Saturday, March 19, 2016

Card Shop Chronicles: Hooterville Sports Cards (Fairfield, OH)


Having an unexpected Friday afternoon/night off is a really nice luxury. Since my day job lets us out at 3:30 on Fridays, I figured I'd head over to the card shop to pick up some packs and do a bit of digging in the bargain boxes before heading home. It's also been a while since I did a new entry in the Card Shop Chronicles series (October to be exact) so I figured I would get some photos while I was there for a new entry.



A nice guy named Kevin runs the shop and he's got stuff hiding in every nook and cranny of the place, plus there is stuff literally stacked to the ceiling. Since the shop is small, long and narrow, it's probably the best way to make use of the limited space. He's got tons and tons of wax, both new and old with good prices on just about everything. The pictures above are of all the brand new stuff along with packs and boxes from about a year or so ago.


This table right as you walk in is nothing but sealed boxes of old junk wax from the late 80s/early 90s. There's some decent stuff to be had in there as well. There is another shelf that I didn't get a picture of that has semi-recent products along with popular older products for 20% off the retail price.


This is the right side of the shop. From bobbleheads to starting lineup figures to deals on old vintage cards, this place has it all. There's even a quarter box that's I've dug through a time or two. Plus, if you look closely at the orange signs, they state that every card in the showcases in 50% off the listed price.


The middle table, where there's all kinds of cards from a Reds and Bengals bargain bin to team sets and small complete sets, to gaming and wrestling cards and lots of other randomness.


Another shot of the left side of the shop with high dollar vintage cards and lots of packs and blasters ready to be purchased.

Speaking of purchases, I can't just go in a shop without buying some stuff, so I picked up a few things:


I found a few things in the bargain bins that I was interested in but also wanted to get a good number of packs. In the end up, I settled for four packs of Series 1, three packs of Heritage, and four packs of Donruss along with the Jim King and Gus Bell cards you see. Here's a closer look at those:


This 1956 Gus Bell is in fairly decent shape and for $1.99, I couldn't hardly pass it up. Bell was a fixture on the Reds outfield during the 1950s with Wally Post and Vada Pinson. He was a four-time all star during the decade, a member of the 1961 National League championship team, and played on the inaugural New York Mets team in 1962.


There were a few old 1969-70 Topps basketball cards as well. I'm not really a basketball guy but I do like to collect Cincinnati Royals cards, as they were the only pro basketball team that Cincinnati ever had. Jim King only played 31 games for the Royal during the 1969-70 season. He was traded by the San Francisco Warriors to the Royals in a deal that sent hometown start Jerry Lucas out west.

Hooterville was the first card shop I went to when I got back into collecting in 2012 and I still like to stop in when I'm in the area to get some supplies or grab a few packs. If you're ever in the area, it's worth it just to stop in and dig around in some of the boxes or bargain bins, you will truly never know what you'll find.

7 comments:

  1. That's a pretty awesome little shop. I love how in he pic of e junk wax boxes you can see the top shelf bowing from the weight of he product! Awesome cards too!

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    1. Thanks Tim! I'm tempted to buy a few boxes of junk wax next time I visit there!

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  2. It looks like a great place to go. There is some really good stuff on that 2 for $15 discount shelf, especially on the second shelf down. I really dig your Gus Bell and Jim King purchases too.

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    1. Thanks Jon! Be sure to check out the othe entries in the series from last fall.

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  3. Wow - would love a place like that nearby. The shops here in Toronto don't have near the selection.

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  4. Awesome card shop! Love seeing Kenner SLU's on the wall... and any shop with bargain junk wax is a winner in my book. Thanks for sharing!

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