30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Online Shopping Spree

2020 can be defined by a lot of different things, but personally in regards to the hobby... it has been the "Year of Cutbacks".  This has has less to do with COVID and more about eBay and COMC charging taxes on sales and purchasing credit... which interferes with my ability to find bargains.  And let's face it... I love my bargains.

If I had to guess... I'd estimate I've cut back on my hobby purchases by as much as 80 to 90%.  I just haven't purchased a lot this year.  But when I look back on things, November 2020 will be the outlier.  

I mentioned on
Saturday how I picked up a few things on eBay last week that I will show off as soon as they arrive and are scanned.  A few weeks earlier, I picked up a few singles over at Cincy Cards and Supplies.  Not sure how or where I discovered this online card shop, but while everyone has been digging through 2020's favorite online dime box... I spent an hour exploring Cincy's inventory.

Here are some of the nuggets I dug up...

2016 Leaf Perfect Game National Showcase #BA-292 (#'d 2/10) $4

Miller was the Los Angeles Dodgers first pick in the 2020 MLB DraftProspects are always a gamble, but for four bucks... I couldn't pass this card up.

The card at the heart of this purchase was this Dominic Smith autograph:

2018 Topps Museum Collection Archival Autographs #AA-DSM (#'d 59/99)  $3

I remember when Smith was one of the top prospects in the Mets farm system.  This past season he really broke out at the plate and produced some solid numbers.  He's only twenty-five years old, so it'll be interesting to see how his career plays out.

2016 Panini National Treasures Baseball Signatures #BS-JA (#'d 10/99) $8

This card was the highest priced card of the haul.  I spent a whopping eight bucks for an on-card autograph of the 2020 AL MVP.

The final baseball item of the haul is this "cut" signature of the 1967 AL Cy Young Award winner:


Yup.  That's a label that's been signed and slabbed by PSA and called a "cut" signature.  But for five dollars, it's the latest addition to my Stanford PC.  Here's a look at some of his career highlights provided to you by the kind people at Tristar:


He was also inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2002 along with Rick Burleson, Fred Lynn, and seven others.

Okay shifting gears, here's a cheap autograph of an NBA Hall of Famer:

2013-14 Totally Certified Ballot Busters Signatures #BB-DT (#'d 83/99) $2

I just can't pass up cheap on-card autographs of hall of famers.

And I'll wrap up this post with a very dirty, supposedly "game-worn" swatch of a future hall of famer:

2014 Panini Elite Gridiron Jersey Kings #2 (#'d 4/49) $3

Besides the Smith autograph... I was hoping to purchase four Tyler Boyd cards that were listed in their inventory that were well below market price.  Unfortunately, they had been already sold.  They offered me either a complete refund, but I chose to take a partial refund and have these cards shipped to me.

If you're a collector who knows their minor league prospects, it might be worth your time to check their inventory.  Their website also has a "team" filter if you're looking for a specific team as well as a search engine for player collectors.

As for turnaround time... it did take about two weeks... which is little longer than normal.  However part of the issue had to do with the partial refund.

Well that's it for today.  I hope to have a few other card purchase posts coming up over the next few weeks... along with a COMC haul that may or may not arrive soon.  While we're waiting, why not answer today's question of the day:

Do you shop at any hole-in-the-wall online card shops?

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

18 comments:

The Diamond King said...

I don't really shop at any online shops. But I am super cheap. Although you got some nice stuff close to my price range! My faves are the Abreu and Peterson.

Elliptical Man said...

Some good players there.

Cardbarrel. Ha.

Peter K Steinberg said...

Nice pick-ups. I just checked out the Cincy webpage and they haven't got much that I'm interested. I think I stick to eBay and Sportlots for most of the cards I buy. I tried that 10 cent baseball card shop in Canada but the inability to sort by year or even brand annoys me. I'd gladly try other hole-in-the-walls if I knew of them.

John Sharp said...

Always looking to add Tyler Boyd cards to the ever growing "BOYD Binder."

Brett Alan said...

That's a great deal on that Dom Smith auto. He really looked like he's breaking out as a star this year, and was also the leader of the team's support for Black Lives Matter. I just picked up a lovely Inception auto relic of him to complete my trifecta of him--the 20th trifecta I've finished (all but one played for the Mets at some point). I'll have to check that site out...thanks for the tip.

night owl said...

I checked the site out briefly. It seems heavy on modern autos and relics. Not really my scene. Maybe if I get inspired, but there is so much more I want on other sites.

Johnnys Trading Spot said...

i'm gonna check them out right now. Thanks.

SumoMenkoMan said...

You do know how to find the bargains! Nice haul!

Chris said...

Some great deals there, the Smith and Peterson in particular. I'll have to check out their website when I have some more money to spend.

The Lost Collector said...

I've never heard of it, but maybe will check it out. I like that David Thompson autograph a lot.

Nick Vossbrink said...

cardbarrel and baseballcard.ca here. Only for cheap commons though so looking for more intersting stuff is good to know options.

Jon said...

They started to doing the internet sales tax thing here back in October, and it's definitely impacted my spending. Now I always have to figure out what the tax will be ahead of time, and factor that and shipping into the overall price, and then decided if whatever it is will still be worth it or not.

gcrl said...

sportlots is my go-to, and i've stopped using comc. now i am more likely to go to beckett marketplace for a specific card not available on sportlots than search through other sites.
i like the lonborg! i've got a lonborg post scheduled for later this month.

acrackedbat said...

I checked out the site too but found you'd already bought everything I liked. LOL. ;) There are some nice bargains there. I'll have to check back frequently. Your Museum Smith is a nice card for $3!

Brett Alan said...

Just placed a rather large order on the site. Lots of relics and autos. Thanks again.

Fuji said...

the diamond king - cheap collectors unite! i like how dirty the ap swatch is.

elliptical man - i still haven't placed order with them, but maybe one day

peter k steinberg - i wish we had more options out there... and i have the same issue with the online dime box. plus there are so many of us that shop there now, they usually don't have anything i really, really need anymore

john sharp - check them out. he has a couple on the site, but they might have been sold already

brett alan - glad you were able to find some stuff. and 20 trifectas? that's awesome. congratulations

night owl - yeah... definitely heavy on the hits. i think i only saw a few base cards and they were rookies

johnnys trading spot - good luck. i'm sure they have some braves for you

sumomenkoman - i just need to be able to hit the flea markets again. i miss them so much

chris - thanks. hopefully you'll find something you can use.

the lost collector - hard to pass up an on-card hall of famer auto for $2.

nick vossbrink - i've still gotta check out cardbarrel. i check the online dime store once or twice a month, but haven't bought anything since i placed my last order a few months ago

jon - that's cool that they didn't start it until recently for you. but there is a part of me that is glad they started charging tax. along with being locked down, i've been able to save some money.

gcrl - i like sportlots. very easy to search and you can find some good deals. haven't used beckett marketplace since i found that good deal on bonds autographs

acrackedbat - thanks! i don't think they've added anything new in months. but i still check every now and then too.

The Snorting Bull said...

Love the David Thompson autograph. WOLF!!!! (you say Pack!!!)

Fuji said...

the snorting bull - pack!