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-   -   What Are Your Earliest Card Show Memories? (http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=217615)

btcarfagno 02-04-2016 01:35 PM

What Are Your Earliest Card Show Memories?
 
With all of the wonderful threads lately about the first card shows and the first National, I thought it might be fun to hear stories about the first card shows that people can remember going to or perhaps having a table at.

Those other threads make me wish I was born just a bit earlier. Alas, had I attended some of them, I likely would have been spitting up (or worse) on some of the goods!!

My first card show memory was in 1980. It was somewhere in Northern NJ at a hotel...not sure the town. Roy White was signing autographs. I was 9 years old and had a table set up (with a few other friends). Holy cow what fun that was!! I remember taking lots of my earnings and buying 1974 Topps football rack packs, that another dealer had for like $3 each. I still have the 1974 Topps Roy White that I had him sign.

Also in the early to mid 1980's I would attend the various Parsippany, NJ shows. They were at the Holiday Inn I believe. I would get there just as often as my dad was willing to drive me.

I also remember attending a show in New York City in early 1985. I thought I was so smart....thought I could stock up on this kid Gooden's 1985 card on the cheap before anyone else figured out how good he was. That didn't work out well, especially in NYC!! I also remember having a choice between a Pete Rose rookie or a beautiful 1962 Topps Yaz. I hated Rose and the Yaz was in better shape, so I bought the Yaz. Egad!!

Since not all of us were able to be there for those early hobby shows, I would love to hear about the first shows that you were able to attend.

Tom C

philliesfan 02-04-2016 01:59 PM

My first shows were in the early 1980's as well. I attended small shows at local halls to larger shows in Parsippany and Atlantic City. One of he first shows I set up at was in 1983 in Atlantic City at one of the casinos. I think Joe DiMaggio was there signing auto's. I remember a representative from Donruss was walking around and I purchased many singles of the Action All Star Set. At the time, these were a huge hit. I was selling commons at $1.75 each and people were just handing over money. I was offered $5.00 for each Rose, Schmidt and Carlton. I sold all I had. Other stars like Brett was getting me $3.00 or so. I used some of the money to buy some 1959 cello packs at $20.00 each. Got all commons but that was fun to rip. I just wish I kept those packs sealed.
Robert

Bestdj777 02-04-2016 02:04 PM

Not the best experience, but I remember going to a card show in a local mall when I was around 10 years old (early 90s). I saw what I thought was a Nolan Ryan rookie card, and asked the dealer about it. It turned out it was one of those porcelain copies and he wanted $20.00 for it. I said no thank you (I didn't want a reprint), and, as I was walking away he called me cheap and mumbled something nasty under his breathe. Great first experience and one of the things that soured me from collecting for a while.

midmo 02-04-2016 02:05 PM

My dad took me to my first show in Los Angeles in 1980 when I was 9 years old. It was in a hotel, but I'm not sure where (kinda think near the airport, but not positive). I remember seeing some Ruth's on the table near the entrance. I also remember almost buying a T206 Cobb for around $50, but it would have been all my money so I passed it up. A kid I casually knew had a table set up, but for the life of me I can't remember his name. I've wondered if that was the National or just a regular weekend show. I'll have to ask my dad if he remembers what hotel it was.

Tabe 02-04-2016 02:12 PM

I didn't attend many card shows as a kid. My earliest one was when I was around 12 or 13. It was a big show, held in the convention room at a local Holiday Inn in West Bloomfield, MI and Ernie Banks was the autograph guest. I didn't really understand how autograph guests worked at shows (I thought I could just walk up to the table, didn't understand about tickets) but did eventually get an autograph from Ernie (on an SSPC Hall of Fame card).

