Showing posts with label card shop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label card shop. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Sad, Annoyed, and a Tad Bit Satisfied

My friend had surgery last Wednesday so I took a half-day and picked her up.

They were running a little behind, so I had an extra hour to kill.  As luck would have it, there was a card shop located a few miles away.  So I headed over there to pick up some storage boxes.  I was very fortunate to hit up the local distributor and stock up on different supplies right before the pandemic hit.  In fact, I have enough top loaders and plastic slider boxes to last for years.  Sadly they had just started selling cardboard boxes in bulk lots only.  At the time...  it wasn't too big of a deal, because my LCS always had them at a reasonable price.

But I made the mistake of waiting until I actually needed some to grab some.  This is what I discovered...


Now I'm not sure exactly what that price was in 2019... but I know for a fact that I didn't pay $1.75 for a 200ct. boxHoly cow!  The bargain hunter in me sobbed when I saw this sign, while the collector who waited until the last minute to buy storage boxes was annoyed.

Some collectors probably would have walked out and figured another way to store their cards.  Unfortunately, my OCD requires sets destined for my personal collection to be housed in brand new boxes.  So I picked out twenty (a variety of sizes), but avoided the 200 and 300 count boxes.  Figured there was no way I could justify spending $1.60 for boxes this small.

Card supply prices are ridiculous, but it's not the card shop's fault.  That's why I figured I'd support them and buy some actual cards.  The best bargain I could find was this...


It's a 1000ct. TCG box (never heard of these) filled with baseball cards for $9 (with a 10% discount)...


Free time is a luxury I don't really have, so I won't be counting these anytime soon (seems to be slightly longer than a 660ct. box).  Instead, I'll spend a few extra minutes to scan ten of my favorites from this mystery box...

#101992 Score #489


Play at the plate with the Kid in a Dodgers uniform sets the tone for about half of this box, because there was a nice stack of Junk Wax Era cards.  Not surprised, but not displeased either.


#91990 Donruss #390


Love him or hate him, Belle was a beast.  It's not worth anything, but I'll happily add another one of his rookie cards to my collection.


#82018 Topps Home Run Challenge #HRC-KB


I never pulled any of these in time to actually participate in the challenge, but kudos to Topps for inspiring collectors to interact with the game.


#71989 Score #322


Did you really think I wasn't going to include at least one well-cropped action shot to this list?  Plus... check out that unibrow on the back.  The back is also proof that Score had some of the best card backs in the late 80's.


#62018 Topps #183


Thumbs up to whoever at Topps decided to use this photo for Matt Kemp's card.


#51996 Pinnacle Denny's #18


Here's your random baseball card fact of the dayCecil Fielder launched eleven grand slams during his career and Tony Phillips was on base for seven of them.


#41990 Topps #210


This card was a very pleasant surprise.  The guy at the LCS warned me that this box was filled with commons.  He wasn't wrong.  On the other hand, there were a few hall of famers tossed into the box like this Sandberg, which is the latest addition to my Topps Base Card Run Project.


#31988 Fleer #518


As an A's fan, I should hate this cardHershiser dominated them in the World Series and took home the MVP Award.  I did a quick COMC search for 1988 Orel Hershiser cards and discovered card companies hooked him up that year.  But I still think this card is one of the best looking.  It's almost like Fleer knew the Dodgers were going to win it all, so they dedicated the set's colors to them.


#22018 Topps #68


If this photograph of Hamilton doesn't do anything for you, then you and I have very different tastes in cards.


#12017 Panini Donruss #190


How much do I enjoy collecting Tony Gwynn cards?  Well... I chose this Panini logo-less card as my favorite card in this mystery box.  

So there you have a $9 LCS mystery card boxWhat do you think?  Worth the price?

Personally, I was satisfied with the purchase.  After sorting the box, I pulled forty-three cards for my collection... which comes down to about 21¢ each.  Only a handful of those cards are worth that much, but after you factor in the entertainment value... I don't have any regrets.

Plus there's the storage box...


Due to the tape damage, my OCD prevents me from using this box for sets.  But that doesn't mean, I won't use it to transport cards to shows or something.

