I'm not sure about you... but finding a bargain at my local card shop is like finding a needle in a haystack. Please don't get the wrong idea. I completely understand the hardships of running a card shop and their attempts to compete with the internet. Unfortunately, the ones in my area lack the ability to offer competitive pricing.
In fact, the only things I usually purchase at my LCS are supplies and the occasional oddball insert. But last Saturday, found a guy selling a 1976 Topps football card set on Craigslist, so we decided to meet at the local shop. While I was waiting, I decided to kill some time looking through the owner's 5,000 count boxes. They were labeled 25¢ per card, but he told me he'd only charge me 10¢ per card if I found anything.
Two hours later... which includes the fifteen minutes it took to meet the Craigslist guy... I walked away with 200 dime cards. There were a handful of Tony Gwynn cards I didn't have, along with a handful of cards for my students. But the bulk of the haul was a stack of additions to my 90's insert binders. Here's a sample of my haul:
Greg Maddux
1999 SPx "Star Focus" #SF2
2000 UD Ionix "BIOrhythm" #B12
Nomar Garciaparra
2000 UD Ionix "Reciprocal" #R45
1997 Bowman Chrome "Scout's Honor Roll Refractor" #SHR15
2000 UD Ionix "Atomic" #A10
More 90's Baseball Parallels
1997 Flair Showcase "Row 0" #29 Joe Carter
1996 Donruss "Silver Press Proof" #133 Mariano Rivera
1997 Pinnacle Certified "Mirror Red" #94 Dwight Gooden
1997 Pinnacle Certified "Mirror Blue" #20 Bernard Gilkey
Topps Basketball Black Gold
1993-94 Topps "Black Gold" #18 Shaquille O'Neal
1993-94 Topps "Black Gold" #19 Anfernee Hardaway
1993-94 Topps "Black Gold" #23 Chris Webber
Gridiron Goodies
2000 Bowman Chrome "By Selection Refractors" #B8 J. Smith/T. Pinkston
1997 Absolute "Leather Quads Gold" #16 Hill/Frerotte/Kaufman/Johnson
Hasek & Hull
1997-98 SPx "Bronze" #4 Dominik Hasek
1994-95 Finest "Division's Finest Clear Cut" #15 Brett Hull
In terms of Beckett value, I scored big. But let's be serious... 90's inserts & parallels just don't command the attention they once did. Which is a blessing in disguise, because I'm a huge fan of them and always will be.
Attention Cardboard Collectors: If you want to dump your 90's inserts & parallels of stars & superstars for 10¢ a piece... I'll buy them all day long.
Okay... it's your turn:
How many local card shops are within 15 miles of where you live? How often do you visit them?
Happy Thursday everyone... and sayonara!
0. But I'm moving to Cincinnati where there will be 4 or 5 within 20-25 minutes. Which is AWESOME. There's also apparently a cardboard oasis of an lcs an hour north.
ReplyDeleteDang... Cincinnati has 4 or 5 shops? That must be the Sports Card Mecca.
DeleteOhio in general. My fiance's parents' home has 2 amazing shops within 15 minutes. And then 3-4 other good ones within 40. It's a good place to be.
DeleteAlso have you seen this Setoguchi 1/1 on the bay yet? http://www.ebay.com/itm/08-09-ITG-Gloves-Are-Off-Auto-2Clr-Glove-Piece-Devin-Setoguchi-Gold-1-1-/251018936875?pt=US_Hockey_Trading_Cards&hash=item3a71e5022b
My buddy and I might take a cross country trip this summer... looks like I'll have to go through Ohio.
DeleteThanks for sharing the Seto. I'll definitely be bidding on this... but my guess is it'll go for big $$$.
0. None. Nada.
ReplyDeleteBut there are three in town here. The closest is about 45-50 minutes away in light traffic.
I try to get to at least one every two weeks. I try...
You are a dedicated collector sir. If I had to drive 45-50 minutes, I'd never go.
DeleteThere are 2 within 15 miles of me. I go to one of them every other week or so. It is only like 10 miles but it is 10 miles of heavy traffic both ways otherwise I would go more. The 2nd cad shop is more of a PokeMon type of shop but it does have a wall of commons. When I say wall I mean probably 50 monster boxes of cards. They are in no type of order at all. 88 topps mixed with 06 UD and everything in between. The owner is kind of a jerk though so between him and the PokeMon twerps I stay away.
ReplyDeleteI feel Mooss and Captains pain though because until I moved to AZ I was 2 hours from a card shop.
Never understood how shops with rude owners stay in business. I worked at a shop when I was younger and the owner hired me specifically to deal with the younger customers. Guess my patience helped me get my teaching gig... although I'm sure some of my students would argue that I've lost it.
DeleteBack in the heyday of collecting there was 3 shops in Calallen (which is a suburb of Corpus Christi) alone not even including the city. I don't think we even have one anymore but I'm not sure about that. With the internet and Ebay, I stopped going to card shops, but I remember always hitting all the shops and our big flea market every weekend. Last I recall Corpus had 1, but the selection was always pretty slim.
ReplyDeleteYeah the internet & eBay sure have changed the sports cards hobby landscape. Imagine trying to put together some of today's sets without them... or how about building "rainbows" or even super collecting a particular player.
DeleteBetween card shows, flea markets, and the internet... I probably don't spend 5% of my cardboard budget at card shops.
1 and it isn't worth a crap. Overpriced, very few singles and rude service. Times have definitely changed. There used to be 5 or 6 growing up.
ReplyDelete