based on some pictures I posted. It was such a hit that people are STILL guessing, even though I've already posted the answer and named a winner. 

The show was in Oak Creek, way the the hell south of me, down by the airport. It was small space, but a nice show with a pretty decent crowd. Admission was free and guests could even help themselves to two free packs (2019 Topps even!) as the walked in. I didn't have much of a plan for the show, but wanted to fill some set needs and hopefully find some good vintage deals. 

And set needs I filled indeed. I picked up a gang of 1971 Topps I needed as well as some stars from other 70s sets. 

Dig these bad boys. The Yaz and Fisk were $2 each and the two Aaron were $4 each. That '75 Aaron is a hell of deal. I have one already, but now I can have one in both my '75 set and in my Brewers collection. 

Speaking of Brewers, I also filled some holes in my Brewers autograph needs list. Two dollars for Matt Garza was both a deal and made me feel like I'd been cheated. 

Sticking with the Crew, I was thrilled to find these two All-Decade team sets. They were issued as stadium give-aways during the 2001 season and are notoriously hard to find. I had the 70s set but could not find the 80s and 90s sets for less than $20 each on the bay. I snagged these two for $3 each. 

And I managed to strike another long-time want off my lists when I found this 1991 Topps Desert Shield Greg Vaughn for JUST A DOLLAR. I know there are lots of fakes out there of this set, and I was fully expected this to turn out to be phony, but everything I read online after the show indicates it's the real deal. 

Back to vintage, I got this pair of #1s for $3 total.

And this sweet Dick Allen for a buck.

And what I guess would be Eddie Gaedel's rookie card, from the 1961 Nu-Card Scoops set. This ran me $2.

And the Ol' Perfesser! Looking miserable as the skipper of the 150-loss 1961 Mets. Just $3. 

And how about a trio of second-year studs! Ok, so the Carew and Catfish are third-year cards, but whatever. Three baby-faced HOFers for less than the cost of two packs of 2019 flagship (which I got for free at the show, anyway). 

But what about this Carew?? That's still about half what even the lowest-condition examples on eBay sell for. 

Hmm. Whatever, I consider that an upgrade. And you know what's kind of weird? Of all the pitchers who faced Rod Carew 35 or more times, only Rod Guidry held Carew to a lower AVG or slugger percentage than Sam McDowell. Carew only batted .174 off McDowell, managing only five singles in 35 trips to the plate. Carew never faced Dick Selma.

And then the BIG GET. A Billy Williams rookie card, which ran me just three dollars. Now, I'm not much of a Billy Williams fan (and those Cubs, wretch), but I couldn't hardly turn down a nearly 60 year old HOFer rookie for just three bucks. 

And I even managed to leave the show with money in my pocket. Not a bad haul for a ten-bag sack of pennies and dimes.