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Will you take the $10 Card Shop Challenge?

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By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor

It’s time for another version of the $10 Card Shop Challenge Are you ready? The deadline is Friday, June 15 …

Here is the back story — and the instructions are after the jump.

An after-work card shop visit long ago prompted a challenge to one of my Twitter followers, so I sent another message to the masses curious few who enjoy hearing not much from me 140 characters a time on my Twitter feed. I issued a collecting challenge. It’s time to do it again.

A few replied seeking details, but this time I’m taking it a step further as I want to see what many of you can come up with by hitting your local card shop. (If you don’t have an LCS, hit a retail store.) Call it the $10 Card Shop Challenge.

Should you choose to accept this mission, you will add something new to your collection — and maybe something more as I’m going to cough something up for the entry that you guys find to be the most interesting or impressive entry of the bunch.

The Mission: Spend $10 or less on something you like but try to land something that will impress the masses. It could be anything cards — but no wax (unless you’re a retail-only person). Are you a vintage fan? A prospector? A non-sport collector? A buyer in bulk? Was it just a good deal you couldn’t refuse?

It’s all game — as long as it only cost you $10 (or less). You can go over with taxes.

In a  previous challenge, I landed a 1909 T206 common for a mere $9.50. Another time, I found a relatively high-grade copy of a 1974 Topps card I have been meaning to pick up for some time — Hank Aaron‘s  home run king commemorative — for just $5.50.

I’m headed to the card shop after I finish typing. I’ll post my entry in the comments below along with you guys.

Leave the following info in a comment below and include a link to an image of what you picked up:

1. Name & location (include your email so you can be contacted)

2. Shop/store you visited

3. What you bought

4. Why it’s the winner

We’ll field entries through Friday and will set up a poll for you to decide the winner right here once all entries are received on Saturday.

Are you ready to take the challenge?

Remember, our winner will win something cool … and it’ll cost more than $10, too.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

Check out the comments and then cast your vote below.

You choose: Who wins the $10 Card Shop Challenge? (voting ends next at midnight next Saturday)

  • Tim Middaugh's 1952 Topps Hank Thompson (31%, 26 Votes)
  • Stevie Lago's SPx Kendrick Perkins auto RC (25%, 21 Votes)
  • Anthony D’Amalio's Yankees cards (13%, 11 Votes)
  • Adam Levesque's Phil Rizzuto (6%, 5 Votes)
  • William Newsome's Value box flip (retail) (5%, 4 Votes)
  • Adam Schloesser's 1961 Golden Press Ty Cobb and Lou Gehrigs (4%, 3 Votes)
  • Josiah Cecil's Mantle from retail (4%, 3 Votes)
  • Smoke911's Mike Trout (4%, 3 Votes)
  • Olds' Chris Sale card (2%, 2 Votes)
  • Jake Schluter's Warren Spahn (2%, 2 Votes)
  • Ben Aguirre's Garcia & Humber autos (2%, 2 Votes)
  • Jonathan's Archives packs (retail) (2%, 2 Votes)
  • Donnie Graham's Jennings-McCutchen & more … (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 84

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37 comments

  1. Adam Schloesser 12 June, 2012 at 20:21

    I went to a card show on Sunday with a friend and bout for $10 two different cards from 1961 Golden Press, one was a Ty Cobb and the other was a Lou Gehrig…..and for another $15 I could have gotten the Joe Dimaggio Golden Press also…

  2. chrisolds 12 June, 2012 at 20:29

    Here’s my entry as promised. I only had about an hour to hunt — went this route instead of vintage.

    Name & location: Chris Olds, Dallas, Texas

    Shop: Nick’s Sports Cards

    What bought: http://tinyurl.com/Olds10CSC

    I think it’s a decent little card — and signed on-card — for a guy who has been playing very well of late.

  3. Charles Brumbaugh 13 June, 2012 at 01:09

    Name & location: Charles Brumbaugh, Findlay, Ohio
    Shop: Line Drive Sportscards, Tiffin, Ohio
    Card Bought: 2005 Topps Chrome Aaron Rodgers RC
    I bought this about 3 years ago before he blossomed into a star for $8.00. And now it lists in Beckett at $100.00. That’s a pretty good investment I must say.

