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

[bounce]

I've done daily write-ups for the National on another site for the past couple years, thought folks who couldn't make it might enjoy reading/seeing what's going on so thought I'd post here this year as well.



And here...we...go.

I booked my trip to the National this year pretty late - literally just less than two weeks ago. I have to confess, Cleveland just didn't sound or feel like a great place to attend. I've never been here before, so I had no real basis for the feeling, but the thought of Cleveland did absolutely nothing to get me excited about the show this year. However, a couple consecutive rough weeks at work and it was clear I needed a break. I really enjoy the cards and memorabilia, even if just looking, so I decided to book the trip.

I arrived early Tuesday night so I could get settled in, and saw this at the airport.
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Gotta be a great sign of how awesome and lucky this show is going to be, right? I mean this was at a freaking AIRPORT!

I goofed around Wednesday morning and early afternoon, as the show was officially open 4-8pm today so no real hurry to start standing in line for no good reason. VIPs get in 30 minutes early each day. Speaking of VIPs...I was fortunate this year to get a VIP pass from a friend of mine who ended up not being able to attend. I've gotten the VIP pass myself the past three years, but at this point I have to completely honest with you - I doubt there are many other times when you'd feel like LESS of a VIP than at the National. When you break it down, the daily admission is $19 in advance, so $95 for the week. I think the VIP passes start at $140 or so. Primary benefits appear to me to be the 30 minute early admission, and access to some free autographs and the VIP lounge. While those are nice, in four years I've never gotten a single one of the autographs and I've visited the lounge sparingly. That 30 minutes is about enough to visit maybe a couple rows of tables, so unless you know there's something that you've got to get to (I'm sure many would say the BBCE booth), I don't really think it's worth the extra money. My view is that the VIP tickets are just a way to squeeze an extra $50 out of you to attend the show - there is no real tangible benefit. Yes, I got some cards, too, but there's nothing in there that's rare and the free autographs are not anyone you'd much care about. I guess I can post pictures of the cards tomorrow.

Here's the view of the front of the show and the VIP lounge access. It was so packed in the VIP lounge, only a few tables to sit at (which were all filled) and long lines for the autographs (I think most people were there for Mike Hargrove?), I walked in and turned and walked back out.

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The hall itself is nice and big and spacious. Seems to me it is actually nicer than Chicago, and food/drink amenities are definitely better which should come in handy tomorrow. The layout seems a little different than Chicago, but I only made it halfway through today so don't that for a fact just yet. Unlike Chicago, there weren't stairs anywhere I saw to get more of an aerial view of the show, so these will just have to do.

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I did not make it to the BBCE booth until right before show close, so unfortunately I don't have any pictures of that share today.
The bit I did see looked pretty good, though, and I'm sure there are plenty of great items still available so check back in tomorrow for that. There was an $80,000 case of something, and looks like they were running daily specials as well.

[bounce]

In terms of cool stuff I saw, the following is what caught my eye. In the half of the show I got through today, I'd say the biggest volume was modern stuff, mostly baseball and basketball. Virtually everything was autographs, almost to the point where if I didn't know any better I would think the everything modern was signed.

That said, here was a pretty impressive unsigned card - Trout superfractor. Ask is $200,000 - WHAT?!?!?
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Nice looking Mantle I thought. Ask is $45,000.
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For you unopened fiends, I did run across a table that had what looked like to some solid unopened. I didn't really pay attention to prices, just thought they looked cool.
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I also saw this display, although I must admit one item in here seemed awfully out of place. Pretty "official" looking authentication, no? :wink:

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I also ran across this, and instantly knew what and who it was.
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Yes, today I got to meet the junk wax card cutting artist, Tim. I have to say, his stuff is even more impressive in person and he's a really interesting and nice guy. Again, these creations are unlike anything else you've ever seen, and it's kind of fun to watch him cut some of the cards up and put the pieces in place. Really unique, and again a super nice guy. He answered basically every question I asked about how he did it, how he picks the colors from the cards for the pieces, etc. Just check these out, if you've seen the other threads you now how cool some of the others are as well.
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In the art theme, I saw these late in the day, too. While I'm not really an art collector, I could easily see how some people would be drawn to these types of items. Again, in person they are so much better than in pictures.
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[bounce]

