My National Experience...A Quarter Century in the Making!!

[Moyni]

Ok. So day 2 is over and amazingly enough I got through the last day of my time here without spending every dollar in my wallet. Not that there isn't abundant opportunity to do so. Let me share my day today...

Got into the show and got in a little early thanks to a buddy of mine working the floor. Once inside I walked the floor a little bit, but the dealers were all just opening up. I was on the hunt for a card I had seen yesterday and hadn't pulled the trigger on. After sleeping on it I decided that I had to have it. The only problem was that I couldn't remember which booth it was!! I had even told myself to write the booth # down so that I would remember. Rookie mistake. After almost an hour of hunting around I found the booth and got the card.

It was a 1955 Bowman Mickey Mantle PSA 3. I paid $130 for it. Reasonable deal.



I then had just enough time to run over to the Topps booth to open my Ginter boxes that I had bought yesterday to get the Abreu and Tanaka Mini National Exclusives. I was first in line and literally the first one in the country to get those cards!! I also opened 6 packs of Series II in order to get the Ginter Mini Exclusives of Jeter and Manziel.

I took the Ginter boxes to the VIP Lounge and busted open the packs with my wife (more about her later). My hits from the Ginter were Tulowitzki full size relic, Pedro Alvarez full size relic, David Ortiz full size relic, Bourdain full size relic. I got two crappy autos. My best hit was an Anthony Rizzo Mini Cyan Printing Plate!! It was my first ever 1/1 to pull. Pretty cool.



Back to the floor to do some more buying...

I picked up a 1998 Donruss Significant Signatures Phil Rizzuto auto for $20, Dick Groat, Steve Garvey and Hank Sauer autos on cards for a total of $15 (These are for my MVP Auto collection).





I also got an SP Chirography Mike Piazza Auto /60 for $80.



My last auto purchase of the show was another HOFer I needed. I got a Billy Southworth 3x5 card for $180.



I turned my eye and wallet next towards filling some more holes in my vintage needs. There is so much vintage at the show it is ridiculous. It takes time to find cards I want at prices and grades I like and can afford. I made three more purchases and the last one is the best.

1911 T205 Gold Border Frank Chance PSA 4 - $160



1948 Leaf Honus Wagner PSA 4 - $110



And the first Ruth I have ever owned...1935 Goudey 4 in 1 Ruth/McManus/Brandt/Maranville. It is a PSA 2.5. I paid $420 for it. Another fair deal.



I was again exhausted and my feet were killing me from all of the walking. I went around and told Gilmore and some of the other dealers bye. Chris couldn't have been more gracious and talking with him in person made me really proud to be an FCB Member.

I also got to meet Josh and Ashley who run Zistle. We chatted for a long time about the hobby, their site and other stuff. It was really great to finally meet them too given how much of my time I have invested in their site. They were really awesome!!

Lastly, I want to do some bragging. My wife has almost zero interest in my hobby. She is sooooo patient with me all the time about cards. She walked with me on the floor both days, stood in lines, and pretty much let me go nuts enjoying my cardboard passion. She is definitely a first-ballot HOFer for me!!

Thanks again for reading this if you have made it this far.

I would love to hear any comments about my pickups!!