40 for 40

back in his "should have been mvp" 2011 season, matt kemp fell one home run short of becoming the fifth member of the 40/40 club. that honor has since gone to ronald acuna jr, some 12 years after kemp just missed out.

today is kemp's 40th birthday, so that's one 40 milestone he has reached successfully. in honor of his 39/40 2011 season and his latest trip around the sun, here are 40 kemp cards from my collection that i've not previously shown here.

2006 topps turkey red red parallel

2006 upper deck special fx

2007 topps chrome refractor

2008 topps chrome copper refractor

2008 upper deck timeline gold parallel

2008 upper deck ultimate collection

2009 bowman chrome

2009 bowman chrome xfractor

2009 upper deck o-pee-chee black parallel

2010 bowman chrome refractor

2010 topps chrome refractor

2011 bowman international

2011 topps attax foil parallel

2012 bowman orange parallel

2012 topps gold parallel

2012 topps walmart blue parallel

2012 topps tribute bronze and blue parallels

2012 topps update golden parallel

2013 bowman blue parallel

2013 bowman state and hometown parallel

2013 bowman platinum gold parallel

2013 topps blue slate wrapper redemption parallel

2013 topps chrome blue refractor

2013 topps chrome purple refractor

2013 topps chrome black refractor

2013 topps tribute blue parallel

2013 topps tribute superstar swatches and famous four baggers relics

2014 topps kemp green parallel

2014 topps chrome orange refractor

2014 topps chrome purple refractor

2014 topps chrome xfractor

2014 topps turkey red

2018 topps big league blue parallel

2018 topps chrome update pink refractor (all-star game)

2018 topps chrome update pink refractor 

2018 topps update (all-star game) rainbow foil parallel

2018 topps update (all-star game) rainbow foil parallel

and how about a 2013 topps museum collection primary pieces quadruple relics patch card numbered to 5 to cap things off

there are only five players better represented in my card collection than kemp, who clocks in at around 530 unique cards. i am always keeping an eye out, so that total will likely continue to grow.  happy birthday to the bison!

a card show in h-town, part 1

i have never travelled out of state for a card show, although i've toyed with the idea of heading into wisconsin once or twice for that purpose. both nationals that i attended were in california where i was living at the time, but maybe i'll get to ohio one of these days. anyway, i didn't travel to texas for a card show, but i did see that one was scheduled during my visit in may, so i took advantage.

it was a good ol' fashioned hotel show at a marriott out near hobby airport, appropriately enough. the tables were full and the people were friendly, even as i was wearing my dodger hat from the 2017 world series. here's what i walked away with:

the first table i stopped at had a dollar box with a bunch of relics and autos and a few other items. i spent $21 for 21 cards. here are a few highlights:

2007 upper deck premier christy mathewson (silver) and jimmie foxx premier stitchings

2022 panini select rookie jumbo swatch holo prizm cards of andre jackson

and lars nootbaar

2021 panini spectra jahmai jones rising rookie gold prizm dual patch relic /10

one of the reasons that i added this card to my stack is that it was in a one-touch case. i posted about another jahmai jones card that i bought for the same reason a while back.

also in a one-touch was this card from a different sport altogether

that's a 2021-22 panini chronicles draft picks donruss optic rated rookie bronze prizm parallel of jalen suggs. it's also a ridiculously long name for a card. i figure i can flip these cards so that i am basically being paid to take the one touch cases.

here's a 1996 pinnacle johnny damon artist's proof

that caught my eye. even though i was still collecting in the 1990's, i didn't go for pinnacle and missed out on all the duflex glory.

there was also a binder of autos and parallels on the table - without prices. i usually don't bother but took a look and asked how much this 2021 topps chrome rookie blue wave refractor autograph of mitch white

would cost. it was just another buck. the seller asked if he was any good and i mentioned that he had just been dfa'd so there was a team out there that didn't think so. i was happy to see later that day that white had been picked up by the brewers.

the next table i stopped at had a bargain box with a twist. they priced the cards such that you get get as many as you could fit into a box (similar to a 1980's box set box) for $10. i wound up getting 61 cards to fit.

these cards included a bunch of 2021 topps finest flashbacks dodger cards

and some other random stuff like a 2001 bowman heritage chase utley rookie card

a non-retail 2022 panini absolute gil hodges card

and a 1998 pacific crown collection chipper jones card featuring dodger catcher tom prince

and i maintained my artist's proof streak by picking up this 1998 score showcase series david segui card

i then added four cards from the higher priced box to my stack, and got those for another $10. these included a couple of panini braves relics

a 2014 panini hall of fame roy campanella elite dominator

and a 1998 donruss signature series ismael valdes millennium marks auto

by this time, this seller's friend had started setting out his wares on the table next to these boxes. i took a quick look at one of the boxes and asked about pricing on this 2022 topps freddie freeman batting helmet commemorative relic

he said five bucks. i told him i would give him a couple bucks for it, but would give him five if he added these two cards - a 2014 topps chrome onelki garcia blue refractor rookie autograph

and a 2022 topps stadium club chrome walker buehler orange refractor

he agreed. the buehler is numbered to 25

it's great to be in non-dodger country!

this wasn't the end of my day, but i'll save the rest for another post. stay tuned!