Thrift Treasures Part VI: Yes We Can!
I had a dream. I had a dream that one day I would walk into a thrift store and find cards so cheaply priced that I would have no choice but to buy them. There would be commons and stars, but they would be mine. Oh yes, they would be mine. I had a dream.
OK, that’s a pathetic attempt at sounding something like Martin Luther King Jr. Hey, forgive me. It’s Black History Month and much of the nation is still in a state of euphoria after electing and swearing in its first Black president. Stay with me, I swear this has something to do with baseball cards.
I returned to work last week after having five weeks off to bond with my newborn daughter and one of the things I like to do during my lunch break or on my way home is to hit up the good ol’ thrift stores. Well, on Monday I not only found cards, but a Cards jersey.
I don’t really consider myself a jersey collector, but I do buy good condition ones I find in thrift stores. If it doesn’t have some weird defect and it fits — and if it’s cheap — it’s coming home with me. Such was the case with this Mitchell & Ness 1982 St. Louis Cardinals Ozzie Smith jersey.
Whether this is a knock-off or a legit M&N is up for debate, but for $8 it was worth buying. Typically M&N jerseys run upward of $300.
If someone can help me determine the legitimacy of this jersey I’d appreciate it. One thing I found interesting is a tag that is sewn on the inseam of the jersey. I’ve never seen this Union tag on the inside of a jersey. Has anyone else? For those interested, Ozzie Smith’s name is NOT on the back of this jersey.
After finding the jersey I swung by the toy section where cards are sometimes found. If there are cards for sale they are usually baggies of 1990 Score or Donruss sitting around with a hefty $3 price tag.
On this day I found a sack of about 70 cards cards that looked to be all 2008 Topps. I decided to go for it, figuring I could use some of the common base cards for TTM requests. As it turned out, the baggie was better than anyone could have expected.
I don’t collect football, but these were a nice surprise:
Six 7-Eleven exclusive cards including: Matt Ryan, Vince Young, Peyton Manning, Maurice Jones Drew and two Ben Roethlisbergers.
There also were a pack’s worth of 2008 Topps football in the lot. The highlights were these two inserts:
It says 420. <insert Beavis laugh>
And some random baseball:
Tejada 2003 Disabled American Veterans card, Johjima 06 Fleer Rookie Sensation, 06 Upper Deck Phillies Mascot card
And finally the best of the 2008 Topps cards:
Yes, there was a Barack Obama 2008 Topps Campaign “rookie” card in the baggie. Can you believe that?
In this day and age, you’d think that this card would have been removed by somebody, anybody. Hell, some worker bee in the backroom sorting this stuff could have taken the Obama card and put in their locked for decoration. But no, it ended up in the baggie, and ultimately in my collection. For the record, this is my second Obama campaign card.
