Don't Call it a Comeback

I have a dilema. I stopped doing card shows with Sluggo moving back to North Carolina so I have more time to start posting. Only, without the card shows, I have less money (holidays including in that as well) and less cards coming in to show off anyways.

I have been posting the cards on Instagram though, occasionally. So I took those to show off in this post and if I get anything decent, I'll try to post. I did add 76 cards from my last sort job but a lot of it was 80's and 90's stuff so nothing terribly exciting. Mostly White Sox and maybe 10 or 12 PC cards but mostly Strawberry and Gooden as those PC's are still new enough that I still needed some of the 80's stuff.

Here's what I had going on in December though. If you follow on Instagram than I'm sorry for the repeat.

All new Frank Thomas cards to my Sox collection.

All Konerko autos and relics.

The above 2 pics came from the LCS that I do all the sorting from. He bought out another guy that we know (White Sox fan) that was getting out of the business so he gave me first dibs on stuff. The other guy was a big Frank Thomas fan so he boxes of stuff of his. I don't even PC him and I'm up to 1,421 cards of his.

The 2nd pic are all of Paulie. Including 3 autographs. The High-Tek auto on top is numbered out of 50 and the Archives on the bottom is numbered to 9. I'm closing in on the 800 count of my Konerko collection.

How much did I pay? $0. He let me take it all so I keep sorting for him and before you don't think I earn it, here's the pics of the last cards that I sorted for him.

That was the 2nd load that I did in December. That'll slow down now that I have to go back to work on Monday.

The wife and I went to Virginia to hang out with some of her family down there. There was a day where she hung out with her best friend who still lives down there so I hung out with the mother-in-law. We hit the grocery store and stuff like that but she had also scoped out a LCS down there and we went in there. I think she was more excited about it than me. I hit the dollar boxes and picked a few cards plus grabbed some to give to the grandkids for Christmas. I was talking to the dealer and told him where I was from, yada, yada. I said, I'm going ask you something that you've probably never been asked down here. Do you have any Konerko autographs? He did, in the top pic. I was looking in his showcase and saw the Seaver. I figured I'd ask how much since it wasn't cut really well but he still wanted $40 for it and he told me it was an O-Pee-Chee at that. I said it was more than I wanted to spend but it was a good price. I continued to look around and when I went to check out, the mother-in-law said she wanted to buy what I had for my Christmas and she wanted to get me the Seaver. I tried talking her out of the Seaver but she wouldn't budge so I got both of those and some dollar cards for Christmas.

When I got back home, there was a package from Dennis from Too Many Verlanders for me to go through. We had just done a trade not long ago so I certainly wasn't expecting much but these great cards popped out along with some other PC stuff. Love those Topps Retired autos and look, another Konerko autograph. I almost doubled my autographs of Konerko in one month. Thanks Dennis!

That was my December, with me out of card shows now, I'm sure you won't see as much nice stuff. Hopefully when I get back to work, I can pick up some OT and start hitting the local shows that I used to set up and start picking out some more cards. Then you might get some posts that aren't related to my PC birthdays.

South Bend freebies

About a month ago (that's how far behind I am), we did the South Bend show. I know it's been a month because tomorrow is the next South Bend show and it's the first Saturday of each month. The good news for my pocket book was I didn't buy anything, but I did still come home with some cards.

Joe, who's one of the dealers we set up with, usually tries to get close to us so we can watch each others tables. He came in with a 600 count box of White Sox cards. He said I could have them, he didn't want any of them back so I went through them. I only needed 33 of the cards. Most of the stuff was commons so I had a lot of it which he said I probably would. I'm only going to show a few of those since most weren't anything special.

These 4 are all guys that I don't PC but I have 50+ cards of their Sox cards so I scanned them.

• Nick Madrigal (62 cards)
• Carlos Rodon (87 cards)
• Frank Thomas (1034 cards)

I put Gavin on here just because he's one of the few current players that I like. He's got 49 cards so he's almost up in the above scan. I've been thinking about adding him to my PC but I've just never took the time to do so.

These 2 are PC guys though. That's a 1st Edition of Vaughn and just a plain old Stadium Club of Eloy. I would have guessed that I already had that but apparently not. That is my 112th card of Vaughn.

