Mall shows

[parkplace33]

I have seen a lot of reminiscing recently on net54. Anyone remember card shows at the mall? I had one by me the first Saturday of the month. Great memories.

Any mall shows still around?

[x2drich2000]

There are still a couple in PA. Nothing like they were in the early 90's, but you can still find them. You can use the Beckett show calendar to find ones local to you.

[Cmvorce]

Other than packs at Acme and Stop N Go, mall card shows were the sole source of my cards as a kid. Other than trades of course.

[Leon]

I got my start (*as an adult obviously).. at a mall show in Plano, TX, 1995 ..in the old Garden Ridge Mall. Smiling Dave got me started
.

[Johnny630]

My start was at the Golden Ring Mall in Baltimore County Cira 1987...

A fun part about it for me was the Kay Bee Toys Store and the Horn and Horn Smorgasbord.

Sadly the Mall is Where Shows go to Die

[notfast]

Originally Posted by Johnny630

My start was at the Golden Ring Mall in Baltimore County Cira 1987...

A fun part about it for me was the Kay Bee Toys Store and the Horn and Horn Smorgasbord.

Sadly the Mall is Where Shows go to Die

Fondly remember the Golden Ring Mall shows. First time my parents let me drive on the highway was to go to one.

[jingram058]

There are 3 distinct and separate periods to my card collecting:

As a kid, buying insane numbers of 5 cent Topps packs 1967-70. All complete sets those years. My mother almost daily gave me money to pedal my bike a couple of blocks to buy her a pack of smokes, and then keep the change to buy packs of baseball cards. The guys behind the counter gave no thought at all to selling smokes to me in those days. They somehow knew I wasn't smoking them.

In the Navy, 1981-2007. 1987-88 I was going through weather forecasting school with the Air Force at Chanute AFB, Rantoul, Illinois. This is where I got my Ruth signed ball, and 1933 Goudey Ruth #144 and Gehrig cards. 1993-98 I was at Charleston and Key West. Vendor's Mall in Charleston and Coral Square Mall in Coral Springs. Vendor's Mall was an antique mall on Rivers Ave. in Charleston. There was one guy who rented space, a retired Navy Chief, who I bought MANY cards cheap from. Then, when he decided to retire completely, he gave me a paper sack of fantastic cards! The monthly card shows at Coral Square Mall, off of Univetsity in Coral Springs were FANTASTIC! I got many, many great cards. 1958 Mantle for $70 comes immediately to mind.

Got back in during Covid, and built my 1953 Bowman color and b/w full set *** with A LOT of help from great people on this forum, which is the best baseball card-related forum on the internet. Thanks, Leon! ***

[mrreality68]

I used to love those shows growing up.
But as time went on they became less often and less stuff.
Then they faded away

[sb1]

Originally Posted by Leon

I got my start (*as an adult obviously).. at a mall show in Plano, TX, 1995 ..in the old Garden Ridge Mall. Smiling Dave got me started
.

I was there.......

[bmattioli]

Bought my 1975 Topps set at a Mall Show in Wichita Falls, Texas while in Tech School at Sheppard AFB in 1984. Still have it and NFS Forever..

[D. Bergin]

One of my most vivid memories setting up at shows when I was a teenager as a weekend warrior, during the late 80's, was being set up at the Danbury Fair Mall in CT, the same week the Billy Ripken FF card was discovered.

89 Fleer had just come out, and between the FF card and the Griffey Jr. and Gary Sheffield Rookies, everybody was going nuts over it.

Looking back in hindsight, there was absolutely no shortage of it either. They were selling for over 100 bucks a box...but seemingly EVERYBODY had them......and this was just the first run of them, before they corrected or hacked the rest of the Ripken cards in the print run.

The FF card probably sold Fleer an extra 1/2 a million cases of cards that year.

Thing was, if you pulled an FF, you could throw it out on your table for $100 bucks, and less then 10 minutes later it would be gone, basically paying for your box. People literally thought, this was going to be the next 52 Mantle.

That was a wild weekend.

[Yoda]

Originally Posted by Leon

I got my start (*as an adult obviously).. at a mall show in Plano, TX, 1995 ..in the old Garden Ridge Mall. Smiling Dave got me started
.

And, Leon, it wasn't long thereafter you bought a few cards from me. I remember a '38 Goudey Joe D. in which you had a real interest, and we concluded a simple transaction. In the present card climate, the BST feature best resembles the simple way we used to conduct business.