  4. Anthony D'Amalio 13 June, 2012 at 12:57

    Most recent super find:

    Date: June 4th
    Name: Anthony D’Amalio
    Location: Chesapeake, VA
    Shop: Ingram’s Flea Market, Norfolk, VA
    Find: 1993 Topps Draft Pick Derek Jeter card #98
    1959 Topps Yogi Berra card #180
    1959 Topps Whitey Ford card #430
    1971 Topps Thurman Munson card #5

    Approx. Book Value: over $250 (in the conditions they were bought)
    I paid: 40 cents PER CARD, for a grand total of $1.60 spent

    I mean, come on, it only took about an hour ad a half of digging through all the other 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93 Topps cards to find these beauties. I had been dreaming about the Munson for the last ten years of my life, hoping one day I would have forty or so dollars to throw at it on eBay in a condition I wanted.

    Well, ten years and forty cents later!

    email: anthonyd1012@gmail.com

  5. Tlionsfan 13 June, 2012 at 14:07

    Name and Location: Tim Middaugh, Traverse City, Mi, t_middaugh@yahoo.com
    Shop: Nothing But Sports, Traverse City, MI
    Today, June 13, I bought a 1952 Topps Hank Thompson #3 card for $9.
    It should be the winner because for being a 60 year old card it is in great shape and it is a part of one of the greatest sets in the history of baseball cards. Not to mention the first real set Topps produced and the first year with player stats on the back.

  6. Josiah Cecil 13 June, 2012 at 16:02

    I am just saying those are all great cards but come on mine takes the cake with a piece of a very old jersey to go along with the card…..come Chris so when will you announce the winner friday at what time?

  7. chrisolds 13 June, 2012 at 16:10

    I won’t be announcing a winner. On Saturday, I will add a poll with those who entered on it. You can vote for a winner!

  8. Donnie Graham 13 June, 2012 at 17:31

    Donnie Graham
    Elizabethton, TN

    Big Stus Sports Cards – Johnson City. TN
    Was flipped through the single cards, some 2 for $1, $1 each, $5 each and so on. I was going thru some cards and my 8 year old son was flipped thru some of the 2/1 cards to find some he may like when he pulled a 2010
    Finest Football Black Refractor Brett Favre #/99. He just had to show me and I knew it was worth more than .50 cents. I bought a few more Greg Jennings Gridiron Kings #/10 black, Andrew McCrutchen chrome RC, and a couole Roy Helu RCs all for 8 bucks. My son was so excited to find a #ed refractor that “looked good” he just had to have it. And also the Favre is worth 20bucks lol so yeah that was a great find for him!! That should be the winner!! I actually bought these today June 13th! Thanks!

  9. Smoke911 13 June, 2012 at 18:21

    I dont have a card shop close buy that I like but I went to a show in Blue Ash Ohio last Sunday and picked up a 2010 Bowman Platinum Mike Trout Purple refractor for 2.00

  10. Jake schluter 13 June, 2012 at 19:23

    My name is jake and when i was at the mansfield flea market on sunday i pick up an interesting card. A 1961 topps high number warren spahn in near mint condition. I paid $10 for a card that bool at $100. It was amazing to find the card in such good shape. It should be the winner because its warren spahn, and eho doesnt like warren spahn. If you do, well, haters gonna hate.

  11. kris reed 14 June, 2012 at 04:09

    back in 2000 i bought 2 jumbo packs of topps at $1.99 at local walmart. i pulled an autograph of the golden anniversity greats Hank Aaron. my jaw just dropped in the car plus was nervous because i didn’t have top loader with me from that day on i always carry some in my glove box for awsome pulls like that.

  12. Kevin F 14 June, 2012 at 06:53

    Obviously this wont qualify to win, since its not a store purchase but its such a nice pickup I thought Id share.
    I responded to an ad on Craigslist for a guy trying to move his collection. He was moving overseas and couldn’t take it with him. Paid him $450 and ended up with 30 monster boxes of top-loadered cards and 50+ binders. I flipped the binders and 5 of the boxes for $450. I still havent gone thru all the remaining boxes but so far i have $13,000 in stars, rcs, parallels, inserts, game used and autos including 62, 72, 73 Mays, RCs of Jerry Rice, Elway, Marino, Fergie Jenkins, Jeter, Arod, McGwire, Mattingly, etc, and dozens of baseball stars from every set 1967-1984. Hundreds of football refractors and so on.

