This weekend's Philly Show at Valley Forge report
 

Just returned from the show and I was impressed with the attendance. But, on closer observation it appeared that most were there to get autographs from the numerous
Phillies players that were signing. Sunday's crowd should be even greater as Steve Carlton and Tim McCarver will be the guest signers.

Talked with several of the veteran dealers, who said sales were mediocre. A couple of dealers said sales were poor on Fridat nite; and, were hoping for a better day today
judging from the size of the crowd.

I also noticed that 4 of the regular veteran vintage dealers were not set up. That was very disappointing for me, since I always acquire some nice cards from these guys.

The highlight of the show for me occurred as I was approaching Bill Goodwin's booth. Joe sees me and yells out..... "Ted, check-out Bill's far right case". Therein resides a
beautiful "colorless" T206 Eddie Plank with a PIEDMONT 150 back. I told Joe and Bill as soon as I get back home, I was going to my bank to take out an Equity Loan on my house :)

At the risk of being corrected by the usual suspects on this forum......this Plank card brings the grand total of
known PIEDMONT 150 Plank's to 5 =
2 colorless Plank's
and 3 blue Plank's


TED Z

Thanks for the report Ted. I wonder if Hunt's edict from before had anything to do with the aforementioned dealers not being set up? Also, be careful on counting those Planks. You might want to verify the one being sold isn't the one already known about? I think it might be the same one, unless when I spoke with Joe T yesterday I misunderstood him (and I might have). best regards

Hi Leon

First, two of these four veteran dealers never set up at the Oaks show; therefore, I am puzzled as to why they were "missing in action" this weekend.
These two guys go all the way back to the Willow Grove Show days.

And, the other two go back to the Ft Washington Shows days; but, I'm not certain if they did any of the Oaks shows.


Regarding the "white background" Plank..I think Bill said it was a recent find. But then, perhaps I misunderstood him. There were several conversations
going on simultaneously at his booth when I was there.


TED Z

First time at Philly Show
 

I went today (Saturday) for my first time. I had a good time and enjoyed seeing things in person that I've only ever seen online. There were a lot of dealers, but having started a few prewar sets over the last several months, I was a little disappointed at the number of options. Most were dealing raw 50s thru 70s and had a few bigger name t206 cards, looking for their whale, but I'd of loved to see more guys dealing lower to mid grade T206. :). I saw a few Philadelphia Caramels and CJs along with a few Old Judge and Turkey cabinets. I'm just not currently looking for those cards. I went with money to spend and returned with most of it. I was able to find a higher grade York Caramel I was looking for so all wasn't for naught. I thought there were a lot of people there, but being my first time, I don't have much to compare to. The number of people excited for a So Taguchi autograph was a little awkward though. :confused: That's Phillies fans though.

Overall, I'd go back again. It was a fun couple hours away from the family for "Dad" time.

My Dad and I went to the show today and have been going since I was 8 at the old Willow Grove Show. I have seen the height of attendance back then at Willow Grove to most recently, some of the shows at Valley Forge being pretty lackluster. I was surprised and glad to see the attendance seemed real strong and to Hunt's credit ( I know they do things wrong, but I give credit where it is due) the advertised the heck out of the show. They had the local Sports Talk radio show broadcast from the show and I think it seemed to work......with all that said, it was nice to be able to sit down and talk with my dad for a couple hours while walking around the show.

Ted

Wich grade is the plank ? It will be auctioned shortly or the card is avalaible for direct sale?
Any other plank for sale at this show or any lajoie goudey ?
Thx

Hi Ted
OK, doesn't sound like any were miffed then by Hunt's not allowing dealers to do other shows within a certain radius. No big deal there.

As for the other Plank, again, it very well might have been me that misunderstood...and now that I think about it, maybe it was. Maybe this is a new one. Will be fun to watch either way.

I was at the show earlier today and my thoughts were pretty much the same as Ted's. Decent turnout but mostly for autographs, a little less pre-war on the tables, a bit more modern, sales seemed a bit slow, prices were high as usual with some exceptions. I do think the advertising and bringing WIP in was a help.

I also noticed the Plank but didn't spend much time looking at it. I was initially surprised to see the card as I assumed it was the same one previously known, but after just checking scans now, I don't remember the one at Bill's table having as many creases as the previously known example has. I don't remember seeing any other planks or Lajoie's for sale at the show, but I also wasn't really looking either.

For me, the highlight of the show was talking with Al Crisafulli. He immediately noticed my net54 shirt and we had a great talk about his upcoming auction and our collecting habits in general.

DJ
x2drich2000

Ted - I see no issue with the "usual suspects" correcting inaccurate information, regardless of the source, as long as it's done in a respectful manner. The jabs, disrespectful commentary, and other childish behavior that you utilize on a regular basis does a disservice to all interested parties who want to work together for the knowledge of us all.

