Sunday, September 30, 2012, Orland Park, IL -- So this is how my mind works... I had jury duty all last week in Waukegan, Illinois. The first thing that came into my mind when I thought of Waukegan was Jim & Steve's card shop. I've known Steve for a while now from seeing him at various card shows but I've never been to his shop. So while I was in Waukegan last week sitting in the jury waiting room, all I wanted to do was go to the card shop. I was never picked for a jury and when I was released each day in the late morning, I, unfortunately, had to race to work in Downtown Chicago. So on Saturday, I made sure I was going to this card shop. I took my daughter on a little drive up the 294. Jim & Steve's is real easy to get to. It's just a mile or so off I294, east on Grand Avenue at the Gurnee/Waukegan border. The outside of the shop looks like an old 711 or White Hen convenience store. The parking lot was full when we arrived and there were a dozen or so people inside.
The layout of the shop is a large rectangle with the outside lined with shelves filled with autographs, wax, photos, and posters. Sitting in front of the shelves are large display cases. There is also a smaller rectangle of display cases in the middle of the room. To my surprise, the bulk of the items in the display cases are vintage cards. Most card shops I've been to have very few vintage cards. Here, unlike those others, there are lots and lots of COOL vintage cards. There were T206s, Goudeys, Bowmans, and Topps. There's bins of vintage cards separated by year and by Chicago sports teams for all sports. Just a terrific display. There were customers sitting in front of these cases with their lists out and building their vintage sets. So I was thinking that I was in heaven... until Steve showed me his warehouse. Oh my freakin' god! Two thousand square feet or so filled floor to ceiling with cards -- more cards than I have ever seen. This, my friends, is the greatest card shop ever!!
Steve was telling me he opened up the shop in 1981. I regularly see him at shows buying cards. So I was wondering how does he know what to buy when he has millions upon millions of cards. He said he has a buying problem. I can relate. I'm definitely coming back soon.
I picked up some supplies at Jim & Steve's to help finish up reloading my 1967 Topps baseball binder and to price cards for my display cases. I was rather productive this week. I finished up the 1967 binder, created a new binder for 1969-70 Topps hockey, priced a nice pile of star cards, and some 1964 Topps coins. The drive to and from Orland was less than productive today. There is construction on the 294 south of O'Hare and it was slow going heading south in the morning. After the show, things came to a halt northbound near Hinsdale. I got off at Ogden and meandered my way home for an hour and a half. The drive is normally just 45 minutes. Ugh!
Road construction aside, the show was real nice today. There was a nice turnout of both dealers and customers. For the first time in months, the front hall, main room and side hall were all filled with dealers. I think having the Bears game on Monday night helped with the customer turn out.
A new customer got things going for me today with a purchase of some 1963 Topps baseball. A regular picked up some 1940 Play Ball, including a Bobby Doer. Another regular purchased some 1971 Topps baseball. Aaron picked up some 1969-70 Topps hockey and some 1967 Topps baseball. A regular picked up a 1964 Topps Coins Eddie Mathews. Another regular picked up some 1964 Topps Giants and some 1962 Post. Then I had a regular pull a nice stack of 1968 Topps baseball. Another regular purchased my 1961 Topps MVP Mickey Mantle.
Rick purchased my 1934 Goudey Charley Gehringer, 1973 Hank Aaron and Reggie Jackson. Larry picked up my 1976 Topps Terry Bradshaw along with some 1977 and 1978 football commons. A younger guy purchased my 1941 Play Ball Frank Demaree. My guy who collects Mets pulled some 1964 Topps today. Dave bought my 1965 Philadelphia Paul Hornung. I enjoyed hearing about Dave's recent trip to Budapest, Prague and Vienna. A regular purchased some 1965 Philadelphia football. Leroy bought my 1948 Leaf Kid Chocolate boxing card. Will rounded out my day with a nice pile of 1957 Topps baseball.
On the buying front, I picked up a small grouping of 1960 Bazooka, including an Aaron and Clemente. I also picked up a few 1940 Play Ball including a Casey Stengel and Earl Combs. I purchased a small grouping of 1977 Topps baseball. I also picked up a pile of 1964 and 1971 Topps coins. Included in the coin group was a pile from the 1980s which I never knew Topps had made. They're pretty much worthless but I think they're kind of cool looking. I turned down a bunch of other stuff because I just didn't have the funds. There was lots of good stuff in the room today.