Fred, who I've shown cards of here that he gives me (who also works with me) came to the show and he usually picks me up a few things while he shops around so he came by at the end of the show and gave me a few cards as well.

He found this blue scope of Cesar Ruiz. It must have been hard for him to give this up being as he is a Saints fan but on the other hand, he's also a Notre Dame fan so maybe it was easier since he's wearing the Maize and Blue. This is my 15th card of Cesar.

Back to the Sox cards. Another Eloy, a short printed Big League which gives me 234th of him and a X-Fractor of Robert which is my 226th of him. Eloy just got back from injury and Robert is still out.

Another PK I didn't have as well sums up the cards he gave me. I have a bunch of him so I love getting ones I don't have already. This High Tek set has a bunch of parallels and I have the base and this 1 so there's more to go after. This card gives me 774 cards of PK.

Sorting List Pick Ups

I just finished going through some cards that Sluggo gave me and pulled out what I want but I'm a little behind for that post. Today, you'll get the cards that I pulled for myself from last week's sort of MLB list players. After this post and continuing on Sunday (I have a show tomorrow), I will be working on the NBA list players that I brought home today.

For those that don't know, the list players are all Hall of Famers and then mostly the current better players. There are a few 80's guys you'd be surprised were on the list, but I don't collect any of them so you won't see any here. I take that back, Cory Snyder played briefly for the Sox but I already have a ton of that 90's stuff so I'd be surprised if I picked up any of his.

As always, we'll start off with the Sox collection. A couple of the Big Hurt (1027 cards), a Harold Baines (97 cards) astarick variation, 2 of Wilhelm, 1 modern and 1 90's Pacific (14 cards) and a Nellie Fox (20 cards).

Next up is Tier 3.

A couple of Cal's, I didn't recognize. That first one, I was surprised I didn't have even with all those small Fleer sets released then. I was also surprised I didn't have his '94 Fleer. I guess that's why I check all of their cards, even if I think I already have it. These 2 get me to 984 cards of him.

I did find a 2023 A&G of Yaz to add. I'm sure I'll start running across all the variation sets of this card as well, if they have them. Chrome and X are the 2 I'm thinking of. This gives me 194 cards of him.

Next up is Tier 2.

I picked up a couple of these 2023 Winter or Holiday or whatever they are called now. We'll start off with this one of Robert (I'm surprised his cards don't have the Jr on them.) This one gives me 194 of our star center fielder.

As you can see, another winter/holiday card of Eloy along with a Gallery Heritage from 2020. You have our star center fielder above and this guy is going the opposite direction. From what I read there was no interest in him on the trade market. I'm hoping that motivates him to a good season this year. These 2 give me 217 of him.

I also picked up 2 cards of Moncada. He's kind of in the same boat as Eloy with White Sox fans. We keep waiting to see if he can get back to the form he was supposed to be. It's hard to tell in the scan but the bottom card is the red variation from Capstone. These 2 give me 235 of Yoyo (fitting nickname since that's what he does with his numbers).

A couple of Larkin as well. The top is a Denny's hologram, the bottom a bonus card (All-Star) from '89 Donruss. If you had asked, I would have told you that I had both of them. Like I said, that's why I check anymore. These 2 give me 752 of the former Wolverine.

Next up, Tier 1.

I did manage to find one of my Tier 1 players as well, and it's numbered. That means whoever did the sorting the first time didn't do a very good job. Your supposed to separate color variations, especially numbered ones. I know it wasn't me or I would have pulled this for myself back then. Works out for me though. This card gives me 581 of him.

I'll be back, hopefully in a day or 2 with the cards that I got from Sluggo and then we'll see if I pick any cards up tomorrow at the show in South Bend.

Sorting packs

Today's my last day before going back to work. I was supposed to go back on Thursday but there were some issues with the tanks sitting for 2 weeks so I'm going back in tomorrow to get everything set up for 3rd to come in tomorrow night. It probably won't be a full day but I'll take the hours. Since it's my last day off, I figured I should get out a post since it's been a bit. The last week of the year is always heavy with birthday posts and yesterday I just chilled and waited to watch Michigan beat Alabama.

I sorted some cards for my LCS last weekend, there were a couple of bags of opened packs and a box of 2023 A&G, the nice thing was there was all 3 sports. Here's what I got.

