the card show recap - the final tally

so, here we are after a few days of recapping my trip to the local card show last weekend.  as i said in the first post, i am comfortable with what i spent (it was just under what i had budgeted) although i really had hoped to finish my 1974 topps set.  thanks to mr. haverkamp, it looks like i am just one lousy checklist away.

first things first - the total amount i spent was $98.  when i tallied up all the guesses from those of you who sounded off for each dealer, the closest to this total was mrmopar.  his total amount was $109.50 for a difference of $11.50.  yes, he was over, but this isn't 'the price is right'.  nick was second with $84.75.

this was an interesting exercise.  there was one group of cards that most of you think i overpaid for.  let's take a look at the individual dealers.

dealer 1 was the guy that i bought the two 1956 cards ($5 each) plus a bunch of 63's and 66's (12 for $5) and a few other cards.  i spent a total of $20.  john hazen hit the number on the head.

dealer 2 was the one that sold me a smattering of dodger cards, including that 2010 topps update short print and the two spring fever cards from this year.  he charged me $5.  the sp was $1 (!) and he threw the spring fever cards in for free.  that means, sadly that i overpaid for koyie hill and the others, but $5 worked for me.  night owl wins this round with his spot on guess of $5.

dealer 3 is where the wheels fell off as far as what i paid versus what you all guess i paid.  i noted that i bought some cards from the 'half-off' bin, and i am guessing they were half off of book.  i was on a mission to finish my 1974 set, and i know i spent more than i needed to to get the ryan and the other cards from this dealer.  when it came down to it, i decided not to go for a beat up ryan (the dealer had other copies for less but they had corner wear or other flaws), so i spent $15 on that card alone, even though it does have some tracking.  aside from the 1974 cards and the 1961 post johnny podres, all of the cards (including this 1969 topps deckle edge frank howard in which he is still wearing his dodger uniform with an airbrushed senators helmet) 

were 50 cents each.  vintage o-pee-chee for 50 cents could not be passed up.  in all, i spent $35 here.  that means that mrmopar, with his guess of $45 was the closest.  

i was kind of boxed in with dealer 4.  he was the one that brought 5 1974 topps washington nat'l league variations specifically for me to purchase.  as he showed them to me, he said that he pulled the best of the bunch and i realized that i had neglected to mention that condition was not necessarily a factor.  he started at $4 each, but settled for $13 for all 5 cards. i was pleased as i have been following a few of those cards on ebay, and i wasn't going to get even the 4 i needed for $13.  the winner here is captain canuck. and night owl.  they were both $1 off with their guesses.

dealer 5 should have been an easy one, and it was as captain canuck got it right with the first comment.  i bought 20 cards from this dealer's dime box.  $2 is the answer.

when you walk up to a guy and say i need 3 cards to complete a 1974 topps set, including phil niekro, you kind of lose some bargaining power.  fortunately, dealer 6 had the niekro marked for $2 in his binder, which was ok by me.  winner once again is captain canuck.

dealer 7 was the one from whom i purchased those 2011 topps update cognac and diamond parallels - 10 in all, including der-ek je-ter

these were 10 cards from a dime box, which was somewhat surprising to me since there were some real names in there, such as the aforementioned jeter.  oh well, i spent just $1.  congrats to play at the plate for his $2 guess.

dealer 8 sold me some vintage bowman dodgers and a few other items, too.  the 90% off bowman box was 90% off some fairly high prices, i thought, but i will pay $3 for a 1952 bowman preacher roe that looks pretty good on the front.  i finished my morning at the card show by laying out $20 for those last 9 cards.  winner this time is dhoff with a correct guess of $20.

so, i didn't do much haggling but came away with a lot of cards for my various sets and collections, plus some stuff to send off in trades.  and, as it turns out, in contest winnings.

if you are john hazen, night owl, mrmopar, captain canuck, play at the plate, or dhoff, sound off in the comments with the team of your choice and i will send some cards (although i can guess for most of you).  i will probably need addresses from you since i am not the best at keeping track of that sort of thing.  you can send those to gcrl@comcastDOTnet.

i may do this again, if i ever get to another show.