Local card shop in Normal IL

Since it was my wife’s birthday, I took the day off from work to hang out with her. We like to get out of town for her birthday so we ended up in Bloomington/Normal, IL. After visiting a few places she wanted to go (bookstores), we scoped out the local card shop.

My GPS app on my phone (Waze) usually does a great job getting me to places, but it was really having trouble getting me on the right road for this shop. Luckily we finally spotted it and made our way into the parking lot. Sadly it doesn’t show up on Yelp when you search for baseball cards which is odd since it’s in the same category as other card shops in the area.

The name of the place is Collectible Corner. I believe they just moved here not too long ago as the guy working there told me it was a lot more spacious than their old place. They have tons of tables which I assume are for either playing Magic the Gathering or sorting through cards.

I thumbed through the singles but didn’t see anything that I immediately had to have. They had a few Kris Bryant RCs, but I didn’t want to spend all our money on one card. (wasn’t my birthday!) 2017 Topps Series 2 had just come out so we bought a couple jumbo packs as well as a few Bowman packs. I also bought a couple cardboard boxes (maybe 3000 count?) to put my ever growing singles into. The guy gave us a handful of sleeves and top loaders which was pretty nice.

I didn’t get too much exciting stuff but the Anthony Rizzo Bowman Chrome was pretty neat. I also got a Salvador Perez Memorabilia Relic card which was pretty cool. Sadly it’s so thick it won’t fit into a regular penny sleeve or toploader. (time to order some supplies!)

It was nice to visit another local card shop. Without internet sales, I believe a lot of card shops would not be able to stay in business. I always wanted to open my own card shop but definitely would have to have multiple income streams to make it profitable.

Local card shop in Peoria IL

I had a lot to do so I decided to take today off from work. After my chores were completed, my wife and I decided to get out of town for the day. We headed up to Peoria, IL to check out a few bookstores. We spent the most time at Barnes and Noble so I decided to check out the magazines. They had a Beckett Baseball Card magazine and I just had to have it. $10 for a magazine is a lot, but having quick access to all those prices is very handy. Plus it had Kris Bryant on the front so that made me happy!

After lunch, we decided to check out a card shop called Baseball Card City. It has a very small parking lot that has one way in and one way out, so be careful if you visit! It’s a smaller shop but they had lots of supplies and cards. I thumbed through the Cubs box but didn’t see anything that I just had to have. I really wanted to buy a box of cards, but the price was a bit out of my budget. I ended up picking up just 1 pack of 2017 Topps Series 1 which didn’t have many cards in it. I also got a Cubs ball-shaped beanie baby looking thing. If you roll it it somehow ends up back on its feet! (I’m easily amused I guess!)

Since it was a small pack, not too much to write home about. Got a Cal Ripken Jr Topps Salute card and an Alex Bregman RC.

It had been a long time since I’d been in a local card shop. It’s nice to know there are a few within 1 – 1.5 hours drive that I can visit.