Most of you know Jeff and the Card Country crew, as well as Brady who sets up in their same pod. If you know them, you don't need me to tell you how nice they are or how great their cards are, so I'm not going to do that. I will share one photo form their pod, just because I think the Lajoie Goudey is a super cool card.
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Couple of other interesting cases that I saw. The first is full of turn of the century tobacco cards of various people. I don't know much about the issue, etc. but there were all kinds of subjects like Mark Twain, various Presidents and other famous people from the era. I had not seen a lot of these types of cards before, and considering many were from 1901 or so, it was just impressive they were still around in decent condition like this. The old tobacco packs were also pretty cool.
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And finally, some pretty impressive cardboard and a turn of the century Cracker Jack box. According to this dealer, this box slightly pre-dates the cards, but again just not something you see very often and it caught my eye.
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Before I comment on what seemed like the overall tone of the "market" today...I did actually get on the board today with a purchase. As some of you know, I collect almost everything - modern and vintage cards, autographs and memorabilia, I have a little bit of everything. I do have a list of what I'm primarily looking for, and didn't see much of it today, but because I hit a lot of different areas there's always something for me to find. Last year it took me almost two days to finally get on the board, but today it only took about 90 minutes. This is a Calvin Coolidge autographed White House card. I've always liked his signature, and this one is pretty clean. Nice addition to my Presidents autograph collection.

[bounce]

Brief comment on tone of the market and pricing. I personally did NOT see a lot of buying action today, but when I did it was more of the modern cards. Rare Trout RCs were selling pretty well, things like the 2011 Update parallels (especially the red border), and lot of people were asking about the Chrome refractors and base autos.

In terms of pricing, in general I would say I was pretty disappointed today. Every single dealer that bothered to price their cards (so many of them still don't even bother) had them priced IN MY OPINION at least 20% or more over current market. Many of the dealers price them on the back, so you have to ask to find out but at least in those cases there is a price they can quote you. There are still plenty of dealers who can't even do that, which is a huge turnoff to me now. However, except for a couple of Nolan Ryan and Sandy Koufax rookies I asked about, virtually every other price quote was so high it almost couldn't even be countered. Couple of specific examples, I've been looking for a nice 1948 Leaf Jackie Robinson. I saw a couple of nice looking 5s today, they weren't perfect centering by any means but they were nice looking cards. VCP is $4,360 on a 5, highest price in 2 years is right at $6,000 - two asks today were $7,000 and $6,750. Again, these cards did not qualify as high end by any stretch. When you're more than $2,000 above a normal selling price, which is around 50% higher than that average price, you're just not inviting a counter - you're basically saying I'm not here to sell, I'm just here to show.

There is also another 10-15% of the booths that I honestly have no idea how they even cover the cost of their booths. I don't collect everything, obviously, but I collect enough different things that it's really tough to not have even something I might be interested in. But there are booths like this. Again, honestly no idea how they make any money and wondering if they just setup to have something to do because they certainly aren't busy selling much if anything.

Finally, I will wrap today with probably the dumbest three things I heard. I'm hoping this gives folks at least a small chuckle.

1) Gentleman at a booth as me and another customer start to ask for prices on some vintage graded cards:
"This isn't my booth. Let me call him, I'm just sitting here." - NOTE TO BOOTH OWNER, if you aren't available and you don't price your cards, you probably can't sell them. This happened less than 20 minutes into the show opening.

2) Couple of young-ish guys who were sharing part of a pod. This pair was definitely past college age, but reminded me of this newer generation and how much I just don't understand them. I could have never done this, despite however much economic sense it may make. And their cases were full of modern basketball cards priced anywhere from $100 to $5,000 each.
Dude 1 - "I'm back with my parents."
Dude 2 - "Do you pay rent?"
Dude 1 - "No, so I can just stash away."
Dude 2 - "Yeah man, why not? Just have to obey a few rules?"
Dude 1 - "Yeah, it's not a big hassle and they cook for me to, so why not?"

