2018 Cleveland National Report - Sneak Peak, Round 2 and Round 3 is LIVE

[KMayUSA6060]

Originally Posted by buymycards

If I remember correctly, parking at the Donald Stephens Center at the Chicago National was $20 per day.

I regret missing the National in Cleveland. I love going to the National, and my wife and I are already making plans to attend next years National in Chicago.

Rick

Does the Donald Stephens Center charge for every event?

[buymycards]

Originally Posted by KMayUSA6060

Does the Donald Stephens Center charge for every event?

I don't know. I have gone to card shows at that venue in the spring, in the fall, and at the National and they have always charged for parking. I'm guessing that they also charge for parking for antique shows, art shows, etc.

[kailes2872]

I was thinking about doing a new a new post but didn't want to muddy the waters. I made the decision on Wednesday to take the day off today and travel over to the National. I had low expectations and event though I took about a grand, I really didn't expect to find anything worth buying - since my want list was pretty short and the prices tend to be high.

The toll on 76/80 keeps going up. It was $7.45 to get back into Pennsylvania. plus the I-80 tolls. Couple that with $3.09 per gallon and it was probably $20 bucks just getting there and back.

The $10 parking seems to be over the top. I know that admission ($22) is paying a promoter versus paying the IX center but $32 before walking in the door was kind of a bummer.

But I digress... on with the show.

I have been to Cleveland in 2014 and AC in 2016. Both prior times I took the boys. Unfortunately today the 19 year old had to work and the 16 year old had band camp so it was a solo trip. I didn't think I would miss them as much as I did. They go for me, but, it is our thing and deep down, I think that they enjoy it. Without them, I went table to table very quickly without a plan or purpose.

My original intent was to just look at tables and make a note of anything that stood out. I then decided that my want list would consist of a '64 Topps Giant Set - even though they are readily available, I wanted to pull the trigger and get it into the collection. I was also looking at 74/75 and 73/74 Topps basketball. Again, a couple of low dollar sets that would continue to round out the collection. I was also hoping to find a '76 Topps Traded baseball - as I really need to get it to put it in the binder and I keep forgetting (If anyone has one, let me know).

I found a '64 Giant Set. It was $250. I looked at completed sales and it seemed high but I at least wanted to engage with the dealer. I stood there for about 5 minutes but the guy did not even look at me, despite no other customers. After a while, I just left the table and figured that I would make a note of the table and come back if it was the best that I found. I went to another table and they had an ungraded Giant set... for $1400. I passed.

I then went to a table where they had a bunch of sets listed. They had the Topps Giants listed for $185. I asked if I could see it. The lady, as she handed it to me, immediately said, we have some room in that if you like it. It looked nice, mid grade and she offered it for $170 so that was where we settled.

On the 14th or 15th row, I found a guy, Mike McKee, I believe. He had a going out of business sign and a sign that said make an offer on the entire table. He had both 74/75 and 73/74. Both were sharp. He had the older one for $175 and the newer one for $160. I asked if he would take $320 for both and he said yes. Of course, after he said yes, I wondered if he would take $300... such is life.

So, I was about 90 minutes in and only missing the '76 traded set which I couldn't find.

I spent the next 3-4 hours going to different tables. I met Evan at his table but Sean was already gone. I saw Kevin & Pat from Kevin Savage Cards. I saw Uncle Dick and Wayne from Shoebox Cards. I got the chance to meet Don from Don's Cards and saw all of those beautiful CJ's (oh...my...goodness...). I met Adam at the LOTG table and told him that my neighbor got food poisoning last week and immediately thought of his act (my buddy lost about 20 pounds - Adam's routine had that joke in it)...

At 3:30 Leighton from Just Collect did a break on a 20ct cello pack from '55 Bowman. In the break was a really nice Ernie Banks. Then, card 19 was the Mickey Mantle - pack fresh and 60/40 centered. It was really cool seeing that happen.

I was back in the car by 4:30 heading back home - happy that I made the decision to go. I have attached some of the picture highlights over the next couple of posts.

It was great meeting Net54 friends in person.

