As Local As It Gets

One perk of getting away on a trip is looking for local card shops.  Since I mapped out how to get to and from, I spotted a couple within close proximity and a couple others if I really wanted to.  The closest one to me is about 45 minutes away right now and since I don't really travel to Columbia much I haven't been to their new location which he's had for over a year now.

Like I said, I had two card shops I planned on going to, but I knew one would be tricky to get in and out of and as we approached it, I decided against stopping.  I don't regret it, but maybe if I return, I might go there next time.  However the other one was easy to get in and out of and a perfect place to stop.

If you want to show your loyalty to the local fan base, the perfect name for a Kansas City area card shop is Pine Tar Sports Cards.  It wasn't a very big shop, and when I walked in, it looked like the owner was pretty busy sorting stuff.  As I found out later when I got home and liked his Facebook page, he had just got back from Atlantic City for the Convention.  Since he was busy and then got a phone call, I didn't get a chance for small talk, but he seemed pretty nice.  The store itself as I said was small, and he had a few tables that had some boxes of cards, set up like a card show.  I imagine he took a lot of stuff to the convention and I bet if I went back, it would be fuller.

At any rate, I stopped before I went to the card show and I expected to spend more there (instead of 4 bucks as I mentioned yesterday), so unless I saw something must have for the right price, I figured under 10 bucks was good enough.  Since I didn't see any hobby boxes or anything, that wasn't a problem.  I could have spent a little more time there, but as I said I hoped for bigger things at the card show, so I did kind of speed it up a bit.

I still found some good cards and some good prices.

I found a box of Chiefs cards, and at a dime a piece, I found 5 that I liked.  The Donell Bennett was basically just to get to 50 cents, but I did like it, so I'm cool with it.  I couldn't remember if I had a Dante Hall card so I figured that was another good deal.  The Playoff cards though were the ones I liked the most, and the reason I picked them up.  While I have no plans to start another PC for football players, if I did, Nick Lowery would be considered.  I was really happy to get the Birden and McNair as I remember crushing Tecmo Super Bowl using them (McNair was the backup to Barry Word and Christian Okoye).  So 5 cards for 50 cents was a nice start, and I could say I didn't walk away empty handed.

Next I found the Royals box.  It didn't hit me until I started glancing through that I never made an actual list of what I have and what I need, so I had to try to guess.  Luckily for a quarter a piece, if I messed up, It wouldn't be too much of a big deal.  I might have the Butler and Jacobs cards, but maybe not.  I was positive I didn't have either Sweeney, so those were no-brainers.  He had an almost 3/4ths full box of Royals, and I didn't want to go through each card especially since I didn't have a checklist.  He had other boxes so I figured if I didn't find anything I could always come back to it and find more.

I've heard about the Optic cards, and had no desire to buy any, but for 50 cents, I can say I have one now, and that works for me, plus it was one I knew I didn't have.  Same goes for Bubba Starling, I knew I didn't have that one.  I would like to have more minor league cards of Royals, but I'll take what I can get.

Inside the box of Royals was a short stack of Mizzou and Jayhawks cards.  For the most part it was recent KU basketball cards and a good supply of Aldon Smith Mizzou cards I already had, but I did manage to find this Max Scherzer card I may or may not have.  If I do I can give it to a friend, if I didn't that works too.

So in total I've spent 3 bucks, not too bad.  I was holding them in hand and kept counting just because I'm not use to keeping a running total and didn't want to go really overboard.  Luckily I didn't figure I needed to put any back.

I looked at the other boxes, and he had a healthy supply of NBA Hoops packs, but I could do without them.  I did find this Collector's Choice pack from 1997 and for 50 cents, I figured why not.  I mean 19 cards, that's less than 3 cents a card and even if I found one card it would be worth it.  I waited until I got home to open the pack, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Look at that bottom row!  Deion, Sheff, and Joe Carter is worth about half the pack itself.  Emil Brown was an eventual Royal so that boosts the pack some too.  These were in the back of the pack, but to be honest, by then I already found value in the pack.

Some nice 90's names there, including Mark McLemore.  The Jim Edmonds added value to the pack, and I think if these two scans were all I got in the pack, it was worth 50 cents.  That wasn't all though, there was more.

Two Royals cards!  I know for sure that I have neither one, and this will add another team set I can build towards.  Throw in the Greg Gagne, who I forgot went to the Dodgers after his stint in KC, and it was a very great pack.

