Treasures From the Storage Bins

I fully recognize how unbelievably fortunate I am to have 4 sports card shops within proximity of my house.

Many collectors, from what I've read on other blogs/forums, don't have a card shop within an hour of where they live, yet here I am, sitting with 4.

There's my go-to hobby shop, a 10-minute drive from me, where I go for all my supplies and an occasional box. There's another store near Fenway Park in Boston that sells a wide range of hobby boxes dating back to the late 2000s, and there are 2 stores about 20 minutes west of where I live.

I've posted about each of these LCS' numerous times since I started blogging back in August of 2017, but there's one shop that I've only talked about once. That's because, before Saturday, I had only visited the store 1 time when I purchased a jumbo box of 2018 Topps Chrome for my birthday last year.

From the moment I walked into Gilbert's Sports Nostalgia, both 2 days ago and a year back, I was slightly overwhelmed. More so, however, I was impressed, amazed at the sheer variety of boxes, packs, individual cards, memorabilia, and craziness that this store entailed.

From the wall of individual 2010s packs to the entire room dedicated to Boston sports cards and memorabilia, one could easily spend hours at this store, but the hours simply haven't allowed for me to return in quite a while.

In need of some guidance, I spoke with the owner who couldn't have been more friendly and helpful. He directed me to a couple of plastic storage bins that housed all sorts of consigned memorabilia and cards.

The variety was unlike anything I've seen before with cards ranging from .50 cents in price all the way up to hundreds of dollars.

I figured the best and easiest place to start was to grab some inexpensive cards for my player collections and build off from that. Technically speaking, nothing in the boxes was priced, but the owner said he'd be very reasonable and give out a discount if I made a reasonable purchase.

At the end of things, for instance, these 2 Sammy Sosa cards became throw-ins along with the '81 Fleer Robin Yount, and a couple of other cards that you'd typically find in a quarter box.

In addition to the Yount and Sosa cards, this duo of Yankees cards was included with my purchase with no added cost. Until I stumbled upon this card, I had no idea that Joe DiMaggio was a coach for the Oakland Athletics.

Unbeknownst to me, he coached the newly-relocated team from 1968-1970, just before the height of the club's success. No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to picture Joltin' Joe in anything but Yankee pinstripes.

The latter of the 2 Yankees is a rather elegant 2003 Fleer Showcase card of Yogi Berra. I've always loved the look of the Showcase cards, particularly this one with the combination of a silver border and Yankee pinstripes.

Now, I'll start moving into more of the heavy hitters, starting with these 2 Roberto Clemente reprints from a set that I'm not familiar with whatsoever. Nonetheless, I rarely come across affordable cards of the 12-time All-Star, so it was an easy choice for me to pick up these reprints from '61 and '71 Topps.

I collect a reasonable number of players who, despite my semi-frequent searches, don't turn up in the bins at card shows/shops as much as other guys that I collect. George Foster is a prime example of one of those players.

There are 24 cards in my Foster player collection, and I can't even recall when the last addition was made. The scarcity of his cards only makes it more rewarding when I come across a new one, like this '74 Topps Flagship, for just $1.

The majority of this purchase was centered around 3 total cards, the first of which is Eddie Murray's iconic 1978 Topps All-Star rookie card which I've seen reprinted many a time.

Throughout the years that I've been collecting his cards, I've always considered Murray one of my favorite players to collect. The decades in which he played and the teams whose jerseys he wore allowed for oddballs, reprints, and fantastic cards galore.

Though it also has the All-Star rookie symbol, this '78 Topps card counts for Murray's rookie card as well. He also has a '78 Kellogg's rookie year card which I'd love to, someday, get my hands on.

Out of all the trips to card shows, shops, and online purchases over the years, I never had an original 1952 Topps card in my collection. All of that, thankfully, changed on Saturday, thanks to these loaded storage bins at this crazy card shop.

Better yet, my first card from the initial Topps Flagship set is a Chicago Cub, Paul Minner, graded by PSA at a 3. Considering how old this card is, I'm quite content with the grade it received, not to mention it allows the slightly-oversized card to be preserved.

Now, if I can find a way to check an original '53 Topps card off my list, I'll have a card from every single Flagship set.

Despite all the fabulous finds that I came across last Saturday, I'll stand by that this 1969 Topps card of Rod Carew was the greatest pickup of the group. Seriously, you never see such crisp corners on a piece of cardboard that's 50 years old.

The centering, clearly, is a major issue with this card, but everything else looks pristine. Carew has just 3 cards from the 1960s ('67-'69), the latter of the group being the most reasonably priced. The condition is so superb that, if I submit cards to Beckett for grading in the future, I'll have to consider this card for the group.

At the end of my visit when I was checking out and getting ready to go, the owner offered my Dad and I a $10 credit for our next visit and promised to show us the basement where he said there's so much stuff that "you can barely move down there."

I have a feeling this will be continued sometime soon.