Highlights of a few packs and stolen commons

I went over to the card shop Saturday afternoon to entertain myself for a while and pick up some cards one of my friends left for me. There is only so long I can stand there without opening something, anything... I opted for one pack of 2010 Topps Update (jumbo), and 2 packs of 2010 Topps Chrome. I got one good common in the Update pack, being the Jeter, and the inserts including a gold parallel. The Chrome I pulled 4 RC's, one gold RC, and a Heritage chrome so that was cool.

I was also allowed to rummage through all the commons people left behind, and I will admit I left mine there as well. I kept roughly 6 cards out of a pack of 50. I picked up a common of each Jeter card for Sooz and myself, as well as a Pettitte each. I grabbed a couple of other random guys that I like also.

Here are some pics.




The gold version was a purchase, I didn't pull that one.


(I wish I knew why my scanner always crops the left side of cards.)

I pulled one common of Carlos Santana in the Update and the Chrome, and snarfed a 3rd card. I don't know why, but I kind of like this kid and hope that when he comes back form having his knee smashed that he will be a great catcher offensively and defensively.



I was also lucky enough to end up with a bunch of these Gridiron Giveaway cards which I haven't decided what to do with just yet. These are a little more appealing than the Million Card Giveaway even if they aren't baseball.


If anyone is looking for the redemption cards, I am sure my shop would send them with a purchase. Let me know and I can get you the number.

Card Shop Directory

When I was down at Sooz's house this week we were trying to find card shops to check out and there are very outdated lists and phone numbers online. There are a couple of places that attempted a directory, but I would like to put together a list of shops and keep it posted here for reference.

Having a list of shops that are actually open and sell cards would be super helpful to those of us that travel or visit friends in other areas. My intention here is to compile a list of shops, and I would prefer if you have visited the shop you provide in the comments section so we all know what they sell. Some places are predominately comics, hobby items (model building, etc.), or cards and supplies. I will add the shops you guys tell me about to a running list to keep posted on the blog for reference.


I will start the list off here with shops that I have visited. (UPDATED with reader submissions)

New Jersey

The Baseball Card Store
45 Prospect Street
Midland Park, NJ 07432

Store sells all packs and boxes of all sports as well as supplies. Singles available- mostly baseball.

The Backstop
2018 Route 37 E
Toms River, NJ 08753

The home of Dr. Wax and Friday night Pack Wars. Store sells everything from packs to singles, and plenty of supplies. All sports available, great selection of single cards.

J&J Sports Cards
205 Bellevue Ave
Hammonton, NJ 08037

Store has high end singles, wax boxes and supplies available. They broadcast on blog.tv, and sell singles and auto's on eBay as well.

New Concept Cards, Hobbies and Mental Skate Shop
676 Stokes Road
Medford, NJ 08055

Store sells mostly non-sports cards items, but keeps a nice stock of sports cards available all the time. Store usually has new releases the day of release. They sell card supplies as well as singles.

Rookies and Stars Sports Collectibles & Memorabilia
1350 Route 35 North.
Woodbridge Twp, NJ 07001
Phone-732.396.3870

They have supplies singles packs and boxes. Baseball and all sports. Good pricing and friendly staff.

New York

Toy Wiz
253 W Route 59
Nanuet, NY 10954

Store sells mostly comics, action figures, and non-sports cards. They have a solid selection of packs from the major sports, and some singles (very expensive singles).

Maryland

Baseball Card Outlet & Sports
7502 Eastern Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21224

Store has a huge variety of sports cards packs, boxes, and singles. Tons of supplies, and memorabilia of the local teams.

Burton's Cards and Coins
5831 Buckeystown Pike # D Frederick, MD 21704
301-663-3223

Lots of vintage and newer singles - both baseball and football. Current packs and boxes. All kinds of storage supplies. Bi-weekly 'bid board' auctions (items brought in by collectors).
Shop has been there since the early 80's and still going strong.

Florida

Orlando Sportscards
9476 South Orange Blossom Trail
Orlando, FL 32837-8321
(407) 240-0384‎

They sell everything you can think of Packs, boxes, supplies. Been in business for a long time. The owner is very knowledgeable and courteous and touts himself as "the king of singles" I love going through the boxes and boxes of singles. all prices are very reasonable.

Ohio

All Pro Sportscards
492 Graham Rd
Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44221
(330) 922-4642

They have a huuuuuge selection of singles, all ranging from 25 cents and up. They also have a relic/auto bin separated by sport which is $5 each or 4 for $20. TONNNNS of packs, TONS of cases, and also some memorabilia. A little pricey but the selection is amazing! Also they trade with buyers. The owners seemed pretty friendly. NOT open on Sundays!

