Price's Sports Cards a Home Run for Milwaukee-area Collectors

A few weeks ago, I visited Price's Sports Cards and Collectibles. Located in Southridge Mall, Wisconsin's largest mall at 5300 South 76th Street in Greendale, Price's is a well-known name among Milwaukee-area sports card and memorabilia dealers.

A visit there is always a treat. Not only is the inventory massive, spanning across many decades, brands, etc., but the shop's employees are honest, friendly, and very knowledgeable. One can easily tell that the employees are genuinely passionate about what they do. Once in a while, if they know a customer is making a sizeable purchase, they'll cut some deals, not just on cards and memorabilia, but on supplies, as well.

As a young kid, I had quite an extensive sports card collection, mostly in baseball, my first love. Now 28 years old, my card collection is significantly slimmed down compared to its glory days, but I still collect once in a while, and visit Price's at least once every couple of months or so.

For those in my age group who remember the stars of our childhood, Price's has us covered. The shop has an extensive inventory of unopened boxes, sets, individual packs, and single cards from the 1980s and 1990s, not only in baseball, but football, basketball, and some hockey, as well.

When I purchase cards these days, I still mostly stay with my old childhood favorites because, not only do I already know them well, but many of them are now either Hall of Famers or are most certainly headed there one of these days. If I can get a good deal on them, I'll also purchase stars from the 1970s whose careers I'm familiar with.

On this particular visit a few weeks back, my latest, I left with what I would argue is a small gold mine. I happened to stop in when a big sale was going on in order to make room for new inventory.

Near the cash register on the counter sat a large box of single cards in baseball, football, and basketball. Each card was individually priced. Most of them were priced around $5, but there were also a good number of cards priced in the $10-12 range, as well. They spanned from the 1970s through present-day. I was told that any card in that box would be just $1 each.

I walked out of the shop that day with numerous duplicates of Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder rookie cards, both stars with the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team. I walked away with numerous rookie cards of Green Bay Packers stars, including B.J. Raji, A.J. Hawk, and Greg Jennings. Having just won Super Bowl XLV a week ago makes this particular purchase that much more fun and exciting.

In addition to these cards, however, I also walked away with eight rookie cards of pitching great Randy Johnson (1989), and a lot of cards from the 1970s and early 1980s of baseball greats like Tom Seaver, Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, Pete Rose, Dave Winfield, Rod Carew, Nolan Ryan, Don Sutton, and Phil Niekro.

On top of all that, I also scored nice deals on early 1990s unopened baseball, basketball, and football boxes. Pulling 20-year-old Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Joe Montana, John Elway, Cal Ripken, Roger Clemens, Tony Gwynn, Nolan Ryan, and Ryne Sandberg cards fresh from the pack in mint condition is, for this collector, almost the equivalent of paradise on earth.

All in all, for a purchase of just under $200, I walked out of Price's that day with at least $500 worth of sports cards...but also many priceless childhood memories relived.

Price's Sports Cards and Collectibles
5300 South 76th Street (Southridge Mall)
Greendale, Wisconsin 53219
414.855.0711
On Facebook