Despite being just an hour before closing, it was busy inside. Wes was behind the counter, and everyone who was already there or came in after me knew him by name and was happy to see him. It was kind of like Norm on Cheers. The card selection was very good. He had boxes sorted by player name, and I picked up the following.
I love cool refractors of players I like, so Jacob was an easy pull. Both the Boggs are from my want list. Despite his friendly crowd, Wes made the effort to break away and come ask how he could help. I asked if he had any cards from before 1950. There were only a few late 40's Bowman under the glass. He disappeared into the back room and re-emerged with a small box of really old cards! He had the most T206s and T207s I've ever seen in a LCS. There were also a lot of Play Ball and Goudey. But unfortunately there weren't any Red Sox that I didn't have already. Overall, Wes' was really great and recommended the next time you're in town for a Cornhuskers game.
And now back to the challenge , a card you bought in person and the story behind it
In the early 80's there were no LCS's in Sioux Falls, SD. My only means to get cards, other than buying packs at a convenience store, was the monthly flee market held at the convention center. There were usually two or three guys there selling baseball cards under glass cases. One particular guy we kids got to know a bit. He asked us one time of we would frequent a local card shop that he was thinking of opening. Of course we said yes! And he did. This 1983 Topps Cal Ripken was one of my first purchases there.
If you look closely in the upper left corner of the back of the card, you'll see the price written faintly in pencil. That's how he marked his prices, right on the card. I didn't think much about it at the time, but nowadays everybody knows that writing on cards hurts their value immensely. Still I never erased this one. Interestingly, the shop is still open and in its third location. It has new ownership now, but is still called Rainbow.
