General Forum

I don’t have an LCS myself and the one i did go o on vacation closed as the owners retired young. I would love to hear about your LCS name and why you love them! This can be one nearby or one you visit.

SCC, it's good to see you here!

I live in between three different card shops, about 25 miles from my house in opposite directions. One, Overtime Cards is great because the owner has been in the business for a long time, and she is really knowledgeable about the hobby and fun to talk to. Another, Mr. E's Cards, has a new owner as of about a year ago. It's the shop that puts on our card shows. The third is called Platinum Sports and Memorabilia. It's actually more of a record store with a small card shop in the back, but the owner is awesome. He met my kids once, and he makes a point to ask me about them every time I go in. I don't usually buy too many cards from him, but he sells a lot of used pages that I pick up from him for cheap.

The only good one I can think of, but not close to me  (40 miles) is DJ's Sports Cards on Sutton Ave In Oxford Mass. 

I have two that I go to when I can spare a few bucks.  One just opened within the last year in Johnson Creek about 10 minutes from me.  It's run by a really good guy, Wally.  He is really fair and is beginning to know me.  Just last month, he saved a couple of Ersan Ilyasova cards for me.  That was very awesome of him!!!  I'm hoping to stop into his shop this weekend if I can swing the time.

The other is a card shop in Waukesha that is very close to my work.  I buy my vintage stuff from them but they are really into the memorabilia side of things with helmets, jerseys and other fun stuff.  Not a whole lot for my PC.  The one guy, Chris, has breaks quite a bit and I've gotten into a couple of them over the last year or so.  He's a great guy and seems to really care about the hobby and gets to know his customers.

I know of a couple of others in my general southeastern WI area, but I've only been to one.  It's run by a guy named Jeff.  He's a really good guy and gives his attention to the customers to see where he can help.  I can really appreciate that.  He has a small spot on one of the radio stations once a week that he appraises caller's merchandise.  He also seems to know his stuff.

Every time I go to the last one near me he asks me if I want to buy it. LOL

My local shop is Champion, in Poughkeepsie NY which was once great but now doesn't do much card stuff...mostly gaming and paintball. 

I just discovered a new shop totally by accident (drove by it) called JB's Sportscards in Hudson Falls NY that I want to spend more time and money in...although local is a bit of a stretch, as he's three hours away. 

My LCS is one of the oldest cardshops around. They started in the mid to late 1970s. I've been going to them off and on almost since their humble beginnings from a literal "hole in the wall" in the back corner of a used book store in Wheaton, Maryland. I think they had been open for about six months to a year before a friend of mine took me to the store. House of Cards in Maryland (houseofcardsmd.com). They are still around in thier 4th location in the Silver Spring area. It is run by one of the original owners and his son. Their selection is pretty good and prices OK, except for local Washington teams which they of course overprice.

I have 1 good story about Champion from about 10 years ago, and 3 bad ones from the last 4 years. So, no LCS for me. I'll have to investigate near where I work.

There was a great shop in NJ near where I used to work called simply "The Baseball Card Store" in Midland Park. Looks like their web site hasn't bee nupdated since around the same time I was last in the store, but Dave was always pleasant to chat with and helpful. 

Showtime Sports and Gaming is just down the street from me. The owner is a nice guy and very helpful to new collectors. They have shelves stocked full of 25 cent commons in monster boxes along the side wall. I try to avoid going there on Saturdays. They have Gaming tournaments that take up all of the tables in the store.

I used to work next to Boxseat Collectibles in South Phoenix. On Fridays, I would spend an hour in the shop before my shift started. They specialize in Baseball, Basketball, and Football vintage cards. Most of their cards are locked in glass cases, but they are always happy to unlock them so you can look through the monster boxes of cards from the '60s and '70s.

I have 2 near me. Niether made a huge impression on me. On Deck Sportcards and Collectables was more focused on having me order autograph bats and jerseys then helping with my wantlist.

J&Js Sports Super Store has a monsterous selection. Unfortunalty when I went there the owner wasn't all that interested in talking sportscards and filling me in on what was new in the hobby during my hiatus.