3) Young guy showing off an impressive Stockton autograph card, and discussing prices with one of the dealers. The dealer is a guy I've seen each year, and he has some really nice stuff but it's always overpriced. I didn't get a good look at the card but I really think it was a 2003-04 Exquisite Number Pieces autograph numbered out of /12 - you can find it on eBay, it was listed for $12k but didn't sell.
Stockton Owner - "Yeah, the prices are really crazy on some of this stuff."
Dealer - "Yes, sometimes I price things and I think it's high and I come back in the morning and it's already been bought now."
Stockton Owner - "I know what you mean. I listed the card for like $10,000 and was scared to death someone might actually buy it."
LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING RIGHT NOW - unless John Stockton is the one who is trying to give you ONLY $10,000 for that card, you should take that money from literally anyone else who would give it to you and run immediately to the bank and deposit it before they change their minds.

Okay gang - that's it from me today. I will be at it again first thing tomorrow, and will get you the BBCE pics that I know so many of you are longing to see. They have some 1957 football I may need for my set. :smile:

[CW]

Fantastic recap, David. Thank you!

[BruceinGa]

Thanks for the report and great pics! Maybe I'll make it there in the future.

[AGuinness]

Fun read, thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SMPEP]

My annual reminder of why I won't go back to the national until they bring it back to the West Coast. BRING BACK ANAHIEM!!!!!!!

Cheers,
Patrick

[ibuysportsephemera]

Great review...please keep them coming.


Jeff

[Neal]

Good stuff, thanks for sharing!

[calvindog]

I was there from 10-7 yesterday. The Cleveland floor/food/spacing is significantly better than Chicago and Baltimore Nationals. While the IX Center is not attached to the airport or any hotel, it's five mins away and not a problem to get back and forth. I'd pick Cleveland ahead of the other cities just for the actual floor walking experience. The hotels are dumps but adequate if you're mostly there to see cards. Nearby restaurants are fine+ for dinner.

I didn't see much extraordinarily different material than what I'm used to from other Nationals but pretty much you can find something you want or need.

Just picked up a couple of items: a Seattle Pilots ashtray which I'm giddy about and this Hoss Radbourn Red Stockings Cigar card from Glen Mechanick who, year in and out, has the most interesting cards/material on the floor and is a pleasure to speak to and deal with (a pearl before swine in the dealer pool).

Spent some time with Brian Dwyer of REA who is a serious, hard-working dude. Head and shoulders ahead of what you'd expect from an auction house owner these days, Joe T and Dan McKee who are always great to see, and Deplorable Dewolf who took me out for some great dinners. I'm looking forward to next year in Chicago.

[insidethewrapper]

Do you have to be a dealer to set up at the National or can a collector set up and sell parts of their collection ?

[h2oya311]

Originally Posted by calvindog

Just picked up a couple of items: a Seattle Pilots ashtray which I'm giddy about and this Hoss Radbourn Red Stockings Cigar card from Glen Mechanick who, year in and out, has the most interesting cards/material on the floor and is a pleasure to speak to and deal with (a pearl before swine in the dealer pool).

Delicious card! Great pick-up on that Red Stockings Cigar Radbourn!

[rhettyeakley]

Originally Posted by calvindog

I was there from 10-7 yesterday. The Cleveland floor/food/spacing is significantly better than Chicago and Baltimore Nationals. While the IX Center is not attached to the airport or any hotel, it's five mins away and not a problem to get back and forth. I'd pick Cleveland ahead of the other cities just for the actual floor walking experience. The hotels are dumps but adequate if you're mostly there to see cards. Nearby restaurants are fine+ for dinner.

I didn't see much extraordinarily different material than what I'm used to from other Nationals but pretty much you can find something you want or need.

