One More Pack

This is my second post on the world tour of brick and mortar card shops.  I stopped in Eugene, Oregon at Hooker’s Cards and Collectibles.  I had a nice talk about football with Dennis the store’s owner.  We talked about whether the Bills could put it together this season, even though he’s a Cowboys fan (Booooooo!), and about Panini taking over as the exclusive NFL card maker.

This place was a bit unique.  There were boxes of cards and comics packed from floor to ceiling.  Display cases so covered you couldn’t even see into them.  He seemed to know where everything was although I’m not sure how.  The mass of cards was quite impressive.  Dennis told me he’d been at his current locations since 2000 and in business for nearly 30 years.  He said he’s got a very loyal customer base and that business is really good.  He was a good guy to talk to and seem to be interested in helping me out.  Unfortunately he had no Jim Kelly cards other than some old base cards.

Because I don’t want to see all the physical shops disappear I always give them a little bit of my business. I bought 4 hobby packs of 2015 Contenders basically just because they weren’t that expensive and he had a bunch.  And 4 hobby packs of Topps Platinum because I like those cards and can help out a friend collecting that set.

Couple of inserts from 2015 Contenders

And nothing much to add from the 2015 Platinum either, I didn’t get any of the Gold cards that I needed but I did get a couple of parallels (both that I already owned, how unlucky).  An Alvin Dupree Sapphire Refractor and here’s the Sammie Coates X-Fractor.

If you get a chance to visit Eugene, Oregon grab a beer at one of their many fine micro-breweries and stop by and say hello to Dennis at Hooker’s Cards and Collectibles.  And open a pack or two!

I’m lucky enough to travel around these great United States of America and get a chance to see different places and meet different people.  From time to time I stop in on the local card shop (LCS) and check out how things are going in the “brick and mortar” world.

Recently I was able to stop into to Cleve’s Baseball Cards and Collectibles in Springdale, Arkansas.  This place has been around since 1979 and is one of the last remaining card shops in Arkansas.  It’s run by Gary who I chatted with for a little while.  He even searched the private stash in the back for anything Jim Kelly related.  No luck.

One of their main features is a Tuesday night auction.  They will auction off any card for you.  I looked through probably 30 cards with auction forms sitting on a long glass case.  You just put your card up for auction and throughout the week people come and put in their bids.  It was a pretty cool set up and from the looks of it they have a large and loyal following.

They didn’t seem to be short on business.  In fact while I was in the shop looking through their selection, there were two gentlemen buying and selling some cards and other memorabilia.  And as I was leaving a young women came in with an old baseball set in a binder to get some help pricing and possibly selling.

While their selection wasn’t huge (It’s a small place) it was diverse.  Being in Arkansas it was filled with former Razorbacks and pretty much anything currently related to the Cowboys. But it had a nice mix of baseball, football, basketball, and hockey.

I didn’t find anything to add to the Jim Kelly collection but I like to give them a little business.  I bought 4 packs of 2016 Panini Contenders Draft Picks.  I got 6 cards I need in that set but no autograph or big hit.  I grabbed a couple for the personal collection too.  Just for fun I picked up a few Buffalo Bills from a box labeled $1.

2003 Fleer Authentix Jersey Authentix Ripped #JA-TH Travis Henry
2002 Upper Deck UD Uniforms #UDU-TH Travis Henry
2003 SP Game Used Edition #152 Josh Reed
2001 Private Stock Game-Worn Gear #14 Jonathan Linton
2006 Donruss Classics #197 – Autographed Rookies – Ashton Youboty /999
2006 Score Select Inscriptions [Autographed] #348 – Ko Simpson /250

1995 Fleer Ultra Overdrive #14 – Bruce Smith

2014 SPx #21 Thurman Thomas

If you are ever in the Springdale Arkansas area stop by and talk some sports or cards with Gary.  And you can check them out anytime on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/clevesbaseballcards/