Home Trading Cards & Memorabilia Forum

Tell me about your childhood card shop

I figure I would like to read a thread that doesn't involved the current state of the world. Somewhere in a time much different than today. Before the wife. Before the monthly bills. Before the house. Before the first job perhaps. Lets hear some childhood memories that take us back to a time when things just seemed simpler.

My card shop as a kid was called Americas Pastime. It's not there today but I can lead you right to the spot where it was at I'm sure all the neighboring business's would have never guessed that there was a great card shop near them

It was a small shop and they had about 2 or 3 large glass cases. Mattingly 84 Donruss rookie. 86 Canseco. All those classis cards. Then they had all the latest wax boxes available with prices. 1992 Donruss, 1991 Topps Stadium Club series 2 packs for about $5. It was insane and I could get more of it. I would go there and pick up the latest price guides or more Ultra Pro binder sleeves. It was really a great time. Eventually they started selling comics (which became a big thing around 1992) and that was cool but it never quite felt the same after that.

I would go and purchase packs and rip them open inside the store. They would always have a price guide on hand that was for store use and the customers could share it. Just great times overall. I cant say I visited the store much after 1992 because I ended up moving and get there as often. That and then junior high and meeting new people and getting into girls and dating (sort of), it just was never the same.

Comments

  • erikthredderikthredd Posts: 8,099 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I remember my first trip to a local card shop like it was yesterday. It was 87 and the shop was called Collector's Coop in the next town over from mine so I remember one saturday morning a few friends and I hiked it there. On the way I found a $10 bill on the ground and when we got there he was all out of 86&87 Fleer basketball so I spent the $10 on one pack of 86 Fleer baseball and pulled the Canseco/Plank rookie(which I later traded to a friend for more basketball.) I also bought a Kevin Mchale 81 Topps rookie and a Larry Bird 81 Topps Super Action. Being fairly new to collecting I was amazed by everything that the owner,Ed, had there,from the many different older packs for sale to especially the Star Basketball Celtics team sets. It was quite awhile before I was able to finally afford a Star set,the first was a the Celtics white bordered team set and then later on,the Miller Lite All Stars set that had Bird,Magic,MJ,Erving & Kareem among others.
    That shop moved a few times in the years after but he always stayed on the same block as the original store and he stayed open well into the mid 2000's. He did eventually move a bit about a 10min drive away into NH but unfortunately when I stopped in one day for a recent Beckett,I learned from the owner's now grown son that Ed had passed away. He had been one of the last card shop owners in my area at the time. I haven't checked in years but there had been one last card/comic shop just over the stateline in NH that was still in business. Someday I'll have to take a drive over to see if it's still there.

  • remedylaneremedylane Posts: 330 ✭✭✭

    Mine was called The card shack. It was the mid to late 90s in which I frequented it. I spent every dime I had there. The shop itself had about 8 glass cases that had all the good stuff. In the middle were monster boxes full of top loaders. Those were the dollar boxes. But if you dug enough you could pull out some real nice stuff. Of course they had allllll the wax packs and boxes too.

    I was in there nearly everyday so I befriended the owner and employees. They were all in their late 20s to early 30s. They let me have free reign of the shop and would even let me run the place from time to time. After hours we would rip wax, eat pizza and play video games. On the weekends I'd be there until the wee hours of the morning, but my folks trusted me and never cared. My senior year we could shadow a business for a couple of days and miss school if we could get them to sign off on it, so of course I was at the card shack. Another cool thing was when the owner took me to a charity dinner thrown by Jim Kelly. All the buffalo bills were there and I got to meet them and get cards signed. I'm a lifelong cowboy fan so it was a tad awkward lol. But they were all super nice guys.

    I still have many cards I got fr that shop. Most touch with the owner when I moved after graduation . I've tried to find him over the years to no avail. Still, very fond memories. Thanks for helping me relive them.

