May Card Show - 50 Cent Vintage

Back in March, I took my son to a card show.  He had a blast taking pictures of the show, and I managed to pick up some cool vintage in the 30 minutes or so I had before he lost his patience.  Unlike the last show, this time I flew solo, save for a surprise appearance by my friend, Brerskwerl, who has the Nationals in the 2013 MLB Tournament.

This show was just like the others, started on Friday and ran through Sunday.  However, I was limited to Friday, as Saturday was booked and Sunday was Mother's Day, and there was no way in Hades I was going to prioritize cards over my wife.  If I had, I would have come home to no cards in the house...

So, I had Friday to peruse the show.  With a dentist appointment earlier in the day, I had a free pass from 2 pm to 7 pm.  I ended up arriving around 2:30 and left somewhere around 5 pm.  I could/should of stayed those extra hours, as I had half of my budgeted money left, but what I'd already bought felt just too good to be true, so I left.

Just like the last show, I did my ritual.  I walked up and down each aisle, cataloging every vendor and getting a "feel" for how much they were charging for vintage.  Some of the sellers did not like this at all.  Too bad, it's my money.

Eventually, I settled on a couple of tables.  One was the Old as Dirt Guy from the last show, and the others, well, they really didn't matter.  I ended up buying every card from the Old as Dirt Guy, save for one vintage and a special Blue Jay for Buckstorecards.

I did, however, save one dealer a lot of heartache.  I was leafing through a stack of $1 cards, when I noticed this in the pile.  

I said, "Is this supposed to be in here?"  He replied, "Yeah, it's a reprint."  To which I said, "No, it's not."  Needless to say, that card was out of the pile in a heartbeat.  Perhaps my act of kindness pleased the Cardboard Gods because what happened next is something I will never forget...

Once a spot opened up at the Old as Dirt Guy's table, I bellied up to the "Bargain Bin."  Every card is 50 cents a pop unless otherwise marked.  The Bargain Bin is several neatly sorted boxes with cards dating from 1948 to 1970.  Cards are mostly VG to EX, with a few Goods and a rare Poor.  Boo-yah.  My kind of bin.

If you remember, I've recently refocused my collecting on Hall of Famers and players who were in the Superstar Baseball board game.  With that checklist in hand, I found the following cards for 50 cents a pop.

Six HOFers and 12 superstars for $9?  Yeah, I'd say that was a pretty sweet deal.  But if you thought the 50 cent vintage was awesome, just you wait...