how many card shops are still in your area?

raykasa

by in your area i mean within a 30 min drive. Do you still shop at these stores? I have a friend in Colorado who states all he has is ebay, and a four time a year mall show. yikes!

magellan

Funny you should ask that now as I was just checking the yellow pages Saturday for shops in my area. We have 2, both about 20-25 minute drive from where I live.
There used to be more and closer. There are some also about 45 minutes from me.

Basically I buy from eBay or swap with folks on here now.

FrodoBaggins

There are two, both within a 15 minute drive. Both have been there for 15+ years

jrinck

There are two--both run by the same person in the same small town. I went in there once, and his vintage was overpriced, bad conditioned, and sparse.

I guess the comics keep him in business because it sure isn't the sportscards.

lsutigers1973

I live in the 3rd largest city in our state and we used to have about 6. Now we have one and he specializes in the stupid fantasy games and cards. Has a ton of raw vintage but typical of card shops and shows now, wants NRMT value for VG cards. The ones that are NRMT-MT he wants above high Beckett value. We do however have a weekend flea market with one huge card booth and I go there almost every weekend. Always seem to find a good deal there and the owner only stays there all day to talk about baseball. Reminds me of the old card shops in the early 80's.

justmichael

I have about 7 plus a monthly show.I guess I am luckier than I thought.Only 1 is worth going to.

leathtech

0 - that I know of with in a 30 min drive.

Griffins

4 within 5 miles of me here in West Los Angeles, another 4-6 in the San Fernando Valley about 15 miles away.
The one closest to me I had not been into in 3-4 years, but ran into the owner and ended up buying a bunch of nice cards. He seems to have modernized his operation a bit.

VitoCo1972

Burbank Sportscards is 2 minutes from my house. They're the best for all commons and 80-pres wax....but I still deal primarily on eBay

Caricon

Closest ones are an hours drive from me, but I do live out in the country. There are two shops in Ft. Wayne IN that I know of
and still try to go to once in a while.

perkdog

2 or 3 I only go to 1 though, on a day off when Im bored out of my mind! Ebay is the only place I shop for cards.

TheHun

We've only got one shop here on the island - its a combination stained glass store and he has some vintage cards and comics.

Then we have the flea market with about 3 guys that sell sports cards - only one that I buy from.

I do miss going into a shop and talking sports and about the hobby. But i guess the internet is the way things are done now.

BobaFett72

only one. and he is a sleaze bag, who cant grade and overprices everything.

jimq112

<< <i>only one. and he is a sleaze bag, who cant grade and overprices everything. >>



We're neighbors!

sonoranmonsoon

I have one within 30 minutes drive. I have only been in it twice in 7 years. I have had no reason to go there, the internet has a much better inventory of what I need, at better prices.

Maybe we are all neighbors.

digicat

Just 3 that I can tell, and all 3 specialize in non-sports stuff (e.g. comics, RPGs, Magic, Anime). They each have a display case or two in the back with some sports stuff, but that's about it.

I usually just use the b&m's to stock up on supplies.

DavidPuddy

<< <i>only one. and he is a sleaze bag, who cant grade and overprices everything. >>



Same here!
I buy from ebay, sportlots, and on our glorious BST board.

TheCARDKid

For you LA guys, have you been to the Americana yet? That's definitely not a place for sports cards. Went there yesterday, it looked like Vegas in the middle of Glendale. It'll probably be packed for months.

I was Burbank Sportscards maybe 5-7 years ago. And haven't been to Beverly Hills Card Shop or Santa Monica Sports Cards in a while. And theres a few others, but not much.

F1ferrari

Since the closest town large enough for a card shop is an hour drive, I'll consider that 'close'. There are 3 that I usually go to, one for supplies only, as his cards are WAY overpriced and over graded, the other two have a great selection of all kinds of sports stuff (cards, jerseys, figures) and their prices are 'competitive' with online stores. I usually buy some packs and the occasional box at either of these two places, but probably 90% of my card purchases are from online outlets.

illini

I live in Santa Barbara. In the 1980s there were up to four at one time. They were all doing well. This is when the kids were eating up 1984 donruss and 1985 donruss packs. The 85 Donruss Eric Davis and Gooden were hot. Now in 2008 we have 1. Very nice guy. I go in there to shoot the .... with him but it's all junk. I don't think he is doing well but who knows!

tedh111

23 Stores within an hour of mine... I am in Centeral NJ.

VitoCo1972

<< <i>For you LA guys, have you been to the Americana yet? That's definitely not a place for sports cards. Went there yesterday, it looked like Vegas in the middle of Glendale. It'll probably be packed for months.

