Saturday at The National
 

My brief report . . . .

Was there today at 10 when it opened. Massive crowd lined up at 10 but lines moved well. By 10:20 the show seemed officially crowded. It was my second day so stayed for about 3.5 hours. I know it sounds cliched, but the best part of the National is ability to see people you don't see that often. This year I had a print out of sellers and make a point of seeing a lot of cool people from the board.

Al from LOTG - amazing stuff from his forthcoming auction. Al's a font of knowledge and always great to talk with.

Scott from Collectors Connection - great guy and also had great things on display. Has a news paper from the 1880s in an upcoming auction that just blew my 'effin mind. I'm going for it. Has a Jackie Bowman in the current auction that is real tempting. And a Paige.

Scott Brockleman - super to talk with. We bemoaned Leon not coming and said we both hope next time. Leon, next time you need a donation for the dogs hit me up. God's work in my book.

Howard Chasser - a Long Island guy like me. Was great to finally meet him. He has incredible stuff.

Met up with Craig Kreindler. Just the greatest baseball painter in the universe. Bar none. And cool guy from Brooklyn too.

Ben W. - I saw you 3 or 4 times and you were either buying up the great photos of the show or wheeling and dealing over the phone. Didn't want to break your mojo. Next time.

Met many new dealers to me. Some great guys. Sal from San Francisco, what a great guy. Sold me the amazing letter below.

Great show. Lots of vintage, lots of new. Lots of guys with those crazy cases. I saw Bill Walton get into the front seat of a taxi. Saw some young hucksters wearing crazy suits and hats. All sorts of insanity. Even people there with dogs.

Many many kids and teens. Was really nice to see. They don't collect what we collect but there was a ton of them. Plenty of young blood with the collecting bug. See a bunch of kids sitting in a circle on the floor passing around cards. . . so nice.

All in all a great vibe. People seemed to put up with crowds and internet issues well. A real crush of humanity. Most of the sellers and AH people told me they were lucky to sit down for 3 minutes and catch their breath. All overwhelming but very happy to be there. Like a good Vegas blow out, something I need to do once a year and only do once a year.

Bought two things below. Ticket was a bit of money but something I've wanted for a while. The letter was my spur of the moment cool odd ball piece. Always need one of those. Totally love it. No idea what High Pockets did in the hotel that night, but damm it pissed someone off.

Great feed back thanks.

And you are better at meeting and knowing people than I.

I interacted with Howard but did not realize who he was.

It was not until he saw that I took a picture and posted it of one of his cards that he realized who I was.

So we missed each other. Since he and I are both Long Island people hopefully we can meet eventually.

I need a hat or pin that says this forum so people know I am from forum and easier to introduce or something like that

Hi Steve

I share the booth with Sal....but, I was set-up this time only for Tues - Wed - Thurs. Sal is a fun guy to be with. So, I missed seeing you.

During those three days, I met a good number of Net54 guys. I enjoy that even more than I do wheeling-n-dealing BB cards.

Enjoy the show,


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

Ah, would have been great to see you. Sal seems like a very nice guy. And I give him major props for flying across country to be here.

Mark Macrae and I have been doing the National Show with Sal for many a moon. You should see Sal's set-up when he has all his memorabilia on display.
Big posters, Yearbooks, Banners, Sports Advertisements, etc......Mark Macrae could not drive this trip from California this time. Mark normally transports
all of these large "goodies" of Sal's.


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

Thanks Howard
 

Good final day for me. Shout out to Howard Chasser for giving me a square deal on some nice 52 Bowmans, really appreciated. Howard seemed extremely busy tucked against the back wall, and I had a chance to talk to Bill Mendel for a while too. Definitely a highlight. Thanks guys.

I forgot who had the Turkey Reds of Evers etc but they were amazing. Also found Dave of Dave & Adam's was born in the same small town as me. Richie Salberg and I agreed on undervalued Doby cards and grabbed one from him. Love of the Game was strong as usual.

Chicago is too much of a haul for me, so this may be it. We'll see. More chairs were needed for weary feet (ie my wife) and the wifi was the worst. But just chatting up people in the lobby of Bally's was enjoyable. Worth the trip from Virginia.

thansk for the updates..its great to see whats going on without being there..not as great but ill take what i can get

1858, but who's counting? :D

No need to publicize that any further. Thank you.