As my set run has gotten closer to complete, I have realized just what a large % of the material is 50's and 60's topps. Since I have almost all of it, I would scan quickly to the next table. Modern is not my thing, so I would natually be pulled to pre-war. I am still a couple years away from 52 Topps and 51 Bowman being finished so I won't be full on into pre-war until probably 2021 or 2022 - but I am getting excited about the prospect! I love looking at those '38 big head Goudey's. The CJs are so bright red. My favorite table had 3 complete Goudey sets, a 34, a 35, and a 36. Of all the prewar, I am probably the least interested in T206 (blasphemy, I know), but it is still nice to look at those familiar cards. For the folks that are all pre-war, all the time, I would guess that maybe 10% of the tables would have had your material. For those looking at thinly traded stuff - beyond the big pre-war sets, you might have had a half dozen tables that would interest you.

Pricing was such a wide swath. I could usually look at the price of a commonly traded card - a 33 Ruth, a Red Cobb, etc., and know right away if they had any interest in selling anything. A lot of times that answer was no - but a few tables had strong prices and were even willing to negotiate on top of that.

I probably won't be in Chicago next year, but AC is definitely a possibility in 2020.

Edit - I have about 10 more pictures but every time that I attempt to upload, it says upload failed. I even tried to rename them to a generic name to see if that was the reason. I would be happy to add more if anyone can coach me through it. Otherwise, I only have these 4 posted.

[whitehse]

Originally Posted by KMayUSA6060

Does the Donald Stephens Center charge for every event?

If you knew about the city of Rosemont you would know they are trying to find a way to charge for the air that you breathe. Yep....they charge for every event.

[Michael B]

Originally Posted by KMayUSA6060

Does the Donald Stephens Center charge for every event?

You do not need to park at the Stephens Center or at the parking garage across the street. The Rosemont subway station is about 1/3 mile north of the convention center on the same street. It is just north of Rte 190. Parking there was $7.00 all day (up to 14 hours). If you are in reasonable shape it is a less than 10 minute walk. The trick to parking there is to make absolutely sure of your space number. I remember pre-paying at a kiosk and you entered your space number. A local told me to pay with a credit card so you would get a receipt to prove payment. They check the spaces during the day and tow for non-paying parkers. From the CTA website:


Rosemont
5801 N. River Rd. •$7.00 for 0 to 14 hours
•$9.00 for 14 to 18 hours
•$13.00 for 18 to 24 hours
•Each additional 24 hours (or fraction thereof) $13.00
•Lost ticket: $39.00
750

[CurtisFlood]

Originally Posted by KMayUSA6060

Does the Donald Stephens Center charge for every event?

That parking venue is a cash cow for the owner. They just keep raising prices, I'll not miss them when I retire. They charge for every event I have attended, which includes the March and November Fanatics Shows and an occasional summer show.

[Michael B]

Originally Posted by CurtisFlood

That parking venue is a cash cow for the owner. They just keep raising prices, I'll not miss them when I retire. They charge for every event I have attended, which includes the March and November Fanatics Shows and an occasional summer show.

From my earlier post about parking in Chicago. I would suspect that all of the hotels charge more than this lot. If you are not comfortable parking there overnight you could move it, however for a full day at the show it is much cheaper. Well worth the walk though from what I saw some collectors could not make it. It would be a very good deal even for dealers.

You do not need to park at the Stephens Center or at the parking garage across the street. The Rosemont subway station is about 1/3 mile north of the convention center on the same street. It is just north of Rte 190. Parking there was $7.00 all day (up to 14 hours). If you are in reasonable shape it is a less than 10 minute walk. The trick to parking there is to make absolutely sure of your space number. I remember pre-paying at a kiosk and you entered your space number. A local told me to pay with a credit card so you would get a receipt to prove payment. They check the spaces during the day and tow for non-paying parkers. From the CTA website:


Rosemont
5801 N. River Rd. •$7.00 for 0 to 14 hours
•$9.00 for 14 to 18 hours
•$13.00 for 18 to 24 hours
•Each additional 24 hours (or fraction thereof) $13.00
•Lost ticket: $39.00
Capacity 750

[bounce]

OKAY GANG! Saturday was my last day at the show, so this will cover that and an overall wrap up.

