[HolyGrail]

October has always been a slower show with fewer dealers and less inventory. And smaller crowds.

But I was there all three days and had a fantastic show!

1) I purchased one of my last Holy Grails: a signed Seaver rookie from Joe T. at Memory Lane who had a dupe after buying the best one in the hobby (PSA 9/9). He wrote me a sweet note to display with it. He also showed me his run of 58 signed Seaver cards, also the best in the hobby. I had been cultivating this deal for months because Joe knows how much I love Seaver.

2) I got essential, inexpensive hobby supplies from Dan who sets up against the wall.

3) I bought two Mickey Mantle books for $10 for research and a rare religious pamphlet at the end of his life for research I'm doing. I would never have found that last piece on eBay because I didn't know it existed.

4) I reported a story on the new security system installed after big thefts from the last show and worked on two other stories. Another about a dealer who put only Mantle cards in his bike spokes in the early 60s and the other about Stan Loch who completed his run of 200 Mantles after 30 years. He just got a PSA 2.5 '52 Topps Mantle.

5) I spoke for hours about the hobby to two of the really good guys, Portland, ME dealer Don Hontz and Al Crisafulli of Love of the Game. They gave me some all-time great hobby stories, some involving Net54 contributors. Every dealer at these shows is super friendly and helpful.

6) On Sunday, I helped broker a deal for a 1948 Bowman Musial SG 7 between Jon Celona of Champion Sports Cards and a super new collector Jason Epstein. It's become a hot card and Jason's favorite.

7) I met and spoke to Tom Lasorda for a minute and got snapped at by his nasty body guard who Lasorda yelled at for being mean to me.

8) I saw a very cool vintage Mickey Mantle ad display piece, one of a kind.

Etc. Etc.

The biggest White Plain shows are August, January, and March. But they are all good. Jimmy and Brian do a great job and deserve credit and support to keep these going.

How can you replicate these live experiences? It's mostly about the wonderful friendships; like the National, except on a smaller scale.

David Seideman (Senior Contributor, Forbes)