One More Pack

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I also ventured out to another Knoxville sports card shop.  Eddie’s Sports Treasures in Knoxville, Tennessee didn’t disappoint.  It was about a 15-20 minute drive from downtown Knoxville and was set in a very strip-mall-like atmosphere.  But once I walked in, I was pretty happy with the place.  It was big and loaded with all kinds of sports memorabilia.  Owner Eddie Barkley had authentic jerseys, signed helmets, signed photos, and a great selection of cards.  He also had a bunch of officially licensed products like t-shirts, hats, etc…

Eddie’s Sports Treasures has a pretty strong online presence as well!  You can visit his website at eddiessportstreasures.com.  He’s also on Facebook here and Twitter @sportstreasures

VIBE (4 out of 5)
While it doesn’t look like much from the outside.

The inside is something else.

Eddie was helping another customer when I walked in.  It was like two in the afternoon so this was already a good sign.  I looked around the immense inventory, marveling at a bunch of the stuff.  He then took two calls before we had a few moments to chat about the business of cardboard. (And he took another call while we were talking.) Eddie’s Sports Treasures has been around since 1989 and he said he was very busy.  He said it was a lot of work keeping up with the changes in the hobby but he made a decent living at it.  Eddie had a bunch of different things going on to keep things interesting at the shop.  He had a live case break the following weekend and he often gets some former Tennessee Football Players to come and sign autographs at the store.  He said that was a huge help to the business.

INVENTORY (5 out of 5)
A couple of individual cards I spotted and liked were a Leaf Jim Kelly Auto priced at $75 dollars, I already had one I found online that was very similar and much less expensive.  There was also a Bruce Smith auto card that was priced at $80 but I couldn’t pull the trigger.  Not a whole lot of Buffalo stuff, but I wasn’t too surprised since I was in Tennessee.   Instead I bought a couple of boxes my favorite product Contenders Draft Picks.

PURCHASE (4 out of 5)
Eddie had a bunch of boxes of 2017 Contenders at a very decent price.  Only two dollars more than I’d seen advertised online.  So I grabbed two.  And I pulled some nice stuff.  No giant hits or case hits or anything like that but each box did contain an auto of the Buffalo Bills first round pick, Tre’Davious White.  I also pulled a cracked ice (numbered to 23) and playoff ticket (numbered to 15) and a bowl ticket (numbered to 99) in each box.  Along with these I pulled a veteran bowl ticket (numbered to 99) in each box.  I think this is pretty standard for these boxes but I’ve had other boxes that had only regular college ticket autos in them.

OVERALL (4.5 out of 5)
I really liked this place.  This is as close to a 5-out-of-5 as a place could get for me.  Had I been able to find anything Jim Kelly or Buffalo Bills related I would have given him a 5.  I’ll definitely stop in again next time I’m in Knoxville.  If you are ever in the area stop buy and check out this shop.  I highly recommend it.

Sports Treasures is Open
Monday – Friday: 10-6
Saturday: 10-4