And don't forget... there were over 500 other cards that I'll offer up to people or take to my classroom for next year's Civil Rights Movement trading card project.


Not going to list every single card, but here are fourteen sets that I have reasonable sized stacks of:

1989 Score, 1990 Donruss, 1992 Score, 1993 Bowman, 2011 Bowman Chrome, 2012 Topps, 2015 Topps, 2016 Finest, 2018 Topps Gypsy Queen, 2018 Topps, 2021 Topps Allen & Ginter, 2021 Topps Archives, 2021 Topps Heritage, 2022 Topps Heritage

If you're building any of these sets, send me an email with your set needs and maybe I can help.  As long as you don't mind PWE's, I'll send them your way for free.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Monday, February 1, 2021

One Door Closes, Three More Appear


My card collecting timeline has two major gaps in it.  The largest was from 2001 to 2007 when I sold the bulk of my collection and focused on settling my finances and purchasing a home.  The other took place after the card shop I worked at closed its doors.


1992 Fleer Ultra #277

I'm not exactly sure when this took place, but it was after I finished building my 1992 Fleer Ultra baseball set.  My guess is the fall of 1992.  I'm about 98% sure that above photo is the location of the card shop I worked at... although I had to doctor the sign.  These days people go there for another type of wax... that doesn't involve trading cards.

1994-95 SP #2

I returned to the hobby two years later in the fall of 1994 when I was at San Jose State.  There was a card shop on the way from light rail station to the campus.  It probably didn't take too long for me to check it out and I just remember purchasing packs of 1994-95 SP basketball in search of a Jason Kidd rookie card.

1994-95 SP Premium Collection #PC3

That's probably the first time I laid eyes on one of the SP Premium Collection inserts.  After being away from the hobby for a couple of years, I was instantly sucked back in by these holographic inserts.  Eventually I also discovered other beautiful insert sets produced by Upper Deck... including the 1994 SP All-Pro Holoviews (photo down below).

Back then, I never dreamed of owning or trying to build the entire insert set.  Due to the attractive design, they were pretty popular among collectors.  Plus this was before I had really dove into online trading, so trying to complete the 40 card set on a college student's budget wasn't very realistic.

Then back in January of 2013, I purchased a huge collection at the De Anza Flea Market that I'm still sorting after eight years.  The collection is one of those purchases that really helped boost my collection for a very reasonable price.  Inside one of the boxes was a starter set of 1994 SP All-Pro Holoviews.

1994 SP Holoviews #PB40

I've been slowly chipping away at this set over the years and thanks to Sportlots, I managed to narrow it down to one card last year: Heath Shuler.


Shuler wasn't only the last card I needed... he's also the final card in the set.

Dennis over at Too Many Verlanders generously sent me the Shuler two weeks ago... along with this very cool Kurt Suzuki card:

2009 Topps Ticket to Stardom #TS-53 (#'d 59/110)

This card is proof that Topps employed creative people as late as 2009.


It has a piece of a ticket stub from the 2008 Oakland A's season embedded into it and although many of you might not want some random, chopped up ticket stub... I think it's cooler than some plain white jersey swatch that may or may not have been game-worn.

Getting back to the 1994 SP All-Pro Holoviews, here's a look at some of the bigger names from the set:


By the way... I recently sat down and sifted through more of the inserts I purchased back in 2013 and discovered a few more starter sets:




The beauty of that flea market find is that it's providing entertainment eight years after the fact.  That purchase actually came two days after I purchased arguably my favorite flea market find.

Thank you Dennis for helping me complete that beautiful insert set... and for the nice addition to my Kurt Suzuki PC.

And thank you to all of you for taking a few minutes out of your day to read this blog post.  Happy Monday and sayonara!


Overtime

Last week... Matt over at Matt's Wonderful Blog of Hobbies show off some snow pics.  I figured I'd join the party and share a photo my father took:


Last Tuesday he woke up and went outside to this.  He said most of it had melted by midday, but it's still pretty cool to see snow in Las Vegas.

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Online Dime Box

As long as the citizens of this planet are sitting around waiting for a Covid-19 vaccine to be developed... there won't be any card shows to attend in my area.  Well... at least none that I'll be attending.