    Net cost = $0

  13. Adam Levesque 14 June, 2012 at 17:47

    Stopped by my local card shop, Don’s Sports Cards in Portland, ME and told him about the contest. I had it narrowed down to a 69 Yaz for 10.00, and a 64 Ernie Banks for 7.00. Paul, the owner asked how I was making out and I told him what I had it narrowed down too. That’s when he told me wait a second because he thought he had something I’d be able to win with. After some searching he handed me this 1954 Topps Phil Rizzuto, high book is 125.00, and he asked, ” how about this for ten bucks?” my search was over right then. I grabbed a ten out of my pocket and the card changed hands. I love Phil Rizzuto and his story, and I love the fact that my local card shop owner took interest in this contest and gave me a great deal on this card. Win or lose, this is a great card to add to my collection.

  14. Stevie 15 June, 2012 at 20:34

    What a great idea! I love basketball cards so I figured I would challenge myself (and my local shop’s owner) to see what we could come up with. He was very excited when I told him about this idea and assisted in my search. Here is what we came up with;

    Name & Location: Stevie Lago – Greenland, NH

    Shop: Diamond King Sports Cards, Greenland NH – Owner’s name is Jeff, great guy!

    What I Bought: 2003-04 Upper Deck SPx Kendrick Perkins Autograph & Game Worn Jersey Rookie Card

    Loved Perk when he was with Boston, and it’s great to see him succeeding with the Thunder! Very cool card numbered 275/1999. Very happy with my purchase!

    Link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kendrick-Perkins-Rookie-RC-AUTO-Autograph-SPX-03-04-174-0091-1999-jersey-/120916977131?pt=US_Basketball&hash=item1c2736a5eb#ht_2372wt_1165

    **Sorry that the link is not the actual item I bought. But it’s the exact same thing.

  15. william newsome 15 June, 2012 at 22:12

    i dont have a card shop so i went to wal-mart. they had the 2011 topps update value box. you get a bryce harper retail refractor , 5 packs of 2011 topps baseball update amd one pack of 2011 hobby bowman chrome. out of the packs of updates i got a sp of roger marris #us38 and was happy. but in the 2011 hobby bowman chrome i pulled a red refractor rookie redemption of brett lawrie. i honestly had not heard of him yet so checked him out and it had sold for $3,250 for the card in hand. i was shocked and amazed. i wound up trading it for $2,600 and a 2011 SP Authentic Sign Of The Times Cam Newton Gold Auto #ST-CN #d03/10. All of this for $9.98. So if that doesn’t win a $10 challenge I dont know what would. lol

  16. Jonathan Gaudlitz 15 June, 2012 at 23:32

    1. Jonathan,Floresville, Texas

    2. local Wal-Mart (no hobby shops nearby)

    3. Retail 2012 Topps Archives, 3 packs for just under $10.00

    4. These packs were LOADED: Brandon Phillips and Ryan Zimmerman game-used relic cards, Whitey Ford 1965 reprint, Larry Doby 1952 reprint, Bob Gibson photo card, Rod Carew cloth sticker, Wade Anthony Boggs and Albert Pujols 1954 style, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra,and Alex Rodriguez cards. These packs got me hooked! Not sure how valuable they are, but the style is neat. If you like 1950 and 1980 card styles, Topps Archives is for you!

    Happy Hunting!

  17. Jason Taylor 16 June, 2012 at 07:58

    1. Jason Taylor, Fallston MD
    2. Simms Sports Cards
    3. 1958 Topps #436 Fence Busters!
    4. I’ve been working on a 1958 set for the better part of 15 years. As a high school teacher, it’s tough to acquire most of the big cards, and as a result, I’ve got most of the commons. So I’d had my eye on the Willie Mays/Duke Snider Fence Busters card for about a week. It had a $50 price tag on it, but that was out of my price range. I asked the owner to take it out of the case, and we looked at it together, scrutinizing it for a grade, and it looked to be in only VG shape. Knowing that I was working on the set, he let me have it for $5! Granted, it’s not the best looking card in the world, but having such a massively cool card of Willie Mays and Duke Snider for my 58 set is awesome.

