One of my favorite things to do working in a card shop every day, is follow sports closely and have the opportunity to be able to come in the shop and thumb through our various row boxes and find rookie cards of guys who are flying under the radar. I will check box scores, league leaders and highlights on ESPN each morning before getting my day started and I inevitably end up … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Prospecting Young NBA Talent, Late Night Shopping, Early Morning Shipping
Shop Talk
Shop Talk: Topps MVP Buyback, Thanksgiving Day Cards, Black Friday Fun
Tony Reid offers his weekly dose of happenings inside Sports Zone, the Central Pennsylvania shop where he works. —– This week started off with the announcement from Topps regarding the MVP Buyback program. The store's owner and I were on a Zoom call with various shops and Topps officials just a day prior to the announcement. We are one of the very few stores … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Topps MVP Buyback, Thanksgiving Day Cards, Black Friday Fun
Shop Talk: Fishing for Trout, Holiday Prep, Local Card Show
The gentleman who stopped by the shop with a stack of cards last week including a nice 2011 Topps Update Mike Trout RC that I purchased, was back in the store this week, casting a line deep into the water and pulling more out of the Trout stream in his closet. This week, he was carrying another group of cards he was looking to sell, including another Trout Update … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Fishing for Trout, Holiday Prep, Local Card Show
Shop Talk: Online Sales Spike, Advanced Collectors, a Nice Walk-In
With the shop owner out of town, the rest of us pulled together to handle business this week and there was plenty to do. We had some new products to offer, a lot of stuff to ship thanks to a retail giant, a nice walk-in and a chat with one of the hobby's more advanced collectors who had just made an important decision. New Arrivals; Walmart Departures We saw a wide variety of … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Online Sales Spike, Advanced Collectors, a Nice Walk-In
Shop Talk: Cheat Codes on Crown Royale Boxes, Scent of a Stafford (Wrapper), Phils Done Fightin’
One of the more interesting recent developments in the hobby is the apparent code cracking capabilities in determining what boxes hold the coveted Kaboom insert cards in 2021-22 Crown Royale Basketball. It seems the serial numbers on certain boxes are a key to knowing which box contains a case hit. It's an interesting matter for us on many levels and I wanted to dig in a … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Cheat Codes on Crown Royale Boxes, Scent of a Stafford (Wrapper), Phils Done Fightin’
Shop Talk: Taking Stock of New Arrivals; New Product Line; New Shop
It was another great week for sports card releases with new boxes from every major sport arriving in a short time span. Tipping it off, we got a few cases of 2021-22 Select Basketball hobby boxes. It's a higher end product at over $600 per box, our box rippers have been reluctant to bite so far as we've only sold a couple thus far, even with our price considered among … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Taking Stock of New Arrivals; New Product Line; New Shop
Shop Talk: Phillies Fever, Football Figures, Repacks and New Releases
We sit pretty much right between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh so we have a strong fan base for both cities and all of their respective teams in our store. As you might imagine, Phillies fans have been waiting for a team to get excited about again and Sunday night it finally happened with the team reaching the World Series for the first time since 2009. Bryce Harper, Aaron Nola … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Phillies Fever, Football Figures, Repacks and New Releases
Shop Talk: Falling Prices, Distributor “Deals”, Silver Packs Distribution
It was a bit of a sobering week at the shop in terms of sports cards and prices.We probably don't comp and adjust the pricing of our sealed boxes and packs as much as we should. There can be a lot to do on any given day and with little help, sometimes this very important task falls through the cracks...until it cracks us right in the face. Well, we went down our lineup … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Falling Prices, Distributor “Deals”, Silver Packs Distribution
Shop Talk: Manic Monday, Playing Pickett, Slow Saturday
Tony Reid offers his weekly dose of happenings inside Sports Zone, the Central Pennsylvania shop where he works. —– Although I was off last Sunday, the shop and the hobby was definitely on my mind. Being based in Pennsylvania, we're very much in tune with the Steelers, especially the quarterback situation. The fact that Mike Tomlin finally called on number 8 could be very … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Manic Monday, Playing Pickett, Slow Saturday
Shop Talk: Walk-in Card Sales, Chocolate Covered Jordan RC, Sounding Board for 1/1 Pull
Tony Reid offers his weekly dose of happenings inside Sports Zone, the Central Pennsylvania shop where he works. —– It was a busy week at the shop, full of the buying and selling of cards of all kinds, but sometimes we also serve as a sounding board for collectors. In a recent break of 2022 Optic Football, a collector and good friend of mine had recently bought into a 2022 … [Read more...] about Shop Talk: Walk-in Card Sales, Chocolate Covered Jordan RC, Sounding Board for 1/1 Pull