My main memory from the show is that my grandmother took me to the show. My brother & I were staying with her for the week. My grandmother took me to the show and sat outside on a bench waiting for me to be done. She told me "take as long as you want, I'll just wait out here and read" - and she meant it. She wanted me to have a good time and was more than happy to wait for me. I ended up being there for...3 hours? 4? And she was completely fine with it. But she was awesome like that.

pariah1107 02-04-2016 02:22 PM

My first "card show" was in the early 1980's. It was at the old Midway Drive-In in Kent, Washington. I remember it was crowded and everyone smelled like BO. I picked up a few football cards (less than a couple bucks worth), and a new appreciation for deodorant.

obcbobd 02-04-2016 02:24 PM

Around 1973, I'm 12. I subscribed to the Sport Hobbyist and they were always talking about shows in Detroit. Living just outside Boston, I was so jealous. Finally, there is a show in Springfield Mass. It's about a 2.5 hours ride. My Dad is off that Saturday, which is unusual as he worked shifts including a lot of weekends. I'm super physc'd, I've saved up all my money from snow shoveling and other misc. jobs. Visions of Goudeys (I had none at the time) and T206s (I had two) are dancing in my head. We get in the car and after about 20 minutes I realized today was August 19th, but the show was September 20th. I was so afraid to tell my Dad, thought he would kill me; but when I did he didn't yell at me, we stopped and had a bite to eat. When September rolled around, I was too embarrassed/afraid to bring it up.

Sometime in the early 80's I finally went to a show, didn't like it much, a lot of rude people and greed. Wasn't till the Shriner's shows in the early 90's that I got back into collecting and enjoyed a show.

curch 02-04-2016 02:53 PM

I remember my dad taking me to shows in the mid 80s at the local holiday inn. I remember a dealer always set up at these shows that had some sort of dice game. For a certain amount of money you can win cards by throwing the dice. My dad was always excited to see all the old Yankee players cards and would tell me the story about how they flipped cards against a wall and put them in the spokes on their bikes. He also would always tell me that when he went into the navy his mom threw all the cards away. How many times have we all heard that story :)

Rookiemonster 02-04-2016 02:58 PM

I don't remember if it was95 or 96 but my first show was in Garfield NJ . It was held ( and still is ) at the boys and girls club . There was so much going on and I was a newbie . I would go and buy boxes and packs . I never wanted singles I felt that I wanted no needed to pull the cards myself . At the very least trade for my cards .

Like most I still have a crap load of cards from then . The good the bad and the ugly ! But would not change it for the world .

The show always had some of the best dealers . But of course I ran in to scammers . I once pulled a Dan Marino donruss elite numbered . At the time this was a big deal . I traded it for a bunch of really cool looking cards . They were not in the Beckett . So I then went around trying to sell or trade those cards . A dealer stopped me and said that they were only dollar cards . So I went back to the guy and said hey you ripped me off ! And that I wanted my card back . He gave me some line like a trade is a trade . I said that he told me that they were worth more . So he pretended to look for the card and then acted like it was gone . I'll never forget that and I still see the guy . I wonder if he remembers ripping me of .

Runscott 02-04-2016 03:00 PM

My first show was 1988 or 1989 in the Dallas area. Unfortunately I did not yet collect cards, so was just hanging out with a friend and missed a great opportunity. I almost bought a Ted Williams card, but ended up passing.

Jeff1970Red 02-04-2016 04:15 PM

My first show was at a hotel near LAX in my early teens. I hopped a ride in the bed of my friends Toyota pick-up. The drive was 30 miles. The show itself was overwhelming, what I remember most was a dealer selling fake Rose rookies for $50. On the way home I dropped a couple hard plastic sliders with Ripken rookies, they slid out the back of the bed of the truck and onto the freeway. I think I cried.

62corvette 02-04-2016 04:38 PM

My first "show" was in 1973. Around our enlarged dining room table in small town central Wisconsin, Dick Miller, George Husby, Jack Urban, Ron Greenwood and I shared stories, and traded many cards.

Peter_Spaeth 02-04-2016 04:51 PM

Local Boston area shows starting in the early 90s when I got back into collecting. Mostly guys with new wax going on about how it was drying up fast and I really needed to buy it and the first waves of shiny stuff; a few vintage guys here and there such as my good friend Pete Lalos.

VoodooChild 02-04-2016 05:04 PM

1987 show at the Expo Center in Monroeville, PA. I was 12. For some reason, the two things I remember most are a complete 1938 Goudey Heads-Up set and an unopened 1980 Topps basketball pack with the Bird/Magic rookie showing through the back. I left with a '61 Clemente which I still own.

brianp-beme 02-04-2016 05:40 PM

Another LAX first timer
 
Like Jeff1970Red and Midmo my first show was also at a hotel near LAX. Later I wondered if I had attended the first National, but the year I went was 1981, not 1980, so I guess it was just a local card show (evidently a popular one).

