When it comes to shopping for cards online... COMC's fall has led to the ascension of Sportlots (at least for me). They've always served different purposes. Sportlots helped me complete sets with their affordable commons, while COMC filled gaps in my player and team collections.
Since I've always tried to get the most bang for my buck, I avoided paying 20¢ for commons and preferred to find pricier cards over on COMC. However their decision to restructure their shipping rates forced me to drain my balance, start using Sportlots more, and focus on card projects that have been collecting dust for quite some time.
1984 Topps Glossy All-Stars #10
1986 Topps Glossy All-Stars #7
1990 Topps Glossy All-Stars #8
Last week, I started shopping for some 80's Leaf Dave Stieb cards... which led me to plugging some holes in my 1984 to 1991 Topps Glossy All-Star project which was missing the entire 1986 set. Well, I found one vendor with almost the entire set:
While shopping for those Stieb cards, I completed another set sitting in my office:
Last week, I showed of this 1987 Leaf card of Dave Stieb that Adam over at Thoughts & Sox sent me:
I mentioned that I might chase down his other three Leaf cards from that era. Two down, 1988 to go.
1990-91 Pro Set Hockey Set
Back in early April, Stuart over at S.R. '75 Cards sent me this set. I'm a huge fan of early Pro Set sets and was happy to add their inaugural hockey set to my collection. While flipping through the set, I noticed it was missing one card:
1990-91 Pro Set #298
No biggie. That's what Sportlots is for. If you're not familiar with this set, here's a quick peek:
Pro Set included everyone from draft picks to coaches to officials. They even included a card for the puck.
They also honored the all-stars, award winners, and stat leaders. Plus a ton of guys who would eventually make the Hockey Hall of Fame:
Speaking of future hall of famers, the 1990-91 rookie card class was full of them:
Jaromir Jagr is the lone player to not receive the honor. But that's because he hasn't officially announced his retirement. He last skated in the NHL in 2017, but was playing professionally in the Czech Republic up to last season.
Thank you Stuart for generously gifting me with this awesome set.
Let's wrap this post up with the two cards that inspired this Sportlots order:
1985 Leaf #54
1986 Leaf #68
1987 Leaf #72
Like the Topps Glossy All-Stars... I'll target this card in a few weeks when I have more free time on my hands.
Until then, here is today's question of the day:
Where do you shop for cards online? COMC? Sportlots? eBay? Other?
If I were to break down the numbers, eBay and their vendors get most of my money. However my purchases usually involve single cards or smaller sets/lots. Sportlots is a distant second, but that might change this summer.
I look forward to reading and responding to your comments. I apologize that I haven't replied to comments on my recent posts. It's on my list of things to do this weekend. Stay tuned.
Happy Thursday and sayonara!
6 comments:
I was killing it with COMC after selling off a bunch of stuff and basically swapping for stuff I wanted. But like you said, the shipping rates make most purchases way overpriced. So my second choice is SportLots, but the interface it so terrible, it takes forever to dig out a decent order from a few sellers. I've had 40+ cards in my cart for a month, but it's just so tedious to find the max for each seller's shipping rate, that I may not pull the trigger. The other choices are local shops, but the prices aren't the best for the commons I want. TCDB trades have become my best source - and they're basically free since I swap extra stuff for them, but they just trickle in a few handfuls at a time. It's getting harder as time goes by.
Sportlots was my go-to for a long time, but I don't buy online anymore. Trading, especially through TCDB, has covered almost all my needs.
ebay, 100% (well, most) of the time.
Good Job! 👍
I'm completely gone from ComC, and Sport Lots albeit their recent changes is still a go to for common Braves cards. I've been doing a good bit on Ebay lately.....again.
Cardbarrel for baseball.
I was buying through COMC for football, basketball, and hockey. But I haven't done so in a while. (before the shipping charge change)
I'm not a frequent online buyer though.
I used COMC once a year or two but with rumors it was going to be folded, I had tried to get my cards delivered, except for one card bought after shipment, using funds refunded to my account because of a mistake, where another card was not shipped due.
I used Sportlots for odds and ends pick ups over the past 10 years - but the last times I was using the site, seller shipping crept up fast for even just 1-2 cards at a time, where it’s harder to cobble together smaller orders from different sellers.
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