National Gifts From Max

I've almost got all of the stuff written about The National that I can possibly write.  I may have two or so more posts after this one.  I have had a really hard time remembering who got me what, or where I found certain cards.  I had to send a Kik message last night to Frankie and Max in order to verify which cards I got from each of them.  We were handing each other cards left and right, and we were putting them in boxes to keep from letting them get damaged.

It was this that made The National a lot of fun.  Our group would search a table, and after a few minutes, each would say something like "Here, I thought you would like this, I just bought it."  Max and I were discussing last night about how we both realized that we had spent a good amount on money on each other.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  A lot of the cards that I bought ended up going to other people.  Some of ot was for later trades, but most of it was just care package stuff that I thought others would like.

Max really knows the types of stuff that I like, and he surprised me with some really good cards.  The above Kevin Gausman is a really cool card.  It's a 2011 Bowman Sterling numbered 185/199.

Max also helped with the Sonny Gray PC with this 3-piece relic card from from 2010 Topps USA Baseball.  This one isn't numbered, but is pretty awesome.

Thanks for everything you do, Max, and I'm glad we were able to spend the time that we did together at The National.

Instagram Trade With Lonestargraphs

I completed a trade on Instagram a couple weeks ago with a kid who's screen name is Lonestargraphs when I sent him two 2014 Topps Chrome Autos in exchange for two Zach Britton cards.  In the trade, I sent away a blue parallel Michael Choice auto (sorry, Max) and a Nick Martinez auto.

The above 2011 Topps Finest Dual Relic/Auto of Britton is especially awesome and is numbered 57/69.  Britton has really come into his own this year as the Orioles' closer and I am glad I was able to get this before values start to jump up the more he is exposed during the O's run.

Not to sell this 2011 Bowman Sterling relic card short, by any means, when I gush over the Finest card.  This one is really nice in it's own right.  I forget how awesome past offerings of Topps Finest and Bowman Sterling have been and I definitely forget about them when I do my usual Ebay searches.  I need to try to find some more of these, for sure.

Thanks for the great deal, Lonestargraphs.  It would be better if I knew your name, but oh well.  Sometimes a degree of anonymity is a good thing.  I know we will trade again, though.

Checking Out Another Card Shop

Chris and I were bored this morning and decided that after we ate some lunch, we would take a ride out to Kinston and check out a card shop we had heard about.  The shop is located in Vernon Park Mall in Kinston, which is about 30 minutes away from our house.  I didn't go there with any expectations as I have driven around to check out card shops in the past only to find that they either had closed down or didn't have much of anything to offer.  I remember when I came out here to Greenville 3 years ago, I was happy to see that an actual card shop was in town and was a great place to get most of what I needed.  The only drawback about the Greenville shop is that the shop owner has pretty much sold out of his vintage stuff.

The Kinston shop we went to today is a candy store/card shop.  Interesting combination.  They had plenty of supplies as well as a nice assortment of all kinds of cards.  I took my time looking through the boxes they had set up and found a few things for myself and a couple cards for Chris.  They also had a nice selection of vintage Topps from 1955 to 1970.

I found the above Pineda/Britton dual relic in a 3/$10.00 box.  Since I didn't get 3 cards out of it, it ended up costing me $4.00, which still wasn't bad.  They had a lot of Team USA relics which I know a certain blogger would like.  I also found a nice vintage Yankee card for my buddy Drew.  I just wish there was a nice vintage Red Sox card for Scott.

 They had a box of $0.50 stars, and I was fairly sure I didn't have this Cal Ripken.  I went ahead and picked it up.

 Chris and I also bought 90s junk wax, he got a pack of 1991 Leaf for $0.50 and I got a pack of 1994 Studio for $1.00.  The Barry Larkin and Frank Thomas cards pictured are trade bait if anyone would like them.

In all, I was very satisfied with the shop.  The shopkeeper was a really nice guy who was patient with Chris and I as we searched his boxes.  Chris was able to come away with two Tim Lincecums that he didn't already have.  I also bought him a new baseball card album and a box of 100 sheets.  He and I are going to take his Lincecum cards and are going to put all of them together in one album.