First Trip To the Card Shop in 2010

I was on my way home after work today and decided to take a trip to my nearest card shop. I used to go at least once or twice a month but since last September, I haven't been. My intention was to go and pick up some long needed supplies like GU toploaders, sleeves, pages, and boxes. I have at least 4-5 sets that have been taking up space in my monster boxes that have no business being in there.

Normally, there are a couple of guys that park themselves in there almost everyday. These two babble on and on about their pulls and how thier stuff is so great and yours sucks. They stand over you like vultures waiting to devour thier newly acquired carcasses. You can't even open anything while they are there because they barrage you with questions and ridiculous offers to buy your hits. Well, today was different.

I walked in and they weren't there. In fact, the owner and his partner were there, along with at least a half dozen customers. I have never seen so many people. It was an awesome spectacle. Turns out, they are banned from the store, or at least, that is the rumor. Don't know why...don't really care. All I know is, the environment was so much nicer, calm, and conducive to card collecting.

So I picked up my supplies and spent another 20 minutes chatting with some of the patrons. I guy was there busting some of last years and this years Black Diamond Hockey. He pulled a quad-swatch jersey of Sidney Crosby that I really wanted but couldn't begin to imagine what he would want for it. Last years quad jersey goes for between 50-80 in most cases. Regardless, the urge struck me and my supplies were quickly joined by another box of O-Pee-Chee. If I am ever going to finish the set, I had to buy at least one more box.

Now I have my supplies and I will be able to start making more room for all the cards that are piled up in the shelf in my closet. I'll post anything I might pull out of there. Also, I have a few trades that should be posted in a few.

Some recent shop pick ups

As sort of a continuation of the last post, here is a list of what I picked up from the shop.

6 Packs of 2009 Topps Chrome Football: The packs of Topps weren't bad. In fact, I was happy with what I pulled...Two refractors and an auto!!

Frank Gore Refractor, Louis Murphy RC Refractor, Darrius Heyward-Bey RC, Kevin Ellison RC, Brain Orakpo RC, Chase Coffman RC Autograph, Vincent Jackson Chicle Insert, Troy Polamalu Chicle Insert (awesome PC card in my opinion), and the greatest card ever (I sense sarcasm)...a Jacksonville Jaguar cheerleader. Laurie, in fact, in case anyone cares.

2 Packs of 2009 Bowman Chrome Football: continuing where I left off at least where refractors were concerned...

Laveranues Coles Refractor, Darrius Heyward-Bey RC, and Mike Teel RC

Two Heyward-Bey rookies in two products was a little weird. The cheerleader card was a little weird, too. I could have done without ever seeing one of those, now I own one. Other than the Troy Chicle card, I didn't get any Steelers as I had hoped. The owner of the shop, as a consolation, gave me the ad spec sheet from a case of Topps Football with Ben Roethlisberger plastered all over it. That was cool.

Shop Review - - #1 The Baseball Card Exchange, Inc

As promised, I made my way to one of the local card shops around the Indianapolis area. Now as the title suggests, I plan on reviewing more than one shop. So, as I mentioned, this will be the first in a series (hopefully).

The first issue was to find one that was still in business. The first two hits that I got when searching for a local shop turned up to be out of business. Not a problem, though. My third choice actually answered their phone, giving me their hours so I wouldn't be wasting my time looking for a closed shop.

The Baseball Card Exchange has been in business since the early 90s, at the same location. When you enter the store, it is set up like the traditional store that most people would imagine. Cases down both sides with shelves behind featuring mostly wax boxes and sets for sale. There were a few boxes on the counters for searching through but most of the cards were either in the display cases or behind the counter.

The right side of the store was entirely made up of basketball product and supplies. After talking with the owner, I found out basketball used to be a mainstay of the business. Afterall, we were in Indiana, the basketball capital of, well the mid-west at least. However, with the change in product focus of most companies, football has taken over. The left side of the store was split between football and baseball.

It appeared that there was a large focus on packs and singles, especially newer product since they were the boxes on the countertops. The walled product had boxes ranging from the mid 80s all the way up to today. It was fun to see some product that I haven't seen in years. I learned that all of the singles in the cases were also obtained from customers. The owner breaks nothing himself because, as he puts it, if he gets a hit, no one else will. Good point. He also does nothing online other than ordering product so there are no websites or email...old school at it's best.

Overall, it was a nice shop, well kept and up to date with the most current products out there. The owner was very accomodating and we had a great conversation about the hobby and how it has affected his business. If you are looking for a nice shop in the area around Fishers (outside of Indy...northeast side) this was a nice place to spend some time and money.

Oh, what did I pick up, you ask...

6 Packs of 2009 Topps Chrome Football

2 Packs of 2008 Bowman Chrome Football

1 Pack of Soft Sleeves (for all my "hits")