Anyhow, after seeing an ad in the newspaper, and my folks needing to go down that way from the San Fernando Valley, my vintage fate struck. I think I brought all of perhaps $12 to $15 (on a 50 cent per week allowance, a dollar if I had mowed the yard that week, so practically a fortune) to the show. The first dealer inside the door on the right, the first card show table I had ever seen, had a few vintage cards for sale, and I couldn't pass them up. I instantly spent most of my wad ($11.00, an amount I will never forget) for the following cards:

T206 Christy Mathewson black cap
T206 Walter Johnson pitching
E98 Cy Young
T205 Roger Bresnahan mouth closed
T205 Zach Wheat - Broadleaf

They were all in Fair to F-G condition, and you could say they eventually and inevitably made me a Net54 member. They have definitely helped foster a love of Pre-War cards, and a fondness for lower condition cards. It was still way too early for people to pay any attention to a rare back llike the one on the Wheat. Still have them too. If I were ever to sell all my cards I would still keep the Matty...that card fired up my collecting imagination, and still does. No scans, maybe some day.

Brian

runbrett 02-04-2016 09:29 PM

My First Card Show
 
In 1976 my older brother took a bunch of us to a card show in the northern suburbs of Chicago driving his late 60s Mustang. It was a Friday and we hit a big traffic jam. I remember my brother using his CB radio to get alternate directions from a truck driver.

We got to the show about two hours later and it was quite unlike shows of today. There were some 1976 cards , but most tables just had old cards in stacks. Missing were the fancy displays, storage devices and the likes.

I had $35 from my paper route and I bought lots of cards for $0.10 to $0.50. There were a bunch of T206s, many with the price lightly written on the back in pencil - I saw that a lot in those days but only on the really old cards. My splurge was a T206 Mathewson for $2.00.

DixieBaseball 02-04-2016 09:34 PM

Great memories...
 
Late 70's/Early 80's at the Nashville Flea Market at the old Nashville Fairgrounds (Nashville Speedway). I looked forward to every 4th weekend of the month, to go hunt for cards, memorabilia, etc. - Dealers were set up and scattered about the fairgrounds in pavilions as well as outside. You had your regulars, but there was always some new dealers each month and material was fresh. I remember purchasing a crisp Ryan rookie for $40, Carlton rookie for $22, 60' Mantle in stellar condition for $20 and so on... The memories are vivid, and I wish I could go back in time to experience again. That's where collecting "vintage" started for me as a kid. Spent many years at the Ole Nashville Flea Market (It was a large scale event with thousands of various vendors...) - I would save my money each month and go buy 50's, 60's, and 70's cards for years. Just a lot of fun, and especially sharing those hunt's with many friends and family.

Good times...

ullmandds 02-04-2016 10:51 PM

i don't remember exactly where or when my 1st card show was but i'd guess early 80's. I remember Tom Seaver rookies at $7...aaron rookies at $25...babe ruth goudey $100 nmt...all way over my budget!

I purchased my 1st t206 a beat up matty white cap for $2...and a fake mayo lave cross!

trdcrdkid 02-04-2016 11:40 PM

My first card show was in early 1980, when I was 14 years old, even though I had been going to card shops since 1976, soon after I started collecting. This was in the Chicago area, and I'm not sure exactly where that first show I attended was, except that I'm pretty sure it was in the northern suburbs somewhere. I mainly remember how big and overwhelming (in a good way) it seemed. There was a rumor going around the show that somebody had ripped an unopened pack of 1952 Topps high numbers and gotten a Mantle, which was just starting to become the hot card it became. I didn't have much money to spend, and the only thing I specifically remember buying at that show was a Saran-wrapped lot of 1956 Topps with Koufax showing on the top -- and then it turned out there was another Koufax inside. I'm not sure what I paid for that lot, but it can't have been more than $20. Eleven years later, I traded that second 1956 Koufax to a dealer for some other 1950s cards.

On October 11, 1980, my family was out on a Saturday afternoon and we stopped at a little card show being held at a mall, where I remember seeing a bunch of 1938 Goudeys at one table and wishing I could afford them. I remember the date because it was the same day as game 4 of the 1980 National League Championship Series between the Phillies and the Astros, a crazy game that I missed part of because we were out at this show.

