[mrmopar]

When I first got out of college, I had a sales job that took me throughout the greater Seattle area. This was 1998 and there were a lot of little shops open still. I really enjoyed making the rounds. Let's see what I can remember: Eagle's & Staggs in Kent. After that, the names get hard to remember. There was the shop near the old One, Two & Three Renton (now Triton Towers) in Renton (think it is still there), World of Collections on 99 in the Edmonds/Lynnwood area, one off of 85th in the Greenwood area, one off 196th in Lynnwood near the old Hooters, one in Everett close to the Mall on Evergreen. There was a shop just north of where the old Pacific Trading Cards plant was too. Card Exchange has a location on Lake City and there was another shop a few doors down as well that started with a Z or something close. U Trading Cards was in full swing too. There was a small one on Stone Way that was good, Seattle Sports Cards I think. There was a shop at the base of Queen Anne that had some good stuff. There was a shop in Fremont that later moved too the top of Queen Anne. That may still be open, but never found it. I even tried to get a job at Pacific Trading Cards shortly before they packed up. Glad that never panned out! I'm sure there are others I am forgetting too.

I have tried that shop in Marysville a couple times since I moved north and have never seen anything good, seems like nothing rotates through, was always kind of dirty and it is always filled with gamers. I appreciate that this is what it takes to keep a business alive these days (non-sports/gaming), but for a pure sports collector, it is a major turn-off.

So many decent shops that have since closed their doors. I can't complain, as the internet has certainly helped out my collection much more than shops did, but it is still fun to dig around.