By Saturday morning, I have to be honest - I was pretty sick of baseball cards and memorabilia. I don't know if it's just my age, or possibly coming down off the high of acquiring the T204 Ramly Walter Johnson and thinking no way there's an encore to that, but upon entering the show Saturday there was literally nothing else I was particularly interested in chasing. As it was, that actually worked out pretty well for me because one of my buddies was at the show and had several autograph guests that he wanted to me to help him with.

Here are a few pictures, in all I got to meet Roger Clemens, Rickey Henderson, Daryl Strawberry and Cal Ripken Jr.






Thanks to my efforts, my buddy gave me one of the Clemens autograph tickets. On short notice, I had to find something to get signed. Being from Houston, I actually have several items signed by him already but there was one in particular I've always wanted and this seemed to be the perfect setup to get it. The other one I've had in my collection for awhile, but this is the perfect complement to it. 1986 MLB All Star Programs - played right here in Houston, and Rocket was the MVP.


I did manage to look around some more, and ultimately decided I just couldn't pass up on a couple more items for my Presidential autograph collection. I got these from a dealer I've bought from now for the past four Nationals and done a couple other deals in between. He is someone I really have enjoyed getting to know because of these shows, and I can honestly say in the non-card and really non-sport space, he is one of the absolute best. He even said to me that he was disappointed that we hadn't actually done any business yet and was wondering if something was wrong. I told him of course not, I'd simply been noodling on several of the items trying to decide my course of action. We settled on prices on for these, and we will soon be discussing another couple items as well.

These are signed by Grover and Frances Cleveland, and Zachary Taylor.



As was the case Friday, I was even more of a wanderer on Saturday especially considering I was wearing down. But my eye was still pretty sharp, and I saw this sitting on one dealer's table who obviously didn't deal in unopened. Pretty sure he took as part of a trade, and I got what I felt like was a smoking hot deal on it. 1981 Topps Football wax box, BBCE wrapped.


Shortly before heading to the airport, I took one last run by the BBCE booth. I wanted to see the results of the 86 Fleer box break, and also just wanted to see what might be left in the cases. This one caught my eye. Just WOW!


And finally, dumbest thing I saw today. My buddy and I literally stood here for AT LEAST 5 minutes, but to no avail. No one ever showed up, no one yelled from a short space away to say "coming". An empty booth, with a free phone and lunch. I could say a lot of different things here, but I'm just going to be quiet and let you decide the word or phrase you'd use to describe this scene.

[bounce]

And now for the wrap up.

THE LAND and THE SHOW
I had never been to Cleveland before. In terms of the actual space and layout, I actually do prefer it over Chicago. The food choices are far superior inside the show, and I really preferred this layout versus Chicago where there are dealer tables on the side with all the corporate stuff in the middle. However, as others have noted the internet service was atrocious. Luckily for me, I didn't really experience the same issues as others (maybe my carrier was THE ONE that worked), but mine was still slow at times and in 2018 there's just no excuse for it being so bad. My hotel was a short Uber away, and there were some decent places to eat near me, but from the hotels and outside of show perspective I do prefer Chicago. I have a few more flight options to Chicago, Cleveland was somewhat limited but not terrible. Again, slight nod to Chicago if I had to choose. I have to believe Cleveland keeps it spot in the lineup because of economics somehow. I've heard that they give the space for free to get the show (and thus the hotels, etc.) - that would make sense to me if true but sounds almost too good to be true. Give me a choice, and I would vote Chicago, but that's mainly because of the non-show factors.

