2nd trip to Albuquerque and a new card store

 This was my second trip to Albuquerque, NM in the past 2 months. Last time I was able to visit a couple of local card stores and wasn't overly impressed or dissatisfied either. This trip I only got in one more card store of the 5 or 6 that I've seen in town. 

Last time, I intentionally did not mention the card store names. This time, however, I want to tell you about my visit to New Mexico Sports Cards. 

New Mexico Sports Cards is a very neat and organized store. It's not real big, but has plenty of room. They've got $1.00 and $5.00 boxes and lower priced slabs for collectors to peruse. The cases are organized by sport and have both graded and ungraded cards. Yep, that's right, a typical local card store. The big difference for me was the guy working counter. 

Now, I must admit that I didn't get his name but, I do know that he was the owner.  According to the business card I got, it was either Jeff or Tyler. 

Jeff or Tyler, which ever one it was, was extremely friendly, knowledgeable and a pleasure to talk to. There weren't a ton of vintage cards in the store, but what was there, was in nice condition and reasonably priced. He said that there just didn't seem to be a lot of vintage cards in the area. I was able to pick up a couple of cards that I've been looking for at a really good price. 

That is my first real Willie Mays card! I've got all kinds of reprints and inserts throughout the years, but this is my first real one. 

Ozzie Smith has been one of my favorite ball players since I was watching This Week in Baseball on Saturdays when I was kid. The Wizard was on almost every week with some kind of spectacular play. I've been looking for his rookie card for awhile and I finally got one. I know it's off centered and one of the corners is a little rounded, but the price was right and I pulled the trigger. 

The wife and youngest son was with me, so I didn't have a lot of time to go through the dollar boxes, but I did pull out a couple of Torkelson rookies that the owner threw in with the other cards. 

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to New Mexico Sports Cards. If you're ever in the Albuquerque area, drop by and check them out. 

That's all for now. Hope to get part 3 of the 1980s up real soon. 

Peace, 

Michael

Isaiah 40:31

 

A quick break from the 1980s...

 I had to make a quick, 3-day trip to Albuquerque. It really wasn't that quick because its a 10-hour drive. While I was there I looked up card shops on Google and found 5 shops. I was only able to visit 2 of the shops before I had to return home. It would've been 3 but the other one was closed. 

The first one I visited was kind of small and really wasn't very organized. All of the sports were mixed together. It was difficult to find anything. The graded cards and the ungraded cards were in the same display cases all mixed together and in general, I thought the prices were kind of high. I did find a $1.00 box and went through about two stacks of cards, but it was difficult to find anything. Once again everything was mixed together and the cards were facing forwards, backwards, upside down...you name it. Plus, some were in penny sleeves, some in top loaders, but most weren't in anything. I'm not saying that a $1.00 box has to be divided by sport in numerical order by year, but some semblance of order would be nice. The guy working the store was pleasant enough, but all he would do was try to get me to buy the expensive stuff, even when I let him know several times that I couldn't afford it. When I get back to Albuquerque, this store will be marked off the list. 

The second store wasn't really a card store it was an autograph store that had cards. The card section wasn't very big, but had some nice cards. I was pressed for time, so I only went through a couple of rows in a $1.00 box. I got a few cards, so my trip wasn't a total loss. 

I'm starting a player collection of Jim Abbott. I'm not sure why I haven't already done that because I think his story is awesome. The Trout cards, Acuna Jr. and Witt Jr. are also for player collections. The Ryan is not a 1984 card, but a 2012 reprint. I have a friend who loves everything Nolan so I picked it up for him.

I asked the guy at the store if they had any room on the prices of the cards and he said that their margin was so low that the price is what it is. It wasn't my best purchase at card store, but it wasn't bad either. The store, All in Autographs, had some really great autographs, pictures, helmets and some baseballs. I found a nice picture of Hank Aaron in his blue Braves uniform in a follow through of his swing that was autographed, or so I thought, that I was prepared to buy, but the guy working the store pointed out that it was a reprint, so I put it back. Thought that was pretty cool that he did that though. I know that if I'm ever in the market for an autograph or have some time to kill, I'll go back for a visit.

I had some mail waiting for me when I got home...

All three of these were Ebay pick-ups for my player collections.

Well, that's all of the quick break from the 1980s. I'll get that second post on the '80s up real soon!

Peace, 

Michael

Isaiah 40:31