I went back to the candy store

I made a second trip to the home of the former card shop owner I told you about last week.  He and I spent two fun hours looking through boxes for cards.  I helped him pull Cubs and White Sox for another buyer and he pulled Rangers for me.  He's getting up there in years so he enjoys the company and I enjoy spending time with someone who knows so much about the hobby.

This time I wasn't just looking for cards for myself.

I owed Need More Cardboard some Braves for winning the contest to guess how much I spent at the "candy store" the first time.  I think I got a pretty good deal this time around too.

(Subliminal message....contest, contest, contest....last chance)

I know a guy who collects Barry Larkin so I picked up a few.

Tony Gwynn is pretty popular so I pulled out a handful.

The Big Hurt was once one of MLBs Shining Stars.

We have lots of Dodgers collectors out there don't we?

I didn't actively seek out play at the plate cards, but I did notice this shiny Chrome play at the plate so I added it to the stack.  

You know I picked up a bunch of Rangers too.  Love that old school Rangers logo, circa 1983 Donruss.

Hey look, a card that shows my scanner needs a good cleaning.

Catcher in gear...check.  Pudge...check.  Brilliant...double check.

I'm sure I haven't seen every Juan Gonzalez card ever made, but I doubt there is a better photo of Juan than this one.  If you look closely, you can see the ball just above his glove.

Gold parallel of Kevin Mench--good.  Too much crotch in the shot--bad.  Very, very bad.  

Play Ball Pudge!

Shrek was his nickname.  He was a fun loving Ranger.  No crotch shot on this card either.

Flair Showcase was a beautiful set.  This is the 1998 version and it's great.

The 1999 version is even better.   Love that color.

The second trip to the "candy store" netted me the following:

1 very slightly used binder loaded with 100 Ultra Pro Platinum pages

Rangers--112 cards
Dodgers--44 cards
Braves--51 cards
Barry Larkin--6 cards
Frank Thomas--6 cards
Tony Gwynn--7 cards
Various other cards--54 cards

Total cards--280

The total cost for all the cards, the binder and the pages was $14.60.

That's a bargain if you ask me.

Guess who already has another card search scheduled for next week?