Fanatics Chicago show = major disappointment

[darkhorse9]

I make a regular three hour drive to Rosemont for the Fanatics card shows there. I could always count on hundreds of tables and plenty of vintage dealers. I would spend hours upon hours there

I made the trek this weekend with plenty of cash ready to complete a couple of sets. What I found was a small room of less than 100 tables, most filled with guys selling unopened new stuff or supplies. There were only a half dozen dealers with any vintage and only two I saw with pre war. A couple dealers admitted they didn't even bother to bring much merchandise. I spent less than an hour there and left with most of my money still in my pocket.

I feel duped out of my time and my $10 admission. I will seriously have to reconsider ever going to another one of their shows again.

[thescooper]

At least you have a card show, try living in Vancouver Canada

[Edwolf1963]

I forgot about that this weekend. I recalled they usually have a spring show and saw the dates last month - thought that may work for me to head out (I'm about 45 minutes away) but completely forgot until now. Reading your post, I don't feel too bad about missing it now ;) Sorry it turned out to be such a disappointment/waste of time. Any of the vendors speculate as to why? Definitely not a lot of local promotion (that I noticed anyway) - in fact, what I recall jogged my memory of that show was seeing one of the grading companies note it on their upcoming shows.

[basesareempty]

I believe that since Fanatics bought out Mounted Memories a couple years back they have changed their business model, gearing the show more towards the autograph guests as opposed to the card customers.

[rats60]

I think the March and November shows are very good. I saw this show and thought about going, but didn't. I think what you saw was the product of having another big show 2 months after their major spring show.

[midmo]

I believe that since Fanatics bought out Mounted Memories a couple years back they have changed their business model, gearing the show more towards the autograph guests as opposed to the card customers.


I was wondering about that. All their website shows is the autograph guests, no real mention of cards/dealers at all. I thought about going to check it out anyway, but other things came up. Glad I didn't make the trip.

[Danny Smith]

I made the exact same mistake. Terrible show. The few vintage guys were like "oh I thought they advertised that this was a tiny show?" Uh. No. I expected the usual Chicago show. It was horrible. Of course it looked packed because of the auto crowd but it was a joke for vintage.

[keithsky]

I agree what a terrible show. It was like a throw back from the 80's in size. My brother and I have been going to the Suntimes shows in November and March since it was started by George Johnson and those shows are always pretty good with a few being duds even if it has changed hands a few times over the years but this show was the worst in a long time and not sure why they did it only a couple months after the March show. Maybe deeper into the summer might have been good. Besides the room being so small and only guessing 50 dealers or so the autograph pavilion was in the back of this small room so when the signings started it must have been a nightmare for the dealers that got stuck in front of the autograph area. They were supposed to have the current Cubs there with Bryant and Rizzo and the rest after the game so I can't imagine how that went with the crowd in that small room. When the doors opened the line was moving so slow that 2 guys behind me complained to one of the employees walking the line why and his reply was it's crowded. Well no S#*t. If you were looking for supplies or newer stuff then it might have been ok for ya but vintage or game used nothing. I think the consession area was about half as big as the show floor. 10.00 admission, 15.00 to park, 20.00 in gas. Priceless. NOT.

[Jewish-collector]

As Bob mentioned, the Fanatics shows are very focused on autographs. As a matter of fact, they are one of, if not the very best autograph shows in the country and they do shows every few months in different cities across the country. They routinely have guests signing autographs that have never appeared at a public signing for fairly reasonable prices.

Their shows do have dealers with cards, but most of them are weekend warriors or dealers that have the shiny stuff. A lot of those dealers focus also on having cards, photos, posters, replica uniforms, etc,.. for signing from the autograph guests that appear at the particular show.

[Tony Gordon]

Fanatics bought the March and November Sun-Times shows from George Johnson a few years back. Those shows are still good for card collectors with a few hundred dealer tables. Fanatics also bought the summer Sportsfest show from SCD some time ago. Fanatics pretty much ruined that one. They won't run the summer show when the National is in town. They decided to run this small May show instead of their usual large summer show this year. They announced it would be small. Many dealers took a pass because of the high table fee. I am a regular dealer at the March and November shows and plan on being there in November. Instead of Fanatics, I decided to set up this past weekend in Highland, Indiana, on Saturday, and Milwaukee on Sunday. I stopped off at the Fanatics show after Highland and agree that it was horrible. Both the Highland and Milwaukee shows were better. I heard Fanatics is planning another small show for September. If they come down on their table fees, I'd consider it. Though, there are plenty of shows in the area to choose from. I have to admit, I did enjoy attending three different shows this past weekend.

[7nohitter]

Is this the same Fanatics company that makes and sells the sports clothing? If so, that company has a HORRIBLE reputation with Yelp, the BBB, SiteJabber, etc....