Chris Olds, editor and writer of damn near all things Beckett, threw down the first “$10 Card Shop Challenge” of 2013.  You can see the rules and history on the site.  Olds is giving away a prize to the person who is voted to have had the best purchase for the price point.  I feel I should disqualify myself for any prizes due to my affiliation with the magazine, but that doesn’t mean I can’t play along for fun.  I mean I am a collector.

Anyway, I set out to Belmont, Calif., on Monday afternoon to participate in the challenge.  I went to Peninsula Sports Cards, which is roughly 40 miles from my house.  It’s a trek for sure, but worth it since I only make the jaunt every three to six months.  The shop owns two other stores that are closer to my house, but each store has a vastly different  selection of cards.  I love this.

The price point for the challenge was $10, as noted above, but what I ended up with was seven hits for $44.  There are a few binders of autographs and relics in one of the showcases.  The cards in the binders are priced $4.95 each, or five for $20.  I wound up buying six cards from these binders. And then I located one card in another showcase in which everything was marked 50 % off.

My Challenge entry are the two cards shown in the picture above.  They are a 1998 Press Pass Jason Williams autograph and a 2009 Press Pass Authentics James Laurinaitis.  The Williams was a sweet find because in 1998 I was still collecting basketball cards and he and Vince Carter were two guys I was really into at the time — as were many other people.  And the Laurinaitis?  Well, he IS the son of wrestling legend Road Warrior Animal.  That in and of itself makes the card awesome.  Also adding to the cool factor is that it’s a college on-card autograph.  It’s just neat in my opinion.  Both were worth the $4 each that I paid for them.

Other cards I purchased from the binders; remember these were $4 each:

2012 Topps Allen & Ginter Relic Jackie Joyner Kersee

2012 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Relics Byron Nelson

2012 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Autographs Bryan Clay

2009-10 Panini Basketball Hall of Fame Autographs Orsten Artis 125/899

And from the 50 % off showcase:

2012 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Autographs Natalie Gulbis

This entry was posted on January 15, 2013 at 9:21 am and is filed under Newspaperman with tags baseball, baseball cards, Beckett, Card Shop Challenge, Panini America, Press Pass, Topps, Upper Deck. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.