Next week, I'm heading to the Gonzaga show in Milwaukee. There are quite a few binders that I'd like to reload before the show but realistically, I'll probably just get my 1968 Topps baseball done. Hopefully, I'll have some time to fill 1967 Topps football. I'm going to try and get to the show a little earlier because the Packers are playing at noon. Hopefully, we'll have a nice turn out in the morning before the game.
A big thank you to everybody at Orland today. I had a real nice time. I really appreciate all the positive comments that came in about my blog. Have a great week everybody!! I hope to see a big crowd at Gonzaga!!!!
The layout of the shop is a large rectangle with the outside lined with shelves filled with autographs, wax, photos, and posters. Sitting in front of the shelves are large display cases. There is also a smaller rectangle of display cases in the middle of the room. To my surprise, the bulk of the items in the display cases are vintage cards. Most card shops I've been to have very few vintage cards. Here, unlike those others, there are lots and lots of COOL vintage cards. There were T206s, Goudeys, Bowmans, and Topps. There's bins of vintage cards separated by year and by Chicago sports teams for all sports. Just a terrific display. There were customers sitting in front of these cases with their lists out and building their vintage sets. So I was thinking that I was in heaven... until Steve showed me his warehouse. Oh my freakin' god! Two thousand square feet or so filled floor to ceiling with cards -- more cards than I have ever seen. This, my friends, is the greatest card shop ever!!
Steve was telling me he opened up the shop in 1981. I regularly see him at shows buying cards. So I was wondering how does he know what to buy when he has millions upon millions of cards. He said he has a buying problem. I can relate. I'm definitely coming back soon.
I picked up some supplies at Jim & Steve's to help finish up reloading my 1967 Topps baseball binder and to price cards for my display cases. I was rather productive this week. I finished up the 1967 binder, created a new binder for 1969-70 Topps hockey, priced a nice pile of star cards, and some 1964 Topps coins. The drive to and from Orland was less than productive today. There is construction on the 294 south of O'Hare and it was slow going heading south in the morning. After the show, things came to a halt northbound near Hinsdale. I got off at Ogden and meandered my way home for an hour and a half. The drive is normally just 45 minutes. Ugh!
Road construction aside, the show was real nice today. There was a nice turnout of both dealers and customers. For the first time in months, the front hall, main room and side hall were all filled with dealers. I think having the Bears game on Monday night helped with the customer turn out.
A new customer got things going for me today with a purchase of some 1963 Topps baseball. A regular picked up some 1940 Play Ball, including a Bobby Doer. Another regular purchased some 1971 Topps baseball. Aaron picked up some 1969-70 Topps hockey and some 1967 Topps baseball. A regular picked up a 1964 Topps Coins Eddie Mathews. Another regular picked up some 1964 Topps Giants and some 1962 Post. Then I had a regular pull a nice stack of 1968 Topps baseball. Another regular purchased my 1961 Topps MVP Mickey Mantle.
Rick purchased my 1934 Goudey Charley Gehringer, 1973 Hank Aaron and Reggie Jackson. Larry picked up my 1976 Topps Terry Bradshaw along with some 1977 and 1978 football commons. A younger guy purchased my 1941 Play Ball Frank Demaree. My guy who collects Mets pulled some 1964 Topps today. Dave bought my 1965 Philadelphia Paul Hornung. I enjoyed hearing about Dave's recent trip to Budapest, Prague and Vienna. A regular purchased some 1965 Philadelphia football. Leroy bought my 1948 Leaf Kid Chocolate boxing card. Will rounded out my day with a nice pile of 1957 Topps baseball.
On the buying front, I picked up a small grouping of 1960 Bazooka, including an Aaron and Clemente. I also picked up a few 1940 Play Ball including a Casey Stengel and Earl Combs. I purchased a small grouping of 1977 Topps baseball. I also picked up a pile of 1964 and 1971 Topps coins. Included in the coin group was a pile from the 1980s which I never knew Topps had made. They're pretty much worthless but I think they're kind of cool looking. I turned down a bunch of other stuff because I just didn't have the funds. There was lots of good stuff in the room today.
Next week, I'm heading to the Gonzaga show in Milwaukee. There are quite a few binders that I'd like to reload before the show but realistically, I'll probably just get my 1968 Topps baseball done. Hopefully, I'll have some time to fill 1967 Topps football. I'm going to try and get to the show a little earlier because the Packers are playing at noon. Hopefully, we'll have a nice turn out in the morning before the game.
A big thank you to everybody at Orland today. I had a real nice time. I really appreciate all the positive comments that came in about my blog. Have a great week everybody!! I hope to see a big crowd at Gonzaga!!!!
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