  • doubledragondoubledragon Posts: 22,527 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Ah yes, I can recall my card shop back in the day as well. Those were the good ol' days, when I was just a little dragon jr., and I had zero responsibilities, no bills to pay, no cruel landlord who refuses to fix my air conditioning unit properly, no wife that drugs my chicken noodle soup with Benadryl so she can take over the TV, and no family pet that I have to spend my Joe Louis card money on every day. The card shop is no longer around, and it was called RBI sportscards. It was located in a shopping mall on the ground level, and was constantly packed full of people. I remembber I bought a Beckett price guide every month. This was back in the late 89s and early 90s, and the hobby was booming. I would earn money mowing lawns, washing cars, doing just about anything I could do to make money for cards. Back then, I collected every sport, and had a pretty nice collection and my favorite card was a 62 Topps Mantle. It was in pretty bad condition, but it was the first Mantle card that I ever saw, and I loved the wood design, so I saved up for it, and bought it one day. I wish I still had that card, I lost it in the late 90s when I took a break from the hobby. Those were some of the best years of my life, and I miss the thrill of walking into that card shop and just smelling the scent of the place. That little card shop went out of business during the aftermath of the junk wax era, and I miss the place. Well, I enjoyed the memories, and now it's back to the strain of everyday life. I must go now, my toilet is making funny noises again, and I must tend to it. ;)

  • magicpapamagicpapa Posts: 634 ✭✭✭✭
    edited March 25, 2020 11:13PM

    as a kid late 60's mid 70's, in Minnesota prolly just the corner store no real card shop

    getting back into collecting in the 90's with my oldest son it was

  • GreenSneakersGreenSneakers Posts: 908 ✭✭✭✭
    edited March 26, 2020 12:28AM

    I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the shop but the owners name was Neil. He overcharged 11 year old me for poor conditioned vintage stars. But I did love going to that place.

  • daltexdaltex Posts: 3,477 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @magicpapa said:

    It's embarrassing, but I can't come up with first names to all of the "Great rookie selection".

  • VagabondVagabond Posts: 551 ✭✭✭✭

    @daltex said:

    @magicpapa said:

    It's embarrassing, but I can't come up with first names to all of the "Great rookie selection".

    Brian Taylor (Big prospect for Yankees until he hurt his hand in a bar fight), Tim Salmon (ROY), F. Rodriguez (I think a Dodgers player), Phil Nevin, Sam Militello, Eric Karros (ROY), Charles Johnson (WS Champ), Hammonds (I forgot his first name. Maybe Chris? But I remember he was a pitcher), Flores (I don’t remember, Dave Fleming, Mike Mussina (HOF) and Pat Listach (ROY).

    That’s at least what I remember. Some lots of those guys actually had lengthy careers as a ball player but none of their rookie cards are really valued at more than a few dollars (if that).

  • magicpapamagicpapa Posts: 634 ✭✭✭✭
    edited March 26, 2020 2:19AM

    maybe Jeffery Hammonds?? there is a Chris Hammond
    Taylor is Brien

    also this guys rookie card

    131 Pat Mahomes, Sr. RC

  • Tecmo BoilTecmo Boil Posts: 259 ✭✭✭

    “R&D” baseball card shop in Taylor MI, around 1988-1992. Nice old guy....I forget if he was the “R” or the “D”, but I remember he said the other one died :(

    My clearest memory is I bought a ~500 count of random* 1986 Fleer basketball cards from him. I needed only Bird and Isiah to complete my set, but he said if I wanted those two, I had to buy the whole box. So I did. $7. Worked out well.

    *even then, the top Jordan/Akeem/Karl/Chuck cards were removed, but still worked out well.

  • RyansRustRyansRust Posts: 179 ✭✭✭

    Bakersfield CA. I was fortunate to have many shops open during the peak.

    Mikes Coin & Stamp (Defunct)- Never charged sales tax, good selection of wax and singles. Fair prices. Remember debating if I wanted the 1985 Davis or Puckett. Remember buying a couple error run packs of 89 F hoping for the error. No luck. Good times, good guy.

    H&H Baseball Cards- Has moved his shop but he's still around. Friendly, honest guy. Remember buying a 1987 T Will Clark because Beckett said 2nd year cards were undervalued. lol Smaller modern singles/wax selection. Was a long walk to get to his old location as a kid but the walk back looking at cards was always worth it.

