Who Needs 2015 Topps When You've Got a Quarter Box

I swung by Target today to grab a couple of things I needed for an upcoming overnight work trip. I took a look in the card aisle, but 2015 Topps baseball has yet to make it to my neighborhood.  That's alright though, I'm getting plenty of enjoyment out of a new (to me) hobby shop in my area that I was tipped off to by Mark Hoyle (we live in the same neck of the woods).  It turns out I knew the owner from a previous shop he worked at years ago, great guy who remembered my name and even what I collect as soon as I walked in.  The best part is that he's got a ton of quarter and dollar boxes.

Since I couldn't find any 2015 Topps today, here are 20 cards that I plucked from the quarter boxes at the shop.  Grand total of $5, same price a rack pack of Topps would have set me back.  I doubt I would have found anything this shiny though!  I actually picked this card out for Douglas of Sportscards from the Dollar Store since he collects Guerrero, but I wasn't disappointed in the least to find that he already had a copy.

I remember these fondly from collecting as a kid.  The border is a raised frame, similar to some of the parallels found in recent Gypsy Queen sets.  I like these cards enough that I was happy to pick up Wade Boggs despite the fact that he's depicted with the Yankees.

There were a large stack of retired players/HOFers from the 2003 Upper Deck Vintage set.  I've seen these blatant rip-offs of 1965 Topps before, but never realized these guys were on the checklist!  I loaded up on quite a few of them...

There were a nice variety of the stars of yesteryear, most of whom you don't see recycled on modern cardboard as often as guys like Mantle, Robinson and Aaron.

I love a good Ozzie Smith card, and this one fits the bill.  I think I'm up to around 50 Smith cards now even though I don't collect him specifically.

Couple more of these Upper Deck vintages in this stack.  Even the backs "pay homage" to '65 Topps:

Alright that truly is the end of these Upper Deck Vintage cards, for this post anyway...

As someone who enjoys a good minor league card, there was no way I could leave this Pudge Rodriguez behind.  I hope to find more cards from this set in the quarter box in the future.

I had never seen this card before, probably because I wasn't collecting in the early 2000s.  A nice photograph of a historic moment, and Hank is still the true HR champion in my book.

Here's one from when the Topps Archives sets were actually well done.  Pulled a lot of cards of Sparky out of '80s Topps products as a kid.

Easily one of my favorite picks from this quarter box haul.  Satchel Paige is one of the more interesting characters in baseball history, but I don't have too many of his cards.  This particular insert is from the 2007 Upper Deck set, and features an awesome black and white photo of Paige on the inaugural 1989 Upper Deck baseball design.  My favorite part is the great patch on Satchel's left sleeve.  That particular logo was part of my page header back in the very early days of this blog.

If you were around when this was in use, then you've been reading my blog for a looooong time!

Back to the card, we get another great image on the back.  Would have gladly shelled out a dollar or more for this one, for a quarter I was pumped.

I can never turn down a mint, obnoxiously bright Classic card.

Out of this stack of 20 cards, I mistakenly picked up two that I already had.  George Brett here was one of them.  Oh well, not a bad card to throw in the trade box, 1990 Leaf was a great set.

Just so happens that the 20 cards I grabbed for this post were mostly baseball, but I did grab quite a few hockey cards as well.  I was sold on this Bernie Parent because of the odd Flyers jersey and that scary mask.

Here's the other card I already had.  No worries, I've put it in my pile of cards for Mark Hoyle.  Fitting since he's the reason I found out about this shop to begin with.

Here's one from the 2003 Topps Bazooka set, done in the style of the 1967 Topps Stand-Ups cards.

As a Red Sox fan, I can never have too many Dom DiMaggio cards.

The last card I've got for tonight is from In the Game, and represents game 8 of the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and Russia.  This was the final game in the series, and the Canadians won in dramatic fashion as Paul Henderson (depicted) scored the game winner with just 34 seconds left to complete a dramatic third-period comeback.

A lot of nice, hand-picked cardboard there for $5.  Doubt I would have gotten that much enjoyment out of 2015 Topps.  Doesn't mean I won't be checking Target again soon though!