Ohio

Cardboard Dreams
2467 Canton Rd
Akron, OH 44312-5050
(330) 699-2881

Much cheaper than All Pro, but the selection for everything is a lot smaller, as is the shop in general. 10 cent cardboard cases of cards, which is cool, though many of those cards are of the "we busted such and such expensive product for the hits, here are the base cards" variety. A few $1, $2, $5 bins, but nothing much in them (not even relics or autos), and no real hits to be found as singles. Decent amount of cases and packs at lower prices than All Pro, but again, selection isn't as nice. They do stay current though and have the latest stuff, and the owner was nice.

Collectors Palace
9274 Ohio 43
Streetsboro, OH 44241
330-626-2464
This shop sells sports cards, comics, coins and gold. They usually have a good selection of newer wax packs and boxes. They don't open very much product, so it's just packs, boxes and some vintage singles. The prices are fair and they are open seven days a week.


Chapel Hill Sports
2000 Brittain Road
Akron, OH 44310-1823
330-630-3160

This shop is located inside the Chapel Hill Mall in Cuyahoga Falls. They carry sports cards, supplies, apparel and memorabilia.
They have some singles and a very limited selection of wax. Despite being in a mall, their prices on wax are very reasonable. The owner is very friendly and likes to talk sports.

Grand Slam Sports Cards
17800 Chillicothe Road
Chagrin Falls, OH 44023
440-543-2758

This shop is one of the best on the east side of Cleveland. Joe's shop is literally jammed full of cards. Boxes, packs, singles, supplies.... his selection is the best. Lots of wax boxes, dating back to the 70s even. Good prices too.


Dream Chaser Sports Cards
874 East Aurora Road
Macedonia, OH 44056
330-467-0105

This shop is new, just opening in the summer of 2009. He has a good selection of singles, low-end and high-end wax. Prices can be a bit high at times.

California

All Star Cards
8781 Cuyamaca Street
Santee, CA 92071-4216
(619) 562-1975

Singles on consignent, boxes and packs (almost everything dating back 10 years), junk wax, supplies... Baseball heavy but has stuff from all sports and large selection of non-sports. Great prices, especially on supplies, run by a guy and his daughter. Very friendly.

Colorado

Mike's Stadium Sportscards
4022 South Parker Road
Aurora, CO 80014
(303) 699-9808
mikesss.com

They offer all new wax, gobs of restocks and a massive selection of recent years wax including a considerable amount of higher-end products. We also offer weekly and monthly drawings, case breaks and loads more promotions.

Arizona

Batter's Box
2855 W. Cactus Rd.
Phoenix, AZ 85029-3350
(602)942-9156

Mostly vintage cards.

Washington

Swell & Wacky Collectibles
9960 Silverdale Way NW Suite 11
Silverdale, WA 98383
360-698-3550

Glenn Watchmen is what I would consider the perfect Sports Card shop owner. He was my goto guy when I was still living in Seattle, I would drive an hour out of my way to go buy from him even though I lived down the street from West Coast Sports Cards.

West Coast Sports Cards
2008 South 314th St
Federal Way, WA. 98003
253-941-1757

They carry everything and I mean everything from cards to comics to beenie babies and Pokemon cards.They hire people off the street that know nothing about sports cards and you just point to what you want and they will grab it for you.I would only suggest this place if you are looking for something specific that you can not find elsewhere.

Arizona

Hot Corner
6750 E Main
Mesa, AZ 85205
480-396-0442

The owner, JJ Genzale, opened the store in 1990 and has been in the same location the whole time.He knows his stuff.

Connecticut

Dugout Dreams
45 Padanaram Rd
Danbury, CT 06810

High end and low end wax. He also probably has the best selection of vintage memorabilia in the country. Tons of autographs and he is priced better than any sports memorabilia show.

Pennsylvania

The Baseball Card Shop
1891 East State Street
Hermitage, PA 16148
724-981-4443

The Baseball Card Shop is the best shop in this area. Jim, the owner, has been running the shop forever (since 1989). This shop is the go-to shop for both low-end and high-end wax. He has one of the largest selections of packs I've ever seen at a shop. The cost of new packs and boxes are fair, but his prices on old wax boxes are high.


