2016 National Convention Loot - part 3

So the last day I went was Friday.  I finally figured out the best route to get there.  Take the ferry across to Cape May, then go up the Garden State Parkway until you hit the Atlantic City Expressway and bang! you're there.  Hour and a half boat ride, and an hour drive.  Total Tolls = less than $2.50.  (OK the ferry is kinda expensive).  The previous days, I had taken the long, arduous route.

Anyway, at the show, I started towards the back of the floor and worked forward.  I came to a dealer who had some boxes of vintage singles and some other binders kinda piled on the back of his table.  I think his name was Rick and he wore a Mets jersey.  His boxes weren't marked with prices, so I was cautious as he asked what I was looking for.  He asked that of every customer who walked up to the table.  Can't knock a guy for good customer service and wanting to make sales.  But at times, he seemed to be trying to do too many things at once.  I said I was looking for off-condition '72 and '70 Topps.  He showed me one box, and handed me another, and then pulled out a couple partial binders.  I picked out a few singles.  He asked me which stars I needed and I rattled off a couple names.  I usually prefer to look through what a dealer has and then come up with a stack for evaluation at the end.  This guy wasn't pushy, but it was still kinda distracting to try to search his singles and talk to him at the same time.  He had some singles marked at prices which he said were half off, and others that weren't marked.  I had found some mid-grade high numbers and some semi-stars.  He pulled out some others including Hank Aaron and two Nolan Ryans.

Once I was done looking, he proceeded to go through each and every card and give me a detailed evaluation of condition and resulting price.  To my relief, his prices were very good.  The couple star cards that were marked were right in line where I felt they should have been, and the off-condition ones he discounted heavily.  Then we came to Aaron and Ryan.

He handed the Ryans to his partner to see which was in better/worse shape.  They both were really nice.  I said my set wasn't worthy and he should sell them to someone willing to spend more on them. I was on the fence on the Aaron too, but had an open mind.  He made an offer, which I pondered for a minute or two, and then he lowered that to the point where I couldn't see why I shouldn't take it.  It was a very fair amount for the whole stack.  I walked away happy.  I thanked him for his time and effort ~ both of which were unusually high for a deal involving a handful of cards.

The next couple purchases, in no particular order because I can't remember exactly, were much quicker but were equal bargains.  I found not one, but two of my T205 New York Giants cards for an amazing $55....for the PAIR.  I usually like to get these in graded form - the only instance where that is true - but these were right in line with the condition of the others I have, and for that price (discounted from $35 each), I couldn't pass them up.  I actually offered $60 and the guy countered with the $55.  When does that happen?

Then it was time for a prolonged session of ... quarter box digging!

Found a vendor who had a whole "block" of tables, which were mostly two to five rows of singles for 25¢ each.  Initially found a box of football that had a lot of the old Fleer Team Action singles, which I had found in Michigan a while back nice and cheap, but since then had only seen them for a buck a shot, which to me is way too much.  Seeing them here prompted me to pull up a chair.  Suffice to say, I spent a couple hours sifting through and came up with singles from that and several other football sets, plus a couple vintage baseball singles, and more.  

 You saw the Fleers in the previous post.  Above are some of the modern football singles I got.  The Platinums really knocked my list down, and there weren't too many I didn't need.  It's like the packs I was missing were in this box.  One of the other singles I showed before was the last card (I thought) I needed for my 1975 Topps football set.  When I went to put checklist #376 away, though, there was already one there.  And I discovered I was missing a Chief at #16.  I always buy dupes....

Coming back towards the front of the show, I saw another dealer with a big sign that had each day of the show listed, and a corresponding discount rate.  Wednesday was 40% off, Thursday 50%, Friday 60, Satuday 70, and Sunday 80.  He said he was gonna get really busy Sunday.  Since I knew I was done, I didn't wait.  He had one box of nothing but Sport Kings, which I've never really seen before, but only found a Yaz for a friend.  Another box was some superstars, including Stephen Strasburg and Robert Griffin III.  I picked up a few Stras cards, including the short print #661 from 2010.  I also got some RGIII's that I had probably passed up from other dealers since they cost so much.  The stickers are "before discount" prices.  One notable one is the die cut shield one [center of bottom row], which I already had pulled from a pack, but the pack wrapper was sealed right over the top point, damaging the card.  While not basement bargains, I think I did OK with these.  His stuff might go back up if he blows up in Cleveland.  I wish the guy well, honestly.

Next time, part two of the final day.  Two vintage team sets complete ~ as it was meant to be.