As per the usual, I'll start with the White Sox. A couple more Frank Thomas (1,026) and a Jose Abreu (278) and Tim Anderson (235) of whom I have a bunch of. I also got a Romy Gonzalez (13) and a Gavin Sheets (43) who I like to get cards of. I'm hoping to see more of him in the future. These all came from packs.

Next up is some Type 3 collections.

I got these 2 inserts of Yaz. One shiny, one not so much. These 2 give me a step closer to 200 at 193 cards.

I also got these 2 cards of Steve Carlton, one insert and one base. I was actually surprised I needed some of the base A&G because I've sorted quite a bit of it before. The inserts didn't surprise me. These 2 give me 231 cards of the lefty.

Next up is Tier 2 Michigan PC cards.

There were a couple packs of NBA Hoops but this was the only one that I needed. It's my 1st 2023 card of LeVert and my first of him as a Cavalier. This card gives me 59 cards of Caris.

There were also a bunch of packs of Prestige. I added a few of those already last week so I wasn't sure I would get any but I did find these 2. Always love to see Aidan cards, I'm not sure how many we'll get with him being a defensive player but right now they are churning them out. This is my 32nd card of Aidan and my 41st of DPJ. It's also my 1st 2023 of DPJ.

I was really happy to get 3 more cards of Jake Cronenworth. 2 from packs and another base A&G. I was really surprised to get 2 different colors in just a couple of packs. These 3 give me 79 cards of Jake.

Last but not least, I also grabbed 1 card for a Tier 1 PC.

I found this insert of Tom Seaver as well. There really wasn't that many packs so I was surprised to keep as many as I did. This Seaver gives me 580 cards of him.

Cards and More

I guess I've been sitting on my ass all day, the least I could do is another post.

I finished some sorting last week and these were my payment. It was list players again so these players were all on the list and I needed.

We'll start off with the White Sox Collection (non player). All 6 are Hall of Famers which is why they are on the list. I'm closing in on a milestone for Harold Baines and Jim Thome. It's number 1023 of Frank Thomas though, the most I have of any player and he's not even a non-PC. Funny thing with the Griffey, I pulled that for Fred at work. He collects Griffey and just last week he told me he just got his 1st card of him in a Sox jersey and said he didn't even realize he played for them so when I saw that, I was thinking I'd give him a 2nd one. Until I realized I didn't have it. Sorry Fred!

Next up, Tier 3

I found 5 more of Cal jr that I needed. 2 from 2022, 2 from 2023 and a lowely 2007 Masterpieces. Apparently he had 3 different cards in that set. I guess you can say I'm close to a milestone with Ripken too but I'm not going to quite make it before the end of the year. These 5 give me 981 cards of Ripken who is my highest player collection.

I got a couple more of Yaz as well. I wish I could say that was a 1964 Topps but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be in a box to sell for $.02 if it was. It is a 2011 60 Years of Topps but it's a OG back. I already had the normal back. These 20 give me 191 of Yaz, another one I'm close to a milestone.

2 more of Schmidt as well. You've already seen a couple from these sets and you'll see more. Somebody obviously opened some and sold them to the LCS. Good news for me as there are obviously some players that I collect in those sets. These 2 give me 361 of the 2nd best 3rd basemen in my PC. *wink

My last Tier 3 card is another from the same set. This shiny Steve Carlton gives me 230 of him.

Onward with Tier 2 cards.

You'll also see more of these Archives (and A&G) from this year in this section. These 2 of Moncada give 232 cards.

As I stated above, an Archives and an A&G. That has been the really nice thing about sorting is that I've been getting all of the latest releases not too long after they come out. These 2 of Eloy gave me 211 cards of him.

2 more of an Archive and A&G plus a Select as a bonus card. These 3 of Robert jr give me 206 of him. A far cry from the 12 I had of him the first 3 years of collecting him.

I also got a cool card of Fisk. Love this one, blue background from 2003 with the red, white and blue uniforms, looks great. This give me 387 cards of him.

The last 2 singles from my Tier 2 collections, both 2022 Chrome Platinum that you've also see here, and you'll continue to see. This is my 96th of Vaughn so almost a milestone there and my 748th card of Larkin.

On to the Tier 1.

I found another one of Aparicio which is always nice as I don't add a ton of his but I do add some. This is my 10th card this year for a total of 135 of lil Luis.