Bennie's
462 Sharpsville Ave
Sharon, PA 16146
724-347-3390

Bennie's has been open since the mid-80s. They sell comic books and sports cards. Bennie who ran the comics side ran the shop with his wife Mary who handled sports cards up until about 2003 when they sold the shop an it's all the contents. Currently, the shop is open under a new owner and they have many singles, in random boxes which aren't organized. They don't sell high-end wax, just your Topps 1 & 2, Heritage, some UD. They also have sets and 90s wax boxes for sale.

Local card shop findings

The past few days I have been MIA from the blogosphere because I went down to stay at Suzy's house for a few days. We had a good time, played some Wii, golfed, his a card shop, and a Target. We can't possibly hang out together for days without going to a Target or a card shop, or both.

The local shop that we went to is more of a store that sells local team merchandise, autographs, and team knick knacks. They have a couple of hobby boxes behind the counter, a few game used cards and autos in a case, and some binders/boxes with cards. Nothing great in the case, so we flipped through a binder and we picked out some cards, well I picked out a bunch- even some for a couple of fellow bloggers in case they needed them. There were no Jeter cards, and very few Pujols in the mix. Not a single Cano either now that I think about it. Long story short, all the cards in the scan cost me $4.25. I think I did ok even if I don't need those M&M Pujols, I couldn't pass them up for 50 cents.


I got a whole ton of trades and things in the mail today. Not going to the post office for a few days definitely paid off for some boredom now that I have no one to play Wii with. (sad face here) I got a bunch of Pujols cards from one of our readers, McCann Can Triple. There was also a random package from Waxaholic which made me happy, as well as a box of OPC goodness from Stale Gum and a sweet package of posters from the National from Dan over at Saints of the Cheap Seats.

While I don't know how I got so lucky to find a great group to trade with and talk to on a somewhat daily basis, but it is awesome and I am grateful for it.

I conducted an investigation

My investigation consisted of me being nosy and trying to find out where to pick up a couple of packs of O Pee Chee because they look so cool, and I like retro cards. It seems as though the retro cards are my favorites to open, and these were no disappointment. I couldn't care less about the design change because they are nice the way they are. It was nice to get cards that don't look like everything else that has been out or tried in the past few years. These have a great look to them, they are not glossy which I think adds to them. The OPC inserts from UD were glossy and ehhh not all that cool by comparison.

My investigation took place at Toy Wiz (glutton for punishment) because it was on my way home and required little detour effort. The packs were $2.25 a pack which wasn't terrible since I told myself if they are in the $2-$2.50 range I would get a few, any more and I was leaving. Here is what the pack looks like:



If you can believe it, they were asking $67.99 for a hobby box. I laughed and thought of how great the internet is, and how sad it is that companies like this are the reason for people shopping online and putting card shops out of business (not getting into this now). I also took a picture of how they sell hobby packs for the most part. Base sets like Topps, UD, First Edition, and the like are on top of the case so that you can grab your own packs. Other hobby packs are displayed in a case so that you can't touch them, and there has never ever been a full open box in the case. Nice to know you are picking from pre-searched packs of air.



They have a case of single cards which are ridiculously overpriced as well, but I took a picture of this one to show Sooz and I figured I'd share it with everyone.


OK, I'm done with the tour of the store and onto what I got. I am too lazy to list the base cards so we won't be wasting time on those. I did end up with an error card which I only noticed because I scanned it and noticed there was no back. Blank back card of a guy I really find annoying for reasons that are pretty stupid. The card is a black bordered parallel of Craig Counsell.


Here is a sample of what the base cards look like in case you haven't seen them yet.



I ended up with 2 variations of this Jose Reyes card, and if there are any collectors of Reyes that have some Pujols from this set, come on down!



For some reason my scanner tends to crop off part of the right side of the cards.

I got one mini black parallel of Khalil Greene, which looks the same as the big ones just smaller (duh).



Here are the rookies I got, no specific reason for the order here:




Here are the rest of the inserts, and the Longoria and Coke cards are not for trade.





I scanned the checklist because I really like that they used a picture of the park for the card. Normally I don't like these kinds of things, but for some reason I just like this whole set.

I ended up with one of these UD cards also which I will just forward to Voice of the Collector.

I bought 5 packs total, which is unlike me since I never buy an odd number of anything. But since I am crazy and counted the packs in the box trying to see if any of the 36 were missing a.k.a. searched, I counted 37 packs. I know my math isn't great so I counted again, and again. Still 37, so I bought the extra pack as well. Makes me wonder if they combined a few boxes of packs after searching these as well.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't thinking about shying away from blasters for a while to plunk down $44 on a hobby box. It's been way to long since I have opened one and I really think I would enjoy this one despite having no real need for more than 5 or 6 cards in the whole set.

