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cmokingI had been to two other Nationals, in Anaheim and Atlantic City. I wasn't as focused in my collecting back then, and maybe that's why I had much more fun this time around. I knew exactly what I wanted (33, 34 Goudeys and World Wide Gum), I was comfortable with pricing and grading. So I was prepared this time.
I flew into Chicago on Thursday morning. Stupid me, but I flew into Midway and got a hotel room right next to the airport. Little did I know that it would take me 1.5 hours from my hotel to the convention center, each way. Man, that Chicago traffic is brutal. Next time I'll know to stay right where I need to be.
From the airport I drove right to the National. I was excited and I knew there was one dealer I wanted to hit right away and buy some cards that they had shown on their website. But the show was so large with so many dealers, it took about an hour to see them.
I was able to see several cards that are going to be in auctions in August. That really helped, as I was able to put some cards aside (in my palm pilot) as "not worthy" and decide I won't bid on them. For example, I have interest in the Memory Lane 33 Goudey #53 Ruth PSA 7, and their scan on their site looks nice - except for the centering, it looks like a fine 7. But when I looked at it carefully in person, I was very disappointed. I would call it a solid to high-end 6, but I wouldn't pay the price of a 7 for it. Then again, I also saw a 6 of the 53 Ruth that I thought was a low end 6, so it is possible that I am just very picky on these 5 figure cards (and I should be!) But it also makes me wonder how often some of these cards were submitted and re-submitted in order to get that grade. If a card is $7K in a PSA 6 and $20K in a PSA 7, and you have a card you think is a tweener, how often would you submit it in order to get a chance at a 7 (assuming you are going to sell it). $50 a pop is nothing compared to the $13K increase in price. The Mastronet auction has a 33 Goudey #2 Vance in a PSA 8, and although the corners look great, the toning is ugly and really detracts from the card. The way Mastro scanned the card in their catalog/website, it is really tough to see the toning, but you can see it on the scan of the back if you look carefully. This is a $5K-$7K card, and very difficult to find in 6 or higher, but it is not nice looking as an 8 should be. It may seem that I'm bashing PSA, but I also saw one card that I really needed in a SGC holder - 57 Earl Clark SGC 80 (6), but it had one horrible corner and was off-center to boot...I thought that was equal to a PSA 4 or 5, definitely not a 6. So, there you go, equal billing for both compaines. Interestingly, I bought two GAI 7 cards (Lazzeri and Paul Waner) which I thought were fantastic, while in the past I had always been disappointed with GAI graded cards that I got in the mail. Sorry for the long tangent. My thoughts are that it was fantastic to see cards in person. When I buy online, I'm too often disappointed by the quality of the card when I receive them - that's because the scan is sometimes better than the card. But when I can see the card in person at a show, it makes the buying decision much easier, because then I'm buying the card, and not the scan. By the way, there are a few cards that I thought were great in the upcoming auctions, but I won't say which ones they are 
Here are some Goudeys I bought at the National. All are in PSA holders.
Here are the two in GAI holders. The Lazzeri looks like it has a major problem on the bottom left corner. In person, it doesn't look that bad, but that is still a possible problem if I am going to try to get it into a PSA holder.
I had previously contacted Elliot and we had agreed to try to meet at Scott's table. I went over there not knowing anyone, and Scott told me that Elliott had just left. I missed him on Thursday. I tried again twice on Friday, and missed him both times too. But still, thanks a bunch to Scott for trying. Nice guy. I also meant Leon (and a few others, but forgot their names, sorry) who seems like a great guy. Leon wondered why I didn't want to use my real name in this forum, I just wasn't comfortable for now, maybe in the future. Just a paranoid guy I guess.
I met another high end Goudey collector - even more high end than me, and we exchanged some interesting stories. Actually, I don't think my stories were that interesting, but his stories were definitely very interesting to me. He was also able to find one of the cards he was missing in high grade, and I was almost as happy for him as I was for the cards I found myself!
All the dealers I talked to were cordial, nice and easy going. Everyone gave a discount (some small, some large) off of their listed prices. All one has to do is ask "how much are you asking for?" even if the price was listed on the card. There were some dealers I knew I had a better grasp of the market prices than they did, as they were still fumbling for SMR and not realizing some of the pop and other issues. But I'm assuming they bought their cards at an even lower price, so everyone is happy.
I also picked up a couple of W551 cards and a complete high-end 1960 Fleer set (only 2 graded cards though). The W551s were Frank Baker and Walter Johnson, which I'll scan later on. I showed them to Leon, because I wasn't completely confident they weren't counterfeit. Leon said he wasn't an expert on them, but after looking at them, he was sure they weren't based on their aged look. Thanks Leon.
I had a great time. Thanks to everyone. My bank account is much smaller, but I'm very happy.
07-30-2005, 03:03 PM
My National Trip Report
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