Friends,
This is a little long and technically the wrong forum - but a great story if you have a minute!
I've posted lately about how some retail sharks have moved into my area and are buying everything up as soon as it hits the shelves.
So, I had the day off work Friday and decided to expand my horizons a little bit.
I checked the stores outside my area for penny sleeves, toploaders and Optic basketball.
First, a WalMart about 20 minutes from my house - nothing.
Next, a Target another 10 minutes away from that - nothing.
Next, another Target another 20 minutes away from that - nothing.
Next, another WalMart another 10 minutes from that ... my last stop, and it had always been pretty good to me.
They had three packages of toploaders, so I grabbed them. No penny sleeves.
There was an Optic display/vending box, but of course it was all cleared out.
It just so happened that the distributor was in the card aisle at that moment ... he noticed me looking at the empty Optic display and said that he had guys literally waiting for him at his other stores.
"One guy owns a card shop and bought about $900 worth of Optic yesterday," he said.
I mentioned that I missed the good old days when a collector like myself could walk into a store, buy a blaster or two of a product and call it good.
(As we're talking, a soccer mom stops by and asks if he has any Optic.)
I look at the cards for another couple of minutes, decide if I really want to settle for something I didn't want, and decide to just call it good with the three packages of toploaders.
Just as I'm about to head over to checkout, the guy says, "Hey bud, I just saw this, it was buried under the Pokemon stuff," and hands me this ...
![[Image: Blaster-Optic.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/QnhJJ3G/Blaster-Optic.jpg)
Exactly one blaster of Optic!
"Now take that and get out of here before you get trampled," he says with a laugh.
I thank him, pay for my stuff and head out to the car.
It's a long ride home so I decided to bust it right then and there.
First pack, I pull this guy ...
![[Image: Morant-Optic.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/237yFkM/Morant-Optic.jpg)
So I'm thinking, "OK, that's cool, that's my big pull right there. The likely Rookie of the Year, you can't go wrong with that."
I mean, there's only seven packs in the box, four cards per, and an insert in every pack, so really only 21 base cards.
Plus, there are 50 RCs in the set, so it's going to be tough to pull anybody else very good.
Then, two packs later ...
![[Image: Zion-Optic.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/8nwxp74/Zion-Optic.jpg)
The very reason all of these packs and boxes are nowhere to be found ... Zion!!!
I couldn't believe it. I was stunned.
I was so happy that I actually took the pack back into the store and showed the guy what I pulled ... he was pretty stoked for me.
I thanked him and told him he made my day.
I've had a lot of big pulls and good times over the last 33 years of collecting, but this was an all-timer.
Thanks for reading!
This is a little long and technically the wrong forum - but a great story if you have a minute!
I've posted lately about how some retail sharks have moved into my area and are buying everything up as soon as it hits the shelves.
So, I had the day off work Friday and decided to expand my horizons a little bit.
I checked the stores outside my area for penny sleeves, toploaders and Optic basketball.
First, a WalMart about 20 minutes from my house - nothing.
Next, a Target another 10 minutes away from that - nothing.
Next, another Target another 20 minutes away from that - nothing.
Next, another WalMart another 10 minutes from that ... my last stop, and it had always been pretty good to me.
They had three packages of toploaders, so I grabbed them. No penny sleeves.
There was an Optic display/vending box, but of course it was all cleared out.
It just so happened that the distributor was in the card aisle at that moment ... he noticed me looking at the empty Optic display and said that he had guys literally waiting for him at his other stores.
"One guy owns a card shop and bought about $900 worth of Optic yesterday," he said.
I mentioned that I missed the good old days when a collector like myself could walk into a store, buy a blaster or two of a product and call it good.
(As we're talking, a soccer mom stops by and asks if he has any Optic.)
I look at the cards for another couple of minutes, decide if I really want to settle for something I didn't want, and decide to just call it good with the three packages of toploaders.
Just as I'm about to head over to checkout, the guy says, "Hey bud, I just saw this, it was buried under the Pokemon stuff," and hands me this ...
Exactly one blaster of Optic!
"Now take that and get out of here before you get trampled," he says with a laugh.
I thank him, pay for my stuff and head out to the car.
It's a long ride home so I decided to bust it right then and there.
First pack, I pull this guy ...
So I'm thinking, "OK, that's cool, that's my big pull right there. The likely Rookie of the Year, you can't go wrong with that."
I mean, there's only seven packs in the box, four cards per, and an insert in every pack, so really only 21 base cards.
Plus, there are 50 RCs in the set, so it's going to be tough to pull anybody else very good.
Then, two packs later ...
The very reason all of these packs and boxes are nowhere to be found ... Zion!!!
I couldn't believe it. I was stunned.
I was so happy that I actually took the pack back into the store and showed the guy what I pulled ... he was pretty stoked for me.
I thanked him and told him he made my day.
I've had a lot of big pulls and good times over the last 33 years of collecting, but this was an all-timer.
Thanks for reading!