Definitely like picking up more of Seaver. 2 more newer and like the Yaz above, a 2011 OG back of 60 Years of Topps. These 3 give me 579 cards of Tom Terrific.

That's all from the sorting of the baseball, I'm sorting the football boxes now but I don't think I'm going to get much out of them. If I had to guess, I'd say Charles Woodson will be the only player I get from them because a lot of them are around 5 years or older which means no current players like Hutchinson and Collins.

Before I go, I wanted to give a nod to Dennis at Too Many Verlanders again. I just received his Christmas package not long ago and then on Friday, I got another unexpected package. I was really confused because he just gave me a bunch of cards so imagine my surprise when I opened it to find this. Don't mind the fat guy modeling.

That would be Mike Hart jersey (with the Jordan logo which makes it even better). Obviously it's not a real jersey but I think it's pretty damn cool. As per his usual, Dennis is way too generous. For those that don't know, Mike Hart is my favorite Michigan player of all time. This isn't the first time Dennis has hooked me up with a Mike Hart item. He went to an autograph signing and got me a personalized autograph on one of his cards as well. Like I said, way too generous but we love him for it. Thanks again Dennis.

This also happened yesterday.

I don't play everyday but I check it occasionally, I haven't even checked today. I normally suck at it. I do alright with the written ones, it's when they want me to name a player that played for both teams that I suck. After I run out of guesses and look at some of the players I could have used, I usually smack myself in the head. Duh! I knew that. I can just never think of them. On this one, I knew the Hall of Fame ones were right, all of the others were educated guesses but as you can see, it worked out for me. You can see I only used 2 current players in the 6 slots that you could use current ones. That's probably why I usually struggle with these. I got my 1st one though, that's all that matters.

Sox and Former Sox & Wolverines

I finally got a break from all the birthday posts. At least for today. I have this week off work so I'll be working on some of my LCS's cards. Although I have plans most of the week so it won't be an all day thing. I'm a few posts behind as I picked up some cards last weekend and with all the birthday's, I haven't had a chance to post them. We did 2 shows this past weekend as well but I didn't pick anything up at those 2.

Today's post all came from Sluggo (Kevin). First up, are the cards he pulled while doing his sorting.

First off, the White Sox cards. He pretty much only pulls oddball and recently released cards for me because I usually end up having a ton of the regular base stuff. I like the Montgomery, I have a feeling he'll be our starting shortstop by the end of the year.

I haven't decided if I'm keeping this or not. I think I'll be ditching the Anderson collection anyways. All the cards will stay in the Sox collection but I don't plan on collecting him with any other teams now that he was let go and technically, this is another team. I already had it scanned so I figured I'd show it. I do like the WBC cards.

This is my 231st card of TA.

Supposedly the Dodgers are trying to get him from us. I may still collect him if he goes somewhere else but we'll see.

This cards put my Cease collection at an even 100.

He's no longer with the Sox either but I will continue to collect him. I like him, he seems like a good guy and I love his fire when he plays.

This is only my 37th card of Hendriks, I really need to get some more.

It says this is a coin card but it doesn't really look like a coin. Not a fan of some of these manurelics, this being one of them. Glad I didn't pay anything for it.

This is my 204th card of Eloy.

Luckily he hit me up with some from the other team I like, the one that is actually doing well.

I've been getting a bunch of Haskins lately, you'll see more when I get more free days to post. 

You'll also be seeing more of Paye in the near future. I got a small stack of those last weekend as well.

Another 2023 A&G. You've seen a few of those this post. Denard made this years set so I could add another to my collection.

He sent me 2 of these Matrix cards, both former Fab Fivers. This one of our current coach (when he gets back from medical leave).

This is my 126th of Juwan.

A couple more of the other Fab Fiver and as you can see, the other Matrix. I'm not sure I knew they had sets that looked like former baseball sets but I like it.

These 2 give me 139 cards of Rose.

He also found 1 more of Franz for the PC. I wasn't sure if this was a Michigan jersey for the Michigan collection but the Jordan logo gives it away. Funny that they can put that on a card but not Michigan.

This is my 37th card of Franz.

As I said, these all came from Kevin during his sorting. My next post will also be from Kevin but they didn't come from sorting.