Card hunting at Target, Wal-Mart etc

[sjm76]

I'm assuming that some people here like to stop in at Target, Wal-Mart and other stores like Big Lots to see what cards they have in stock.
There have been slim pickings lately at those places around where I live but has anyone struck gold at any of the places that I mentioned? If so, I'm interested to hear what you found.

 

[jszczech]

Only time I found cards at Walmart all summer was a couple blasters on archives. There is a local guy that buys everything up and flips them on Facebook.

 

[gt2590]

Only time I found cards at Walmart all summer was a couple blasters on archives. There is a local guy that buys everything up and flips them on Facebook.

Yeah, some of these guys even follow the merchandiser from store to store.

One time, the merchandiser didn't put out everything until after he left and then gave me and another guy who just happened to be there a couple hoops blasters.

It really is bad when you have Gallery, a retail only product or factory sets not available at all...

 

[nevermore]

That has been my experience as well. I stop by Walgreens next to work for snacks/soda maybe once a week. I've never seen Topps Baseball there. Last time I found something was one pack of 2019 Series I (?Jumbo).

 

[DeliciousBacon]

There are five Walmarts close to me, and the last time I found cards at any of them was those Heritage Mega boxes. Apparently one or two guys have bought out all the new releases whenever they show up. The four RI Targets have had barely anything; I found a few Chronicles blasters last week, and a few months ago, some A&G, Archives, and Optic. The last release they were widely stocking was Select. The Targets all have limits on cards, either 1 or 2 per person per day, but that's also dependent on the vigilance of the employees. My LCS stocks blasters regularly, has for years, so I don't need to go to Target specifically for cards (and we don't shop at Walmart), but it is nice to score a few here and there.

 

[RNCoyote]

only thing left is hockey and I collect hockey at times. Last time I went to Walmart I was shocked to find blaster box of Allen and Ginter. Had to grab it because its the only chance to open this year's product

 

[tramers]

i know the local that buys up ----won't sell to anybody under 20% mark up

 

[smapdi]

Locally things have been so barren that they've started reducing and sometimes eliminating the card sections at times. I'm guessing they'd rather have a constant supply of snuggies and other crap on sale than a big section of shelving devoid of anything for 167.5 hours per week. When you can't find a single pack of base Topps for sale anywhere outside a card shop, and even then there is only one that actually has them in stock, I'm not sure what that means for the market.

I was in a card shop yesterday and there was a guy who seems to be one of those doing the most to ensure the drought. He's got the delivery networks all across Travis county wired, apparently. He and a friend have networked with store staff and others to know when a delivery is being made to any Target or WM around and based on that they know which other stores will be getting product that day so they can just go and wait to buy it all up. Then they run breaks with the boxes. Apparently are making money hand over fist. This is the guy's job now, apparently. I mean, I get it. When someone sells $50 bills for $20, I wouldn't leave any on the shelf, either. Still, it's tremendously frustrating not to be able to just go get a blaster when you want, or even one single pack without making a special trip to either extreme end of town. I've actually wondered if Topps can just print more cards but leave out things like numbered inserts. Or do more series.

Still, based on a tweet from Brentandbecca today, it looks like production is not going to be ramped up to meet demand. He says,"I was just told my Topps Update case order was cut 80%. I will have the least amount of cases of a base Topps series since 2005. The market is just immense. This will change a lot of what I’ll be doing with it and going forward as my heritage high was also greatly cut." Maybe this is just with the last 2020 products but 2021 is sure going to be interesting from a market-watching perspective.

 

[RNCoyote]

At this rate we are entering the next junk wax era once Topps ramp up the productions

 

[DeliciousBacon]

One of my local WalMarts had a TON of Gallery this morning. I was there not long after 7 AM, and some had been bought, but not much. Cards aren't typically stocked that early around here, so I don't know when it showed up. I grabbed a few of the 20-pack boxes and half dozen rack packs, and it was really nice to rip! The Kris Bryant auto /5 helped too!

 

[bongo870]

i have been Ill for the past month. As we are trying to figure out what is wrong my relief is opening packs but retail is always empty. I went last Friday to Walmart and the lady said they stocked it the day before and someone bought it all up. Thanks to the jerk who ruined it for everyone.....

 

[zyceoa]

I went to my local Walmart a few days ago and everything was wiped out except for some Panini NFL stickers. All the baseball product I bought this year has been on EBAY. Heritage, Big League, and Archives. At least those weren't much above SRP. I dunno if the same can be said for basketball or football.

 

[gt2590]

None of my local spots ever have anything left after the merchandiser leaves.

Except for the same Hockey blasters from two years ago.

Sometimes I feel bad for them, like the neglected toys in Toy Story, wondering if I’m putting them out of their misery...LOL

 

[Benbabs]

People who do this are scumbags. Long time lurker and finally registered to reply here. I buy probably $100 a year retail (will check out what’s available if I’m in target). Recently seen a lot of nothing. Got lucky a couple times I guess in last couple months and I knew this occuring and bought a blaster and two rack packs. Next week all cleared out. I usually go to a monthly card show and very few dealers stock packs. Recently saw a lot just pricing up retail products. Do not buy this stuff from resellers. I do worry about kids staying in hobby. Rant over.

 

[mrmopar]

This is very easy for me to say now, but maybe it is time to just buy online or buy secondary and just what you need/want. Have it shipped to your door and stop wasting times with crowds, parking lots and sold out shelves. Help the people who are in it to see it continue (hobby vendors) and not those who are just profiting on yet another product among millions of others.

I was pretty much an addict, as I would buy up some of everything just to rip packs. I didn't sell any of it, so it was not about the return and it all accumulated. it got too expensive to keep up. As packs and boxes got more expensive, I could buy fewer and seemed to be less excited about what I got from them. $80 netted me a bunch of "worthless" base cards and a few inserts, usually nothing I wouldn't have been able to buy a few weeks later for a few bucks at most. I rarely beat the odds and pulled anything remotely good and I am pretty confident to say I don't recall pulling anything epic that would be worth more than the box price into the future. I figured out I could just buy the singles I wanted (mostly) and stop paying the premium for what was and still is, especially now, a major gambling fix. The insert game has all but ruined card collecting for the plain old collector who likes the base card, builds sets and/or just enjoys this as a hobby.

I exist as a collector today, only due to the secondary market. I buy nothing brand new, direct from the manufacturer or a distributor. 100% of my buys are ebay, other online card related sites/collectors or at a very rare hobby shop visit (for old stuff and supplies, no packs/product). I miss the thrill of a pack rip like any recovering addict enjoys their thrill, but I have kicked it and don't look back.

 

[David K.]

I checked Target on Thursday.....and no new baseball at all!