Just picked up a couple of items: a Seattle Pilots ashtray which I'm giddy about and this Hoss Radbourn Red Stockings Cigar card from Glen Mechanick who, year in and out, has the most interesting cards/material on the floor and is a pleasure to speak to and deal with (a pearl before swine in the dealer pool).

Spent some time with Brian Dwyer of REA who is a serious, hard-working dude. Head and shoulders ahead of what you'd expect from an auction house owner these days, Joe T and Dan McKee who are always great to see, and Deplorable Dewolf who took me out for some great dinners. I'm looking forward to next year in Chicago.

Jeff sorry I missed you at the show. If you were coming back stop by 2255.

[Bugsy]

Originally Posted by calvindog

I was there from 10-7 yesterday. The Cleveland floor/food/spacing is significantly better than Chicago and Baltimore Nationals. While the IX Center is not attached to the airport or any hotel, it's five mins away and not a problem to get back and forth. I'd pick Cleveland ahead of the other cities just for the actual floor walking experience. The hotels are dumps but adequate if you're mostly there to see cards. Nearby restaurants are fine+ for dinner.

I didn't see much extraordinarily different material than what I'm used to from other Nationals but pretty much you can find something you want or need.

Just picked up a couple of items: a Seattle Pilots ashtray which I'm giddy about and this Hoss Radbourn Red Stockings Cigar card from Glen Mechanick who, year in and out, has the most interesting cards/material on the floor and is a pleasure to speak to and deal with (a pearl before swine in the dealer pool).

Spent some time with Brian Dwyer of REA who is a serious, hard-working dude. Head and shoulders ahead of what you'd expect from an auction house owner these days, Joe T and Dan McKee who are always great to see, and Deplorable Dewolf who took me out for some great dinners. I'm looking forward to next year in Chicago.

Fantastic pick-up!

Does anyone have contact info for Glen Mechanick? I tried emailing him about a few trade cards several months ago and never heard from him. I want to make sure I have the right email address.

Thanks!

Chris

[LuckyLarry]

Thur/Fri report

Thursday arrived at opening time and walked the aisles all day until closing met many Net54 and OBC members and had “lunch” with the Net54 football collecting crew. I bought quite a few cards today I just started collecting the 50s/60s Parkhurst hockey cards and I added a big stack even though I can’t tell what year is what yet lol. I also just started 1960 Nu-Card Baseball Highlights (post card sized) and made several purchases. First large purchase I bought a 1954 Dan Dee Mickey Mantle a card which I have been seeking for several years and that card finished my set my wantlist noted PSA1 for around $400 was my target price but this was a few years old and prices have gone up I advised the dealer of my price point (dealer is a friend) he said he was into the card for more than that. Did not see another Dan Dee until the next day one Dealer had three and his bottom line price was very slightly more than what I paid although his were slabbed. (2 days later I’m still glad I got it lol card was $540 it would probably grade a 2 or maybe 3).

Plenty of tables to sit down at IX Center and they have a coffee kiosk and the guy makes a great Americano which served as a pick me up each day.

I met Scott Brockelman owner of Brockelman Auctions I have won lots a few times and wanted to say hi. I pictured a frail thin old guy in my mind. Oh crap was I wrong lol my Auction payments will never be tardy! Great to meet OBC and Net54 friends old and new!

Picked up two hits 1935 Goudey 4 in 1 I’m down to four cards left for my master set 707 cards had one but Levi knows what he has lol!

Final pickup story for day two 1953 Topps World on Wheels cards 160-180 are SP very tough come with blue Backs I have all these cards 171-180 also can be found with Red backs tougher still I have not even seen one but new dealer friend sold me two of them $50 each I was glad to get them.

After the show OBC members had a BBQ at Sams house it was so great but we got back to the hotel exhausted and didn’t get to sleep until after 1 or so. To tired to report yesterday.