    FROM MOD: This one was not received before the deadline. Sorry.

  18. Josiah Cecil 16 June, 2012 at 23:36

    Alright come on people I am a broke US Soldier show me some love:) lol…. congrats to the winner ahead of time!

  19. Mark Davis 18 June, 2012 at 11:32

    1. Mark Davis
    2. A&A Treasures
    3. 2010 Topps Chrome – Stephen Strasburg BGS MINT 9
    4.2011 Bowman Platinum – Bryce Haper x-fractor

    What a great deal that I have found at a local variety shop named A & A Treasures. It was on one of my days off and I wanted to browse through some local shops in my area to find some more cards for my personal collection. When I stepped in A & A treasures, I went directly to the sports cards displays to see if there were any cards that I want for my collection but something else caught my eye and it was a 2010 Topps Chrome #212 Stephen Strasburg BGS MINT 9 for ten dollars. At first, I thought that I was seeing things but I was right, it was a 2010 Topps Chrome #212 Stephen Strasburg BGS MINT 9 for ten dollars. Then later that night, I went to my local retail store and bought a box of 2011 Bowan Platinum and pulled a Bryce Harper prospects x-fractor.. Now that I have both of these crads in my personal collection, I might send out the Harper x-fractor to get graded. What a day that was.

  20. Mark Davis 18 June, 2012 at 11:34

    1. Mark Davis
    2. A&A Treasures
    3. 2010 Topps Chrome – Stephen Strasburg BGS MINT 9
    4.2011 Bowman Platinum – Bryce Harper x-fractor

    What a great deal that I have found at a local variety shop named A & A Treasures. It was on one of my days off and I wanted to browse through some local shops in my area to find some more cards for my personal collection. When I stepped in A & A treasures, I went directly to the sports cards displays to see if there were any cards that I want for my collection but something else caught my eye and it was a 2010 Topps Chrome #212 Stephen Strasburg BGS MINT 9 for ten dollars. At first, I thought that I was seeing things but I was right, it was a 2010 Topps Chrome #212 Stephen Strasburg BGS MINT 9 for ten dollars. Then later that night, I went to my local retail store and bought a box of 2011 Bowan Platinum and pulled a Bryce Harper prospects x-fractor.. Now that I have both of these crads in my personal collection, I might send out the Harper x-fractor to get graded. What a day that was.

  21. Kyle 23 June, 2012 at 18:16

    Not sure if anyone else noticed this, but the poll can be manipulated. I voted for the kid with the Kendrick Perkins card and when I refreshed my browser I saw that I could submit a vote again.

    It seems a little fishy to me that this Tim Middaugh kid seems to have racked up a ton of votes at the very last minute, especially on an article that is well over a week old…

    I would just hate to see the prize go to the wrong person because there was a glitch in the poll.

  22. Tim 24 June, 2012 at 08:55

    1. I’m a grown man
    2. Those votes were not racked up at the last minute, they are over the course of a week
    3. I was apparently smart enough to ask people I know to vote for my card, as far as I know that’s not against the rules, is it?
    4. I really don’t appreciate being called out as a cheat, when I’ve never cheated at anything in my life.
    Have a nice day!

    Now I’m curious as to what I won???!

  23. Anthony D'Amalio 24 June, 2012 at 18:19

    Congrats to you, Tim! I actually asked people to vote for me as well, but perhaps you wowed them with your $10 skills! Enjoy the prize, whatever it may be!

  24. Tim 24 June, 2012 at 20:40

    Thanks Anthony! I’m pretty excited to see what it is, Chris wouldn’t even give me a hint!

  25. Kyle 25 June, 2012 at 08:07

    I never said that you cheated, so no need to get so defensive…

    I just wanted to point out that the poll can be manipulated by a single person submitting multiple votes. For all I know, the kid with the Kendrick Perkins card could have done the same thing. But he didn’t come in first, which is why I didn’t call his votes into question.

    All I’m saying is that the contest doesn’t seem fair to me because if other people had figured this out, they could have just voted for themselves over and over until they won. I’m all about being fair, and the fact that the poll can be manipulated just doesn’t seem fair to me.

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