    Gold Glove- Had a good selection of comics and some modern wax. Only visited there on my way to another shop. Closed up shop around the time cards left every corner store. There was another location across town but never visited.

    Bakersfield Sport Cards- Only learned of this shop a few years back. Still around. Imagine a collector who hoarded from 1986 to 1992. SLU, wax etc and opened a shop. This is it. The only local place I can find older wax. All the 1979 Topps baseball wax (20+ packs) was resealed as well as a '76 T Baseball cello. But the 1975 minis and full size and other late 70's wax is legit.

  • soxaddictsoxaddict Posts: 256 ✭✭✭

    Egad baseball card shop at Harding mall in Nashville, TN. Loved that place. I can’t remember if it was 82 or 83, but I attended a card show there and Enos Slaughter was signing autographs. They were giving out these huge 1952 Topps pics of Slaughter to sign. At the time, I mainly collected baseball, but at that show I came a cross a dealer who had a bunch of hockey. So I purchased my one and only hockey card during that time. I remember thinking, I’ve heard of this guy. It was a Wayne Gretzky rookie for $10. This guy had a one of those clear snap cases full of them. Before I left, I went in to the card store to spend my last $20 on a 1960 Mickey Mantle. Those were the days.

  • Kid4hof03Kid4hof03 Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    This is a great thread! Collector's Corner in Glen Allen, VA (just outside Richmond). This was the shop were Tuff Stuff was born as a newsletter. One giant wall with minor league sets and then tons of binders with singles. I had been to flea markets and antique shops that had cards, but this was the first card shop I ever went to. I went as often as I could, every time I had a few bucks saved up I'd spend it there. Great memories!

    Collecting anything and everything relating to Roger Staubach
  • GriffinsGriffins Posts: 6,076 ✭✭✭
    edited March 27, 2020 10:57PM

    Mine was called Adco Sports Book Exchange, it was the first card shop in the country, located in Hollywood.
    It was a tiny place, dingy with bookshelves stacked to the ceiling and piles of books everywhere. It was run by a miserable, crusty old guy named Goodwin Goldfadden who hated kids and probably adults, dogs, ice cream and sunny days as well.
    You'd make an appointment and arrive at the appointed time. And you would wait outside the locked door until Goody let the previous people out and would let you in. Sometimes you'd wait an hour outside, one time we waited in the rain for 45 minutes.
    Once inside you'd be ushered over near Goody's desk, and he'd ask you what you wanted. Then he'd go in the back and bring a stack of cards, give you prices, and you'd figure what you'd take.
    He was awful but the cards were amazing. This was '73, '74, and I was about 12. I had a really old card in my collection, a '54 Bowman Dick Littlefield that I kept in my wallet, just to show people something really old. So the first time I went to Adco a friend had advised me to ask for Joe Dimaggio. Goody had a seemingly endless supply of '39 Playball Dimaggio's, with the salesman stamp on the back, for $10. I was making $35 a month throwing papers, so that went in my stack. And a Greenberg from the same set for $1. I handed over my $11, Goody took it and practically pushed us out the door as the next victims were ushered in.
    I went back a few times, picking up Koufax and Aaron cards, and being careful to know my stuff, as one kid waiting outside had warned me that he'd sell you a manager card that was worthless (Ted Williams) if you didn't know what you were doing.
    In time small shows popped up and the precurser to the National, the annual Anaheim show, provided much greater opportunities in a more pleasant environment. Goody set up at those but I steered clear for the most part, but as crusty as he was his wife Esther, who accompanied him to shows, was incredibly sweet and would slip kids extra cards when the old SOB wasn't looking.
    Despite the less than perfect setting, going to that first store was pretty incredible. I got to see and buy cards that were 5-8x older than me. I learned how to deal with a really difficult person that I had no choice but to deal with. And I got to learn when to cut your losses, and despite really wanting something, when to walk away when the conditions weren't right or fair.
    I wouldn't change a single thing.

