WASTING SOME MONEY AT THE CARD SHOP

THE PANDEMIC HAS BEEN ROUGH ON MY FAVORITE MONEY WASTING PLACES. A BOOKS-A-MILLION DOWN THE STREET CLOSED. MY FAVORITE ANTIQUE STORE GOT TURNED INTO CONDOS. MY FAVORITE BOOK STORE IS FINALLY GIVING IT UP AND WILL BE CLOSING BY THE END OF THE YEAR. EVEN SECOND AND CHARLES HAS STOPPED SELLING CHEAP COMICS, THE ENDCAP THAT USED TO ALL BE FIFTY CENTS A POP IS NOW FILLED WITH TWO DOLLAR BOOKS. BUT WHEN DOORS CLOSE, WINDOWS GET SMASHED IN. A NEW BOOKSTORE ABOUT A MILE AWAY IS THRIVING AND JUST EXPANDED. I FOUND A BETTER ANTIQUE STORE. AND I'VE RE-DISCOVERED A LOCAL CARD SHOP THAT HAS BEEN AROUND DECADES, BUT HAS BEEN BOUNCING AROUND FROM LOCATION TO LOCATION. I WENT TO WHERE I THOUGHT IT WAS, FOUND A KARATE PLACE AND GOOGLED THE STORE NAME AND FOUND THEY STILL EXISTED AND MOVED A COUPLE MILES DOWN THE STREET

THIS STORE, JT SPORTS COLLECTIBLES, IS A MUCH DIFFERENT STORE THAN MY MAIN LCS, CHAMPION SPORTS CARDS. THEY BOTH HAVE WAX, SINGLES AND MEMORABILIA, BUT CHAMPION HAS MORE SPACE AND A LARGE AMOUNT OF SHELVES FILLED WITH HIGHLY ORGANIZED BOXES OF SINGLES. JT'S PLACE IS MORE CRAMPED AND HAS LESS CARDS BUT YOU'RE WAY MORE LIKELY TO FIND SOME UNLIKELY HIDDEN TREASURES. CHEAP SETS, RARE ODDBALLS, UNEXPECTED AUTOGRAPHS. I'VE FOUND A LOT OF GOOD STUFF THERE THROUGH THE YEARS AND AM HAPPY TO HAVE FOUND IT AGAIN. ESPECIALLY SINCE UNLIKE CHAMPION, THEY ARE OPEN ON SUNDAYS. HERE'S A SAMPLE OF NEAT STUFF I FOUND ON MY LAST TRIP THERE

ANOTHER NOTE ON THE IMAGES HERE, I TRIED A PHONE APP THAT 'SCANS' CARDS BY TAKING 4 DIFFERENT IMAGES AND MERGING THEM ALL TOGETHER TO REMOVE GLARE. IT KINDA WORKS? IT'S MUCH FASTER THAN SCANNING BUT IS A LITTLE DARK AND CAN HAVE SOME DISTORTION (CHECK THE FOIL ON THE DREXLER CARD FOR SOME WEIRDNESS). I MIGHT TRY IT AGAIN SOMETIME BUT WILL PROBABLY DEFAULT TO PHONE PICS WHEN I'M BEING LAZY 

1995 DENNY'S GREG MADDUX

IT'S STRANGE, IN 1996 AND 97 MY ROOMATE AND I WENT TO DENNY'S SO MANY TIMES TO EAT CRUMMY FOOD AND BUY TONS OF PINNACLE DENNY'S CARD PACKS, BUT IN 1995 WE DIDN'T GO EVEN ONCE TO BUY SOME OF THESE. WHY DID WE IGNORE THE UPPER DECK YEARS? I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THESE EXISTED UNTIL MUCH LATER. WE PROBABLY HAD DECENT JOBS BY THEN AND COULD AFFORD TO PAY MORE TO GET BAD FOOD WITH BASEBALL CARDS INSTEAD OF JUST GOING TO WAFFLE HOUSE. DENNY'S HOLGRAM CARDS ARE GREAT THOUGH AND ARE RARE ENOUGH TO SEEM SPECIAL BUT COMMON ENOUGH TO FREQUENTLY BE FOUND IN BARGAIN BOXES. I DROPPED TWO BUCKS ON THIS ONE BECAUSE MADDUX IN ATLANTA BUT HAD TO HAVE IT BECAUSE IT'S ONE OF THE VERY FEW NON- KELLOGG'S CARDS I'VE EVER SEEN THAT HAS A CRACK IN IT, YEAH I KNOW IT'S NO LONGER GEM MEEENT ANYMORE BUT THAT IS FASCINATING TO ME. HOW DID THAT CRACK EVEN GET THERE? I DON'T SEE ANY CREASE ON THE CARD. WHAT HAPPENED? PRETTY SURE I ALREADY HAVE THIS CARD AS WELL BUT I SURE DON'T HAVE ONE WITH A BIG CRACK SNAKING OVER THE HOLOGRAM

