1 vs. 100 - New Blood

Saturday was local card show day. I feel like I've been spoiled this past season. With 2 monthly card shows taking place within a reasonable drive (10 mins) from my place, I've been able to really take advantage of physically seeing all these great cards out there, drool over gems that are beyond my pc (and wallet) and 'talk shop' with a lot of great hobbyists.

And the winter season here in town has been a very pleasant surprise. Rarely have we been hit by a winter storm or blasted with frigid cold temperatures that leave us all sitting inside with nowhere to go.

If I had one beef with the local shows, it would be that it's the same people week in, week out setting up tables. Sure they have different cards out at times and they showcase some new product breaks, but it's just not the same.

Today, I was really happy to see a couple new faces setting up tables. I was even happier to see that on these tables were potential purchases.

I look forward to card show days, and new faces just make the event even better.

On this occasion, the new tables worked out well as I was able to land a couple cards for my 1 vs. 100 project.

Now, before I show off the cards, I have a little story. Have you ever found a card on a table, asked what the price was and thought it was just a tad higher than you wanted to hear? Have you ever tried to bundle the card with another to try and get the end price down slightly?

I did that today - and it worked. And yet I still cringed.

2005/06 SP Game Used
STATscriptions
#ST-JB Jay Bouwmeester /82

First, I was just happy to find a card that I needed for this project. I'm almost at the end of this trek and I'm still trying to finish off with the mindset that I'm not going to break the bank to complete the 100 cards.

I pulled this card out of the binder and asked what the asking price was.

"10 bucks" was the response.

Not bad. I was hoping to hear a little less. $5 would have been a "get your money out of the wallet now" moment. But I put the card aside along with the information.

Soon after, I found this nice compliment.

2005/06 SP Game Used
SIGnificant Numbers
#SN-NH Nathan Horton /16

Now if the Jay-Bo /82 was $10, I figured the Horton would be at least twice that. So I decided to bundle the two together and make an offer.

"Would you take $25 for the pair?"

"Absolutely".

Doh! Part of me was happy to get both cards for my asking price, but I have no doubt in my mind that if I had offered $20, I would have walked out the door with them.

I won, but I felt a little like I lost.

But in the end......I won.

I'm really happy to cross the number 16 off my list. I wasn't sure how tough that one was going to be. That leaves just 5 cards under the serial number of 30 on my wantlist and 16 cards left in total.

This year? Maybe? Who knows. But I'm in no rush.

84 out of 100 (84%)