Welcome to our community

Be apart of something great, join today!

What is your best dime box or bargain bin find?

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Yanks2151

Active member
Nov 9, 2013
3,231
8
For you guys who still make it to card shows. What is the your best find in those "deal" boxes or bargain bins? I never really had a "steal" but I did get a numbered parallel of Jeter once 2/99 for a steal and 1/100 Bernie card for a quarter.

On the flip side when I was selling I once had those old Fun Foods buttons and accidentally mixed a vintage Ted Williams pin in there and it sold while someone was watching my table.
 

BBCgalaxee

Well-known member
Sep 9, 2011
6,475
59
Too many for me to remember, but here's a few.

In a quarter box, a $300 bv wally joyner '89 ud promo

In a $3 box, an '88 score larkin promo



Sent from my HTCONE using Freedom Card Board mobile app
 

subject to change

New member
Aug 7, 2008
1,417
0
Pittsburgh, PA
I love going through low end boxes, since there are almost always Pirates I don't have to be found.

A few years ago I found a '59 Clemente for a quarter. It wasn't in great shape, but the dealer was an older collector just looking to sell off his collection. I asked him about the card to confirm the price and he smiled and said "I wondered when somebody would find that."

I found a Crusade Green Jay Buhner in a $1 box.
 

DeliciousBacon

Well-known member
Apr 23, 2011
3,444
94
Warwick, RI
Oh man, where do I start?

A 1997 Select Company Sample Rickey Henderson (dime box)
Five 2001 Topps Heritage Chrome commons and minor stars (20¢ box)
1997 SPx Grand Finale Ken Caminiti (3/$1)
1997 Score Reserve Collection Greg Maddux (dime)
1999 Black Diamond Quad Emerald Will Clark (3/$1, same time and place as the Caminiti)
2007 Upper Deck ROY Predictor Josh Hamilton (dime) - this once was a huge card
1997 Pinnacle Inside Stand Up Guys Sample Mike Piazza/Lopez/Johnson/other guy (quarter)
1997-98 Metal Precious Metal Gems Larry Johnson for a freakin' dollar.

And that's just the stuff I ended up selling for huge money; you can add a few hundred low #'ed cards that I ended up keeping for my player collections.
 

digicat

New member
Nov 10, 2009
562
0
Nor-Cal
I bought a marked up and trashed 1969 Topps Mickey Mantle checklist that I found in a dime box once. I bought it so I could say "I bought a 60s era Mantle card for ten cents." Heh.
 

Ashburn Alley

Well-known member
Aug 10, 2008
4,242
62
Philadelphia, PA
I bought an expired(by a month) redemption from some Panini football product for a .25. They honored it and it turned out to be a 1/1 Dwayne Bowe auto/patch.
 
Apr 23, 2012
405
0
New Orleans
82topps traded Ripken and 01 bowman gold Pujols in quarter boxes. 01 heritage chrome commons in 10c box. A bunch of 04 Topps update blue parallel without the 1/1 stamp in a quarter box.

We all have moments of glory in our lives!
 

Dilferules

Well-known member
Aug 10, 2012
1,948
1,746
Auburn, WA
I one quarter box:
2001 Topps Heritage Chrome Juan Uribe (sold for $40)
2006 Ginter Bazooka back Pettitte
2011 Topps Update Trout RC (when they were selling for $15-20 in 2012)

At another card shop in the late 90's there was a nickel box that nobody had gone through where I dug around for a few hours and picked up about $1,200 in "Beckett value" for $20. Nothing with a sales value more than $10-20 but still not bad.
 

CollectorsCorner

Super Moderator
Feb 13, 2009
30,779
0
I live in the dollar boxes at shows. I spend hundreds each weekend and rarely buy a card priced over $10.

Most recent better example I can think of is a Bridgewater RC #/d 5/ (Jersey #) for a buck
 
Last edited:

DeliciousBacon

Well-known member
Apr 23, 2011
3,444
94
Warwick, RI
They should just retitle the thread "what 2001 Topps Heritage chromes have you found in dime boxes?"

A lot of people in the hobby don't get the scarcity of these. You look at them, #'ed to 552, and think they should be easy to find and barely worth the effort. But most of us here know better, and our Paypal accounts are better for it. I personally will buy any Heritage Chromes for a dime, I think they're one of the best parallels to buy and resell as someone is always putting sets together.
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,187
4,087
It would be fun to have kept detailed records on all of my buys and trades, but I didn't. Memory fades on stuff like that, but I frequently have hit the bargain bins at shops and shows.

The one deal that sticks out in my mind though is this one for $2 from a shop, if you can believe that!!

 

DeliciousBacon

Well-known member
Apr 23, 2011
3,444
94
Warwick, RI
Ended up selling the Larry Johnson PMG for $202.52, and a 2013 Archives Joey Votto SP Blackless Variation for $20.50. That's $223 for cards I paid a combined $1.25 for (the Votto was in a quarter box).
 

predatorkj

Active member
Aug 7, 2008
11,871
2
A lot of people in the hobby don't get the scarcity of these. You look at them, #'ed to 552, and think they should be easy to find and barely worth the effort. But most of us here know better, and our Paypal accounts are better for it. I personally will buy any Heritage Chromes for a dime, I think they're one of the best parallels to buy and resell as someone is always putting sets together.

Well...theoretically, the Topps Heritage stuff shouldn't be worth much. It just happens to be worth anything because of set collectors. I think this stuff will eventually die off in value some. 2001 is a beautiful set but really, the cards are a little overvalued. Especially when I can get a topps black or even the clear cards or the silks of star or minor star players for 3 to every one topps heritage chrome from 01. Because there has to be a better ratio of people going after those than the 552 heritage chromes.
 

predatorkj

Active member
Aug 7, 2008
11,871
2
To actually add to the thread, I once found a $1 box with autos of Tracy McGrady, Andre Iguodala rookie patch auto, MJ total O hot pack version, and a few others. Dude said his cards had been mixed up which was a bummer but he let them go for like $10 total.

I see stuff I could pick up from the shop or at Tristar all the time I could make some money on but nothing killer. I'm just not into selling stuff. Maybe one day...
 

bongo870

Well-known member
Sep 30, 2009
3,574
485
Marlton NJ
I went to a show once and bought a pack of 1982 topps for 3 bucks. I pulled a Ripken rookie. I went back and the guy said he accidently put a $3.00 tag on them and the guy watching the table didnt now it was suppose to be 30.00. oh well.... PSA gave it a grade 8
 

sabrgeek

Member
Apr 10, 2010
578
13
Way back in the day (and not they were not that expensive then) I picked up tons of 1987 Donruss Greg Maddux RC's in dime boxes. Sold most of them for $20-30 after Beckett Graded them
 

smapdi

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
4,397
221
Nothing too major but I think my best find was a 1999 Topps MVP Contest Jose Canseco. Bought for 50 cents, sold for $20 as I recall.
 

Members online

No members online now.

Latest posts

Top