I had an opportunity to once again visit the local area card shop that opened earlier this year. It seems to be doing OK, but I wonder how viable it'll be long term. Speaking with the owner, it doesn't look like he'll be getting in any new product, as the prices and minimum purchases that he'd have to meet are ridiculously high. Which is a shame. Fortunately for him, he deals is lots different collectables and memorabilia and such.
Of course I wasn't there for Starting Lineups or their ilk. He had a small box of dime and nickle cards up front, so that's where I started. Unfortunately it was pretty much all football and basketball. I did however find some baseball, and some new baseball at that!
If I would have guessed, it looks like he opened up a blaster box himself. Still, I was able to find these Series 1 needs, all for a buck!
Of course I had to look through his team boxes and see what Red Sox cards peaked my interest.
The Mo Vaughn name plate card is probably my favorite score of the day. All the while it was pretty much me and the owner in the store (not surprising being middle of a Thursday). It gave us the opportunity to talk about a variety of hobby topics, from this year's hot rookies to some Project 2020 he recently acquired, even touching base on all those poor junk wax cards commons that aren't worth the cardboard they're printed on.
I had just enough time on my lunch break to check out some vintage singles, and for some reason I found myself primarily going through a large stack of 1980 Topps. I have just little over half of the set, and since I already own the key card from it (Rickey!), it's a set I'll probably make a big push to complete someday.
I only got through about a 1/3 of what he had, and a lot of what I did go through had cards with noticeable paper loss, but I was able to find a few needs, including a few Hall of Famers.
As I was checking out, I saw he had a few old packs available for a reasonable price, so I grabbed a few for nostalgia reasons. If nothing else I can do a pack wars post with them and get an extra blog out of it!
$10 and roughly 45 minutes of my time well spent!
Matt lmk what you need still for 1980 via email thanks
ReplyDeleteRising prices on boxes seems like the topic of the week. I've watched a few YT videos where collectors are ranting on the issue... and read at least one other blog post where it was brought up as well. It's even sadder that a dealer is the one who can't afford it. I'm glad his shop is diverse enough that he'll remain open.
ReplyDeleteNice day at the shop.
ReplyDeleteIt's a tough racket being a brick-and-mortar dealer these days. Kudos to him but it doesn't look good in the long run unless something changes.
That LCS guy needs to partner with a distributor who "combines" all of his dealers/shops to get things done. That is how it gets done down here in FL. The prices are still jacked up, but at least they get product.
ReplyDeleteBox prices are brutal these days, hopefully if enough collectors(and dealers) resist, the prices will come back down to Earth. Nice to see you found some cards there for a good price. Now I'm curious about their SLU selection :)
ReplyDeleteIf there's one you're looking for, I can check and see!
DeleteHave you at all about picking up a box (or two) of Conlon's? Even online they seem to still be fairly cheap.
ReplyDelete*Have you thought...
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