i was out and about in the twin cities a few weeks ago and had some time to kill before an event. it didn't make sense to head home and double back, so i took penn ave to 494 and then lyndale, not to the quarry, but to three stars sportscards.
over the years, these folks have taken their singles inventory from almost exclusively online to having a large number of monster boxes at various pricing to dig through. i used to avoid this shop and their other location in the north metro, but with this newer development, i've been visiting a couple of times a year.
i knew that they typically had some oversized stuff, and quickly found a box of it near the back of the store. with everything priced at two bucks, i didn't think twice to grab this 2009 topps allen & ginter manny ramirez n43 boxtopper
more bigger dodger cards were there for the taking, like this 2017 topps heritage high numbers advertising panel featuring brandon mccarthy
with an actual ad on the back
and this 2018 topps heritage panel featuring walker buehler and alex verdugo
that is ad-less but features anthony rizzo on the back
this one is showing a little wear, but it's still pretty cool. here'st he back:
stargell was a very strong man. i recall him taking bp at dodger stadium and hitting the ball very hard.
and 2019 topps heritage high numbers aj pollock chrome purple refractor
we wound up going through some of the 3 dollar boxes at the same time, and i asked him if he was finding anything. his reply was "a lot of dollar cards" which made me laugh. he wasn't wrong, but i still found a few cards to take home for the 3 dollar price.
it was probably marked down because there is some film damage on the right edge, but i'll take it!
numbered to 299
which is also an indigo parallel, and numbered to 250
the back there predicted a no-no from snell in 2019. they were off by five years, as he threw his first career no-hitter in 2024. matt garza is still the only ray to achieve the feat.
returning to the cards i took from the three dollar box i perused, here's the other 2018 topps archives card i alluded to above - larry doby purple parallel
i guess purple was catching my eye, because here's another purple card i bought. this is a 2020 topps rip card of ozzie albies in purple parallel form
it's numbered to 25, but it's also already ripped
numbered to 299
and this is a 2023 topps stadium club orange foil parallel of dontrelle willis
that is numbered to 199
i think we all agreed back then that demeritte's topps base card was one of the best of the year, and this card features a photo from the same weekend, at least. the scoreboard behind him explains that it was taken during negro leagues weekend, and we recognize the detroit stars uniform demeritte is wearing. i also appreciate the fact that this card provides the best representation of the tigers' retired numbers hanging in the outfield at comerica park that i have seen on cardboard. this one is a keeper for sure.
the backs aren't exclusive to the fronts, if that makes sense, but i don't think there is a kershaw or bellinger back with the verdugo/buehler card on the front.
one more for the post, a 2020 topps heritage willie stargell 1971 topps greatest moments insert
there were some quarter boxes that were all jumbled up with all sports mixed together, so i fairly quickly started looking at a dollar box. i found a few cards to pull, such as this 2018 bowman draft jeren kendall chrome prospects sky blue refractor /402
2019 topps finest walker buehler refractor
sure, a dollar is more than these cards are worth in hand, but i'll support retail brick and mortars. plus, with shipping costs rising, i may not be able to get these cards any cheaper anywhere else.
about this time i noticed another patron walking around with a matt kemp autographed card in hand. i asked him where he found it and he pointed to some "as priced" boxes in the center of the store. i mentioned my affinity for kemp, and he noted that he, too, was a dodger fan. in a scene reminiscent of that clip of henry cavill and joey batey quickly bonding over warhammer 40000, we exchanged tcdb handles and by the next day, we were "friends". he's "wischeese", by the way.
this 2022 topps update all-star stitches tony gonsolin relic card is the silver parallel, numbered to 50
wischeese and i agreed that this 2021 panini donruss gavin lux red relic parallel numbered to 99
was at an ok price for the wisconsin native
how about a 2023 topps update jayson heyward card?
seeing that in a 3 buck box let me know that there was more than meets the eye, and sure enough, it's the advanced stat parallel, numbered to 300
one more numbered dodger card i pulled was this 2018 topps archives tommy lasorda purple parallel
it's numbered to 175 on the back:
and it had a "friend" that i will get to later
back to the dollar boxes, here are a couple of non-dodger cards i took. a 2019 topps chrome kevin pillar purple refractor
and a 2019 topps gypsy queen blake snell fortune teller insert
whatever card was inside was long gone, unlike my first encounter with a ripped rip card in a bargain box. just a few more cards to share, here's a 2021 topps update freddie freeman all-star game insert black parallel
seeing the commissioner's trophy on a card is always fun.
my favorite card of the day was this 2020 topps stadium club travis demeritte autograph card
i made it to my event on time, even though i spent more time in the shop than i had intended. i'll definitely be back to peruse the boxes i didn't get to this time. i'm hoping that wischeese left some dodgers behind!
