T206 Wagner in Canada

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by bmattioli

I'll bet he had some great stuff coming into his store from walk-ins off the street and folks looking to sell. That's the era I wish I had a store..

By the 1990's though there had already been loads of publicity about the prices vintage cards could fetch. This created unrealistic expectations among the general public with respect to how much their not-nearly-mint "old" cards were worth.

But the mathematics of operating a card shop even in the 1970's and 1980's could be grim. Sure, the proprietor might pay next to nothing for the cards coming in the door but in turn the cards he was selling were fetching only a little something. And he had expenses like rent and salaries including his own.

That's why most card and comic retailing in all but the very biggest cities was done as an adjunct of coin/stamp shops and used book stores. I recall that the first dedicated comic store in my home town of London, Ontario opened in a very low rent outlet on Stanley Street in 1979-80 and still lasted less than a year.

[maniac_73]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

By the 1990's though there had already been loads of publicity about the prices vintage cards could fetch. This created unrealistic expectations among the general public with respect to how much their not-nearly-mint "old" cards were worth.

But the mathematics of operating a card shop even in the 1970's and 1980's could be grim. Sure, the proprietor might pay next to nothing for the cards coming in the door but in turn the cards he was selling were fetching only a little something. And he had expenses like rent and salaries including his own.

That's why most card and comic retailing in all but the very biggest cities was done as an adjunct of coin/stamp shops and used book stores. I recall that the first dedicated comic store in my home town of London, Ontario opened in a very low rent outlet on Stanley Street in 1980 and still lasted less than a year.

And to think they couldve had direct access to the old OPC factory

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

I recall that the first dedicated comic store in my home town of London, Ontario opened in a very low rent outlet on Stanley Street in 1980 and still lasted less than a year.

Guessing it was by that spooky Stanley Variety with its sordid history and creepy owner who mysteriously disappeared, never to be seen again.

...but I'll leave it at that, as this could pose the biggest thread derailment ever if we went off on that particular tangent. Balticfox undoubtedly knows exactly what I'm talking about, as we're apparently from the same town. Small world.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

Guessing it was by that spooky Stanley Variety with its sordid history and creepy owner who mysteriously disappeared, never to be seen again.

Yes, precisely. The comic shop would have been just a few doors to the west perhaps right beside Brown's Variety. Here's a pic of the Stanley Variety and its owner:



Mmmmmm, Silverwood's! I did get a milkshake there once in 1965 but I know nothing about the store's history or the owner's mysterious disappearance. But in 1977 I moved from London to Toronto for a job.