Des Moines, Iowa Baseball Card Show

I was back home in Iowa in October to visit my parents and my little sister.  I knew I was going to be in Des Moines one weekend, so I just checked the Beckett Show Calendar to see if there were any card shows happening then.  It turns out that there was!  Here's what the listing said :

Urbandale American Legion Hall, 6805 Douglas Avenue, 8-3, 80T
Ryan Grother 515-491-8403 ryancardz@gmail.com

Based upon that, I was pretty stoked.  80 TABLES?!?  This thing is going to be massive!!!!  Well.........not so much. When I got there I counted 8 or 9 dealers (10% of the advertised amount).  I only had to go about 4 miles from my sister's house to this show, so it was no biggie for me, but if I'd made a longer trip based on that info I'd be pretty ticked.

However, this show DID redeem itself.  6 of the 8 dealers had either dime or quarter boxes to sift through, and I was able to find a bunch of "treasures" for myself.  Some of them were also willing to negotiate on bulk pricing on those dime/quarter cards, helping me to stretch my budget a little farther.  All-in-all, I came home with a 250-count box nearly full.  It was all cards I wanted for myself or for trades, and I think my total spending was under $30.

Here's a sampling of the stuff I picked up.

The greatest athlete to ever come out of Iowa State.

2007 Allen and Ginter - Cael Sanderson - #23

The last two "State" Royals that I needed from that Ginter Subset.  I am still looking for the Iowa card (Casey Blake) if anyone has that.

Three more MINDS.  Now I want to go do electro-magnetic experiments on a steamboat...

One guy there had a whole mess of Panini Americana.  He must have just busted a few boxes and was looking to dump cards.  He had Presidents with lovely facial hair:

A Married Couple (The Yale card will go in my wife's binder):

And some gentlemen with VERY unique leaping styles:

I always liked Barbara Bush.  She felt like "America's Grandma" to me.  She was the REAL Barbara Bush...not like that fake one.  :-)

Here were a few dime-box cards I grabbed for trade.  Do any of my Dodger-blogger friends need any of these?  The "Invincible" card is half-cardboard/half-plastic.  The Goodwins are minis.

After that I was just looking to pick up miscellaneous Royals cards.  Neither of these gents are with KC anymore, though. 

Some randoms....Bo Knows Archery!  Don Denkinger is the favorite umpire of all Royals fans everywhere. 

Finally, I grabbed a card off my "Most-Wanted" list for just 10 cents.  Justin Maxwell taking BP in the construction site.

2008 Upper Deck - Justin Maxwell - #326

Just think what I could have come back with from an 80-table show!  Probably 10 of each of those cards above....

Hard Hats and High Heat - Most Wanted #3

One thing I love(d) about Upper Deck baseball cards is that they weren't afraid to put the slightly goofy picture on their card.  Whether that was a guy with his dog, someone in a silly hat, etc., they were fine with it if it looked cool.  That brings us to my "Most Wanted" card #3.

 2008 Upper Deck #326 - Justin Maxwell (Rookie)

Mr. Maxwell appears to be playing a game on some sort of construction site (or maybe it's the lunar surface).  I'm guessing this was for the Washington Nationals Park.  I don't know why they would install home plate and chalk the lines before adding essential things like grass and seats and hot dog stands...but maybe I just don't understand baseball these days.  It was nice of all those construction workers to take a break to come watch him do whatever he is doing.  I am happy to see that they are all OSHA-compliant in their reflective vests and hard hats.  The catcher is in his full gear.  Everyone in this picture is very safe....WAIT!

Everyone in this picture is safe...except for the one person who needs a helmet most.  Justin Maxwell.  Stay safe out there, Justin.  Watch out for loose girders.  And inside fastballs.  

This card is awesome.  I love it and its oddball-ness.  It would only be better if it contained a jersey swatch of a reflective vest.  

If anyone has this card for trade, please let me know.