1996-97 FLEER ULTRA CLYDE DREXLER 1986 ULTRA DECADE

FOR FLEER'S 10TH ANNIVERSARY THEY CREATED AN INSERT SET OF TWENTY OF THE BEST PLAYERS FROM THEIR 1986-87 SET. AND PUT THEM IN FLEER ULTRA FOR SOME REASON. I WISH I HAD BOUGHT MORE ULTRA THAT YEAR TO PULL MORE OF THESE CARDS (AND FOR OTHER REASONS) BUT I'VE GOT A SMALL COLLECTION OF THEM. I WAS VERY EXCITED TO FIND CLYDE IN THE BASKETBALL BOX FOR A NICE PRICE. THIS IS ACTUALLY A SOMEWHAT REASONABLE SET TO COMPLETE, EVEN THE CARD OF YOU KNOW WHO ISN'T CRAZY EXPENSIVE

1971-72 TOPPS WALT WESLEY

I HAVE A RULE: IF I SEE CHEAP VINTAGE BASKETBALL CARDS WHILE SCROUNGING THRU A BOX, I GOTTA PICK ONE OF THEM UP. I FOUND SOME AND I PICKED THIS ONE. 1971-72 TOPPS IS A GREAT LOOKING SET. LOOKS LIKE A SET OF 1969 TOPPS FOOTBALL GOT THROWN IN A BLENDER WITH A FEW 1986 AND 1972 TOPPS BASEBALL CARDS FOR FLAVOR. I SLIGHTLY PREFER THE 72-73 DESIGN BUT IT'S LIKE PREFERRING PIZZA OVER BUFFALO WINGS. GIMME BOTH AND A BOTTLE OF TUMS. WALT WAS A SUCCESSFUL BACKUP CENTER WHO PLAYED IN THE LEAGUE FOR TEN YEARS. THIS CARD SHOWS OFF THE STATS FOR HIS BEST SEASON AS A MEMBER OF THE EXPANSION CLEVELAND CAVALIERS. IT'S ALSO VERY CHRISTMASSY WITH ALL THE GREEN AND RED

2003 FLEER SWEET STITCHES TODD HELTON RELIC CARD #888/899

RELIC CARDS ARE WORTHLESS NOW LOL. YOU CAN FIND SO MANY GOOD RELIC CARDS FOR DIRT CHEAP NOWADAYS, EVEN OF PLAYERS WHO MAY OR MAY NOT BE ELECTED TO THE HALL OF FAME BY THE TIME THIS GETS POSTED. TODD'S A GREAT HITTER, WAS A QUARTERBACK FOR TENNESSEE AND THERE'S A SERIAL NUMBER THAT LOOKS LIKE A SNOWMAN CONVENTION ON THIS CARD AND I STILL GET IT FOR LIKE A BUCK. I ALREADY HAVE SEVERAL TODD HELTON RELICS BUT HAD TO PICK THIS ONE UP BECAUSE IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY THE JERSEY SWATCH IS ALL MESSED UP. THERE'S A GAP IN BETWEEN THE TOP AND BOTTOM OF THE FABRIC AND HALF THE WINDOW FOR THE WORD SWATCHES IS MISSING THREADS. JERSEY RELICS MAY BE PLENTIFUL BUT GOOFS ARE RARE AND FUN

