Preparing for a Superstorm

So, with then Hurricane Sandy bearing down on me and only one last day to prepare, I asked myself, what is the best way to prepare for the storm.  While some would say lay in supplies and others would avoid traveling, I got in my car and drove to the next state to go to a card show at the mall.

Feeling well prepared for the storm, which unless I could get a generator for an apartment, I was not, I headed off in search of cards.  Two and a half years before, I started my return to purchasing sports cards in a mall, a different mall closer to home, but at a show run by the same people.  It was there, I purchased my first T206 from a selection of 200 or so cards.  Going to this mall in Pennsylvania, I found the same dealer, who conveniently or perhaps not conveniently, does not sell on the internet.  Looking over his wares, I found few cards I needed for my set and those I needed were well outside the price I was willing to pay.  I did however, find a rare card I was willing to upgrade.



This particular Lefty Leifeld is a favorite of mine.  The yellow, purple and blue create a strange background, not quite a sunset, but not quite any other time of day.  This particular example has better and stronger color and aside from the faint crease four buttons up, is quite the nice card.  If I were to rank the T206s from 1 to 524 based on appearance alone, I would rank Leifeld Hands Behind Head in the top ten without question.



From there, I went about the rest of the show, looking for other cards of interest as the storm winds began to settle in.  I found a table with an older gentleman, obviously an original New York Giants fan given his age, Giants cap and strong interest in discussing the team.  I quickly found a set of 1987 M&M cards from which I needed the Mike Scott for my collection.  Given that the whole set was cheaper than purchasing a single card, I felt this was a fine deal and added 1988 Topps Traded set for $2 as well.  Looking through his boxes, I found the above card for a quarter and while not a Joe Morgan fan, I do appreciate food items with Houston Astros wearing the orange and picked that up as well.  



While most of the other tables were bust, such as fifty cent commons for 2012 Topps Update and  some low interest boxes, I added one last card to my purchases for the day.  When I saw the Sergei Zubov for slightly more than I paid for a set of 1988 Topps Traded, I knew that needed to come home with me as well.  Anytime I can find a decent relic of an offensive minded defensemen who played before 2000, especially a Penguin, I grab that immediately.  (As always, disregard the price on the sleeve, which is far more than I would have purchased this card for.)

With my purchases in tow, I drove back across state lines, into the traffic jam surrounding a Rutgers game and finally home, where I awaited the storm to come.