THE DEALERS and THE DOUGH
I've discussed the dealers a bit already, but I'll recap. Wednesday and Thursday felt like the dealers were trying to set a new record price for every graded card they had out to sell. That tactic is extremely irritating and I think very short sighted. As a guy who walks around with a fair amount of money to spend, and seemingly unlimited opportunities to spend it, pricing your cards more than 15-20% higher than going market as a starting ask costs you my business most of the time, because there's so much to see and I really don't want to waste time haggling when it's that far away. My REAL want list is pretty limited and those are the only things I'd even consider paying up that much for. However, I will buy just about anything that catches my eye and has a fair price. It took a couple days for dealers to loosen up IMO, but seemed like by Friday dealers were coming down to earth. Rare modern cards of Trout were the only real exception I saw, those were being feverishly sought and many were selling despite the jaw dropping prices. I do think money was flowing pretty freely every day I was there, although by Saturday it did feel like it had slowed down. I also haven't mentioned it in this post, but it's been discussed here before. I know there are a lot of people who feel like collecting is and will do very well, and I wouldn't necessarily dispute that. However, if you attend this show it's easy to see that there is a real lack of diversity in the attendees. I think there is definitely a demographic problem that will hold some of these markets back over time, but until the economy slows down I doubt we will see that impact.

WHAT TO KNOW and TIME TO GO
I didn't book this trip until late this year, but obviously I was very pleased I went. Probably my 2nd favorite of the past four Nationals, but it's close. Getting your #1 wish list card obviously plays a big factor, but I was able to stay pretty steadily engaged this time which wasn't necessarily the case in previous Nationals. Maybe the experience of going to several is helping. This is really the ONLY PLACE you have the opportunity to see things you can't other places and might not ever again. If you've ever thought about going, I'm hopeful that my write-ups will help push you over the edge to attend. As far as I'm concerned, the more the merrier. I really did enjoy the people this time, and I'm looking forward to developing more of these relationships, and ultimately hoping to do more connecting with those folks in person next time around. Working the tables at the show is certainly fun, but I'm that much more interested in talking to folks I primarily know electronically, and I'd really like to be able to do more meet ups for trading outside the show, when the time pressure and surroundings aren't as distracting. Inevitably, there's a sense and element of "competition" inside the arena, but that's not really there after the show ends each day. So to Ryan, James, Kurt, Adam, Mike, a couple Keiths, Patrick, a couple more Joes, and everyone else I'm forgetting - thanks for a great time and another great experience. I hope everyone can enjoy their collecting as much as I have been, and here's to hopefully another bright future of it between now and National 2019.

And thanks everyone for putting up with me this week. I'll try to behave as we move forward. :smile:

[Rhotchkiss]

David, thanks for all the posts - I really enjoyed all reading your updates. I am glad we finally got to meet in person and a huge congratulations on roping that T204 Johnson - it is an awesome example of an awesome card!! Stay in touch and remind me that I owe you a primer on mobile home parks. Talk soon.

Ryan

[CurtisFlood]

Originally Posted by Michael B

From my earlier post about parking in Chicago. I would suspect that all of the hotels charge more than this lot. If you are not comfortable parking there overnight you could move it, however for a full day at the show it is much cheaper. Well worth the walk though from what I saw some collectors could not make it. It would be a very good deal even for dealers.

You do not need to park at the Stephens Center or at the parking garage across the street. The Rosemont subway station is about 1/3 mile north of the convention center on the same street. It is just north of Rte 190. Parking there was $7.00 all day (up to 14 hours). If you are in reasonable shape it is a less than 10 minute walk. The trick to parking there is to make absolutely sure of your space number. I remember pre-paying at a kiosk and you entered your space number. A local told me to pay with a credit card so you would get a receipt to prove payment. They check the spaces during the day and tow for non-paying parkers. From the CTA website:


Rosemont
5801 N. River Rd. •$7.00 for 0 to 14 hours
•$9.00 for 14 to 18 hours
•$13.00 for 18 to 24 hours
•Each additional 24 hours (or fraction thereof) $13.00
•Lost ticket: $39.00
Capacity 750

The show gives dealers a good price on parking discount, we share rides daily from the hotel, and do everything we can to keep the parking costs as low as possible.

[KMayUSA6060]

Originally Posted by CurtisFlood

That parking venue is a cash cow for the owner. They just keep raising prices, I'll not miss them when I retire. They charge for every event I have attended, which includes the March and November Fanatics Shows and an occasional summer show.

Interesting. I do know with the IX Center, they don't charge for parking for the huge car show that takes place in March (as I've previously stated). THAT'S what irks me the most regarding the pay-to-park. Not to mention a multi-day parking pass isn't offered.


