In-store business was still going full force this week in the lead up to the Easter holiday.
We sell RC cars and parts from Traxxas, Horizon and other lines. We had a banner week this week for such items. The area is completely out of my personal wheelhouse but the owner is big into it and is incredibly knowledgeable, so it works out.
If you’re involved in sports cards at all, you’re well aware that 2020-21 Panini Prizm Basketball dropped this week. We managed to get our hands on two cases of hobby boxes that barely made it in stock. We sold one case for north of $20,000 to a gentleman in Hawaii.
After some debate, we decided to open the other case for boxes, including one box that we opened in the store and recorded for our YouTube channel.
I personally opened the box pack by pack and after two or three packs it was looking pretty rough with me pulling no heat, fire or anything with a high temperature to mention. Just as we thought we might have made a huge mistake opening the box, the hits started coming. We pulled a Red Prizm LaMelo Ball Rookie parallel numbered to 299. That alone made our gamble of ripping the box well worth it.
Shortly after that monster hit, we also pulled a Black Shimmer 1/1 of Darius Bazley. These cards are absolutely beautiful. That second big pull was just icing on the cake and a really pleasant surprise as we didn’t even realize these cards were part of the release.
It was an incredibly fun yet intense box to open at that price point, even for the store. We, as well as the onlookers that we drew, were pretty excited about how it all turned out. 
I know I’ve talked about a wide array of hot products a lot over my time doing the Shop Talk pieces but one hot item that I don’t think I’ve mentioned much, if at all, are supplies. I actually had a close friend text me last week after he left a local card show, totally excited about being able to able to buy a case of … top loaders.
Afterward, we had many of the locals snatching up what was left of our card storage inventory. We actually put a limit of 10 packs of top loaders per customer this week just due to the overwhelming demand and incredibly limited supply. We wanted to do our best to get them in as many collectors’ hands as possible. I would say to chalk up something like that to 2020 but here we are in 2021. Again, just something you would never thought you’d see in the hobby. It was touch and go for a minute but we managed to secure about eight cases of top loaders by week’s end, so we are fully stocked for all of our customers card protecting needs.
You might recall our little pre-War card find last month that included the world’s worst 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth. My buddy Todd was back in this past week with what was left of his collection. It included some well-loved vintage cards. In the lot were a 1959 Topps Mickey Mantle and a 1959 Topps Roger Maris among others. He had a few 1933 Goudeys left and surprised me with a few Ken Griffey, Jr. rookie cards. We managed to make a deal of these really cool cards and add them to our inventory.
This week we had a number of younger collectors who appear to be new to the hobby picking through our basketball singles. They gobbled up a wide variety of cards from a wide variety of players. It’s great seeing the next generation excited about the hobby. Here’s hoping its long term and not just a part of a cool fad.
That’s all for this week. I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday. I’ll be sure to check in again very soon.
Related Stories:
Shop Talk: Cold Fronts and Hoops Heat
Binders Remain a Reliable Storage Option for Vintage Cards
Last Minute (Mostly) Cheap Gift Ideas for Sports Collectors
Shop Talk: Weekly Highlights and Happenings at My LCS (1/18/21)
Shop Talk: Price Barrier Concerns, Restocks and a Young Vintage Card Fan
Shop Talk: Supply and Demand Remains a Challenge for Hobby Shops
Shop Talk: A Big Week for Sports and Non-Sports Sales
Shop Talk: Retail Rules and Baseball Box Busts
Shop Talk: NBA All-Star Sales and Marveling at Marvel
Shop Talk: Vacations, Basketball Busy and Bear Clawed Babe
