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In exactly 45 days, Mrs. Toshi and I started our football card collection in 2012. Looking back and revisiting our first year of this hobby, there's so much to be told and so much more to share. I still recall my first purchase ever from our local card shop, it was a Brad Johnson jersey card. Matter of fact, my knowledge was so minimal, I thought it was a card of Brett Favre. The shop owner could not find the card in Beckett. He finally sold the card to me for $10.00.
Once home, I realized my error. I had to Google Brad Johnson just to see who in the world he was. Recently, I sent this card to Whitney777 as he collects Vikings card. So naive was I that I did not tell the shop owner in fear of disrespecting him. In respect to the Brad Johnson card, I walked away with a deal at $10.00. After my infamous purchase, Mrs. Toshi and I picked up several blaster boxes as well as hanger packs from Walmart wondering why the products at Walmart were priced well below what the proprietor from the card shop was selling. We had no idea nor cared for the differences between retail and hobby. Some of the products were from Panini's Gridiron, Absolute, R&S, Topps Chrome, and Prime. I will reiterate our purchase between retail and hobby Prime.
We were elated by the abundance of our rare and precious collectibles. I did not even have a penny sleeve to put our cards in since we knew nothing of collecting supplies. I spoke highly of our local card shop to Mrs. Toshi and told her she needed to visit the shop with me soon.
When we arrived at the card shop, we were shocked by the many different card products displayed. There were products at the card shop that not even Walmart carried. I viewed strange packaging products called Black, Triple Threads, and Momentum. I could not comprehend the fact that there would be collectors that would spend $200.00 on football cards! At that time I was very pleased that Mrs. Toshi had accompanied me to "Collectors Palace". Our very first hobby cards were 2 packs of 2012 Topps Platinum and 1 pack of 2012 Panini Certified. I informed Mrs. Toshi that she just spent $10.00 on a single pack of cards from Panini's Certified.
So much of what we currently purchased was defined on that day at "Collectors Palace". Little by little we acquired important knowledge on our new hobby. Things like penny sleeves, top loaders, and magnetic cases made their way home with us. As many of you know some products that are labeled retail, will be the same in hobby cards. And then again, retail and hobby cards would defer greatly. One item that piqued my interest was Topps Prime. From thicker hobby card stock to varied portraits of the players, Prime was one of those items Mrs. Toshi and I had not the chance to purchase in it's hobby edition. Finally, after almost a year, we purchased four packs of 2013 Topps Prime. Here is our highlights of our break below.
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We purchased a 2012 Press Pass retail blaster box from Target. Amazingly, it was selling for $10.00. I was hoping for a RGIII auto. As this was not the case, I'm pleased with the Chris Givens auto.
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Once home, I realized my error. I had to Google Brad Johnson just to see who in the world he was. Recently, I sent this card to Whitney777 as he collects Vikings card. So naive was I that I did not tell the shop owner in fear of disrespecting him. In respect to the Brad Johnson card, I walked away with a deal at $10.00. After my infamous purchase, Mrs. Toshi and I picked up several blaster boxes as well as hanger packs from Walmart wondering why the products at Walmart were priced well below what the proprietor from the card shop was selling. We had no idea nor cared for the differences between retail and hobby. Some of the products were from Panini's Gridiron, Absolute, R&S, Topps Chrome, and Prime. I will reiterate our purchase between retail and hobby Prime.
We were elated by the abundance of our rare and precious collectibles. I did not even have a penny sleeve to put our cards in since we knew nothing of collecting supplies. I spoke highly of our local card shop to Mrs. Toshi and told her she needed to visit the shop with me soon.
When we arrived at the card shop, we were shocked by the many different card products displayed. There were products at the card shop that not even Walmart carried. I viewed strange packaging products called Black, Triple Threads, and Momentum. I could not comprehend the fact that there would be collectors that would spend $200.00 on football cards! At that time I was very pleased that Mrs. Toshi had accompanied me to "Collectors Palace". Our very first hobby cards were 2 packs of 2012 Topps Platinum and 1 pack of 2012 Panini Certified. I informed Mrs. Toshi that she just spent $10.00 on a single pack of cards from Panini's Certified.
So much of what we currently purchased was defined on that day at "Collectors Palace". Little by little we acquired important knowledge on our new hobby. Things like penny sleeves, top loaders, and magnetic cases made their way home with us. As many of you know some products that are labeled retail, will be the same in hobby cards. And then again, retail and hobby cards would defer greatly. One item that piqued my interest was Topps Prime. From thicker hobby card stock to varied portraits of the players, Prime was one of those items Mrs. Toshi and I had not the chance to purchase in it's hobby edition. Finally, after almost a year, we purchased four packs of 2013 Topps Prime. Here is our highlights of our break below.
<a href="http://s1282.photobucket.com/albums/a538/hayn0824/?action=view¤t=b45205fe91939f4440a615b1fe1ba ef2_zps08ef2ff8.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a538/hayn0824/b45205fe91939f4440a615b1fe1baef2_zps08ef2ff8.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos" /></a>
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We purchased a 2012 Press Pass retail blaster box from Target. Amazingly, it was selling for $10.00. I was hoping for a RGIII auto. As this was not the case, I'm pleased with the Chris Givens auto.
<a href="http://s1282.photobucket.com/albums/a538/hayn0824/?action=view¤t=76b3ff060bfe41d661f531a5a6ea5 93a_zps41696693.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a538/hayn0824/76b3ff060bfe41d661f531a5a6ea593a_zps41696693.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos" /></a>