What is the hobby scene in your area?

[TBTwinsFan]

I just got to thinking about here and the hobby, and then about Gilmore's shop and how lucky the Atlanta area collectors are to have such a great shop. I was going over the Paris, TN thread and thought it would be interesting to see what people have to say about the hobby in their area.

I live in a small, 5-k people town in the southern part of MN. Baseball down here is scarce, except for a couple college teams, and a Northwoods League team. The town I was born in had a pro team in '94, but that was an experiment gone wrong. Basically we cling to our town ball and high school teams.

The hobby scene I thought was dead here. I knew that one of the police officers was an autograph collector, and I knew a couple kids who kinda collected but not really, same with a couple adults. We have no card shops except for a small mall one about an hour away. We have had a grand total of 5 within a 1 hour radius, as well as an antique shop that sold 90's packs of cards (late 90's ) and some older singles. We had a small shop that ran for a few weeks here, but I cleaned them out of the cheap singles that were decent, and only bought a small selection of wax.

We JUST got a show here a couple weeks ago that had a good turnout for being the first here. It was small, but the content was good, and you could really connect with the vendors.

There was some talk going around about setting up a REAL shop here, with current singles and wax. That talk died down as far as I knew.

 

[200lbhockeyplayer]

I live in a huge baseball and basketball area (Raleigh NC) and while there are three shops in the area...the hobby is pretty stale here, like most places. Two of the three stores in the area probably shouldn't still be open and who knows how much longer they'll fare.

There's a show in Raleigh this weekend and I'll expect to see the same dealers and the same passersby as I've seen since I moved here a couple years ago.

It's tough to get new blood for a hobby that just isn't what it used to be in American culture. When I was in grade school, it was common to see kids trading cards during recess, now these same kids are playing some pocket video game or checking their facebook status.

 

[TBTwinsFan]

I live in a huge baseball and basketball area (Raleigh NC) and while there are three shops in the area...the hobby is pretty stale here, like most places. Two of the three stores in the area probably shouldn't still be open and who knows how much longer they'll fare.

There's a show in Raleigh this weekend and I'll expect to see the same dealers and the same passersby as I've seen since I moved here a couple years ago.

It's tough to get new blood for a hobby that just isn't what it used to be in American culture. When I was in grade school, it was common to see kids trading cards during recess, now these same kids are playing some pocket video game or checking their facebook status.

or texting :? Nothing wrong with it, unless you are in the 5th grade :?

I am surprised, don't you guys have the USA Baseball Complex? I would think that USA cards would be bigger sellers there, but then again, we have the Twins and a good share of Twins fans here, and cards rarely, if ever come into play here.

I am blessed though. The town where my dad works, and where I spend a lot of time, has a K-Mart, AND Shop-Ko. Talk about retail heaven (if there is such a thing).

 

[200lbhockeyplayer]

or texting :? Nothing wrong with it, unless you are in the 5th grade :?

I am surprised, don't you guys have the USA Baseball Complex? I would think that USA cards would be bigger sellers there, but then again, we have the Twins and a good share of Twins fans here, and cards rarely, if ever come into play here.

I am blessed though. The town where my dad works, and where I spend a lot of time, has a K-Mart, AND Shop-Ko. Talk about retail heaven (if there is such a thing).

The USA Baseball National Training Complex in here in Cary, where all of the National teams have their team trials, practices, etc. with the exception of the World Baseball Classic teams...but few seem to know or care.

We also have the Durham Bulls and Carolina Mudcats close by along with the three ACC schools - UNC, Duke and NC State.

I'll say this, when I lived in Iowa City, some of my best retail finds were at Shopko with the biggest haul being 12 sealed boxes of 1999 Ultimate Victory for $19.99/each. On eBay they were selling at $120/each, for the rookie chase of Josh Beckett, Ankiel, Soriano, Burrell, etc. along with the parallels and McGwire SPs. I ended up ripping a couple and selling the rest after pulling two Becketts, an Ankiel and an Ankiel parallel.

 

[abeabe]

I have to drive 30 minutes to get to my LCS, and that is the only one I know of anywhere near here.

 

[ffgameman]

Fairly non-existent. I personally know one (1) other collector - FCB member Landon. My two nephews (one younger, one older) collected with me when we were kids, but they went on to other things.

My nearest hobby shop is a 40 minute drive; I haven't been there since I was around 10 or 12 years old (I'm 24). It is located in Bowling Green, KY; things may pick up there in the near future since this is the city's second year as an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays (Bowling Green Hot Rods - A level).

 

[TBTwinsFan]

or texting :? Nothing wrong with it, unless you are in the 5th grade :?

I am surprised, don't you guys have the USA Baseball Complex? I would think that USA cards would be bigger sellers there, but then again, we have the Twins and a good share of Twins fans here, and cards rarely, if ever come into play here.

I am blessed though. The town where my dad works, and where I spend a lot of time, has a K-Mart, AND Shop-Ko. Talk about retail heaven (if there is such a thing).

The USA Baseball National Training Complex in here in Cary, where all of the National teams have their team trials, practices, etc. with the exception of the World Baseball Classic teams...but few seem to know or care.

We also have the Durham Bulls and Carolina Mudcats close by along with the three ACC schools - UNC, Duke and NC State.

I'll say this, when I lived in Iowa City, some of my best retail finds were at Shopko with the biggest haul being 12 sealed boxes of 1999 Ultimate Victory for $19.99/each. On eBay they were selling at $120/each, for the rookie chase of Josh Beckett, Ankiel, Soriano, Burrell, etc. along with the parallels and McGwire SPs. I ended up ripping a couple and selling the rest after pulling two Becketts, an Ankiel and an Ankiel parallel.

