Freedom Cardboard National trip report

I’ve been able to combine two joys in my life by writing about baseball cards on a constant basis. But the greatest thing that has come from the blog has been the people I’ve met and the generosity of those who give A Cardboard Problem just a few moments of their day. It genuinely floors me every time.

Last weekend, I went to Atlanta to the FCB National (I don’t care if that’s not what YOU call it, but I will) and hung out with great people. If you look at it from a literal standpoint, here were a bunch of people I met on the Internet where we came together to talk about a common hobby. It’s a little crazy to think of how people have come together in this way because 10-15 years ago, life wasn’t like this.

Many of us have talked about more than trading cards and I’ve gotten to know several of the FCB board members well. For that I’m grateful because it gives me an opportunity to sure a passion with others who feel the same way.

While I was in Atlanta, I actually came down with a pretty bad cold and was sick nearly the entire time I was there. But that didn’t take away from the good time I had and the wonderful people I met. It also didn’t stop me from searching the bargain bins for cards.

I was able to pick up these cards from a booth that was selling the cards for .10 cents each. STARS FOR .10 CENTS! I picked up several Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Alex Rodriguez cards because they were cheap.

I also grabbed this Thurman Munson card ($1) because it was the base version of the jersey card I picked up while I was at the National last August.

Chris Harris from Stale Gum gave me a bunch of cards to leaf through and said I could have any that I wanted. When I saw this card, I was amazed. Yogi Berra and Jorge Posada?! TOGETHER?!

Needless to say I will be searching for cards to fill his want lists. Thank you, Chris.

Another dealer had jersey and autos for $8 each or 3/$20. I picked up these three from him.

Then I got one card for my new basketball obsession.

The last day of the show made me laugh because it was reminiscent of the National. After several days of looking at booths, and knowing where everything was by heart, boredom set in. That’s when you bust wax and buy things you never considered getting before. I am not going to post my wax breaks. I’ll save that for another post, but I definitely opened product I wouldn’t never otherwise.

FCB also had several really cool guests to sign at the show including Michael Vick and Jason Heyward. At FCB’s specific booth, prospects Hunter Morris and Todd Cunningham signed for fans. They were really cool guys and seemed to enjoy hanging around and checking out the card show.

Check out the interviews of some of the guests here.

FCB thanks for having me. Chicago, here we come!