SUCCESS-- Lets make a Trade Club -- The DelMarVaPa+ Trade Club
 

Leon, apologies if this is the wrong place for this (obviously move if necessary):

About a month ago, a friend I met through card collecting came to my house with a container full of cards and we spent 2 hours looking at each other's collection and swapping stories. It was a ton of fun and it took me back to kid-days, when I would roll to a friend's house with binders of cards and we would trade the day away and show our collections off. I have had the itch to trade ever since Jack came over a month ago, and I have now decided to try something:

Would any East-Coasters be interested in getting a group together (15-20 people) to trade and just show cards to one another? We could use my office and we can pick a weekend that works for most (and does not conflict with a Chantilly, Philly, White Plains show). Just an old-fashioned gathering of card collectors spending a day sharing and trading?

I live outside of DC and my office is in Crofton, MD, which is smack in the middle of DC, Baltimore, and Annapolis. I know there are many collectors living in MD and nearby states, including PA & NJ, who would appreciate the networking, the chance to show off their collection, trade, and feel like a kid again. One thing, however: I am interested in serious collectors and serious cards. I am not saying everyone needs Goudey Ruths and Cracker Jack Cobbs, but nobody needs to see a binder of raw-mid grade 1976 topps or your 82 Topps Cal Ripken PSA 8....

Anyway, pm or email me (rhotchkiss@horizonlandco.com) if interested, and if I get enough interest, I will put a group together and we will see how it goes.

Ryan

Would love to be in the group. Too bad I’m on the wrong side of the coast.

Great idea Ryan.

Joshua--Let's have a SoCal group. I am in Pasadena, and I know we have a lot of people out here.

I use to live in Pasadena, right on Glenarm. Moved to the other side of the 110 last year in the Southbay. My family still miss that place. Especially Russell’s for breakfast and Gus’ for bbq dinner. Lived there 9 years and never went to a rose parade...

Would love to start up a SoCal club. I’ll move to another post to see what interest we get, so we don’t hijack Ryan’s post.

I understand not bringing a binder of raw-mid grade 1976 Topps. However, the PSA 8 Ripken is worth about $20. I've finished off many a trade by including a throw-in or two in that price range.

Did you have a minimum value in mind, as it pertains to individual cards people can bring?

Good question Eric, and SoCal guys, thanks for taking that west-side conversation offline. Regarding minimum value, I don’t have one. But personally, I collect HOF and rarer pre-war stuff and would prefer to assemble a like-minded group. In other words, an e93 tinker appeals much more than a 1962 Lou Brock. And not that we need only 100-year stuff - 1950’s+ is fine - but things that you would want to show off and see; to me, there is zero interesting about a PSA 8 1982 Topps Ripken and can look at hundreds on eBay any given minute.

Gotcha...sorry I wasn’t a bit more clear in my post. My question was about what should/should not be brought along in a trade box.

It certainly makes sense that nobody would travel to see a run-of-the mill, pedestrian, everyday card. However, it might prove helpful to have some on hand to finalize a trade.

Perhaps I should have replaced the, “PSA 8 1982 Topps Ripken” reference with, “PSA 3 common from the T206 set.” That probably would have made more sense.

It sounds great and I do live in the area. Problem is I dont think im anywhere near serious or cool enough to get in the club:D

Jason, I sense, from your Net54 posts over the past several years, that you have assembled a fantastic T210 collection, one that I would truly enjoy getting to view. And I think you are also working on the T209-2s, which I'd also love to see. I don't think Ryan is only looking for collectors with lots of Ruths, Cobbs, Gehrigs, Wagners, etc.

Ryan, I'm game for giving such a club a go, as the few in-person show-and-tells I have experienced were fantastic experiences. However, the possible "problem" I see with trading, at least for me, is that I seldom have at any given time more than a few reasonably-valued cards to trade; whenever I have a few such cards, I either put them on eBay or give them to an auction house; this is not to say that I wouldn't be willing to take a scarce card from my personal collection and trade it for a scarce card that would mean more to me; what I'm saying in a roundabout way is that I wonder how much trading is likely to be accomplished.

There we go Val!! I was hoping you were one of the ones who responded -- still waiting on you Mac/Ken?

Jason, Val is spot on -- just cool, old stuff. It doesnt have to be museum collections or anything. And look, if not a single trade is made and we just get a bunch of guys together to geek out on older cardboard every 3-4 months and we make a few friends, than I would consider it a success.

I have gotten a handful of responses. I am going to post a similar invitation on another site I belong to and see how that goes. If I can get to 8(ish) and we are more than half way there, I will try to set a date and location.

Bottom line, if you live within a few hours of MD, like older cards, wish you could show them off more and see other people's collection (in person and not as a link on a computer), and want to make some new friends, then why not take a shot.

