So the National Sports Collectors Convention is under way Atlantic City and like many others I wish I was there. I’ve been to the annual event twice, both times as peripheral member of the Beckett Media team. But this year I couldn’t make it for several reasons as I 
I have a lot going on in my real life. I may try for next year. We’ll see.
On Wednesday I took my kids out to do a little thrift shopping. And what do you know, I find a massive amount of cards. So many that I was only able to get through a little of it before the kids got restless. Nonetheless, I got a good 15 minutes of digging in and with the cards priced at 5 for $1, I was able to snatch up a few treasures before I had to hit the road. It was a small sampling of what I would’ve been doing at The National anyway.
It’s not uncommon for me to run into such deals as 5 cards for $1, or even more. But they’ve gotten a little harder to find lately. And truth be told, I haven’t been out looking as hard as I had once been doing. It’s just a time issue.
Anyhow, I left some decent stuff behind, but I would up selecting 30 cards during this trip. And as the title of this blog post suggests, there were a good number of low serial numbered cards.
Let’s kick things off with three 2013 Topps Chrome football black refractors numbered /299 and a a 2014 Topps Chrome Bliue Refractor /199 of DeAndre Hopkins.
Speaking of Refractors, here are few more. A shimmer silver 2013 RGIII /260 and a basic 2015 Topps Chrome Peyton Manning. The Manning will be a nice Christmas gift for my cousin’s son who just got into collecting. I’ve already sent him every Manning I own, and about 5,000 other football cards. His face when they arrived was priceless.
Staying on the flashy subject. Here are three 2011 Leaf Limited parallels. The front of these are shiny foilboard. But I’m showing the backs because look at those serial numbers. Hall of Famers Derrick Thomas /50 and Sam Huff /25.
And some more Leaf Limited. These are from 2010 and they’re all rookies. The base rookies are /499, but that Riley Cooper rookie is /25. Solid.
How about some more serial rookies? Marcus Gilbert 2011 Absolute /50, 2010 Epix Ricky Sapp /50 and 2008 Prestige Chris Long serial 001/300. Gotta love those first-stamped cards.
A few random serial numbered cards. 1999 Paramount RW McQuarters /62, 2013 Absolute Boss Hoggs Julio Jones /99 and 2008 Icons die cut Mike Hart /150.
Growing up in the Bay Area it’s almost a disgrace to see serial numbered cards of these two guys sitting in a thrift store. These are 2009 Leaf Limited Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, both serial numbered /399.
Speaking of legends, I could not let a Barry Sanders (/1449) and Bart Starr (/639) from high-end 2007 Triple Threads sit on the shelf to collect dust.
Johnny Manziel is pretty much a laughing stock at this point, but I still found some value – in terms of comic relief anyway – in finding his 2014 Topps Platinum rookie card.
Here are a few basketball parallels from 2010-2011 Contenders, Caron Butler and Samuel Dalembert, both /99.
Whatdya know, I found an autograph in the boxes. Sure, it’s Jamal Faulkner, a common. But this is an Alabama alumnus — I’ve already found a new home for this card.
And let’s finish things off with a mixed group of four cards: 1999 Paramound Team Checklist Barry Sanders, a 1996-97 Topps Allen Iverson rookie card, a 1994-95 Collector’s Choice French GOLD signature Charles Barkley subset, and a 2012 Bowman Platinum Purple Refractor Javier Baez.
Nothing here is going to make me a small fortune, but all in all, still not a bad stack of cards for about the price of two retail packs,.
Total cost of these Treasures: $6
You can see more Thrift Treasures posts Here.
Don’t be a dick to Dollar Tree if they don’t sell you packs for a penny
Posted in Commentary with tags Be Nice, Dollar Tree, football cards, sports cards on February 7, 2020 by Cardboard IconsIt’s been said on Twitter that Dollar Tree has been selling NFL trading cards this week for a penny per pack.
Some folks have walked out with dozens from each store, claiming victory against a hobby that often seems like it prices people out.
Meanwhile others have found such packs and store clerks have refused to sell them.
The latter is what happened to me Friday morning when I located 25 packs at a single store.
My experience went like this:
I walked in, grabbed the packs and went to the register. I asked them to check the price because they had been discontinued across the county. They checked, it rang up a penny and then they asked for a manager to check the situation.
At first the manager said they had to throw them away; then she clarified that they actually get sent back to the distributor.
I understood, thanked them and told them to have a good day.
Now, it’d be easy to come off angry and act like they owe it to us to sell the item. We could cause a scene and make threats to force the issue. But I know from working retail that price changes that drop to this price point usually mean that the item is supposed to be returned to the distributor. The process by which retailers signal this is different and with Dollar Tree it appears to be the $0.01 price point. Other places change the price to $0.00.
Bottom line, don’t be a dick to the Dollar Tree clerks or manager if they tell you they can’t sell them. They’re just doing their job and adhering to their company’s protocol. And threats to stop shopping at the discount retailer will ring hollow as they’ll happily tell you to walk out the door with your 50 cents instead of letting you walk out with 50 packs after you invoke the “customer is always right” mantra.
If you do see packs, take them to the register and see if they’ll sell them at the penny per pack. If they do, then you’ve won. But always be cautiously optimistic.
For the uninitiated, packs at Dollar Tree contain five cards, always four base cards and one parallel or exclusive card. There is NO CHANCE at autographs, relics or serial numbered items.
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