Unfortunately the card dealer guy was not there, and I'm not even sure he runs his stand anymore. But in it's place were two more dealers.
The first dealer was odd. I don't know what sort of impression I give off, but he did not acknowledge that I had walked into his stall. I'm not a heavy set or tall guy at all. So when two people are in a 10x10 space, you think some sort of "hey what's up" would happen. None. Basically, if he didn't want to notice me, I wasn't going to say anything to him. This made me not want to spend any money in his store. Simple customer service goes along way.
Side note: I do realize that a lot of people probably come in and browse without buying, but how are you going to try and make sales without simple greeting?
This guy had about six 5,000 count boxes of commons. Just garbage. Foiled 2000 cards, gross. No MLB Showdown. Another one of his 5,000 boxes was full of 60's gold. I might bite the bullet and purchase a few if I need to fill sets. Lots of McFarlane and Starting Line Up figures also.
The best part of his little stall, two T-206's. Bill Clymer (VG 3, $55) and a Tris Speaker (VG 3, $500). I asked to see them and he sort of gave me an odd eye. Look man, I know it's odd that someone is asking about your product, 10 minutes after stepping into your store. He pulled them out from the case and mentioned how they were his friends. I always feel that the majority of vintage cards aren't 100% authentic. So I had my reservations. I thought about purchasing Clymer since it was around my budget. Looking at the letters and font color, I deemed them real. Asking over at FreedomCardBoard, one of the boarders felt they were authentic also. Pretty badass to be holding cards that are 100 years old.
You be the judge about their authenticity, I'd love to hear more input.
After thanking him for taking the time out of his busy schedule of deciding where to put his Joe Montana McFarlane (lol), I left and walked across the tiny hall to another "card dealer". I hesitate to call this guy a "card dealer", I'd rather say a hustler. Guy was my age but had the ghetto accent. When I walked in he was trying to hustle an older gentleman into purchasing one of those old NBA 3 rookie players per card. This one had Bird and two others. I wasn't really listening too much, instead I was trying to find the rhyme or reason about his layout. Why was a Pat Listach insert one of the main cards this guy had to show. Why does this guy have probably 500 Donruss 1988 Stickers? Wait a minute, are those early 90's NBA team sets? HOLY SHIT DO THEY HAVE NEW JERSEY? YESSSSSSSS THEY DO. I picked it up and looked at the last card hoping it was a checklist. Instead, I was staring at my soon to be first Drazen card. MONNNEYYYYYYYY!! The older guy left and the kid explained to me how he buys massive collections from card shops in hopes to sell them off later to make money. The guy he was just dealing with was a "big time collector". From the bits and pieces of their conversation, I really think neither of them had any idea what they were talking about...most of the words were "book value". Long story short, Drazen and his buddies cost me $0.50. The kid asked why I wanted that set and I explained to him who Petro was and how he was one (if not the) best all time 3 point shooters and a HOF'er. Not to mention, my ethnicity.
I was about to leave when I decided to check out the rest of the place. Odd shit everywhere, why not? Last but not least, heaven. One older guy with just tons and tons of random sports stuff and cards strewn everywhere. And also probably one of the nicest card dealers I had ever met. We talked for literally 20 to 30 minutes about anything. My favorite part was two randomly placed MLB Showdown 2000 starters. They were not purchased.
Seriously, completely odd place.
After browsing some more, I found these gems. If there was a Petrovic pin, it was being purchased. Instead these were all from 1995-1996. Drazen's former Yugo teammate Vlade shows up 5 times. Speaking of Drazen and Vlade, ESPN's 30 for 30 is doing a special on them October 12. Watch it. It will be the best 30 for 30.
Hiding in a corner of a display case were some very old cards. I thought at first they were late 1950's. Come to find out they are 1935 Goudey 4 in 1's. Unfortunately they had been cut up. No problems with them being cut up, they were awesome regardless.
These are Card C and Card D.
The dealer also mentioned how he had tons of other vintage at his house and that he is running multiple card shows within the next few months. SCORE!
And on top of all of this, he had a stack of early 90's NBA Cards. Flipped through, last card, Petrovic. 2 BRAND NEW DRAZEN CARDS!!
Total cost at his stand: $5.
Overall, great place and I'll probably stop by his stand again once he brings in all his vintage items.
1 comment:
Wow, what an incredible range of experiences for such a small place! I think I may have to check out one of these places myself!
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