P.S. These would make awesome TTM cards to send out.

P.P.S. There was no Pujols or Jeter. (Snarl)

A visit to the card shop

Well, it is sort of a card shop. There is only one store left near me with hobby products and it is mostly a toy store, and a place to buy and trade Magic cards for kids (and some adults). They sell supplies at a higher price, comic books, wrestling figures, and a small section dedicated to sports cards. I'm reluctant to give the name of the place, but I scanned the wrapper so you can decide on looking there yourself. The store is a complete and utter rip-off.

I've seen the owner/manager in Target buying an entire shopping cart full of the newest toys leaving the shelves bare, only to drive them up the road and double the price. I understand they are looking to make money, but at the expense of who? Small children who want to get the newest toys from new movies or tv shows? So really you are putting the hurt on parents who may not have the extra income to spend double to get their child a toy.

I think I have mentioned this store before for their 50% box of packs. I went up there to buy a 2 row box for my GU/AU cards, and to pick up a case or two for my Lind cards. Since I can't help but rummaging through that box, that was my first stop. It looked like pretty much the same packs since the last time I was there so I walked away and went to the supplies. On my way I checked out their hobby box prices, I only looked at 2009 Goudey ($103.99!!), 2009 Finest ($106.99, not terrible), and 2009 Piece of History ($89.99). Hobby packs of Goudey were $5.99, and a mini box of Finest was $56.99. As much as I want to open some Goudey, I can wait for retail and spend half as much. They were charging $2.99 for a thick (180pt.) snap case, or I could get a 15 ct. hinge case for 55 cents. I got 2 hinge cases for 55 cents each and they will serve the same purpose. I looked for a magazine toploader for my Opening Day program, but they didn't have any. I needed a binder, saw they were $6.99 each and thought that I would come back for that another day or pick up one for $5 at the White Plains show next time it's around.

Here is where the plot thickens a wee bit. I asked the kid behind the counter if he could get me a 2 row storage box since they don't leave them out, he said sure. While he was in the back, I went back to the bargain box. There they were, packs I have never opened before- 1994 Bowman's Best. Best part, they were $1.50 each! Good thing I am too cheap to buy a binder there because now I can buy useless packs! I grabbed a couple and started to the counter when something else caught my eye.

I saw a gold Yankee card, looked down and saw $24.99 and THEN read "Chase Wright". It was a 2007 SP Rookie Edition Chase Wright. I wonder if you get to meet him after buying it for that price so even he can kick your ass. Then on the next shelf was an odd Goudey advertising panel of Jeter, Ruth, and Griffey, Jr. for $9.99, which I assumed was a rip-off since almost everything else in the store was. I figured I would find out what it is, and find a price online to see if it is worth going back to pick up for Sooz. There is only one on eBay, and it seems to be a promotional Upper Deck item. Price of $9.99 seems fair so I will go back Wednesday and pick one up for Sooz. I don't understand why they used the 2007 cards, but who I am I to say what looks stupid.

I ripped my packs and here are the better cards:

My first Jeter patch card

Earlier this year, I had to cover an ARCA (Automobile Racing Club of America) event in one of the towns near me. There is nothing about car racing I like and dreaded having to go to this event for three days.

I wrote feature stories about some of the drivers and then on the final day, it rained. The rain shortened the race and the winner didn't even run the full race and got the win. Fun for him.

I pretty much shook my head leaving the track because I was still trying to figure out how people enjoy watching drivers go round and round. Give the track a little credit because it was a road course and the cars actually turn left sometimes.

On the way back from the race, I saw a tiny little baseball card shop that I didn't know about. I pulled into the parking lot and, luckily, the place was open.

I walk in and look around. It might have been the size of a walk-in closest. There was a counter with cards in the glass case and hobby boxes behind it, just like most other card shops. But it was so tiny.

As I looked through the case, I saw a Jeter patch card. I don't own any.

I asked the price, he gave me one I thought was fair and snatched it up. It's not the best patch (it's numbered /24). There are no cool looking markings. It's just Yankee blue, but I love it anyway because it's mine.

So here's my first Derek Jeter patch card:



The card shop is still a 45-minute ride from my town, so it's as though I can show up whenever I want. However, whenever I need to visit Millville, N.J., I plan on stopping in to browse, and most likely buy.