Friday still in shock from spending over $500 on a piece of cardboard I started out slow and no better place than Chandys $1 bargain bazaar to kill some time and settle in. I did purchase a $5 item from him which turned out to be a fake or fantasy card and I went back later and he refunded my purchase. Any semi knowledgeable collector should have know what it was I should have known it was a fantasy piece Chandy is top notch in my book. Then I helped via texting a friend of mine Doug D. Purchase a 1935 Goudey Babe Ruth thanks William Chappell the best took PayPal from Doug D in North Carolina and I’ll get the card to him in the mail.

By now after a couple hours at Chandys and then spending someone else’s money I’m about recovered from my big pickup so let’s get shopping. I restocked my doubles box with beautiful 1959 1962 1964 Topps hi numbers $1 each WTH I’ll upgrade my sets and have plenty to send around to OBC. Bought more Parkhurst hockey and several more bargain box finds. Pick up a nice stack of Civil War News cards I am building nine sets to fit in a binder my favorite set as a kid oh I forgot I purchased a CWN wax wrapper yesterday my first it was $10 a good price I think.

I took a peek into this random cardboard box it was filled up with non sports cards but dealer said he was selling as starter sets. But he had not listed the few 1953 World on Wheels cards that were in there and I told him I needed one card for my set. I gave him the card and he sold it to me for one dollar you guessed it was hi number 171 “Pontiac Strato-Star” hi number with a red back. Yesterday I purchased two of these for $100 today I purchased another but this one was $1. So I’m into these high numbers with red backs for $33 each that’s pretty good right?

We turned the lights off at the IX Center and had a great dinner at this great sports bar. Then back to the hotel by 8pm we are all exhausted. But we will be ready in the AM!

Larry

[albrshbr]

I guess my report is like what many others have already stated.

First, my focus this trip is my young son who is with me. There has been a tremendous amount of activities for the younger kids, and he's having a great time! With that being said, I haven't done much shopping for me yet.

As usual, my first stop is Net54's own Ed Hans. I was able to pick up 4 T205's for my set I have been taking my time on. I'm trying to focus on a little bit tougher backs, and I was able to pick up 3 American Beauty's and 1 Sovereign from Ed for good prices. Other than that I picked up 2 other T205s for very reasonable prices a bit later. My only other pick up was 2 E135-type blank backs for $15 each. Don't know why but I pick these up whenever I find them for reasonable prices.

As others have also stated, I have seen quite a few prices that were quite high. A few weeks ago I picked up a T205 Phelan SGC 40 with a Hassan back off eBay for $82. I saw the same card with an asking price of $240.

What's bothering me is the inattentiveness of some of the dealers. I can't begin to count the number of tables I've walked away from. It's not that they're busy with other customers, they just act like they're not interested in selling. I've also stopped by a particular table that has some scarce regionals I'm interested in, and the other guy sharing the booth tells me the guy with the regionals has "stepped away for a few minutes". 3 times in 3 days. I guess it's just bad timing.

And how do some of these folks sell enough to even cover their expenses?

[LuckyLarry]

David: I’m enjoying your reports very much but wanted to comment on the “PLEASE DO NOT PUT HANDS UNDER PLASTIC” table. I do not know this dealers name but he is quite nice and managing his large set up by himself. I assume his stuff (all hockey) is under plastic to prevent theft.
Larry

[Rhotchkiss]

I was there Wednesday and Thursday. I had a great time. The facility was phenomenal and I was very pleased with the selection of pre war (WWI) cards. I made two huge trades and a large purchase. I met many Net54ers - David (the patron of this thread), Sam, Danny, Evan, AJ, etc., met some iconic collectors and industry personalities, caught up with old friends, and made some new friends. My only complaint is there was too much to look at that I left both days starving (never ate) and exhausted. Yes, many cards were overpriced, but whose surprised? Awesome show!

