My Weekend: First Card Show in 20+ Years and Visit to Cards-R-Fun

On Saturday, I went to the Middle Tennessee Sports Card Show in Nashville, my first show in over 20 years. It wasn't a large show--only nine dealers, I think--held in a small gymnasium, but I did come away with some Cardinals cards and a great start on 2010 and 2011 Topps Heritage team sets. I also discovered some cards I'd really like to start collecting: the 2010 Topps Vintage Legends.

I love these cards! Jackie Robinson on a 1976 Topps design...Thurman Munson as a '59 card...Jimmie Foxx on an '86 card! I think they're really cool and even though they're not Cardinals, I'd like to finish the set.

I did OK on my spending at the show ($24)...but then I stopped by Cards-R-Fun about five minutes down the road. What started out as "just a few minutes" became four hours! (If you've ever been to this store, you'll know why.) It's a great place to find tons of commons, but man, it's disorganized! I went with the intention of finding some Topps Heritage Cardinals--and a found a few from different years--but you have to search through boxes that contain multiple years and sets. You pretty much have to dive in and find whatever cards you've never seen before. When it was over, I had 150+ cards and a $33 bill. Yikes! There goes my card budget for March.

Overall, it was great to go to the show and one dealer from whom I bought most of my cards said he would bring more Cardinals for the March show. I only wish there had been more dealers to choose from.

Cards-R-Fun in Nashville

Today I took a trip to one of the few--if not only--card shops left in Nashville, Tennessee: Cards-R-Fun. I had been to their old location on Trousdale Place several years ago, which wasn't far off I-65 and easy to reach. I remembered it being somewhat disorganized, but still a great place to find practically any kind of trading card you might be looking for. (Mark Aubrey visited the old location a few years ago and posted about it.)

Today, the shop is located beside a Firestone Auto Center at 16125 Old Hickory Blvd., harder to access than the old location but still worth the trip. I thought I'd stop by for an hour or so but ended up staying four hours instead! The location may have changed, but the shop is just like I remember it: floor-to-ceiling sports memorabilia and boxes stacked upon boxes of trading cards everywhere. For a first-time visitor, the layout can be a bit daunting. It took me a minute or two to get my bearings because there's just so much stuff! There's no rhyme or reason to how the boxes of common cards are arranged: football can be mixed with baseball or hockey or Nascar cards. The boxes aren't sequential either, so the want list I had scribbled on a few index cards was quickly discarded as I began working on boxes in one corner of the shop, thumbing through the cards looking for St. Louis Cardinals.

At the end of the day, I had 150 cards from various years and sets, and the price was only about $25.00! John, the owner of Cards-R-Us, is very helpful and his prices are very affordable. I would definitely recommend visiting if you're ever in the Nashville area. I was only able to conquer two shelves on this trip, so I'll be back again when I have more money and more time!