Me and my Mickey's back in 1992

tsalems1

Here I am pictured at my store back in 1992. Bought these all in 1 shot!

What I miss the most about having a store is that you never knew what someone was bringing in from day to day...

Dboneesq

Wow Tom, looks like it was a nice size store. I like that Red Heart you are holding. One of the two Mick's (along with a '58) that I'm currently looking to buy.

tsalems1

<< <i>Wow Tom, looks like it was a nice size store. I like that Red Heart you are holding. One of the two Mick's (along with a '58) that I'm currently looking to buy. >>



2400 Sq foot store. It was a good size store.

The Mick Red Heart was in amazing condition!

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curch

Awesome! The world needs more card stores.

initialD

Nice pic Tom! What years did you have the shop? MA correct?

Gotta love those walk ins! I picked up my 54 Red Heart and 53 Topps Mantle from my

LCShop that walked into his doors. Goodstuff

tsalems1

<< <i>Nice pic Tom! What years did you have the shop? MA correct?

Gotta love those walk ins! I picked up my 54 Red Heart and 53 Topps Mantle from my

LCShop that walked into his doors. Goodstuff >>



Store opened in Framingham,Ma back in 1987. I closed it in 1997 and moved it to Ashland,Ma for 1 year.
I closed the doors after that and started selling online/ebay.

MULLINS5

Great picture. I'm the son of a small businesses owner and really miss them. Looks great in there, well stocked with customers...none informing you of what they can get this or that for online...

If you find anymore, please share. A bit nostalgic seeing pics like this.

scooter729

Great pic - was your store on 135? I went to Babson in the early 90s and vaguely remember going into a store in Framingham, on 135 if I remember. Those were the days when you could do such a great business with an actual store!

tsalems1

<< <i>Great pic - was your store on 135? I went to Babson in the early 90s and vaguely remember going into a store in Framingham, on 135 if I remember. Those were the days when you could do such a great business with an actual store! >>



No, my location was on route 9 just before the malls - now there is just 1 mall

grote15

I don't see any OPC baseball in that photo..

Dboneesq

<< <i>I don't see any OPC baseball in that photo.. >>


That Mantle is an OPC Red Heart!

jmaciu

Wow, your store looks awesome. I wish I could have visited it back in the day. What grade would have the 52 Mantle received?

tsalems1

<< <i>I don't see any OPC baseball in that photo.. >>



I had some OPC baseball but it rarely sold



<< <i> Wow, your store looks awesome. I wish I could have visited it back in the day. What grade would have the 52 Mantle received? >>



1952 Mantle probably a 1 because of some creasing

MantleMarisFordBerra

Very nice!!

braves72078

Now really make us jealous and tell us what they cost you?

IndianaJones

tsalems1------

Would you please convey to us today what it was like at your card shop where Mickey Mantle was concerned? Any good 'ol sea stories from the shop that have stuck in your mind all these years regarding a Mickey Mantle sale, walk-in, or a pleading collector wanting a Mickey Mantle __________________?

What did people seem to want the most of Mickey? Were there any die-hard advanced collectors looking for any tough cards in particular, and what were they if you happen to recall?

Thanks. Be as long and as detailed as you want. ---Indiana Jones (Brian Powell)

Stone193

Thanx for sharing Tom.

The early 90s were a fun time in the hobby. I doubt there will ever be that kind of "buzz" again.

mtcards

I agree....in my small town, I am pretty much the only person who buys/sells at a B&M. Its a small 4 showcase display with some wax, but the best part is waiting to see what people bring in.....usually its boxes of late 80's garbage that people are astonished they arent worth anything, but sometimes its pretty good. In the past year, I got a run of 1981-1986 wax from Fleer/Donruss/Topps, which I sent to BBCE and had him sell. Also got a pair of 93 SP Jeters, an entire set of 1968 Topps MB Baseball..had the Ryan graded, it came back a 5.5, 18 complete sets of GPK Series 1 Minis, a 1960 Mantle, Musial and McCovey and lots of modern junk that sells well on ebay.

Would love to do it full time, just not a reliable source of income anymore.

tsalems1

There was so much stuff that came in back then...

I bought all kinds of stuff like wax,cello,rack cases from the early 80's. 50's sets on up. Lots of 1986 basketball back then

1957 topps basketball sets - t206 cards - bought a 1940 playball set - day to day it was something different. I bought out a couple smaller stores near me as well.

Mantle was still the hot card back then. Anything Mantle.

There was 1 collection I passed on and it still haunts me today. The last year I had my store, things were not going very well. Money was tight. I had a couple walk in with a box of cards they found. They just bought house and in there was this box of baseball cards. They were looking to sell -I don't remember what they were looking to get-, anyways, I opened it up and the box was full of 1957's. They were in amazing condition and the borders were so white! I had no cash flow. This was in 1997. The card market was changing and no where near what it was like in the early 90's. To this day, this is the 1 collection I still think about. All the stars (multiples) of Koufax, Mantle etc.

tsalems1

.

tsalems1

There was so much stuff that came in back then...

I bought all kinds of stuff like wax,cello,rack cases from the early 80's. 50's sets on up. Lots of 1986 basketball back then

1957 topps basketball sets - t206 cards - bought a 1940 playball set - day to day it was something different. I bought out a couple smaller stores near me as well.

Mantle was still the hot card back then. Anything Mantle.

There was 1 collection I passed on and it still haunts me today. The last year I had my store, things were not going very well. Money was tight. I had a couple walk in with a box of cards they found. They just bought house and in there was this box of baseball cards. They were looking to sell -I don't remember what they were looking to get-, anyways, I opened it up and the box was full of 1957's. They were in amazing condition and the borders were so white! I had no cash flow. This was in 1997. The card market was changing and no where near what it was like in the early 90's. To this day, this is the 1 collection I still think about. All the stars (multiples) of Koufax, Mantle etc.

hammered

Do you recall what you did with those mantles in the pic?
Would be interesting to see what they brought back then.