[bounce]

Originally Posted by LuckyLarry

David: I’m enjoying your reports very much but wanted to comment on the “PLEASE DO NOT PUT HANDS UNDER PLASTIC” table. I do not know this dealers name but he is quite nice and managing his large set up by himself. I assume his stuff (all hockey) is under plastic to prevent theft.
Larry

Not to be snarky, but is a sign truly necessary if you've got the plastic over them? I appreciate the concern for theft, but why not just get cases like everyone else? Again, to each their own, it's his stuff and he can handle how he desires. However, I'm sure I'm not alone in the feeling that it just sends the wrong message, and people like me just keep walking so he never gets a chance.

[bounce]

Okay - Round 3 is in the books and what a day it was!

First off, I knew today was going to be a short one for me, as one of my buddies had tickets for the Indians/Angels game tonight, including ON FIELD PASSES for batting practice. As you can tell from some of my previous posts, I'm an autograph collector, too, so the chance to get Trout, Ohtani, Pujols and/or Lindor was exciting. I've gotten Pujols before, but he'd still be a nice score.

I mean we were right there, I could not quite spit on them but it would still be close.
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To get ready for the potential, I bought a 2014 All Star ball (Trout MVP), a 2016 All Star ball (first time Lindor was an All Star) and a regular MLB baseball (could use for anyone). I was ready to rock!

Well, as terrible luck would have it...Lindor had finished BP before they let us down on the field. Strike one.
Trout is hurt with a right wrist injury and apparently hasn't swung a bat in two days, so he didn't participate today. Strike two.
Ohtani doesn't pay attention to anyone, including the Angels family folks. Strike three.
Pujols actually walked over right next to us to talk to someone he knew. By that time, it was one little kid and me and my buddy - 3 total autographs - but when we asked he says "Not right now, Papi" to my friend and walks off. Strike four. Thanks, Albert.

COMPLETE DISASTER! My buddy said that has never happened to him before, and he travels the country and does this frequently in many different cities thanks to his job. To borrow a phrase from someone on Instagram who was disappointed that Trout wasn't in the lineup after they planned their trip including a 7 hour drive - "I'm getting a good taste of the Cleveland fan experience." UGH, really disappointing but still cool to hang out on the field. I'd been to BP many times before, but never that close so it was neat. The stadium is pretty cool as well. Tough to really complain, and yes I understand no one is crying for me. First world problems - I get it.

[bounce]

Moving along to the action, today I did something I rarely do. I just sorta wandered through the aisles, hoping that the cards that wanted me to own them today would somehow draw me near. And sure enough, they did!

I'm sometimes a set collector, so when I saw this on top of a stack at a good price I just knew my 57 set was going to make another leap forward. Of course, foreshadowing things to come, it was literally the only card I needed in a stack of 8s and 9s that was probably 50 cards total. But still, you take them when you can get them.
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I'm also a set collector of the 2012 Topps Chrome football refractor sets. I had put them together in raw form, but had decided in the last few months to go ahead and upgrade my Lucks and Wilsons to BGS 9.5s. So this one was a great add for me at a great price. Got it form a guy who only does baseball, but it took it in on a trade yesterday and it was the only non-baseball card in his case. He was excited to sell it, and I was excited to own it. WIN WIN!
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My wandering then led me to this. Certainly one of the more interesting items I've seen at the show, and I feel like maybe this is one of those odd collections that just about anyone could start - signed coasters? That's a Wilt Chamberlain in case you don't know, and someone actually paid PSA to slab the thing. To each their own, and no I did not purchase this - in fact I forgot to ask the price, I should do that tomorrow.
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This might be one of the coolest booths at the show, not sure my picture does it justice at all. The Card Bar is pretty cool, I'm sure the man-cavers can latch onto some version of this in the future.
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Dumbest thing I heard today...
Me - What are you asking for the PSA 4?
Dealer - These are only available as a pair.
Me - Fine, how much for the pair?
Dealer - $16,000
Me - Ok, but I really only want the PSA 4.
Dealer - I need to keep it so people can see the comparison to the other one.
Me - I'm not sure they need to see both to understand, but good luck to you.

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Yes, I'm willing to concede I'm probably a jerk, as long as everyone else is willing to concede that neither one of those cards are actually for sale.