In 1981 and 1982 (and maybe in 1980 and/or 1983) I went to several card shows at the Hillside Holiday Inn (a suburb of Chicago about halfway between Glen Ellyn, where I grew up, and downtown Chicago). It was at one of those shows in 1981 that I paid $10 for my first Old Judge, which I still have. The Hillside Holiday Inn is just off the Kennedy Expressway, the easiest way to get between the western suburbs and downtown Chicago, and whenever I go past there I think of those card shows from the early 80s.

TheNightmanCometh 02-05-2016 12:26 AM

So, I've never been to a card show, but I'm considering going to the Long Beach Expo in June. What are the prices like at these shows? Are the dealers willing to haggle on pricing? Should I just consider going on Sunday and look to make the best deals at the end of the day?

tjenkins 02-05-2016 07:05 AM

1st Card Show Experience - Not so good!
 
I remember my first card show experience very well, and it wasn't the greatest experience. It was just after I graduated college in the late 80's. I was walking from table to table when I came upon one table that had a lot of modern basketball. Michael Jordan in particular. A young man came up with a pile of vintage baseball, the good stuff, 50s and 60s Mantle, Mays, Aaron and the like. The boy in my best guess was probably 10 years old. He plopped the cards up on the table and told the dealer, "I would like to trade these for some basketball, especially Michael Jordan." I understood the value of the cards, even back then and I don't think the young man did! The dealer proceeded to tell the boy that that stuff was pretty old and he would have tough time moving them so he picked out the good ones and told him he would trade about ten star basketball for them, worth a couple of hundred bucks. I said, "Whoa, this is not right, his cards are worth thousands." I asked the young man if his Dad was around. The dealer proceeded to tell me, "Move on or I will call security!" I very quickly snapped back and said. "Go for it, we will see where this ends up! This is wrong!" I told the boy that he needs to find his Dad and he pointed him out to me. I promptly got the Dad and made him aware of the situation and told him he should be with his son when trading those cards and that they were worth thousands of dollars. The Dad told me the cards were given to the boy by his grandfather to trade for what he wanted. The father was very appreciative and the boy by the end of the day had some really cool stuff, but the event kind of left a bitter taste in my mouth. All's well that ends well, thank God!!

SAllen2556 02-05-2016 07:44 AM

About 1978 in Dearborn, Mi. Jim Hawkins, Free Press sports writer and avid collector, used to hold huge card shows a few times a year, at least half the size of the National if you can believe it.

Bugged my Dad to take me because I wanted a Mickey Mantle card. Spend a whole $5 on 1969 Topps. Met the legendary Al Rosen, who was actually very friendly to me - of course I was only 12. I didn't realize what a hotbed Detroit was for card shows in the 70's. Alas, they have all but disappeared around here.

53Browns 02-05-2016 10:16 AM

Crocodile Dad-Dee?
 
My Dad took me to a show in 1981 at a local hotel banquet room. I was studying the latest cardboard of Rickey Henderson, George Brett, etc, when my Dad, says to me, "Those arent baseball cards. These are baseball cards..." As he pointed to a sheet of beautiful 1953 Topps cards. I've been hooked on vintage ever since. And yes, crocodlile dundee stole the line from my Dad! "That's not a knife....

Howe’s Hunter 02-05-2016 10:54 AM

In my mid-20s in the early 90s
 
Was living in Lincoln at the time, and there were shows at a small mall two or three times a year. I had just been bitten by the vintage bug and there was never any vintage there. Was excited to hear there was to be a fairly large show at the Civic Auditorium in Omaha, so put our newborn in the car seat and went to check it out.

Two dealers. Total. Apparently some sort of management snafu, something. Was told by the two guys there (were I did buy two cards) that everyone else had snatched up space at the mall in Lincoln, so with son still in the carrier, headed back home to a mall that was completely full of vendors.

Alan Hager was the only name I recognized at the time. He had several EpdG cards, a couple of Hindu backs, and tons of commons. All out of my price range. Looking back, wish I had paid more attention to the names of vendors to see who was there, and where they are now.

So guess this counts as my first, and second, card show experience.

packs 02-05-2016 11:08 AM

A long time ago in the early 90s when I was about 10 or 11 I passed on a crispy mint 1966 Topps Mantle at a card show in my hometown's mall. Instead I bought a lesser condition one because I figured I could buy two cards instead of just one.