    Always looking for Topps Salesman Samples, pre '51 unopened packs, E90-2, E91a, N690 Kalamazoo Bats, and T204 Square Frame Ramly's

  • fiveninerfiveniner Posts: 4,109 ✭✭✭

    My favorite childhood card shop was Jack & Dorthys candy store and the Polish Crow market in northeast DETROIT. This was back in 1959when I was 10 years old when I would buy packs and sit outside the store and open my packs.My first pack had a 1959 Red Wilson......wow a tiger.
    I continued this routine for a couple more years when I discovered girls.
    My interest the cards always would come and go but never bought any until I got a hold of a sport magazine with an add selling baseball cards and for a dollar they would send you several random cards and one was one ugly looking card of George Anderson and a bunch of other commons.After that I found an actual baseball card store run by a once very popular collector name Charlie Brooks and was amazed to see all the cards he had.I bought the new release of the 1975 Topps and bought an entire set for $12 and several minis for about a penny a piece.
    That got me going and I was finding more card shows in the area and my collection started to grow.
    Then just a few card shops started opening up.The Bullpen then it was sold to a guy named Joe who renamed it the Scoreboard.I spent almost every evening there looking at cards and buying cards and talking baseball with other patrons.We would be there till midnight at times.
    Joe was a class guy who really taught me a lot about what to buy.
    In the very early 90s he went down with most of the other shops around.It will never be the same.

    Tony(AN ANGEL WATCHES OVER ME)
  • BunchOBullBunchOBull Posts: 6,188 ✭✭✭
    edited March 27, 2020 8:50AM

    Burkhalter Cards, Rome, Georgia. Mr. Burkhalter set up his shop after retiring from the phone company I believe. It was actually in the enclosed, converted car port of Mr. Burkhalter's house, but it was a great shop. He had contracts with all the major companies, snacks and drinks for sale, cards from every era, and lots of foot traffic. I started frequenting his shop in the early '90s, before the age of 10. Even better, for awhile his shop was within walking distance of where I lived. I consistently spent my $20 allowance in his store every Friday; and during summers, when I mowed lawns, even more. Around 13 or 14 we moved across town, so I didn't make it to the shop nearly as often, but he always took care of me. After I ran out of money, he'd allow me to trade a few cards in for a few extra packs at the rate of half "book value". On one such occasion when I was 14, I traded in what I remember to be a Corey Patterson rookie for a pack of 1998 Elite. In that pack I pulled a Back to the Future dual autograph featuring Nolan Ryan and Greg Maddux, a card I still have today. I remember the shock on Mr. B's face. He said nothing, just reached under the counter, handed me a penny sleeve and toploader and shook his head. I was taking longer than usual, so my mother came into the store to check on me, and he finally mustered, "The lucky shit did it again!" As word spread of the pull, I remember getting $500-$1000 offers from a shop patrons, but I refused them all. No small feat for a 14 year old kid. I had had several previous pulls of note in his shop, but nothing like that. Despite my success rate, he never relinquished his generosity. One of my better memories: In 1995 I bought a single pack of Leaf Limited and pulled a Frank Thomas Lumberjacks insert. While the card can be had for a few bucks today, then I couldn't have afforded to purchase it outright. I bought the pack specifically looking for that card and it happened.

    A lot of my buddies - who were less into cards but inspired by the financial potential they saw in my little operation - would go to the shop with me, allowance in hand. Most of them fell by the wayside in time, spending their dollars on other things, but good memories walking the back roads to his shop, opening packs, and trading.

    Mr. B passed in 2005 while I was 5 hours away in college. I hadn't seen him since 2003, but his health had already deteriorated by then. With his death died a major piece of my childhood, but man I look back on those times fondly.