Those are awesome! At our ShopKo, we can buy hobby boxes, tons upon tons of discounted blasters and packs... it's great. The K-Mart there is clearance-ing out 99% of their packs for a dollar or less. I picked up 10 packs already, and will be buying 7 more and 2 blasters to break on Wednesday. Should be a great break!

 

[autocut]

Tennessee Smokies are not far from here. Only hobby shop worth going to here is Sports Treasures as they have everything (boxes, singles, supplies, etc.)

 

[CraigsCards1]

I live in NYC and it's pretty weak, especially in Manhattan. Brooklyn has a few hobby shops but there's only one in Manhattan and it's tiny, and in two years of living hear I've never heard about a card show (I expect venues are prohibitively expensive). We're kind of stuck with retail for the most part, and even that scene's not good. There are two KMarts that are hit-or-miss, a Target all the way up in Harlem, and the big Toys R Us in Times Square that has a great retail selection but overcharges by 30 percent.

I'm sure there are plenty of collectors in Manhattan because there are 1.5 million people in 23 square miles, but they're certainly not organized in any way. That's where a great LCS would come into play with pack wars and other events to bring people together. I've though about trying to set up a live, in-person group case break just as an attempt to get a group of NYC collectors in one place to see what could come of it, but I don't even know how to begin to set that up. The card shop is way too small to handle even 5-6 people at one time.

 

[jbhofmann]

I live in NYC and it's pretty weak, especially in Manhattan. Brooklyn has a few hobby shops but there's only one in Manhattan and it's tiny, and in two years of living hear I've never heard about a card show (I expect venues are prohibitively expensive). We're kind of stuck with retail for the most part, and even that scene's not good. There are two KMarts that are hit-or-miss, a Target all the way up in Harlem, and the big Toys R Us in Times Square that has a great retail selection but overcharges by 30 percent.

I'm sure there are plenty of collectors in Manhattan because there are 1.5 million people in 23 square miles, but they're certainly not organized in any way. That's where a great LCS would come into play with pack wars and other events to bring people together. I've though about trying to set up a live, in-person group case break just as an attempt to get a group of NYC collectors in one place to see what could come of it, but I don't even know how to begin to set that up. The card shop is way too small to handle even 5-6 people at one time.

I could have swore there are guys on here that go to shops in Manhattan.

 

[CraigsCards1]

I could have swore there are guys on here that go to shops in Manhattan.

It's possible there are a couple more hidden in little storefronts around the city, but I've only come up with the one looking on Google Maps and various lists.

 

[aaron41984]

There is basically of network of collectors in my area that buy/sell/trade with eachother. The LCS is wayyy overpriced on wax and rarely gets new singles. There is a guy in the woods that sells reasonably priced wax out of a shed type building. He is old and sickly, though, so you have to call ahead.

 

[bmc398]

My LCS sucks. Do better Gilmore.

 

[cgilmo]

My LCS sucks. Do better Gilmore.

I'm a rook.

 

[G $MONEY$]

I live in Calgary, Canada (population over 1 million) and we are a Hockey Hobby first and foremost . We have at least 5 different card shops in the immediate city and another one about an hour away in Banff National park. We have a monthly show (about 15-20 tables or so) during the Hockey season that runs from Sept-May every year and then we also have one or two "big shows" a year (about 100 tables) that attracts dealers from the rest of Western Canada and some USA dealers as well.

 

[bmc398]

My LCS sucks. Do better Gilmore.

I'm a rook.

you expect us to pay retail? sheesh...

 

[jubei777]

I'm in the SF Bay Area and where I live there's 2 shops within 15 minutes drive. I have a good rapport with one of the LCS where I spend most of my time just hanging out. There's a couple of FCB's that go to my LCS and I have more members from other boards that come over too. What's sort of surprising is that there's only been a rise in people coming due to the Giants winning the World Series. Lot's of people asking for Lincy, Buster, Cain, etc. Not much movement at all on the other sports in the area.

 

[CraigsCards1]

Turns out there IS a monthly show in midtown Manhattan (43rd St. between 8th Ave. and 9th Ave.). Will have to check it out in May.

 

[TBTwinsFan]

My other stomping ground is in northern MN, in Brainerd (as well as an hour+ north of that).

Last time I went to shops up there, they had 2 within close proximity. Went to 1 and noticed the other at the end of it's run before the move to the mall. Now I only go to the one in the mall. Some decent prices, and they can have some good finds if you are willing to look. The comics are in another room too.

I don't actually stay in Brainerd when I am there, I stay an hour north, so I look for cards around that area. There is a trifecta of small towns and one is the only with cards. They have an ALCO discount store with a crappy selection, but I went with it last time and managed to pull a Dallas Braden RC Auto, a Brian Roberts Turkey Red jsy, a Dice-K Japanese version RC (when it was a somewhat decent card), a pair of Harvin RC things... all in one break. It was fun to oooopen up.

They also have an antique shop in the area. Problem is that they try to sell their crap cards for upwards of $15.

 

[kdailey4315]

I'm in the SF Bay Area and where I live there's 2 shops within 15 minutes drive. I have a good rapport with one of the LCS where I spend most of my time just hanging out. There's a couple of FCB's that go to my LCS and I have more members from other boards that come over too. What's sort of surprising is that there's only been a rise in people coming due to the Giants winning the World Series. Lot's of people asking for Lincy, Buster, Cain, etc. Not much movement at all on the other sports in the area.

What 2 shops?