Ryan, count me in as a possible delegate from the eastern shore of Del-a-where. Would the group be trading and showcasing only cards or could there be the added dimension of memorabilia, autographs, etc.?

Nice Hal. Sure, memorabilia is welcome too, athough I suspect the emphasis will be on cards, including post cards, photos, etc.

If possible, I would love to be part of this. Will send you a PM with more contact info...

Andrew

Eric, Jason, Val, Andrew and Hal -- shoot me an email @ rhotchkiss@horizonlandco.com.

I have had a great response so far -- 10+/- minus people, with room for more -- and I would like to shoot an email out maybe Wednesday proposing some dates.

DelMarVaPA + NJ peeps, please contact me if interested - we still have time; otherwise, I will schedule this, it will be a hit, we will take and post tons of pictures and make all those who didn't sign up jealous!!!

Ryan

Ryan, you guys are all on the southern end of the east coast radius...You'd have a ton more interested (serious) collectors from NY/NJ/PA/Conn/NE, etc...if you made the meeting point somewhere more in the middle.

Sounds like a great idea, some day I’ll try to make one, but little league practice started this past Saturday and between little League and travel baseball, my next free weekend is August. I look forward to seeing some pictures.

Mike, I agree with you. However, let me try to get one of these off the ground locally, and my office is a fine place to host. If it works and we get a couple good events, maybe you will help me organize a full-on Atlantic one.

Don't forget your buddies up in VT! I'd be interested in a meet up in NY at some point if that were ever possible.

I have received a bunch of emails/PMs from interested mid-Atlantic people and I think we have assembled a solid group of 10-20 people for an inaugural get together, likely the weekend of April 28th. So, I am closing the invitation for now, as I think we have reached our max. I will let you all know how it goes. Those of you who have been in contact, stay tuned for an email update confirming date. Thanks

Ryan, sounds good. When you’re ready to play with the big boys up north, give us a holler. ;)

The first DelMarVaPa+ trade show was a success
 

We had 9 attendees (not including my son), and we spent the day talking cards, showing off, and yes, a number of trades did indeed go down. We had folks from VA, MD and PA (no DE or "+"), and the vibe was almost all pre-war, with some very rare T & E cards, including a substantially complete T216 set, more Washington Senators and Wajo stuff than you can imagine, a complete T206 back run (minus the Ty Cobb back), and a Chinese T215 pirate back card (and two regular T215 pirates) to name a very few. This was a great, no pressure/relaxed way to make friends, do deals, and geek-out to cards. We are hoping to do this again in a few months and would love to double our number. Below are some pics--

Awesome to have some great collectors get together to show off some cards/memorabilia. I'm glad to hear there were some trades too. I'd have loved to be there, but I just don't have the inventory to match up with that stuff. Still, just perusing and talking to some great collectors would have been cool.

Nice job setting this up.

AndyH

Very cool, and a number of familiar faces in those pictures. As a dealer I don't want to ruin the vibe of the event, but I'd love to come down just to look and meet some new friends, reconnect with old ones.

Wow, congrats! Sounds like people had a nice time!

Ryan, thanks for organizing today’s event! It was great just getting to see your’s and everyone’s amazing cards plus I was able to make a bunch of trades including knocking one off my short T217 wantlist! Definitely looking forward to the next one.

Andy

Ryan, thanks again for planning and hosting today’s event. I had a great time. Looking forward to the next one!

Ryan, nice to hear that you had a good time. I'm sorry that I can't get there from California. Maybe in a few years after I retire. :)

In the meantime, please let me know if anyone shows up next time with some T215 Red Cross cards.

Come on Sean, a cross country flight to DC to trade some cards is a sensible day trip.... Val has a t215 wajo, but it’s only for show, and it show was pretty!

Ryan, I truly enjoyed the get together. Many thanks for organizing and hosting it and for the pizza! Lots of interesting cards brought by all attendees. And, drooling over your T206 Plank and your two T215 Pirates as I held them was a super thrill. I echo your hope that we will be able to grow the participation and have this evolve into an ongoing event

Sean, I also had a T215-1 of Clark Griffith that Ryan may not have seen. My #1 collecting focus is cards of the 1924 Senators, and I include the coaches as well as Griffith, the owner and GM. Another collecting focuses is type cards, so this T215-1 and my T215-2 of WaJo also serve as my type cards.

Ryan - I'll add to the gratitude expressed by others who attended. I had a great time meeting some fellow collectors. As to concerns expressed by others that their collections might not have the horse power to be relevant or that this was only high-powered cards on display, that was not the case. The mix of cards was eclectic. I brought a modest group of cards and made a couple of trades just for the fun of it. The main goal is to see some nice cards and get together to share a common interest with some good people. Hope more folks come next time.

Thanks again, Ryan

Val, I'm looking for a T215 Gabby Street (among others), so I guess that we won't be competing. :)