Moving on to big guns, just know that there's always a bigger gun out there. I finally found them today.
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This next one I think qualifies as a big gun? However, since we've been talking refractors earlier I think this one needs to be re-slabbed as a "Sepia Tone" variation. I'd much rather have the real one, but I know people like the weird T206 stuff and this one definitely qualifies on several levels.
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Some incredible baseballs, a couple of these may just make my pursuit list for the 2019 National. That second Ruth is really a stunning ball.
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[bounce]

In terms of time line, this post is going to fast forward again to tonight after I got back from the game. I sat down at the hotel with one of the guys I met last year at the National, we saw each other Wednesday on the way out and talked, but didn't finally connect in the show until today and planned a meet up tonight. It just reminded me that I'm not doing a very good job of getting to know some of the other collectors as well as I should, not because I'm not interested but more because sometimes I'm not that outgoing. However, I really enjoy meeting with him tonight and talking cards, and jobs, and families and life and all kinds of things. And ultimately getting a nice sized trade done was just the icing on the cake. Anyway, I walked away with these.
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Not a bad day, right? Well, let's rewind back to about 1:30pm this afternoon, when my WHOLE SHOW got made. Remember, I was just wandering aimlessly around, no direction, just zig-zagging my way across the floor. I turned the corner at a booth, and lo and behold...THERE IT WAS! Literally the ONE CARD that was at the VERY TOP of my want list. The National is the only place I would ever see this card, other than online auctions. I won't bore you with details, but it took about 45 minutes to close the deal, but I'm the proud new owner of this. Walter Johnson is my absolute favorite of the original Hall of Famers, and this my absolute favorite card of his. That's right, the T204 Ramly.
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Short day the show for me today, but I bagged my whale this trip. My only other National experience that even compares to this is when I picked up an Abraham Lincoln autograph. If today isn't the best, it's runner up only to that, but I think it's probably 1A and 1B for me. I absolutely LOVE the Ramly design, I've wanted this card for two years now and finally was in position to get it done.

Tomorrow will be my final day here, but who knows what might be in store? I've had my eye on a couple other things, here's hoping to some good fortune tomorrow and a couple dealers who are truly ready to make a deal? We shall see.

[JustinD]

Originally Posted by bounce

My wandering then led me to this. Certainly one of the more interesting items I've seen at the show, and I feel like maybe this is one of those odd collections that just about anyone could start - signed coasters? That's a Wilt Chamberlain in case you don't know, and someone actually paid PSA to slab the thing. To each their own, and no I did not purchase this - in fact I forgot to ask the price, I should do that tomorrow.
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I have a good feeling that's actually an item on my want list as they are not uncommon. If you asked to see the obverse, it is most likely a coaster from Wilt's restaurant which is a cool basketball design with the restaurant title. The bummer is that most examples are signed on the reverse like this one as Wilt logically would for legibility as the design is dark. I have always wanted one ( at a reasonable price, which is always the problem isn't it?) that is signed on the design for display purposes.

It is labeled as a "cut" so it might also be just cut in a circle for some weird reason, but if it is one the coasters, I think you'll think it's nifty.

[glynparson]

Originally Posted by bounce

Not to be snarky, but is a sign truly necessary if you've got the plastic over them? I appreciate the concern for theft, but why not just get cases like everyone else? Again, to each their own, it's his stuff and he can handle how he desires. However, I'm sure I'm not alone in the feeling that it just sends the wrong message, and people like me just keep walking so he never gets a chance.

Lem, the hockey dealer being discussed here, has had his tables set up that way for at least 20-25 years and it doesn’t seem to have effected his sales. He has also had a sign for as long as I can remember. I don’t see this as wrong to not want someone to reach under the plastic. I know I don’t want someone I didn’t say it was ok to to just open and reach in my showcases. I honestly do not see a difference.

[bounce]

Originally Posted by glynparson

I don’t see this as wrong to not want someone to reach under the plastic. I know I don’t want someone I didn’t say it was ok to to just open and reach in my showcases. I honestly do not see a difference.

