Interesting comment on Net54 types
 

Runscott and I were at probably the biggest and highest quality antique store in downtown Seattle on Friday. Scott was chatting to the owner about major auctions, and I brought up collectors who worry about placing ceiling bids and such issues at big auction houses. The owner chuckled to himself and said, "Ah, the conspiracy theorists."

Just thought if funny.


Though, interestingly, he also said that with live in-person auctions, he usually stays around if he has placed bids to make sure nothing funny happens.

This, to me, speaks volumes of how messed up the world is today (as far as the internet and cell phones go). The guy seems fine with trusting a bid made over the internet or by phone yet stays around at local auctions to make sure nothing funny goes on.

David

The guy actually knew nothing about internet auctions, so had no opinion. If it speaks volumes, it is that there are some people out there who ONLY trust live in-person auctions. But he doesn't trust them completely :) Also, he said that he sometimes has someone else keep an eye on auctions where he has ceiling bids placed - he doesn't generally attend live auctions himself - and that he is certain that most of the live auctions he deals with are completely honest.

I am personally glad that there are people who spend a lot of time keeping the auction houses honest - if it weren't for such people, the fraud would be even more rampant.

Not to derail the thread, but I will be in Seattle shortly. Any card shops or antique markets that are worth hitting?

+1
 

+1, I'm in Seattle almost monthly for a week at a time for work. I've ended up in that card shop at Pike Market, but any other shops you'd recommend? BTW, Runscott, I just picked up your T205 Maquard on eBay, I'd be happy to just pick it up next time I'm local rather than have you ship it.

Thanks

The antique store I mentioned is about a 5-10 minute walk from the store you mentioned, go towards Puget Sound. It's on the road parallel to the water and under the deafening viaduct. It's worth visiting. Big and lots of stuff. Though not a place for baseball cards. Scott got a quality 1930s football jersey there once.

http://www.seattleantiquesmarket.com/

Ahhh, yeah I know that place.. I've parked down by it several times and always been curious to walk in. I'll definitely check it out next time up. Thanks

Scott's more of a buyer than me and lives downtown, so he'd know the places. I live in an outer district (not downtown).

I have it marked as 'shipped', meaning postage has been bought, and it's either packed or shipped (I'm at a coffee shop now :)).

PM me and I'll give you my phone number so we can get together next time you're in town.

Regarding card shops, I haven't been in a single one in almost ten years. At that time, cards were marked up even more than at the card shows.

Re- card shops its funny you say that. I've experienced the same, but am always curious to poke my head in and look. If it's a pleasant experience, I usually by an old Topps wax pack for the time, and enjoy munching on 25 year old gum. However, I go up to AK quite a bit as well, and found a few shops in Anchorage that were selling stuff a similar to eBay prices. I loaded up on some nice 60's-70's cards (including some really nice '69 Topps Basketball) and a Willie Mays signed ball for a lot less than would be expected. They didn't have any prewar stuff though.

Will send PM w/ my number.. and sounds like David is very close by as well. I usually stay right near down town.

I used to stop in the cardshops just to chat with the owners. Plus, I like to encourage brick-and-mortar hobby businesses, as the internet is killing them. If any of you guys had a shop near Seattle, I would certainly stop by and purchase anything that I could justify in order to support you. I paid 20% extra for dog food for several years, just to support a downtown mom and pop pet store, but now they are out of business. It's a shame, but the public voted them out with their dollars.

What I'm seeing is that the places that survive are generally run by retirees who 'need' the physical store to keep them going. I'll probably end up the same, running a pool hall or antique store. I've been looking at pool halls for years, but haven't seen anything workable yet. Those have all turned into douche-party places for bangers, and I can't handle drunks. Unfortunately, downtown rent doesn't allow for anything else.

I guess I'm rambling, but this thread was getting kind of personal anyway.

I live a ten minute bus ride from downtown.

Most of the shops in this area have closed up. I'm not sure any still open would cater to the Net54 gang.

DJs Sportscards in the Renton highlands area is one I like. It reminds me of the old days of shops...stuff piled around everywhere and you never know what he might have purchased last. Decent vintage for the type of shop, but nothing to get excited about.

There is one in Queen Anne called Browns Cooperstown. I have never been though, since it was sold and moved from Fremont.

Card Exchange is North of Seattle, on Hwy 99 around 143rd, but he had a fair amount of his vintage stolen not too long ago.

There were a couple shops in the Pike Place Market, Golden Aged Collectibles and another one I don't remember the name of, but it has been years since I have been down there.

There may be some small shops in the area as well, but they would certainly not have the vintage selection.

If there are any other significant shops left, they are lost on me.

It's a bummer because shops used to be Mecca for me as a kid growing up in the SF Bay Area. However it was also a lot more amazing at that age to see a 1969 Topps Reggie Jackson (sub any year or HoFer) at a shop, than to see 3-5 pages of them offered as BINs on eBay. I don't know if the shops (Papa's in Menlo Park was our favorite) were as grand as I remember, but do know the instant gratification of an on line purchase can take much of the romance out of it. That said I stll love a great card wherever and however it came from!!!

You can buy new packs at the Rite Aid on my block :)

Ha, I just bought some new packs from Target as stocking stuffers. Went for the most generic looking of the Topps packs, since I thought they'd be my beat bet for gum. Expect I'll be dissapointed when they're opened.

Shops
 

While my local card shop has not carried my card needs for quite some time, I still go in there once a month and buy some packs, supplies, whatever to try and give them some local support. They are up the street from a high school and an elementary school, and kids come in there to buy candy and some buy cards, the owners have always been able to remember every kid's name and you can genuniely see how excited the kids are to come in there and get something after school. So if my few bucks that I spend there a month is a little investment in the quality of my community I think it's totally worth it.