    Collector of most things Frank Thomas. www.BigHurtHOF.com
  • rounding3rdrounding3rd Posts: 287 ✭✭✭

    Mine was Cerutti's Card Shop in Hillsboro, Illinois. There were two very cool things about this shop. First it was literally in my backyard (out my back door, cross the alley and there it was). Needless to say, I spent a lot of time and money there. But the best thing is when I turned 16, he hired me to work there during the summers! From 2-5 pm Monday through Friday, I was running the card shop myself until Mr. Cerutti arrived after he got off work at the coal mine. When I wasn't waiting on customers, my job was to sort and organize an entire wall of 5,000 count card boxes. I was paid something like $35 a week in cash and $30 in credit to use at the store. I would work 2-5, walk home to eat supper, and usually go right back to the shop and hang out until it closed and listened to the "regulars" that hung out every night and were busting packs routinely. This was during 1988-1991 era, and the hot things I remember were anything basketball with Michael Jordan on it and the 1990 Score Bo Jackson black and white baseball card!

    Working on Baseball HOF Autograph Set Registry
  • baz518baz518 Posts: 1,231 ✭✭✭✭
    edited March 27, 2020 11:36AM

    Superb Collectibles was a 5 minute bike ride from my house (Louisville KY) so I was there regularly. Owner was an ass, but his wife and son were cool. I remember him offering 10 year old me a wad of chew... he had a big recliner in front of a TV behind the counter, he would sit there and chew/spit while I looked through his packs, showcases and the latest Beckett. All my buddies always wanted to spend the night at my house so we could go up there (and I had an adjustable basketball goal). Same guy still runs a pawn/gun shop out of the same building.

    We had a few around the city, but besides Superb, I frequented Triple Play (to complete sets, they traded 2 for 1 commons) and Collectable Collectibles (owner was the dad of a buddy from school).

    ETA: The owner did tell me about the flashlight behind the 92 Topps scratch off trick... I think I ended up with 3 or 4 vending boxes of Topps Gold Winners, lol!

  • mrmoparmrmopar Posts: 1,030 ✭✭✭✭
    edited March 27, 2020 1:03PM

    @daltex said:

    @magicpapa said:

    It's embarrassing, but I can't come up with first names to all of the "Great rookie selection".

    Frankie Rodriguez (Red Sox)
    Solomon Torres
    Jeffrey Hammonds

    I collect Steve Garvey, Dodgers and signed cards. Collector since 1978.
  • mrmoparmrmopar Posts: 1,030 ✭✭✭✭

    I did not have a card shop as a kid that was close until after I came back from the military in the early 90s and was an adult collector by then. Triple Crown in Silverdale, WA seemed to be my go to at that time.

    When I was a kid, I would get most of my cards from the grocery store at the Lynnwood Center on Bainbridge Island. I would get to go to Pacific Trading Cards in Edmonds, WA every once in a while. It was a special trip when we would visit my sister, as it was a ferry ride and a few hours round trip. My parents would have never gone just to go to the shop and I couldn't get there on my own. I did get their mail order catalogs though, which was fun to browse and dream.

    I was able to visit a couple assorted shops in the Pike Place/Downtown Seattle waterfront area as well, but these were more just small card sections within a larger business that did other collectibles too.

    I collect Steve Garvey, Dodgers and signed cards. Collector since 1978.
  • smallstockssmallstocks Posts: 1,581 ✭✭✭

    My two favorite places to buy new packs of cards were Ryan Brothers in Matawan, NJ and a local 7-11. That was throughout the 70's.

    I never went to a card shop as a kid/teen, but there was another collector from South Amboy, NJ (was probably in his 40's) named Stan who would make fair trades with me all the time. The best trade was a few of my '60's baseball star doubles for 1965 Topps gem mint superstars Stan pulled from packs he had bought as part of a full box purchase he had made. I can only imagine what he could have gotten for that box now if it was still intact.


    Late 60's and early to mid 70's non-sports
  • PorkinsPorkins Posts: 604 ✭✭✭

    Great thread to read. One other member (vintagemaned) had previously spoken about this shop in another thread, which shocked me cause we’re talking smaller town Arkansas. There was a spiral staircase in a book shop that led to the card shop. I remember distinctly marveling at the 3-D 70’s Kellogg ‘s baseball sets that adorned the wall. The quarter “random card” vending machine always got a slice of money, and the current packs the rest. I remember grabbing the Billy Ripken FFace out of my dads hands when the owner, John, handed his copy to my dad to peruse, and everyone gasping. I can still remember the smell of that place... My dad was a young man back then, and 82 now. Where have you gone John England?