To weigh in on the National location, and I may be a homer, but I heard TONS of people rave about it being in Cleveland, and how underrated they found CLE to be. Ease of commuting, cost of living, etc.

[CurtisFlood]

Originally Posted by KMayUSA6060

Interesting. I do know with the IX Center, they don't charge for parking for the huge car show that takes place in March (as I've previously stated). THAT'S what irks me the most regarding the pay-to-park. Not to mention a multi-day parking pass isn't offered.


To weigh in on the National location, and I may be a homer, but I heard TONS of people rave about it being in Cleveland, and how underrated they found CLE to be. Ease of commuting, cost of living, etc.

To be honest I have loved every national I have set up at. I have enjoyed Cleveland the most, but Chicago, Baltimore, and Atlantic City are very good as well. I've done the most Nationals in Chicago, Cleveland next, and Baltimore twice. Atlantic City only once, but I may just decide to go again next time. I definitely want to go back to Cleveland one more time.

[ullmandds]

personally...I liked cleveland better than chitown...much less expensive all around and the venue much easier to navigate than chicago. more food options as well.

[Exhibitman]

This year, I decided to travel on Monday and hit the show Tuesday since I heard that early set-up day is now a ‘thing’ for relentless deal hunters like me.

I was really looking forward to this show. Monday morning I awoke at 4:30 and couldn’t fall back to sleep. I tossed and turned until my wife took me to the Fly Away bus terminal for the hour ride to the airport.

The trip started inauspiciously: the airport shuttle bus broke down and they piled us into taxis, four to a Prius including luggage. Ours was driven by a surly Armenian immigrant who spent the long trip to the airport giving us chapter and verse about how poorly the bus company paid for his services and how he was missing out on better tips. Cramming my 6’3” into the rear of that cab I pulled a groin muscle and spent the rest of the day indelicately rubbing my crotch region whenever I could.

But I digress.

I arrived at LAX in enough time to make my flight easily and slipped the driver a couple of bucks for his cheery driving. The flight to Cleveland was fine. Though I have to say, United Airlines first class to Cleveland really is an oxymoron. It wasn’t the worst first class I’ve flown (that distinction goes to Hawaii Air) but it was a disrespectable second. The seating was blah, the food underwhelming, and the service was practically non-existent, but at least I got a decent overhead bin for my grotesquely heavy bag o cards. Without a dead dog in it. And no one was beaten and dragged off the flight...but at least that could have been entertaining.

I arrived at the Sheraton after what is by that point 8 hours of travel. I went to my room with the non-functional room key, got that straightened out, and decided to eat in the hotel. Did you know that everything in Cleveland comes with fries? I didn’t. But it does. And salad invariably includes bacon and cheese. I didn’t care, though, as I was so tired that I went right to bed. Where I experienced insomnia. That may have had a bit to do with watching Sons of Anarchy on my laptop just before I lay down. Who would have suspected that a violent drama about a motorcycle gang would affect my sleep?

After a luxurious breakfast Tuesday morning…no, wait, that wasn’t me…I went over to the IX (pronounced “ick”) Center early to get my badge. LOTG was kind enough to sponsor me so the precious ducat (sorry) was to be in the LOTG envelope waiting for me. Now you would assume that since my name was on the freakin envelope it would be a simple matter to give me the freakin' badge, and you would be wrong. I am glad I am persuasive because I had to use all my skill to get that badge out of the well-meaning but dim woman helping me.

“I’m here to pick up my badge to start setting up for Love of the Game Auctions.”

“What’s your name?”

“Adam Warshaw”

[looks under “W”] “We don’t have an envelope.”

“I know. Try Love of the Game Auctions.”

“Are you Al Crisa…Crisa..”

“fulli. No, I am working with Al. My name is Warshaw. I am supposed to pick up my badge.”

“Al’s not here yet.”

“I know. He will be here later. I want to start setting up the booth.”

“Al’s not here yet.”

“Is there someone else I can talk to?”

Eventually we get it sorted, I get my badge, and in I go.

The IX Center. Lovely. It stinks of exhaust fumes because dealers are driving their cars onto the floor to set up. The lights are barely on. Here and there, dealers have stuff ready, so I start picking.

