Ever walk into a card shop...

[nkdbacks]

Classic story, thanks for sharing!
I don't think I've been to an LCS (except to pick up some supplies) in probably 6 or 7 years. Most stuff is severely overpriced except for commons. Not even sure where there are card shows out here in Phoenix anymore, there used to be a good one at the PHX Baptist Chruch but I don't see it advertised anymore. Thank god for eBay and online trading or I don't know what'd I do.

 

[mchenrycards]

Im not suprised. It's Rockford. One of the biggest dumps in the midwest.
Sorry if you are from there. :lol:

Stopped in there one time to get gas on my way to Chigago, and didn't want to get out of the car. Place was scary.

If you stopped in Rockford on your way to Chicago from Southern Illinois...you really took the long way around!! LOL

 

[wideright]

:lol: :lol: That is effing hilarious, Charlie! Good thing you dropped the cards and left, the old lady behind you was probably fixing to lift your wallet while you dicked with him about the cards :lol:

 

[jkeys]

I'm always thankful that there's a solid card shop within a short drive from my house (Shawnee, KS). Good guy, very solid knowledge of pre-war and vintage, and always has some newer product available. Prices are closer to book than ebay, but overall the experience is pleasant. Too bad there's so many "bad" ones out there : (

 

[Titans74]

I can say this with 100% certainty, that EVERY SINGLE card shop I have EVER been to have had overpriced singles and packs. It's what card shop owners do for the most part. The majority of them are all fatass crooks. It's a sad thing, but I've never walked into a card shop and thought I could trust the person working. Their always out to screw you. Just my experiences.

I agree totally. Still, I do miss the days of driving by a shop I didn't know was there and getting excited to stop in ajd see what they had. Maybe buy a box, chat cards for a few. If I saw any sign that said baseball cards I stopped in. Now? I see a shop or a place selling cards? I keep driving. No desire to stop and waste my time anymore.

I miss the 80's lol

 

[ChasHawk]

Im not suprised. It's Rockford. One of the biggest dumps in the midwest.
Sorry if you are from there. :lol:

Nope, I'm from Schaumburg by way of Chicago, but live in Belvidere now. Rockford is close by though.

Not sure where Sam stopped, but there are some ****** parts of Rockford, just like any other bigger city.

There are also museums, the riverfront, great restaurants, etc.

The scary parts of Chicago make Rockford look like a day care center... :lol:

 

[Slette]

Wow, your tale is so similar to my experience at Baseball Card Warehouse in Lexington, Ky that it is eerie! That place was exactly like that, couldn't even tell where the counter was. Then the guy had the nerve to tell my daughter to get out from behind his sales counter! Believe me, if she could have distinguished the sales counter from the other piles of junk then she would have never ventured back there. To this day it makes my blood boil thinking of that *******.

The same thing happened to me the first time I walked in!! I was trying to get to the other side of the store and took the wrong route through the piles of random crap and ended up behind the sales counter. I asked him if he would take $5 for a Grady Sizemore RC he looked it up in the Beckett and told me that it booked for $8 and going down, but he'd take $10 for it. I stick to the LCS in Richmond, KY if I'm up that way now.

Wait, he stated that it booked for $8, said it was going down... and then quoted you ABOVE book? As Bugs Bunny would say, "What a maroon."

 

[Old Kentucky Shark]

I can say this with 100% certainty, that EVERY SINGLE card shop I have EVER been to have had overpriced singles and packs. It's what card shop owners do for the most part. The majority of them are all fatass crooks. It's a sad thing, but I've never walked into a card shop and thought I could trust the person working. Their always out to screw you. Just my experiences.

I meet one of your criteria.

I meet zero of them....I'm more stocky than fat.

 

[ThoseBackPages]

Haha a local shop around here is run by an Asian man and his wife who think $20 for a Bryce Harper BCP1 is a good price. They do not take best offers either. I asked her how much for a throwback Harper and she looked it up in a Beckett and took $1 off the BV.... :lol:

Are you talking about Galaxy Stores? I have been buying from them for 15 years, know them really well. Yes, some things are definitely over priced, I will give you that. BUT, they have hands down the best selection of singles and wax in all of the chicagoland area. If you buy in quantity wax wise, you can get a much better deal, and I never get charged tax. Definitely the best shop in the area.

Hell yes I love this place. I have gone there about 15 times over the years. I even took Eric (thosebackpages) there and I pulled a nice card from SP Authentic Some kid name Griffey and then I went back the next year and pulled a dual Auto of Jeter and Ripken. I even bought a few packs from UD legendary cuts from a few packs he had left and got a cut redemption card. Sold most of my hits I got from that place to fund more buying there.

wow Rich, that was over 5 years ago already.

