Another One Bites The Dust

[sanjosefuji]

I recently drove down to my local card shop to pick up some supplies and discovered this...

In a few days, I'll have one less card shop in my area (insert sad face). All-American Sports has been providing Bay Area collectors with sports cards, autographs, and supplies since the early 90's.

It's actually not a huge surprise. I've been friends with the owner for over two decades and he's been talking about this for awhile now. As expected... it boils down to money.

Once upon a time, customers flowed through his door to fulfill their hobby needs. But in the past five years, I have never seen more than three customers in there at one time. With wax boxes, singles, sets, supplies, and memorabilia at your fingertips... the internet and the fact that we're no longer in the Junk Wax Era have driven this card shop out of business.

Sadly, I must accept some of the blame. I rarely visit my local card shops. And when I do... it's usually to buy supplies. Most of the singles I purchase are off of eBay, COMC, and Sportlots. And the rest are acquired at card shows and flea markets.

Knowing that this might have been the last time I walk through this shop's door, I decided to purchase more than a storage box.

All-American Sports Cards once held numerous autograph signings to attract fans and customers. The shop is lined with autographed photos and memorabilia. Since he doesn't want to take them with him, he's clearing things out at highly discounted prices.

I ended up grabbing four 8x10's and a signed postcard for $18.

First up is this autographed postcard honoring the 1989 San Francisco Giants:

It's autographed by Terry Kennedy, Matt Williams, and Steve Bedrosian.

Next up is this 8x10 photo signed by Joe Rudi for my Oakland A's PC:

Rudi hit a home run on the day I was born to help the A's beat the Detroit Tigers.

I also grabbed this Andre Carter autographed photo:

Carter and I share the same high school... although I attended several years before him.


And finally... a pair of San Jose Sharks:

Devin Setoguchi(left) is my all-time favorite Shark, while Igor Larionov was one of the members of the famous KLM Line, which also featured Sergei Makarov (another former Shark) and Vladimir Krutov.

None of these autographs are worth a lot of money, but sentimentally they all have a place in my collection.

Sayonara All-American Sports Cards! You guys had a solid run and will be missed.

Today's question of the day...

Do you support your local card shops? Where do you buy the majority of your sports cards, supplies, and memorabilia?

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

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