#SDCC and #PSA

While we all freely admit to being nerds/geeks, there are varying degrees to our nerdiness.  And often as much as we like to think we are an open and welcoming and very ‘hail fellow well met’ crowd we can be totally oblivious to other forms of nerdiness.

Besides collecting autographs I also collect graded Mike Schmidt cards. I have a nice collection.  I’m at the point where I need to purchase ungraded cards and get them graded.  I don’t do that a lot.  It’s easier, albeit more expensive, to buy cards already graded.  Since I can’t find the cards I want graded I resort to doing it myself.

I used to go to The National.  Notice that capital ’T’ in front of the ‘the’?  Yes, it was there for a purpose.   The National is the big card show. It’s the biggest show in the country and it’s once a year. It’s awesome. It’s more than baseball cards; just like SDCC is more than just comic books.

I shifted away from doing the National and focused more on ComicCon.  One thing you can do at The National – get your cards graded. And I have been sitting on a few cards for a while.  Since I don’t go, I don’t get the cards graded.

Now, the card company that I use, PSA decided to show up at SDCC.  Very cool. I was excited. I brought 12 cards with me to get graded.

Yes, you read that right, I brought baseball cards to a comic book convention.  Yes, that is a strange intersection of nerdiness. 

First thing I did on Preview night was find the PSA booth and fill out my form and paid my money. It took about 30 minutes but it was worth it. Yesterday I got 2 of my cards back. Not sterling examples but they are mine and graded and added to my set.

I will lay odds I was the only one to do that at ComicCon.  The few people I mentioned it to, did look at me like I was a sparkle vampire.  See, sometimes we aren’t as accepting as we like to think.

But as a true nerd I’ll hide the hurt and will boldly do it again if the need arises.

 

AH