I was Burbank Sportscards maybe 5-7 years ago. And haven't been to Beverly Hills Card Shop or Santa Monica Sports Cards in a while. And theres a few others, but not much. >>



NO! Tell me more!

1989FleerBillRipkencollector

2, Both 20 minutes away

Volume is coins but has a corner of cardboard. Nice guy.

Small store, few singles, nice guy. Slow store. Reminds me of the Maytag guy.

JeremyDie1

I live in a Chicago suburb and there are three in my town alone. Neighboring towns there are a few too. Drive into the city and there are dozens.

ymarea

There is but one store that I know of within 30 mins of me. It's a good store run by a nice couple, but the top quality cards are all 1988-present. I go there only to buy supplies and once a year for the new Topps Baseball cards.

Stone193

I only know of one in my immediate area. Tho I never go there - he's a civil servant and only there in the evenings and Saturday. No excuses tho - just too lazy.

That's the power of ebay I guess.

mike

TheCARDKid

<< <i>

<< <i>For you LA guys, have you been to the Americana yet? That's definitely not a place for sports cards. Went there yesterday, it looked like Vegas in the middle of Glendale. It'll probably be packed for months.

I was Burbank Sportscards maybe 5-7 years ago. And haven't been to Beverly Hills Card Shop or Santa Monica Sports Cards in a while. And theres a few others, but not much. >>



NO! Tell me more! >>



Americana is like the gove on steroids. Looked like a cross between the bellagio, 2 Rodeo, and somewhat Disneyland-ish. Any shops in Glendale, was there ever a shop at the Glendale Galleria?

The place was ridiculously packed...even a 40 minute wait at the Red Robin at the Galleria, and this was 4-5 pm on a sunday. The Cheesecake Factory at the Americana probably had a 1-2 hour wait.

Any good finds at the Burbank shop recently?

VitoCo1972

Nah, Rob makes MOST of his money selling a crazy amount of commons online. He also has a pretty amazing wax room. He has packs of every single thing you can think of from 1980-up. Box prices for stuff can be found cheaper on eBay but if you need fun mid 80's stuff to open for expletives and giggles, you won't pay shipping - so that evens it out. Never any questionable wax either - all nice stuff. The crazy thing is that Rob has a great relationship with Mike Baker and has all of his graded stuff done by GAI - and he graded a LOT of stuff. I keep telling him that he is losing money by doing so, but he trusts the guy with his cards.

edited: Spelling

Goodsport40

There is one about 30 minutes from my home and it has been around for 20+ years. Little organization of cards to speak of and the owner lets his helper smoke inside! Both are nice guys, though.



Robert

skilow

Within 30 minutes, at least 7.

yankeeno7

I guess some brick and morter can survive though I know most do not do much of a business and you wonder how they do it. But I have seen first hand what a successful store can do when you use all resources....retail and online. That is the same one JustMichael is referring as the only one worth going to and I agree!

Pete14Rose

<< <i>23 Stores within an hour of mine... I am in Centeral NJ. >>




Please don't tell me you like Attack of the Baseball Cards. - Can't stand the owner, Steve. This is going back years and years ago.

Throw some store names out, I'd just like to see how many I hung out in as a kid....if they're still around.


Jay

cardbender

Here in Milwaukee, WI. there's about 5 shops within a 30 minute drive. Frankly I don't know how a couple of them stay in business. Smoke and mirrors. There's a decent shop (Price's Sportscards) in a mall here on the south side. I think gumbyfan works there too. At least that's what a buddy told me. That's a decent shop but there's not much vintage there. Although the mall crowds tend not to buy much vintage so he has his place geared right.

Another guy has a shop inside his house on the south east side here. It's an interesting set-up. He does a lot on ebay too.

If you're looking for any high grade vintage and or a wide selection of graded cards, you won't find it here in beer town.

baseballfan

zero

royalbrett

Maybe a couple, I'm not ever sure anymore.

Stingray

1

HighChopper

6-7

jlzinck

I live near zep and I would say there are 4 within a 30 mile drive.
1 of which is a joke. Basically a closet with boxes from 1988 Topps for sale.

raykasa

I remember when i would get up early saturday morning, drive south and then slowly visit ten to twelve card shops (three in the same town) and wheel and deal until around 3 to 4 pm. I loved it! back then a $100 dollars also could get you alot of stuff to boot! I guess it couldn't go on forever. back then cards supplemented my income and bridged a gap between jobs as well....