Hot Packs and Card Shops

We interrupt the Winter Warm Up post this semi-interesting story from a LCS this week. I stopped by the LCS to pick up supplies and ended up getting a few 2010 Series 2 packs for Isaac. I also asked if they had any packs of 2010 Chrome as Ike likes the shininess. The owner cracked open a fresh box and with a wry, knowing look reached into the middle of one of the four stacks and handed me two packs. He said something about how he thought my son would really like those packs as I paid up.

My first thought was… wow that was a bit strange. My second thought was… I wonder if he just gave me a pack with an autograph? Sure enough, one of those packs had a rookie auto card of Wade Davis.

I got to thinking about this and how easily he could have given me two packs from the top of the box and kept the hot pack for himself… or all the hot packs from all the boxes for that matter. But then I got to thinking about all the nice hits Isaac has pulled out of packs from this guys shop. I remembered how he usually shuffled packs as soon as he opened a fresh box to confuse pack searchers. I thought about his “NO PACK SEARCHING!!!” signs on his counter. And I gave him the benefit of the doubt.

Heck, Isaac and I were in his shop two weeks ago to buy supplies (SWMBO demanded card clean up in Ike’s room) and Isaac was adamant on buying the last, lone pack of Goudey on the counter. A pack that had been sitting there for the better part of 8 – 9 months (maybe longer if you had the time and inclination to carbon-date dust). A pack that I and about every other customer passed over thinking there was no way the last pack of a dealer box could possibly have anything interesting (aside from Cardinals of course). A pack that only an unjaded, innocent kid might want. A pack that ended up having a Yankee autograph… but more on that card later.