CSA Dulles Expo Center

 Little late to post this. So this past weekend I went to the CSA Show at the Dulles Expo Center in Fairfax, VA. I work in Fairfax and live about 45 mins from here so I try to attend at least one of the days when the show is in town. Also I'm pretty sure I caught a/the norovirus this weekend at the show but I'm coming around now as I'm finally feeling good enough to go to work tomorrow.

I went in with $200 in cash. I go to these usually looking for any 80s wax boxes, Ryan Zimmerman Cards I don't own, and sets I'm working on. It didn't exactly turn out that way because my most expensive purchase wasn't even a baseball card. 

This was the only photo I took while at the show. But there are like 300 sellers there any numerous signings going on. It is kinda a mad house. I got there around 12:15 and it was really busy. I left around 3:00 and it was much tamer by then. 

I got 2002 Stadium Club Pujols for $20. After checking comps I seen the prices vary so I figured I would get it since Stadium Club is my favorite set and I don't have this card. 

These are some 1968's I picked up to work on that set. Condition is not great on many of these but that isn't a big concern to me. 

The Zimmerman's I picked up. Nothing special. A few parallels and a relic.

This was actually my most expensive purchase. A vintage button for the Washington Senators/Nationals. I ended up paying $40 for it. IDK if I over payed or not, but when I saw it I knew I wanted it. So I made the purchase. I got it displayed with my vintage Nationals collection. 

Overall the show is so-so for the type of collector I am. When it comes to vintage, CSA is the best shows I've seen. When it comes for looking for Zimmerman/Nationals cards (not including Soto) it is slim pickings even though we are in the shadow of Washington DC. I made a little small talk with a few of the sellers and I'm not really one to haggle on prices since I'm not buying any high priced items. 

TCDB Trades - Zimm #/10 - Stammen

Been a good week for some acquisitions. Still working on my early 80's Topps sets. I have managed to get pretty lucky to this point by building my sets by purchasing some big lots off of different social media sites and making trades by sending ultra modern for 80's cards.

I got a few more 1981's to add to the collection. Condition is not a big deal to me when dealing with these cards. These are for me and my son to enjoy when he comes of age. If I want to create a more pristine set in the future then I will, but for now I just want to get my hands on one to complete the sets. 

Got these from...Lets say his name is Chris. Traded me 3 hof's. Very grateful for those.

Got these from...Lets say his name is Jeremy. He threw in an extra, the Bill Robinson. The Bill Lee is slightly missed cut but I told Jeremy I didn't mind at all. I traded away some 1981 Fleer's I had for trade. 

Got these from a few Ebay purchases. The Gypsy is serial number #/10!! Got a really good deal on it. With Chrome just releasing some of the other parallels are being looked over which is good for me. Imma wait a few months for the market to die down before I get a few of the parallels. 

I was watching this auction play out two days ago and it shot up from $8 to this in the last 20 seconds. This is not a $127 card, but I did get a chuckle realizing I'll get this card for less than $20 in the future. 

Craig Stammen

Looking ahead to the NLCS, as a Nationals fan I do have a rooting interest in this. Got Soto on one side, Bryce on the other. However it is more than that. Josh Bell is on the Padres. Schwarber is on the Phillies, but there is relief pitcher for the Padres that is hurt I'm hoping gets a ring. That is Craig Stammen. 

Craig Stammen came up with the Nats during the rebuild in the early 2010's. He came up as a starter but moved to the bullpen when he failed to go deep into games. He turned into the long relief guy and was very instrumental in the early success of the Nats when they made their first few post seasons. He got hurt during the 2015 season,missed a whole season, and signed with the Padres. He has now been with the Padres in the same role he had with the Nats and also went through the rebuild with them. Though my hatred for Harper has diminished over time, I'm hoping the Padres can pull it out so little ole Craig can get a ring.  

Enjoying My Day Off

As noted already, my job though it pays the bills and allows me the funds to collect is probably the biggest pain in my life. I do work in public safety, but fortunately it is behind a headset, a computer, and in a bomb proof building so I'm in no direct threat to get hurt. I work in a very populated, affluent county that has great financial perks, but like most public safety entities across the country; we are hurting for people. I have 14 years on, I'm over halfway to retirement, the benefits and pay are too good for me to leave so essentially I'm stuck. So today (Saturday), is my one day off in this two week span. I will be spending this day doing loads of laundry, organizing my collection, and getting some exercise in while I'm out enjoying Community Day on Pokemon Go. 

On my way into work yesterday I stopped by my little post office in town to pick up a couple of bigger packages and a smaller TCDB trade. I made one big trade through a set builders group on Facebook, I bought a hobby box of 1994 Stadium Club Series 2, and I got one card through a small trade. 

I'm working on 1980, 1981, and 1982 Topps set. I was able to secure over 100 1981 Topps needs. I got 2 needs for my 1982 Topps set which I only need about 10 more cards to finish. I also opened up the Hobby Box of Stadium Club. 

I got a decent stack to organize, one first day issue, and a bunch of the rainbowish foils (one per pack). I got some nice players as seen above. I'm going to organize my TCDB account and add my missing to my needs. All of my duplicates I will add to my for trade list if anyone is looking to start the set. 

This afternoon from 2-5 pm it is Community Day on Pokemon Go. Though I'm a grown ass adult, some of my coworkers play to pass the time so I have joined up with them. There is a big park down the street from my home that I'm going to walk through for a couple of hours to get some exercise. 

As I'm typing this up this morning I got MLB Network on and I can't finish this post out without giving a shout out to Bruce Sutter. Though he pitched before "my time", he obviously had a great career and played for iconic franchises. He was a Hall of Fame reliever and a World Series Champion. RIP Bruce Sutter

Hello Collectors

This is my first post in what I hope turns into a place when I can get away from the stress and grind of my job and daily life and put into words my thoughts, likes, dislikes of collecting cards. I was hardcore into collecting as a child through my first couple years of college. I stopped around 2005 and got back into like many during COVID of 2020. Much has happened to me in the 15 years I was not in the hobby. Graduated college, got into a career (though a stressful one), got married, got divorced; you know the usual growing up and becoming an adult stuff. 

So 2020/COVID/Marriage separation was not a fun year for me personally. During the fall of that year I got back into collecting as a distraction and then realized what I loved about it so much.  The hunt of working on a set. Collecting as many cards of your favorite player. Hitting a huge card when opening packs. There are so many ways to go about it that make it so fun, I have a hard time narrowing down what I enjoy about it so much. So in the two years since I got back into the hobby, I have realized what my favorite things are to do. Collect Ryan Zimmerman, Set Building, Collect Nationals Prospects, and a dabble of investing/holding for the future. 

A few holdovers from 2005 and new purchases in 2020. 

Moving forward I'm going to discuss anything that really comes to my mind with collecting, the nationals (and nats minor league teams), work, and any personal adventures. Thank you for reading and continue to do what makes you happy and a better person =)

PS. I have a TCDB profile and make plenty of trades and always looking to unload commons even if it looks like a bad deal for me. TCDB