Wish I had that Mantle.

dwr11 02-05-2016 01:37 PM

Joining the Twin Cities Sports Collectors Club in the late 1970's and going to the monthly shows. If I remember correctly, they were at the Apache Plaza Shopping Center. Also going to all of the Thunderbird Motel shows and the State Fairgrounds shows in the early to mid 1980's. Those were incredible shows to be a part of. Purchased and sold many awesome items at these shows.

Hot Springs Bathers 02-05-2016 01:38 PM

I attended my first show in 1978 in Ft. Smith, Arkansas hosted by John England at a Ramada Inn. I was recently married and we traveled up and spent the night.

I went to the Friday evening preview and came back to the room a little surprised. I told my wife that while John seemed really nice it was a little odd to see him wearing some sort of rings in every finger. The next day I realized they were all World Series and All-Star rings!

bcbgcbrcb 02-05-2016 01:48 PM

Set up at the first National held in NJ, Parsippany in 1984 with my dad as I was only 15 and not of legal age to enter into a dealer contract. Had lots of funning dealing with the Boggs, Mattingly, Strawberry, etc. rookie cards that were being hoarded by the smart collectors.........

slinger23 02-05-2016 01:55 PM

I remember attending a show maybe 1987 (I was 11 at the time) either in Austin or San Antonio and only wanting baseball cards like 1987 Fleer and 1987 Topps and I bought rack packs with my allowance and was so excited, and I passed (since I didn't collect this sport at the time) on a complete set of 1986 Fleer Basketball set for sale at or around $10. This guy had a stack of them in those large snap case holders. If I only knew then what I know now. But hey, I am sure I still have those 1987 cards that I opened somewhere at my parent's house since I thought those were the greatest sets ever.

paul 02-05-2016 02:11 PM

I was planning to go to the first National in Los Angeles with my brother. But he came down with mono and I was too young to drive, so I missed it. We went to a show a few months later in Commerce, CA, just outside Los Angeles. I wish I could remember all the things that I bought. The one that stands out is my 1940 Play Ball Jimmie Foxx, which I still have.

A couple of years later, I was old enough to drive and drove up to another show in LA with a friend. I don't remember a thing about the show itself, but the drive was memorable. A giant bird (probably a seagull) flew into my windshield while I was driving on the freeway, splattering blood across the entire windshield. I had to pull over and drove to the nearest gas station where my friend helped me clean up the mess. I still remember him taking a stick to remove some organ from my windshield wiper. We both decided it was a lung. Such good memories.

insidethewrapper 02-05-2016 02:18 PM

My best memories of " card " shows were when they were "card" shows with card dealers and card collectors. When the "coin" dealers arrived everything changed, grading companies arrived etc. I think some of the fun was lost.

Rookiemonster 02-05-2016 03:10 PM

It seems everyone here has atleast one scammer story . So don't blame eBay guys . Also I think it made me better . I didn't want to get scammed again and it forced me to learn more .

MRSPORTSCARDCOLLECTOR 02-07-2016 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper (Post 1500594)
My best memories of " card " shows were when they were "card" shows with card dealers and card collectors. When the "coin" dealers arrived everything changed, grading companies arrived etc. I think some of the fun was lost.

As a newb I haven`t heard much about coin dealers taking the fun out of the hobby. I find this interesting.
Does anybody care to explain how and when coin dealers started to show their influence on the hobby of baseball cards?

kmac32 02-07-2016 12:23 PM

Went to a card show in the late 80's and met Max Lanier of the Cardinals signing autographs in Las Vegas. Before that, I had collected cards but not been to a show.

bmattioli 02-07-2016 02:11 PM

I went to a few card shows while in High School back in the late '70s but the show I really remember was in 1984 while I was stationed at Sheppard AFB and in Tech School. They had a local mall show and since I now had money I bought the set I always wanted... the 1975 Topps set. I paid $100.00 for it and still have it..

kmac32 02-07-2016 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BASEBALLCARDGURU (Post 1501375)
As a newb I haven`t heard much about coin dealers taking the fun out of the hobby. I find this interesting.
Does anybody care to explain how and when coin dealers started to show their influence on the hobby of baseball cards?