I never said it was wrong - read what I wrote.

Do you post a sign in your cases that says "PLEASE DO NOT OPEN MY CASES"?

[glynparson]

Originally Posted by bounce

I never said it was wrong - read what I wrote.

Do you post a sign in your cases that says "PLEASE DO NOT OPEN MY CASES"?

Do you honestly not see a difference between a lockable showcase and a piece of plastic? I know I do. I can understand a customer not knowing it is wrong to reach under the plastic. Where as I think it s easily inferred to not open and reach in a showcase. If I had the number of instances of people
Opening showcases as he did people reaching under his plastic I would absolutely not hesitate to put up such a sign.

[LuckyLarry]

Saturday another full day at the show. Crowd seemed pretty heavy and while selection has been picked over I still found was to spend my money.

I need three cards to finish 1961 Nu Card football set including the most expensive card Ernie Davis. Spotted a partial full unopened box 19+ packs sticker said $320 but negotiated to $170 hey collectors of the shiny stuff pay $10 for a pack so why can’t I? Was going to open it tonight at the OBC swap party but to much other activity going on so I’ll bust it open when I get home. Discovered the set includes some inserts in each pack I didn’t even know about. Hopefully I’ll pull that Ernie Davis card from a pack and use the others to upgrade my set. I gave one empty wrapper to Sam T who needed one for his set binder always great to help a friend. I know there might be some value in the wrappers and even the empty box so I’m glad I bought it. Also a couple flyers in the box for retailers. That’s gonna be fun!

Other pickups more exhibit baseball and random hits to my list. Revisited the dealer who sold me those red World on Wheels SP high numbers and he had another waiting for me at $37. So I picked up a total go four SP high numbers with red backs for $50 $50 $37 and $1 avg $35 that’s pretty good right? More Civil War News and other non sports overall another great day.

Final purchase of the day left me wondering if I had made a good purchase or not. Dealer saw my OBC hat and called me to his table to see my wantlist. I asked to look at his Red Man baseball cards as I only need a few and he had some I needed. 1952 Larry Doby and Ted Williams 1953 Stan Musial (last Card needed) and 1954 George Kell. All cards had the tabs cut off. Dealers sticker price came to over $600 he discounted to $350 and I almost choked. Then the dealer asked me what I wanted to pay. Of course the Ted Williams holds good value as does Musial who finishes my set. I counter with $150 which the dealer accepts. Dang it should have came in lower rookie mistake. After the show I ran the scenario back to Mac W and his offer would have been $100 so maybe I learned a $50 lesson plus I did get a Ted Williams and Stan Musial Red Man cards. And on a related note, I know exactly where this dealer is and he does have a large inventory and I want another crack at him! Call me “Low Ball Larry” lol

Our annual OBC trading session pizza party was a huge success thanks to Sam T and wife for hosting! Thanks to all the dealers who gave us cards for our rookies to scour through!

Closing in on 1am hard to tell what tomorrow will bring. I’ve seen the dealers really mark down their stuff and present good buying opportunities for collectors. I’ve also seen dealers start to lock things down at noon. We shall see!

“Low Ball Lawrence”

[Hxcmilkshake]

Its on the you tube. Minute 28 i think. Awesome.

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

[LuckyLarry]

Short day today Taylor and I dropped Spike off at the airport and we are inside the show at 9 you can tell everyone is exhausted. I did return for round two and today did better with the dealer. Picked up a few random hits here and there and then spotted a 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth #144 at JDs table that drew me in lol. Never though I would pull the trigger but I did. Card is solid but does have some writing on the back. I walked this card, the 1954 Dan Dee Mantle, and a friends ‘35 Goudey over to SGC for slabbing 20 business day turn around. JD took a PayPal f/f which also got me a slightly better discount but still looks like Ramen noodles for a month lol.

Taylor is driving home to NC and needs to get started but we are both suffering from cardboard burn out. I have about a five hour wait here at CLE but I don’t really care as I can use the rest! I’ll be home after midnight.

Larry