Card Show Highlights

I can't remember the last time I visited a major card show on a Friday. But summer break opens up opportunities and I'm glad I chose to go to the Houston TriStar summer show yesterday. In a mild surprise nearly all the dealers were set up and ready to go when the doors opened at 3, or at least soon thereafter. One real benefit is that there were no autograph guests scheduled when I was there so the place had the quiet, laid back feel of a hotel show. No blaring announcements of the next signature guests and no lines of guys holding boxed footballs and framed jerseys snaking through the aisles. 

I found some things I was looking for but the best part by far was coming across a table manned by two Negro League veterans. Dennis 'Bose' Biddle has written a book and does much traveling on behalf of the effort to preserve Negro League Baseball history. He, like my daughter is doing now, had a career as a social worker. Interesting guy who says he is the youngest living veteran of the Negro Leagues. That's a claim that is not without a bit of controversy.  

Ray Knox was a soft-spoken gentleman who spent several years in the NAL. He's from Evanston, Illinois and played for the Chicago American Giants and New Orleans Eagles. 

It was fun talking to them. They were not selling items but rather exchanging them for donations to Mr. Biddle's organization. I came away with the cards and this signed baseball. 

We took a couple of pictures but they didn't come out well.

The rest of the three hours I was there was devoted to two goals....finding some trade package items and finding inexpensive 1970 cards for my set build. Mission accomplished in both areas. Ironically I got the 1970 cards from my dealer friend Darrell who sold me the starter lot in the first place. I could have waited until his hotel show next Saturday and saved myself the parking and admission fees at TriStar but I'd have missed out on meeting Bose Biddle and Ray Knox.

I also raided Darrell's cheap non-sports box and came up with some neat stuff. I have a nice little collection of baseball Exhibit cards. I remember getting some from vending machines on the Coney Island boardwalk when I was a kid.

But the following items were new to me. They are Fortune Telling Exhibit cards from 1935. The idea was simple. Put in a coin and the Exhibit Supply Company laid your whole life out on a postcard sized piece of cardboard.

 Weird, right? But interesting enough to spend fifty cents on. here is the ext from both as it is hard to read otherwise.

I'd never seen these Kelloggs' Presidents 'stickers' from 1980. I snatched up all the ones Darrell had. Not much info out there on these. Supposedly there was a card set and a sticker set. 

They are pretty small (see below) so I blew up the reverse of one. Hell I could barely read the thing in hand so this helps me as well. LOL

Here is the U.S. Grant next to the Topps Grover Cleveland I bought (it's a dupe I find).

I grabbed a stary shiny Batman card for my Batman binder. I have no idea what it is other than it comes from some DC sponsored set but hey, it's Batman!

I also found a few 1960 Leaf cards. I may try to finish this set off one day. It's not real popular and the cards can be found pretty cheaply. It holds a certain charm for me though. I remember having some of these back when they were new but I don;t recall how I ended up with them. I suspect my folks just grabbed 'baseball cards' at Korvette's to go in Easter baskets or as stocking stuffers.

So the show was worth the trip. I seriously doubt I'll go back tomorrow even with my Father's Day 'kitchen pass'. I'll save my leftover cash for the hotel show next Saturday.