Quick background:
I am a lifelong Philadelphia Phillies fan with a love of baseball cards going back decades. I Phinally have a direction for my collection, and that is to collect Phillies cards from 1980 – present day from licensed brands.
We are going to start with Topps as the main focus, and to kick off our journey I went to a local card shop between errands to see if I could find anything special, and boy was it a great trip.
Local Card Shop – Championship Cards – Allentown PA
Entered the store as the rain began to drizzle on the overcast early afternoon. I called earlier to see if the place would be open on New Years Eve, and indeed they would be! I was excited to see if there were any Phillies available, as my trips to the shop before were just to pick up a box of modern retail, or some supplies, but with new direction I set out in trying to find any Topps cards that would help me on my journey.
Got into the store, and after checking out the many vintage cards in the display cases for extraordinary deals, a few wooden boxes caught my eye labeled “Phillies $0.10 each”!! My heart leaped as I saw two rows of cards, all Phillies, and I immediately started going through the loose cards. There were so many different years, so many stars, these weren’t just the commons, I had to stop and take a moment to remember the plan. I only was after Topps, primarily, and other brands were to be gathered after I completed the Topps 1980 – 2022 binders.
Noob mistake
With a moment of clarity I started grouping the years together. First 1987 Topps caught my eye, so I put those in a little pile. Then 1990 awesome condition with bright color borders were made into a pile. Then it hit me. I ready had a few 1990 cards in the binder, as well as some from 86-91. I did not have my checklists with me. I put into the binder a notebook filled with checklists going for each year. As I was sorting through the late 1980s cards I knew that is something I can’t forget the next time I visit any card shop. Lesson learned.
Early 80s surprise
The year that got me into collecting was 1991 Topps, my favorite set of all time, but more on that later. Years ago I had purchased a 4 row monster box filled completely with 1982 Topps. I’ve used that monster box to make another binder of 1982 Topps, but there was something missing from the box. No Phillies cards. Well I stand corrected. One single Garry Maddox card was found, card number 20 in the powder blue uniform in the battery’s box about to take a vicious cut.
While searching through the 10 cent phillies cards, I saw 1982 Topps Phillies cards which escaped me for over 10 years! There was something so rewarding to find cards that you did not expect to see right in front of you and you put them in the keeper pile. I’ve got some great deals on ebay, but there is no comparison in going through these cards in person and find some great cards!!
I put aside 75 cards total, a mix of 1982, 86-91 cards from Topps, and a bunch of Fleer, Donruss, and Score cards too. There was a Daulton card I pulled that has a whole story I’ll put in another post. I did end up pulling the 1986 Topps Darren Daulton Rookie card as well! I didn’t realize this until I got home, it was great to discover!
Another Phillies Box
Putting 75 cards on the glass table the gracious owner mentioned there was another box of Phillies under the table. We pulled that one out and oh my goodness 1980 & 1981 Topps!!! I added 25 of the cards I could find, mostly 1981 and some others to my pile for an even 100 cards. Turns out the 1980 Topps was the Burger King variation, which I wasn’t going to collect, but now that we have 3 cards from the set we have to.
Junk Wax Find
Now we go checkout, and behind the counter towards the back I see it. A wax box of 1991 Topps just sitting there. I’ve been tempted on Ebay so many times with 91 Topps to spend the $45 plus shipping, but I can never bring myself to go through with it. Turns out he had 1990 Topps, 1991 Topps, and a few 1991 Donruss wax boxes for sale. I bought 1 of each and I couldn’t be happier! Not only did my impromptu visit to the store get me 100 Phillies cards from 1980 – 90s, I also scored 3 wax boxes, one of which is 1990 Topps!
I left Championship Cards with a feeling of euphoria, and the words of the owner in my head, “you never know unless you come into the shop” and that is what has cemented my resolve to put my Phillies Collection together with the majority of the cards sourced from only local card shops. This blog is to document my journey to each shop.