2001-02 UPPER DECK JOE JOHNSON RC

IN THE EARLY 2000S, DOMINIQUE WILKINS WAS OUT OF THE LEAGUE AND THE HAWKS WERE JUST DISMAL SO MY BASKETBALL CARD COLLECTING TOOK A DIP UNTIL AL HORFORD WAS DRAFTED IN 2007. AS A RESULT I MISSED A FEW ROOKIES HERE AND THERE. JOE JOHNSON WAS A BIG PART OF SOME OF THOSE DISMAL HAWKS TEAMS AND PLAYED FOR-EVER. HE CAME EXTREMELY CLOSE TO WINNING A TITLE WITH BOSTON LAST YEAR AS HE GOT BROUGHT BACK FOR ONE GAME WHEN HALF THE LEAGUE WAS SICK. ISO JOE IS A BASKETBALL LEGEND AND I COULDN'T PASS UP HIS ROOKIE FOR FIFTY CENTS

2019-20 PANINI CERTIFIED CAM REDDISH 2019

WHAT KINDA IDIOT NAMES AN INSERT SET THE YEAR THE SET WAS PRODUCED. THIS WAS A VERY CONFUSING CARD TO LOOK UP. I WAS SOOOOO EXCITED WHEN CAM DROPPED TO THE HAWKS IN THE 2019 DRAFT. MAN, THAT WAS A FUN DRAFT EVEN THOUGH DE'ANDRE HASN'T QUITE YET LIVED UP TO POTENTIAL AND CAM CRASHED AND BURNED IN ATLANTA. BUT SINCE HE WAS DRAFTED RIGHT BEFORE THE WORLD ENDED, I HAVE BEEN ALMOST COMPLETELY UNABLE TO RIP ANY NBA PACKS AND HAVE VERY FEW ROOKIES OR EVEN CARDS OF CAM. I WAS HAPPY TO SNAG A CHEAP EXTREMELY SHINY ROOKIE YEAR INSERT SO I COULD BE REMINDED OF THE GOOD TIMES AND BE HOPEFUL HE GETS IT TOGETHER IN NEW YORK OR WHEREVER HE GETS TRADED TO NEXT

2015 PANINI ROOKIES AND STARS MATT RYAN LONGEVITY PARALLEL

NOW THAT MATTY ICE IS OUT OF ATLANTA I CAN FINALLY STEP BACK AND LET GO MY ANGER TOWARDS THIS CHUMP TRYING TO REPLACE MICHAEL VICK AND ADMIT THAT MATT RYAN WAS A DAMNED GOOD QUARTERBACK. I AIN'T GOING TO COLLECT HIS CARDS, BUT I'LL PICK UP A SUPER SHINY ONE HERE AND THERE FOR OLD TIME'S SAKE. THIS ONE IS VERY SHINY AND COLORFUL AND THE SCAN DOES NOT DO IT JUSTICE. THE SHEER NUMBER OF PANINI PARALLELS IS TEDIOUS AND I HAVE NO IDEA IF THIS ONE IS SCARCE OR NOT BUT IT'S PRETTY SO WHO CARES

2020-21 PRIZM JEFF TEAGUE WHATEVER THE RED PARALLEL IS

JEFF TEAGUE IS WEIRDLY UNDERRATED IN ATLANTA. HE WAS A SOLID STARTING POINT GUARD FOR FIVE YEARS AND WAS ON THE 60 WIN TEAM THAT WENT TO THE EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS. THE ONLY POINT GUARD IN ATLANTA HISTORY TO GO FURTHER IN THE PLAYOFFS IS TRAE. HE EVEN SNUCK HIS WAY BACK ON THE TEAM AS THE BACK OF THE CARD SAYS AND IS STILL IN THE ORGINIZATION AS A SCOUT. PLUS HE MANAGED TO GET A RING WITH THE BUCKS TO CAP A NICE LITTLE CAREER. THE BEST PART ABOUT THIS CARD IS THE SHINKY* RED BORDER THAT MATCHES PERFECTLY WITH THE WEIRD TRIANGLE UNIFORMS THE HAWKS WORE FOR A WHILE. I'VE BEEN PICKING UP MORE COLOR-APPROPRIATE PARALLEL CARDS LATELY, IT'S A FUN DIVERSION

THIS IS THE KIND OF STUFF YOU CAN FIND AT JT'S. MAYBE NOT CARDS FROM THAT SET YOU'RE LAZER FOCUSED ON COMPLETING BUT IT'S A GOOD WAY TO KILL AN HOUR AND A FEW BUCKS ON A A SUNDAY AFTERNOON

*THIS SHOULD SAY 'SHINY' BUT I THINK SHINKY WORKS