 

[Super Mario]

I actually want to clarify my earlier statement. The two card shops that are closest to me are ran by decent guys, and I have enjoyed shopping their and talking with them. They are excluded from my earlier thoughts. Mikey B's Bleacher Bums and Collectibles is a great place, Mikey is awesome to talk to. He's a solid dude, and I don't want him to think I was talking about him if he were to read this, I know he browses the site. And Fox Sports Cards in Marion Illinois is a great nice place too, ran by respectable people.


Not ALL card shops are like I said, but you all know what I was meaning.

 

[Super Mario]

Im not suprised. It's Rockford. One of the biggest dumps in the midwest.
Sorry if you are from there. :lol:

Stopped in there one time to get gas on my way to Chigago, and didn't want to get out of the car. Place was scary.

If you stopped in Rockford on your way to Chicago from Southern Illinois...you really took the long way around!! LOL

We had some stops to make on the way.

 

[Jedi500]

I used to have a card shop i went to....only the chain went bankrupt 2+years ago..
BC sports was awesome got my 2nd best hit ever, blue ref auto of justin upton sold for 350 at the time. There card selection was ehh but their box and pack prices werent bad + had a petty good rewards system and had stiener signed stuff and i you needed a certain photo or something they would order it and have it sent to you. They did have alot of signed baseballs in the worst spots as most were faded

 

[timfsu2k]

The same thing happened to me the first time I walked in!! I was trying to get to the other side of the store and took the wrong route through the piles of random crap and ended up behind the sales counter. I asked him if he would take $5 for a Grady Sizemore RC he looked it up in the Beckett and told me that it booked for $8 and going down, but he'd take $10 for it. I stick to the LCS in Richmond, KY if I'm up that way now.

Yea, I won't be going back. I don't get down to Richmond at all. I live near Louisville and there is a great shop here called East End Sports Cards. If you get a chance, be sure to stop in and say hi to Dave and Chase. Great guys to deal with for sure.

 

[Mr.1989]

lol That is a classic story.

Thanks for taking the time to read. I needed to vent it... :lol:

your experience sounds so familiar :lol: :lol:

 

[t3dudek]

Ever wonder where the infamous Evan Longoria Superfractor is. In a shop like this where no one ever buys packs.

 

[Brewer Andy]

Ha! I've been there Charlie! Grabbed a couple shoe boxes and left. There was a stamp shop in Madison a few years back (not sure if its still there) but around 2003 I stopped in just to see what they had as they also had a "Sports Cards" sign. Turns out it was 2 or 3 open wax boxes in a glass case and that's it. They did have some Absolute Mem in the case oddly enough and the owner proudly informed me that someone had pulled an Albert Pujo (rhymed with Cujo) patch card the day before. Good times

 

[RiceLynnEvans75]

This place is in the Del Rey section of Alexandria, VA. When I first moved to VA a few years ago, I jumped online to see if there were any card shops in the area and was pretty excited when I saw a few were still around. One rarely ever has new stuff but is good if you want to go digging around in 5000 count boxes going back a couple of decades. One is alright and is owned by the guys who do Huggins and Scott auctions. THEN there is this place. It was the first one I went into and ended up being pretty much a romper room of random collectibles. (No clue who this guy is, just pulled the photo off the internet.)

Those binders on the counter are pretty much the extent of his cards. He did have some loose packs behind the counter, stuff like '96 Ultra. The binders were full of stuff I had trouble giving away years ago. Note the box of '91 Topps behind the X-Men figure up top.

The place isn't that wide and yes, those are plants on the left side of the store.

There are far more plants than are available in the photos I found.

Actually, I kind of want to go back now just to poke around in a pile of crap and see if there is anything worthwhile.

 

[nborton]

People talk about the internet killing card shops, but it killed most collectible's values. What was perceived as rare is no longer rare. Imagine if this were the 80s again. There is no way any of us would be seeing Superfractors. You're talking about a once in a lifetime pull for a person. Now you can buy Supers all day. If I wanted a Granderson Superfractor before the internet, there's little to no hope of me finding it locally.

 

[BBCgalaxee]

Those pics of a totally over jammed store w stuff everywhere on every inch is one of my pet peeves.

I made sure my place has never, and wil never, look like that.

 

[cgilmo]

Those pics of a totally over jammed store w stuff everywhere on every inch is one of my pet peeves.

I made sure my place has never, and wil never, look like that.

I have a problem keeping stuff off my display cases. I and everyone else treat them like tables when they aren't supposed to be.