Now, besides my endless want list of weird crap, one of my goals this year is to find cheap raw cards to replace my slabbed 1970s cards. I am sick of the heavy, bulky plastic. I want my cards in albums so I can enjoy them readily, turning pages instead of fumbling with plastic cases. I find myself over by the ferris wheel at Chandy Greenholt’s table. Chandy is a dealer from Raleigh who had hundreds of thousands of cards of every stripe all mixed together in 5000 count boxes. I’ve known Chandy for years and usually find something at his table. He tells me that he bought out the inventory of a swap meet card dealer and is tossing it out there for the show. All I know is that I am pulling out handfuls of exactly the cards I am looking for: clean, crisp HOFers at a buck a throw. I spend most of the morning and early afternoon there.

After about four hours of digging, I have to take a break. I pay for my stack of HOFers and go over to the tables in the nascent food court to put the cards into the Card Savers I brought with me for just this sort of pick. I then resume the walking and stalking, making a few more buys. One table I come to has dozens of Star Cal decals for sale. I have been looking for an Al Rosen for years. My search ends. Nice. I also pick up a quartet of boxing exhibits at a throw-away price including Dempsey, Tunney, Leonard, and one signed by heavyweight champ Jack Sharkey. I then run into a pair of boxing buyers who make my largest sale of the week before I even set up. End of early set up day and I have taken in almost as much as I did the entire show last year

As the show closes, me and another LOTG parasite head back to the Sheraton and get a group together to go to dinner. I’ve now had 36 hours without a decent meal and my stomach is churning so we have to go somewhere better than the hotel slophouse. I find a restaurant on Yelp that seems promising, and we end up having a pretty good meal.

I gotta say, Cleveland is an odd place. Riding through it on the way to dinner I honestly cannot tell whether a neighborhood is good or bad: it all looks run down. One thing we all notice is the large number of fast food places and funeral homes. Any connection there? Back to the Sheraton and into the bar for the evening. I head upstairs at a reasonable hour and I miss Luis Tiant hanging out at the bar. Serves me right.

Wednesday. Another bad breakfast at the Sheraton and it is off to the show for the longest day. Now, in Chicago or Baltimore I will leave the show for an hour or so to nap before the evening because I can easily walk across the street to my hotel. Not the IX…try a $30 round trip Uber. So I muscle through 11+ hours of picking. How many cards do I look at? I have no idea, but I buy so many that I have to buy a box of Card Savers.

At one point I am wandering through the ass-end of the show and I see one of the infamous ten-cent tables, except this one has a crispy looking 1973 Bob Hayes sticking out of a row of cards, so I decide to take a look. I am elbow deep into a group of pack fresh 1973-79 football cards when Ed Hans (hi Ed) runs into me and starts giving me grief for going through ‘crap’ at a ten-cent table. A few minutes later I pull out a 1970 OPC sticker of Bobby Orr in nice shape, which is about a $50 card. I pay for it and 49 other HOFers from the seventies. Five bucks. I go over to Ed’s table and give him a moment of grief. Childish? I suppose. But fun. Meanwhile, a walk-in at my table brought me two of the very rarest boxing Exhibit cards:



From a ridiculously scarce early 1930s print run. I've only seen either card a couple of times in 20+ years.

That night we are all too wrecked to go out—I did not realize that my toenails could ache—soe we dine at the Sheraton. Then to the Sheraton bar. Sitting to our right at dinner, Artis Gilmore; to the left, Frank Robinson. In the bar later, the very personable Eric Metcalf. This is fun.

Thursday is a carbon copy of Wednesday but shorter. Until dinner. A friend has set up a trip for German food. It was great. You gotta love a place with liver dumpling soup, pierogies and Schwartzwalder kirschtort for dessert.

