It was a steady stream of delivery trucks dropping off boxes all week but one in particular had me fired up. Our latest shipment from Panini arrived--a full skid of new products that we expect will be of strong interest to our customers. The cases held every version of 2022-23 Optic Basketball and 2022 Optic Football and we ripped them open to fill our shelves and our … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Pallets of Panini, Wild Wembanyama, More Older Football Boxes
Shop Talk
Shop Talk: 2003-04 SPx Basketball Flashbacks, Buying Bednar, Revisiting Upper Deck Football
It was another fun card filled a week at the shop.Early on, we had a customer come in from a nearby town with cards for us to look at and potentially purchase. Although he didn't have anything that we could really use, he and I got into a really cool conversation about the current sports card market. He was a former baseball player and got out of the hobby years ago, but a … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: 2003-04 SPx Basketball Flashbacks, Buying Bednar, Revisiting Upper Deck Football
Shop Talk: Work/Life Balance, No Wemby for Us, Young Dealer’s Act of Kindness
Tony Reid chronicles the happenings inside Sports Zone, the Central Pennsylvania store where he works. —– This past week at the shop was one where I definitely felt thankful to have people in place to have the work life balance that I do. My son was competing in the final district track meet of his high school career on Tuesday and Wednesday. My wife and my father went … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Work/Life Balance, No Wemby for Us, Young Dealer’s Act of Kindness
Shop Talk: Tatum Takes Over, New Branding, Kid Collectors Warm the Heart; Buying and Selling on the Side
Tony Reid chronicles the happenings inside Sports Zone, the Central Pennsylvania store where he works. —– There has definitely been some good-natured ribbing back-and-forth in the shop over the last couple of weeks between the owner and I as he is a Boston Celtics fan, and I'm a Philadelphia 76ers fan. As anyone who follows basketball knows, this Eastern Conference semi … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Tatum Takes Over, New Branding, Kid Collectors Warm the Heart; Buying and Selling on the Side
Shop Talk: A Week of Sports Card Boxes Overdelivering (Really)
It was another fun week and one in which I had the opportunity to focus pretty heavily on the sports card side of our business. That always makes me happy and fulfilled within those four walls of our shop. We had a lone box of 2022 National Treasures NASCAR sitting on the shelf for seemingly 500 laps, so as the price continued to drop close to our cost or below, we … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: A Week of Sports Card Boxes Overdelivering (Really)
Shop Talk: Copping Cool Card Collections, ShipStation Snafus, Soccer Scams
Tony Reid chronicles the happenings inside Sports Zone, the Central Pennsylvania store where he works. —– With the shop's owner again traveling out of state, we were in charge of keeping the ship from heading into any potential icebergs or even choppy waters for that matter. One of the more heartwarming and sweet stories of the week was when I noticed a note one … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Copping Cool Card Collections, ShipStation Snafus, Soccer Scams
Shop Talk: Beyond the Cardboard, Wishing for Wembanyama, “Dog Water”
It was yet another week full of shipping and receiving at the shop...and I'm not just talking sports cards. Midweek, we received our semi-regular shipment of skids of bags, purses, and similar non-sports items. Our shop carries a line of backpacks, purses, wallets and other similar accessories that are in various licensed categories from Disney to Nickelodeon, Marvel, … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Beyond the Cardboard, Wishing for Wembanyama, “Dog Water”
Shop Talk: New Prizm Basketball, Falling Stars, Trying to Tangle with the Tax Man
Tony Reid chronicles the happenings inside Sports Zone, the Central Pennsylvania store where he works. —– It was a really fun week at the shop as a few of our long-term customers we hadn't seen in awhile made their way back into the store. We were beyond excited to see Jeff and Harriet as we hadn't seen them in since before Christmas. I became so concerned that I even asked … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: New Prizm Basketball, Falling Stars, Trying to Tangle with the Tax Man
Shop Talk: Stocks and Restocks, Teenymates, T-Law Treasures, Collectors After Adley
It's been a great start to the month for restocks on current and previous years' baseball, basketball and football cards. From hobby to retail, we've gotten a bunch of stuff in lately (this single picture doesn't do it justice). I was talking to my coworker early this week as we checked in piles and piles of new products. I was thinking how sad the state of affairs has become … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Stocks and Restocks, Teenymates, T-Law Treasures, Collectors After Adley
Shop Talk: Chromey Club, Slow Sellers, Feasting on Fusion, Easter Basket Execution
Tony Reid chronicles the happenings inside Sports Zone, the Central Pennsylvania store where he works. —– It was another great week of new card releases across many major (and minor) sports. We saw the shiny new and delayed 2022 Topps Stadium Club Chrome Baseball the first time this week. With Shohei Ohtani being the cover athlete the box itself is a great … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Chromey Club, Slow Sellers, Feasting on Fusion, Easter Basket Execution