Observing a Card Buyer at an Antique Shop

[aelefson]

Hi-

I went antique shopping over the weekend and in one shop I noticed a guy looking intently at a monster box filled with cards. I took a glance and the box appeared to be filled with 1987 Topps cards. I watched as he took out his phone and started to lookup the cards. I mentioned something about the lot, and how it might be fun to buy for 10-20.00. It was priced at 99.00. He excitedly showed me a few cards like the McGwire but also included the Griffey senior which was odd. He said that if they graded high the box would be worth buying. I told him there were way too many cards produced during this era, and the chances of getting high grades were very slim.

He kept looking at the cards and kept researching them on his phone. I doubt he bought the box, but given his naivete he might have. I am just amazed at how much time he spent going through these. Unfortunately, I did not find anything at that shop (but in the recent past I have found some Spalding guides and a Ruth midweek pictorial there). I did find a decent group of 70-71 Topps basketball cards at another shop (100+ with some HOFers for 45.00 in decent condition) and a Dwight Evans game issued bat at a different shop. Yesterday, I found two 1952 Coke Tips baseball players (Bauer and Furillo) at a flea market along with a few other baseball related Coke items at a good price.

Part of me is glad that someone like him is actively looking at antique shops for cards as he can waste his time on the newer, common stuff while I look for rarities and older items. I am just amazed at how easy he seemed to think making money off of 1987 Topps cards would be.

Alan

[NiceDocter]

You found Coke Tips at a flea market????? Yikes!!!! Nice pick up!

[aelefson]

Thank you Rocky! I bought a small Coke collection with these and other items at the flea market. I paid 140 for the binder with these two cards, the booklet shown below, and 30-40 other ephemeral Coke items from the teens through the 1980s. Some of the cool items include a sales brochure introducing diet coke and a 1929 annual report to stockholders booklet. The booklet shown below titled The Romance of Coca Cola has an Eddie Collins Coke ad on the back cover. You never know what you might find antique shopping!

Alan

[philliesfan]

For that guys same $99.00 I would have sold him 9 monster boxes.

[JollyElm]

theevolutionofcoke.jpg

[Hxcmilkshake]

It's all good. Novice, wanna be flippers, etc leads to nice crowds at shows, means money flying around the room(s). Good.

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[BobbyStrawberry]

Originally Posted by aelefson

Hi-

I went antique shopping over the weekend and in one shop I noticed a guy looking intently at a monster box filled with cards. I took a glance and the box appeared to be filled with 1987 Topps cards. I watched as he took out his phone and started to lookup the cards. I mentioned something about the lot, and how it might be fun to buy for 10-20.00. It was priced at 99.00. He excitedly showed me a few cards like the McGwire but also included the Griffey senior which was odd. He said that if they graded high the box would be worth buying. I told him there were way too many cards produced during this era, and the chances of getting high grades were very slim.

He kept looking at the cards and kept researching them on his phone. I doubt he bought the box, but given his naivete he might have. I am just amazed at how much time he spent going through these. Unfortunately, I did not find anything at that shop (but in the recent past I have found some Spalding guides and a Ruth midweek pictorial there). I did find a decent group of 70-71 Topps basketball cards at another shop (100+ with some HOFers for 45.00 in decent condition) and a Dwight Evans game issued bat at a different shop. Yesterday, I found two 1952 Coke Tips baseball players (Bauer and Furillo) at a flea market along with a few other baseball related Coke items at a good price.

Part of me is glad that someone like him is actively looking at antique shops for cards as he can waste his time on the newer, common stuff while I look for rarities and older items. I am just amazed at how easy he seemed to think making money off of 1987 Topps cards would be.

Alan

I've seen these hilariously overpriced junk boxes at antique stores and flea markets as well. My reaction has always been that the person pricing it was the moron but I guess I'm wrong...

[aelefson]

Robert, I agree. I think even my high estimate of 20 was too high. Darren, that is a funny (but apt) comparison of the two eras. Stan and Matthew, I am amazed at the lack of knowledge on behalf of some buyers I have met recently. I hope they learn quickly through relatively inexpensive purchases or by researching more before they buy.

Alan

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by aelefson

Robert, I agree. I think even my high estimate of 20 was too high. Darren, that is a funny (but apt) comparison of the two eras. Stan and Matthew, I am amazed at the lack of knowledge on behalf of some buyers I have met recently. I hope they learn quickly through relatively inexpensive purchases or by researching more before they buy.

Alan

Did he have a selfie stick so he could stream his new amazing pick up live on youtube to his 4 followers.

[gonefishin]

First I don't know why I like this thread but I do.

I'm in my 70s and have collected most of my life, starting around 1959-60. I've seen a lot of collectors. We didn't consider ourselves collectors way back then, just kids that liked cards. Of course, Mantle and Musial were kings of the day.

Anyway, to this day I see on occasion people searching through 5K count boxes of cards from let's say 1987 - 1989. Every card they touch and do limited research on they think - this card is worth $5, this one $8, etc. etc. I know the entire box is not worth $5 to me as I can't stomach even seeing cards from that era and have nightmares of the bright yellow, bright red, and even the brown cards from 87!

My true story. I have a very nice young couple that recently purchased a house close to me. He stated that his grandfather really collected cards when he was young and still had his collection. He stated that he also had some cards that he collected and would swing by and show them to me. He came over with a briefcase filled with nicely stored cards, mainly all pretty modern star cards in toploaders etc. He wanted my opinion. I looked and told him they were nice and he should hold to them for a few years and enjoy them. He reached into the top of the briefcase and pulled out 2 cards his grandfather had given him as a present. One was a 53 Jackie Robinson (probably around a 6 if graded) and a 54 AAron in about the same condition. I told him those were extremely nice cards and had a lot of value. He said they did to him because his grandfather gave them to him! I congratulated him and told him to continue enjoying collecting. We, not once, put a monetary value on the cards.

Hopefully, he will one day have a collection like his grandfather - that's what it's all about, not what a 1988 Donruss common is worth.

[todeen]

Early 90s is my nostalgia, but the players I collect mostly started in the late 80s and so I have to buy them for career collections. I follow other millennial collectors on Twitter who are nostalgic over junk wax and Tiffany. I like Ryan Fagan, @myjunkwax, who opens a pack of cards each day, shows who was in the pack, and asks for other collectors to tweet memories. I also like @RetroCardSnaps, who does something similar. We all know that it's silly to talk about worthless cards, but it brings us joy to talk about youthful memories.

I'm glad you told the man that it was probably a $20 box. Even if he bought it for $99, I assume he was interested because it holds some sort of nostalgia for him too.

As an aside comment, I collect Barry Larkin. One card that is very desirable among Larkin collectors is 88 Score Samples. Larkin is green, but in the regular set he is purple. That green Larkin sample is boo-koo bucks! Someone posted one on our Facebook page a month or two ago and I was jealous of his purchase, but excited too! That was only the second I've ever seen aside from the one on ebay for $4500. Here's the screenshot of the ebay card.

Screenshot_20240821_074138_eBay.jpg

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