Fortunately there's an online card store with an entire inventory priced at 10¢.  It's called Baseballcardstore.ca and if you ever want to kill a couple of hours, this is the place to hang out.

I placed my first order with them a few weeks ago and a second one two days later.  Last week, they arrived safe and sound.  Today's post shows off the highlights from both orders that arrived together in the same package.

Hopefully it'll demonstrate the variety of cards they offer on their site.

1985 Topps Wacky Packages #39

I've seen this sticker pop up on a few blogs (most recently on Johnny's Trading Spot).  Actually he showed off his 1973 Beanball stickers, which happens to be a tad bit cooler and much more collectible.  But I'm not complaining, because this is by far the coolest item I found on their site.

1990 Pacific Senior Baseball #126

The card I was most excited about was this Nettles card.  It's like the SPBA's version of Billy Ripken's famous error card.  Sadly this is the corrected version of the card... which according to this article is actually rarer than the A$$ H013 version.  Unfortunately... it's not quite as cool.

1994 Panini Album Stickers #256

It's always nice to find a Gwynn I don't own for a dime.

2008 Topps Allen and Ginter #128

I've been looking to add this card to my collection for a long time.  I collect any card related items that feature the Golden Gate Bridge.


This bridge is a symbol for the San Francisco Bay Area and about a seventy minute drive (without traffic) from my doorstep.  It's been a few years since I've driven across it, but it's nice knowing that I can whenever I want.  Back in the late 2000's, I'd spend a few weekends each year in Sausalito.  This photo was taken on one of those trips.

1999 Topps #34

Nolan Ryan has plenty of iconic cards.  I'd say that this is one of them.  Back in 2017, I wrote about the Chrome refractor version of his card for Tony's 30 Day Baseball Card Challenge.  Man... that was an awesome BBA.  It was fun to read everyone's responses.

Next up is a pair of Beastie Boys cards...

2017 Topps GPK #3a

1991 Pro Set Yo! MTV Raps #103

I'm a huge fan of the Beastie Boys and over the years, I've collected their albums, CD's, VHS tapes, DVD's, and even obscure things like skateboard decks, Star Wars action figures, and trading cards.  With these two cards, the Beastie Boys card collection has officially doubled in size.

1991-92 Upper Deck French Euro-Stars #E14

The Dominator dominated in the net during the 90's.  He won the Vezina Trophy six times (five times during the 90's), led the league in save percentage six consecutive seasons, and won back to back Hart Memorial TrophiesOne of the greatest goalies in the history of the sport.

2016 Heritage News Flashbacks #NF-RR

First it was the Golden Gate Bridge.  Then came the Beastie Boys.  This Ronald Reagan is the third and final mini-collection purchase.  I was raised by parents who loved the Reagan administration and for that reason alone... I'm always excited to add new cards of him to my collection.

1995 Upper Deck #226

I have a graded copy of this Nomo rookie card, but needed a raw copy for my binder.  I was happy to find it for this price.

1979 Topps Buck Rogers #85

Star Wars had Princess LeiaBattlestar Galactica had Athena.  And Buck Rogers had Wilma.  No way I could pass up this card.  Maybe one day I'll have the opportunity to get it signed by Erin Gray who is still drawing second glances at seventy years of age.

1982 Cramer Baseball Legends #61

One of my favorite things about cards produced by Pacific in the 90's was their outstanding ability to crop photos.  This card let you know where they learned it from.

1991 Marvel Universe Series 2 #68
1992 Marvel Universe Series 3 #197
1992 Marvel Universe Series 3 #182

I'll wrap things up with these three cards that I needed for my master collection of Marvel Universe cards from the 90's.  I'm down to only needing one card... which I'll write about in a future post.

That's it for today.  Hope you guys enjoyed checking out my online dime box purchases.  If any of these cards caught your eye, there's plenty more where they came from.  Just click here, because you never know when we'll be able to attend card shows again.

Which brings us to our question of the day...

When do you think we'll finally be able to attend card shows and sift through dime boxes?  This year?  2021?  2022?  Never?

Hopefully this Moderna coronavirus vaccine ends up working.  I doubt things will ever be exactly the same... but that (or another vaccine) would definitely be a step in the right direction.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!