With that said, your numbers are correct if the missing color Plank is a previously unrecognized example.

Thx everyone for the info for my question.
Thx

Valley Forge
 

I was at the show today, and would agree with most comments stated already. There was a lot of people on the floor, but most were dealing with more modern cards, compared to vintage. The autograph line was insane for So Taguchi and Chase Utley.

I enjoyed speaking with Al Crisafulli, Bill Goodwin, and Joe T. They are very professional, honest, and first class all around guys. LOTG and Goodwin auctions have some great looking cards coming up in early 2013.

Jeff Toot and Chuck Blue also had some unbelievable items on display. Both are great guys to deal with.

Always a great show.

Tony

I was there on Friday and really enjoyed it. This was only the 2nd time that I was at this show, since it moved from Reading. The crowd was much better than I remember the Friday the other time. However (as Ted mentioned), some long time veteran vintage dealers were not set up. There wasn't as much vintage material as I remember seeing at the Ft. Washington/Reading shows.

I, too, really enjoyed talking to Al Crisafulli. He had some really nice vintage material in his showcase and I wish him the very best in his auctions.

Bill Goodwin's "blue less" T206 Plank
 

Leon

I called Bill this afternoon and he confirmed that this Plank was last sold approx. 3 years ago. For those interested....this T206 Plank was in Barry Halper's collection,
which was auctioned off at Sotheby's in the Fall of 1999. For a picture of it and info, check out this link........
http://www.t206museum.com/page/cardweek_6.html

Therefore, I stand corrected....it is NOT a new find in the hobby. So, there still remain just four T206 Eddie Plank PIEDMONT 150 cards =
1 - "blue less" T206 Plank.... (PSA A)
3 - regular T206 Plank's...... (SGC 70), (SGC A), (PSA A)


TED Z

Interestingly PSA has graded both of the Plank's in Ted's link as missing color & trimmed and they have consecutive serial numbers. The second one (on the right in ted's link) is the one I was thinking of with the creases.

http://sports.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=716&lotNo=81096

http://sports.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=705&lotNo=19727

dj

DJ-Both cards belonged to Barry Halper. When his collection was sold by Sotheby's in 1999 they were sold in a single lot raw. I guess we could assume the buyer sent them in at the same time for grading and thus the consecutive cert numbers.

The Plank was very, very cool - Bill was kind enough to let me look at it up close. Very nice, clean card, hand cut close to the borders.

Saw a few other nice cards as well, and had a great show. Spent some great time talking to a variety of Net54 members (including those posting in this thread - thanks for the nice comments). Got a big chunk of the Rudy Strejc Collection cards back from SGC - they look great. Spent some time talking with Dave Schrader, Hank Thomas, Kevin Keating (Hank and Kevin had the booth next to me), Jeff Toot and Chuck Blue, all very cool guys.

I also met Josh Evans for the first time Friday; given his post from last week it was nice to see him enjoying the show with his crew, who had the booth right across from mine.

My only disappointment was that the show was so busy on Saturday that I didn't really get a chance to walk the floor; by the time I started scouring dealer tables it was 2:30 today, and I just didn't really have enough time to pick through and see what everyone had. I saw a nice Carolina Brights Tris Speaker at one table and some great memorabilia at another. Chuck and Jeff's table is always filled with great stuff, and the Bagger table had a host of great prewar items, as usual.

Saw a gentleman walk into the show with a ball signed by Connie Mack that his dad obtained years and years ago at a Philadelphia event. PSA authenticated it and he was happy as a clam. Beautiful ball. Saw another gentleman reach INTO HIS WALLET and pull out eight ungraded T205s including a Cy Young. His nephew had gotten some spots of silver modeling paint onto a few of them; I stuffed those babies into Card Savers and tried not to have a stroke as I delicately explained to the guy not to put cards in his wallet EVER. AGAIN.

There were a ton of autograph seekers at the show on Saturday, which I thought was awesome. I had a blast telling kids about the stuff in my case. Kids are cool, it's not always easy for me to remember that it's a kids' hobby.

I really enjoyed the show - can't wait for the next one.

-Al

Why we go to shows.
 

'cause guys like Al are there.

I don't how I did it Al, but I missed you Saturday morning. I was at the show for only 2 hours; and, spent most of the time reminiscing
with some of the guys that I used to do the Philly shows with.

I do not recall there being such a large crowd in the past Valley Forge shows as this one. I was there from 10 till Noon, and you had to
do a zig-zag walking thru the aisles.

How was the crowd on Sunday with Steve Carlton and Tim McCarver as the guest signers ?

TED Z