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Went to my first NJ card show yesterday, at a convention center about 20 minutes away. Admission was $15(!) and there were lots of superstar players signing autographs (including Jordan Love) but I didn't have the time or money for any of that. My main goal was to find some quarter and dollar box gems. I was hoping to find some set fillers or vintage, but I only had 2 1/2 hours because family. Time was scarcer than money.

The room looked like a giant warehouse with the tables in the center and along the left side wall, the autograph lines to the right (behind a large curtain) and a cafe at the back where I stopped to pack my purchases away and regroup.

I mainly bought from three tables. Table #1 was a dealer who did not have any prices listed. Picked out a stack:

And he separated them thusly. First stack was $1 each, then $2, then $3. He moved the Deion from $3 to $2 and gave me $4 off at the end.

Second major purchase was a box marked $3 each or 4/$10. I picked out this stack and got a small discount there as well:

Upon entering the convention center, this table was the first I saw from left to right. I actually didn't notice the cards at first because my eyes lit up at the sight of the display behind his tables:

SLUs! 1988 SLUs!! Rare, out-of-market 1988 football SLUs!!!! 🤯 We'll come back to this. 

Here's a scan parade of my pickups. Every single card cost between 90 cents and $2.22 unless noted.

Lots of color matching cards and serial numbered parallels. The De'Aaron Fox Elite (#d/95) and Allen Iverson Ice (#d/149) were the only $3 cards.

The Jalen Suggs came from box #3. 15 cents.




Now for the football portion of the purchase.

Puason was 15 cents. I picked it up mainly because my friend is an A's fan.

Pair of Papi for my PC. The Red Mojo Prizm (#d/299) was $1, the OTG was 15 cents.

None of the quarter/dollar boxes I saw had any hockey cards whatsoever. Maybe some Flyers base from Upper Deck. No inserts/parallels/Young Guns... nothing. I was expecting that someone chasing Connor Bedard RCs would dump off the unwanted cards but no. It's not like we have an NHL team or anything.

After spending half my money at the dollar tables, I had about 40 minutes left. The game plan was to shop for higher-end stuff, big PC pieces, graded cards, set fillers... that sort of thing. On my way out I'd stop at the Ultra-Pro table, pick up some supplies, and then see if I could procure an '88 SLU.

It was almost Noon, and the higher-value tables were crowded. Also there was a lot of autographed helmets, jerseys, and prints. I was tempted to buy a Marcel Dionne auto for $40 - not a card, an actual jersey - just for the value. But it didn't fit my collection, so I left with no hockey at all.

I didn't see any 2024 Topps Archives baseball, either - except at one table offering $25 blasters and $40 megaboxes. They had a tin of 2023-24 Upper Deck hockey as well. I didn't want to risk it.

One graded card dealer had a 1988-89 Scottie Pippen RC I need - PSA 8 for $40. But it was off-center. I also saw one 1956 Topps single - a Bob Miller graded by some non-PSA entity I've never heard of. Pass.

Which brings me to the quarter box. The prices were marked $0.25 or 5 for $1. I picked out 134 cards as quickly as I could and hoped to get them for $25. "How about $20?" He said without counting the cards. Done!  I'll show off some more of those pickups in a future post.


With $100 left in my pocket, I returned to the SLU figures. Cris Collinsowrth and Doug Williams interested me in particular, and I knew that one of them was priced at $100. I'll offer $80 for the Collinsworth and call it a day. I thought.

I should have zoomed in more. Sorry.

Nope. Williams was $100 - and creased on the back. Collinsworth was $200. And honestly? That's probably fair. The piece above was in better shape than this one on eBay. It's just a lot of money to spend on one action figure.

Then again, that's how much I spent on 300+ low-value cards and some Ultra Pro supplies.

Thanks for reading!



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