I remember when I lived in Indiana, there was a coin dealer who also did baseball cards. I was in his shop looking at Topps Cubs cards and somebody came in with a collection of 67 topps. He was waiting on me and since this guy was apparently a buddy, he immediately went to talk to his friend vs finishing with me and also went on to talk coins with another customer. It was like all of the sudden I did not exist. While he was talking with the second customer with a coin deal, I struck up a conversation with the guy that brought in the 67 topps and found one of his cards I wanted. Ended up buying the card from the guy with the binder and bypassed the shop. Shop owner wasn't too happy but if you treat customers like dirt, then you lose out in my opinion. This was in the late 80's and with his business practices, doubt if his shop survived.

glynparson 02-07-2016 02:35 PM

just
 
going with my mom and dad stacks of cards on tables. very few showcases. i am thankful i am still going to shows with my dad 35+ years later. my mom still sometimes tags along. Great thread. i remember traveling all over eastern pa for shows. made some life long friends through the journeys.

Mark 02-07-2016 03:35 PM

Around 1971, my dad drove all day to take me to the 2nd annual Midwest Collectors Convention in a Detroit Holliday Inn. I suppose I was 12. There weren't as many cards for sale as I'd hoped, but I was able to add to my t206, Goudey, and 56 Topps collections. People would come up and ask which cards I had with me, and we would look through each others stacks to see if we could make a trade. I met Frank Nagy, who told me that he had a Wagner
t206 and that earlier that day someone offered to give him a station wagon for it. He laughed at that.

mattsey9 02-07-2016 04:21 PM

Was this in Terre Haute by chance?



Quote:

Originally Posted by kmac32 (Post 1501503)
I remember when I lived in Indiana, there was a coin dealer who also did baseball cards. I was in his shop looking at Topps Cubs cards and somebody came in with a collection of 67 topps. He was waiting on me and since this guy was apparently a buddy, he immediately went to talk to his friend vs finishing with me and also went on to talk coins with another customer. It was like all of the sudden I did not exist. While he was talking with the second customer with a coin deal, I struck up a conversation with the guy that brought in the 67 topps and found one of his cards I wanted. Ended up buying the card from the guy with the binder and bypassed the shop. Shop owner wasn't too happy but if you treat customers like dirt, then you lose out in my opinion. This was in the late 80's and with his business practices, doubt if his shop survived.


kmac32 02-07-2016 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattsey9 (Post 1501550)
Was this in Terre Haute by chance?

No, was in Munster indiana on 45th avenue. Just looked it up John Hodgson Coins and collectibles and still open for business.

Collectorsince62 02-07-2016 09:21 PM

I started attending all the St. Louis shows in the early 80's, even manning a table once in a while. The instant auctions were just unbelievable. There were so many walk-in items that the auctions seemed to be non-stop. But my favorite memories were from autograph guests. Curt Flood was ushered to a seat at a signing table, but before he started signing, he found a microphone, tapped on it for attention, and proceeded to thank the crowd for supporting him during his playing days. When it was my turn to get his autograph, I noticed he was wearing a WS ring. I asked if it was from '64 or '67 and he took it off and handed it to me to get a better look. What a class act. By the way, it was his '67 ring. He told me his '64 was stolen.

My second favorite autograph experience was at a show with Johnny Mize and Rickey Henderson. I happened to be standing near them before the show started. This was early in Rickey's career, but he was already pretty brazen. Mize was talking to someone about hitting, and Henderson was hanging on every word. No interruptions, no self promotion, just listening intently. That impressed me.

Leon 02-08-2016 01:08 PM

Great stories guys!! I only started back as an adult in the mid 1990s. I wish I had gone to shows in the 70s and 80s......

GasHouseGang 02-08-2016 03:52 PM

Maybe I saw "Collectorsince62" at the first St. Louis show I attended. The first show I ever went to was the National held in St. Louis in 1982. I just remember how totally overwhelming the number of dealers was. I lived in the middle of Missouri at the time, so there weren't any baseball card shops, and the internet didn't exist, so it was all mail order or trade with friends. I remember nothing about what I bought that first trip. Probably just worked on getting singles I needed for some of the early 1970's set. I just remember being so happy to have the opportunity to buy something directly and be able to visually inspect it before purchasing it!

ls7plus 02-08-2016 04:59 PM

Best show memory, after only attending local shows for several years, was the National in Atlanta in 1992--I'll never forget how very, very VAST it was, and the outstanding array of cards and other sports related items. Fast forward to the 2009 National in Cleveland, when it appeared the National had shrunk to about one third of its former size--when I spoke to Bill Goodwin about it, his response was simply that most of the business was being done on the internet.