Friday and I was hung over as hell, without ever having a drink. Maybe it is getting older, or fatter, but the National has a way of making me feel like I’ve gone 15 rounds with Ali. In my impaired state I decide to go to the PSA luncheon. I regret missing the day they handed out that CJ Ruth that sold for a few hundred on eBay, so my hopes are high. Nope. Anyone want a heavy book and a signed 1972 Rico Petrocelli? The gifts are worth literally fives of dollars. It was the worst meal I’ve ever had. Nasty chicken, bad beef and frozen veg. Has anyone in Cleveland ever heard of salad? Fresh veg? I return to the show floor and queasily resume my quest, only this time I am out for big game. I am chasing a 1954 Topps Gordie Howe card. The several I see suck and are over priced. I finally find a nice mid-grade and buy it. Then I spot a set break on 1969 Topps Supers and the Hank Aaron is calling my name. I ponder the buy for a while but damn, that PSA 9 is nice, so I do it. Big card off my Aaron list.

Saturday. I am going home and thanks to PSA I have the one thing you want for a plane ride: diarrhea.

The last day at the show is always a bittersweet one. On the one hand I want my bed, my food, my dog and cat, my routine. Yet, as N54 'playa' Robert Silverman says, your worst day at a card show is better than your best day at work. I pick some more cards and try to redeem my Panini redemption card. I've been waiting four months for a signed Stan Lee card I pulled: about a $200 item, and Panini is offering blind boxes of redemption items of comparable value. Well, their "customer service" is a cruel joke. One clerk working one laptop. I wasted about 20 minutes in line and left. A woman in line next to me wanted to leave but had been waiting for a year for the redemption to be fulfilled. On the shuttle back to the hotel I spot a collector with a Panini redemption trade up box and ask how long it took to get it. Two hours. F*** Panini: I am never buying their unopened products again.

I came home with over 400 new items and completely sold out of the books I brought with me.









Only 51 weeks until Chicago. I am already pumped for it.

[irv]

Great write up, Adam.

One of these years I am going to have to attend one of these Nationals. They sure sound entertaining!

[Yoda]

Just a few bullet points about my National experience:
--One would think there would be a direct flight between West Palm Beach and Cleveland, but no. Best bet seemed to be American but with the inevitable plane change in Charlotte, necessitating a mad dash between Concourse C and E. Not fun with a backpack filled with entombed baseball cards. No coronary to report.
--Now Thursday morning and at breakfast sat next to Frank and Mrs. Robinson. Tried not to listen to their conversation but couldn't help myself.
--Over to the Center and was immediately impressed with the layout. Food court and bars off to one side away from the dealers tables. Great choice of junk food, particularly the soft ice cream stands, where I made about a dozen stops over the next few days. Didn't understand the carousel in the middle, which seemed superfluous and a bit silly. No Wi Fi was a bummer but didn't affect me much. Access in and around tables seemed easier than prior Nationals.
--Crowd size seemed manageable and not overwhelming.
--Stopped at LOTG and submitted a nice consignment of pre-war cards to Al. Finally met Jeff, who is a great addition and I am sure will help take LOTG to the next level. The usual suspects were hanging around, drinking Al's free water and generally making a mess of his booth.
--Didn't buy much, mainly, I guess, to due sticker shock and miserable attitude on the part of some dealers. Major auction houses were showing lots of eye candy and strutting their stuff. Their power and influence was palpable.
Did, however, snag a couple of great '14 Cracker Jacks, a Chance and Hooper, from Don Hontz who was kind enough to take my personal check for part of the purchase after I ran out of hundred dollar bills. Thanks Don.
--SGC was, at best, shambolic; tiny submission area, terminals to handle submissions rather than people, terrible communication, broken sealing machine etc. Dave Foreman no where in sight to try and defuse things. A lot of unhappy SGC supporters muttering under their breaths. Meanwhile, even though the crowds were predictably large at PSA, things were moving along and their customers didn't seem about to revolt.
--For me, the Sheraton was a disaster mainly because I suffered a nasty scrape to my leg on the shuttle bus. The Sheraton's attitude was appalling, no offer of medical help, total indifference to my bleeding leg and so on. Carolina Brights is my witness. I am seriously thinking of taking legal action against them, which is something I would never consider if they had responded in a more humane fashion. I will never be their guest again if I can help it.
--Leon, you were missed, but still met up with some old friends and a few Net 54'ers.
If I can get a direct flight, will probably hit Chicago next year. Atlantic City is doubtful. Just don't like the place.