  • kmnortonkmnorton Posts: 1,050 ✭✭✭

    @mrvgex said:
    Mine was King’s Baseball Cards in Berkeley, CA. I believe he opened in 1977, at least that’s my recollection of the year I first visited. His “store” was a former storage room, only wide enough to fit 2-3 people at a time. He had his cards sorted in long metal drawers, not like library card file drawers, but wider. Anyway, he had probably 50,000 cards, mostly from the mid 50’s to the early 70’s. For a kid who had never seen cards older than 1969, it was paradise, the smell of old cardboard was intoxicating. I’m sure thousands of people who grew up in the East Bay area of Norhtern California also started their love affair with cards at that store.

    A version of King's in still in Berkeley. I think it was on Center and it's now on Fulton. I think he still only has cards from the 50's to the early 70's. I work around the corner on University.

    My local was the 7-11 where I bought wax and the Thrifty where I would "pack search" the cello packs for the cards I needed to fill out my set.

    IWTDMBII
  • ScoobyDoo2ScoobyDoo2 Posts: 839 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I was little.... everything seemed big.

  • jessewvujessewvu Posts: 5,063 ✭✭✭✭✭

    We didn't' have a card shop in my little town. There was an old guy that had a book store near the train tracks. He would pay about $0.50 for an inch of baseball cards. He was a miserly old fella. A small card shop popped up for a year or two when I was older. I walked in just to look around and remember the guy asked me if i wanted to buy a mario lemieux rookie card for something like $100. I thought he was out of his mind.

    I stopped watching baseball and collecting cards during the strike. I was a poor kid and couldn't believe those chuckle-heads were complaining about making more money to play a game.

    I'm not sure if any of the cards i collected from 89-93 are worth anything today, but i sure have a bunch of them.

  • AFLfanAFLfan Posts: 1,272 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I had a few that I went to, but I recall working for The Bullpen during the summer between my sophomore and junior years of high school. It was owned by a guy named Wes Wambold, who was also a fight manager and had Jesus "The Hawaiian Punch" Salud and James "The Heat" Kinchen in his stable.

    Those guys came into the shop pretty regularly, and Jesus was a really nice guy. I'll never forget when it was just he and I in the store one day. He was a lightweight boxer (I don't know exacts, but I'd guess around 140 lbs?) and I was a high school football player that was about 4" taller and 60 lbs heavier than he. We were laughing and screwing around and somehow got into a slap fight. I thought I was a tough guy and got one shot one him. Then, in the blink of an eye, he hit me what seemed like 76 times in the span of three seconds. It was comical, humbling and gave me a whole new appreciation for fighters of all sizes.

    The owner of the shop was kind of a crusty old dude that no one really liked, but I miss Jesus. He was a cool guy.

    Todd Tobias - Grateful Collector - I focus on autographed American Football League sets, Fleer & Topps, 1960-1969, and lacrosse cards.
  • momo1234momo1234 Posts: 349 ✭✭✭

    I DONT remember the name of the shop, but the location keep changing owners...the benefit of the location to me, was that it was a three minute walk from my house...
    the last guy i remember who owned the shops was Mickey and look exactly like the comic book guy from the simpsons....

  • Tere1071Tere1071 Posts: 163 ✭✭

    Any southern California stories out there? Starting with Goody Goldfadden's store, not child friendly but full of interesting stories, Will Davis who was child friendly and the hundreds of other shops that operated from the 1970s through the 1990s. There are some still in existence today, but there was a slew of colorful characters from that time who ran stores way back when.

  • mrmoparmrmopar Posts: 1,030 ✭✭✭✭

    I had heard the name a time or two. Here is an article talking about him shortly after his passing.

    https://sportscollectorsdigest.com/collecting-101/hobby-pioneer-goodie-goldfaden-dies-at-97

    I collect Steve Garvey, Dodgers and signed cards. Collector since 1978.
Sign In or Register to comment.