Now to last year's National in Chicago--IT WAS JUST AS BIG AND VIBRATING WITH VIRTUALLY THE SAME ENERGY AS THE '92 NATIONAL HAD BEEN! What an uplifting feeling re the future of the hobby!

In a somewhat related vein, just bought another coin book for study, reflecting on one international banker/coin collector's assembling a type coin collection, which was eventually sold in 2007, and the profits he made. As I recall, he purchased a 1793 half cent in mid-grade, very fine condition, Ms. Liberty facing left variation, for something in the $4,000 range, then sold it approximately five years later for over $10K. Obviously, there are a lot of type coin collectors, and thus significant demand, but one would think that this coin would have to be at least fairly rare, right? Well, the two major coin grading services had graded a total of 500 such coins! Big, big demand, relatively scarce supply = substantial value. As we watch prices go up in our own hobby, I think this is the direction we will continue to head in.

All the best,

Larry

Stetson_1883 02-10-2016 08:24 AM

My dad lived in Hicksville, NY while I was in Florida. My parents were divorced. Every summer I got to visit him for a few months and we'd stock up on official baseballs from Modells and hit up the Hofstra Univ. Shows where they always had tons of great HOF guests. Back then I was just into new stuff and autographs. Huge show, great fun. Wont ever forget it. RIP Artie.

stlcardsfan 02-10-2016 10:42 AM

The first I remember would have been around 1980. I would have been 13. I think it was in a hotel in Collinsville or Edwardsville, IL. My mom took me and we were working on the 1972 set. I remember we bought the complete second series. Didn't know it at the time but it was from vending. The cards were curved and in perfect condition! I thought it was so cool. Still have those cards today as part of my set.

There was a kid on my little league team that also collected cards. His mom was also helping him. I remember they were working on a Hank Aaron run. His mom bought the '54 RC that day. He didn't even go to the show! I remember it was extremely low grade. I don't know what she paid but I'm sure it wasn't much. I remember thinking I wouldn't even want that card but I sure wish I had it now. Pretty lucky kid to have his mom buy a card like that when he didn't even want to go. BTW, he ended up in prison!

parkerj33 02-10-2016 12:00 PM

Lots of great stories here. I will share a couple of mine....I think my first show may have been a small room in a holiday inn in south bend, age 11, around 1979...sponsored by johnny's collectibles of indianapolis. I think i bought a 69 carlton for some unknown reason. Always went with my Dad, who was not a collector, just liked to help me. I was always working on finishing and upgrading a 72 set that I had bought from a kid in the neighborhood who was going to throw it out for $5. Still have all those cards and they are rough!

Also recall going to my one and only national in 1983 in Chicago, buying a boatload of minty fresh 71 commons from bill henderson, the "commons king". still have all those too.

Finally, cherish all the times i went to shows with my 5th grade teacher, mr. grenert - he was instrumental in shaping my life path - don't ever understimate the effect a teacher can have on a youngster!

CurtisFlood 02-10-2016 12:05 PM

I remember going to my first card show in Joplin, MO in 1989. I had been buying some 89 Upper Deck boxes, and needed a Jerome Walton card to finish the high numbers. That was all I bought that day, but just from observation of the dealers I thought to myself that these guys are not doing their best in terms of being courteous and fair in their treatment of customers. I was setting up at shows within six months and have been doing so ever since. Looking forward to the Atlantic City National which will be my 11th National.

dealme 02-10-2016 01:00 PM

My first show would have been around 1987 at the Indianapolis convention center. I remember my dad took me and I ended up getting the 86 and 87 Topps sets. I also remember getting that particular month's Beckett which had Darryl Strawberry on it.

I got such a kick of walking around with my dad, looking at the cards from the 50s and 60s, and listening to my dad talk about the exploits of the older players on those cards. I'm thrilled that I rediscovered the hobby a few years ago after a bit of a hiatus.

Cheers,
Mark

Laxcat 02-10-2016 01:25 PM

Sitting on Hank Aaron's lap for a picture. I was like 5. I had my little kid glove with me and he tossed the ball back and forth with me for awhile too. Growing up in the hobby was great.


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