BBA: The Blogger National 2026

It's been ages since I've been to a card show. I'd probably have to go back to the monthly versions that my collecting buddy and I used to attend at the local Holiday Inn, back in our high school days. 

 

But with all the current excitement about cards out there in the world, I'd have to imagine that there are a few shows within a reasonable driving distance of my current home. I think I'll do some research to find out. It might be fun to feel that card show energy again.

 

In any case, one thing I certainly wasn't going to do last week was travel to Chicago for the National Sports Collectors Convention. That would be like jumping straight into the deep end of the pool. Or a huge lake. Or the middle of the ocean. 

 

Thankfully, Matt from Cards over Coffee has once again set up a blog bat-around for those of us who've stayed at home, but want to share our recent trading card acquisitions. So far I've seen at-bats from The Chronicles of Fuji and from John's Big League Baseball Cards. 

 

Because it's been a full week since the actual National wrapped up, it means I'm a little late to the party here. But let's just imagine that I finally made it home from Chicago, recovered from the whirlwind of trading card activity, and now I'm ready to share my acquisitions from recent mail days that enormous showroom floor.

 

 

 

First, I found a few 1993-94 Ultra hockey cards for my set build, which is almost complete. My favorite of the bunch is this early Paul Kariya card, featuring him skating for Team Canada.

 

 

 

 

 

In a TCDB trade, I picked up a couple of older hockey cards for another build. The 1974-75 O-Pee-Chee WHA hockey set is small, but the cards can be somewhat pricey, especially if you're a stickler for condition. However, I love the design, not to mention all the super-cool defunct teams and jerseys on display, and I'm getting closer to wrapping up the set.

 

 

 

 

In a separate TCDB trade, I added a trio of pitchers for my 1979 Topps baseball build. Set completion is a bit further away with this one, but I've been picking off some decent players here and there, and I'll keep chipping away at it.

 

 

 

 

 

A few months ago, I wrote a Favorites Box post about Mike Pagliarulo's 1985 Topps rookie card. "Pags" was one of my favorite players back then, so much so that he's pretty much the only guy I ever had a player collection for. That blog post rekindled some collecting energy—enough for me to check my TCDB account to see how many different Pags cards I had. Turns out I was ranked in second place overall, with 112!

 

And with the addition of the Topps Tiffany trio you see above, that number has gone up to 115. Am I starting up a player collection again for the first time since I was a kid? We'll see. 

 

  

 

Next, I wanted to share a fun addition to my wax pack collection. These three packs were listed online for a decent price, and as an '80s kid who played NES games with gusto, I couldn't pass them up. (Side question: Does anyone else enjoy a good wax pack wrapper variation as much as I do?)

 

 

 

 

  

And finally, back to hockey. Fellow collector Stuart, from the S.R. '75 Cards blog, recently sent me some sticker backs from the 1988-89 O-Pee-Chee set. They're much appreciated, my collecting friend! I'm putting together a return package for you.

 

 

And those are my recent pick-ups. If you haven't taken a swing at this blog bat-around, why not give it a go? 

 

Thanks for starting it up, Matt!