The first card I saw was the memorabilia Mania card, and just today I saw a similar pack at Walmart for basketball (yes a 1997 Collector's Choice basketball pack at Walmart in 2016, and it was in the 5 buck clearance box!).  I don't know anything about it aside from the Sweepstakes was long over.

Each pack promised a Star Attractions card, and I didn't know what that meant, until I saw the second card of the pack.  A GREG MADDUX????  More importantly, a Greg Maddux I don't have, and instantly the pack based on one card alone was worth 50 cents.  I would have been happy with any Royals or Maddux card, but getting a insert Maddux in addition to two Royals and two former/future Royals and I wouldn't have hesitated to buy more if he had them.

So after I grabbed that pack, I knew I should get going, even though I was only there 10 minutes or so.  I had a few more stops and at the time didn't have a hotel picked out yet so I knew the sooner I tried to get into a hotel, the better the luck.  So I scanned a couple more boxes, and they were listed at 25 cents each or 5 for a buck.  I think I can grab a couple bucks worth and call it a day.

I don't remember these Classics cards from 2014, but getting names like Satchel, Jeter, Musial, and Pujols for a quarter or less a card, and that's a deal for me all day. The last three are PC guys, and the Paige I got because I'd like to start a PC and didn't want the two or so other cards of his I have to get lonely.

Sure I don't like to pay a lot for unlicensed cards, but how often can you get a Griffey card for under a quarter?  I don't recall having a Rogers Hornsby card so adding one to my collection was a no brainer.  When I spotted the Clemente,  just seeing the last name, I didn't need to look at anymore, I added it to my stack.  One day I may get a pre 1980's card of Roberto, but for now if I find any of his cards cheap, I'll bite.

At this point, I kind of just wanted to finish up and pay and leave.  The Nolan Ryan is new to my collection and I don't see too many cards of his that aren't Astros or Rangers, so this was a good addition.  The Jim Abbott I thought about for a second before keeping it.  I've always liked Abbott, but I didn't know if I needed it.  As I wanted to go, I decided to keep it, and throw in the fact its an insert of the Pride & Perseverance set that I don't see too often, it was a wise choice.

The last card I grabbed was the Greg Maddux, without knowing what was in the pack, I didn't want to walk away without a Maddux card of some sort, and since I knew I didn't have this one, it was an easy pick to grab.

While it may have seemed rushed, I figured if I wanted, I could always stop back in on the way home.  I still planned on doing so on Saturday morning until I found a quicker way to get out of town without hitting traffic.  I think if I went back I could have found another 10 bucks easily.

Instead I grabbed these cards and got ready to check out.  So I counted them up and saw it was $5.50.  I should have tried to make it an even 6 but I just wanted to go.  When I handed the cards over, he was still on the phone and was busy but he looked at them, and told me 4 bucks worked with him.  I wasn't prepared to haggle, and honestly, I thought the $5.50 was worth it, so getting it for less was great.  I paid him, and I left.

When I got back home, I thought I would be nice.  I don't tend to like many businesses or anything on Facebook because I don't want to clog my timeline much.  However, I liked the shop a lot, so I looked for it, and I found it.  I went to like the page and something caught my eye.  He had a flyer on the page with a logo of the card shop in Columbia.  As it turns out, the card shop in Columbia is putting on their first card show in October, and this shop is going to be there.  I don't think it will be a big show, but I still would like to go, and now that I know a couple of the sellers, it will make me more motivated to attend.  Who knows, he just got back from the National, so he might have more deals I haven't seen yet.

So between the card shop and the card show, two of the reasons I wanted to go to this particular area, I spent a total of 8 bucks on cards.  It may not seem like much, but I got quite a bit for not a lot.  I stopped other places, as you'll see, and I bought even more cards so I'll have more to show, including more Royals.  I've always hoped to find a real nice card shop and one that is local.  Pine Tar Sports Cards may not be too local, but it is a nice card shop.  If you are in the Blue Springs area of the Kansas City Metro, then I think it's well worth stopping in and visiting.  There was another shop down the road but since I didn't stop in I can't comment on it.  If I go back I might check it out though. If I do though, Pine Tar will be first on the agenda though.

That will wrap it up for today, thanks so much for reading, and if you enjoy my flea market posts, I think you'll like the next post or two.  Have a great night.