Posted By:
Chris AhartLeon- Please delete if you feel this is too off target, or an advertisement.
I wanted to issue a very large thank you to the members of this board for the knowledge that I have gained since discovering this site. I've been blown away time and time again with the breadth of product in pre-war material, and the amount of experience here. I just recently helped my friend, Dan Fox, open up a sports card store here in southern Illinois. Here's a link to an article on the development of the store-
http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/latest/eyesore-to-card-store-illinois-mans-dream-takes-s.html
The store has a developing range of 50's to modern era cards & memorabilia. We were both bit by the vintage bug very hard, so we a case of pre-war material. There hasn't been much interest in the tobacco era material in our market, which is great if it doesn't sell either 
. It sets us apart from the mall style store to have that material for kids to see. Plus we love it. Nothing exceptionally expensive, mainly some vg-ex commons.
I've read posts of some unscrupulous EBay sellers that live within an hour or two from us, a person from Johnson City, Illinois, comes to mind. I believe that person sold either reprint or trimmed material to a board member. If you have had any bad experiences with sellers from our area, please let me know. I would like to stay ahead of the curve and hope to keep the bad buying to a minimum. As I, and Dan, really appreciate the tobacco material, it is not our strong point. If you see a thread started by me questioning the authenticity of a card I've scanned, odds are someone is attempting to sell us an item that I'm not experienced enough with to feel one hundred percent comfortable. Thanks in advance, and the past, for the help & knowledge.
Chris Ahart