Well A.C. is only a little over an hour away and I went 3 days last year. But Ted Z nailed it I would not miss Jeter induction for any show. 100k Yankee fans expected Coperstown is gonna rock that weekend..My 2 cents west coast show long overdue. Seattle has nice convention center..

Bugs in his room didn't seem exclusive to Atlantic City.

I agree with Al
 

Atlantic City was excellent last year. I will gladly go to AC over Cleveland. Cleveland to me is the turd in the rotation.

Cleveland is a rebounding city. We spent a day their last spring on trip to Cooperstown, Rock & Roll HoF, Kimpton Hotel, some good food, walked around the ballpark ( it was before the season). it's more or less centrally located too.

I would think St. Louis would be an awesome spot, but have no idea if they even have a convention center of appropriate size. Cool town though.

This year was my first in Chicago. I didn't realize it was a stone's throw from the airport which is very cool. And there are hotels literally across the street. On the downside, only real choices to grab a decent lunch were in the hotels. At Atlantic City I jumped in a taxi and in 5 minutes went to a nice Italian restaurant. Chicago certainly works well though with the proximity to the airport.

I would think a Los Angeles National would be a huge hit too I'm sure.

Yes, there will. I'm looking at 2019 as my final National. It is just too long a haul for me to AC. The 2016 was a good experience, but at my age and with the amount of material I haul to the show I will have to pass on that one. Looks like I will attend Nationals as a customer in the future.

I know that I will also petetion to be admitted to the OBC group. Hoping that I am worthy!

The board of control will never go to St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver, Las Vegas, Houston, Dallas, or anywhere else. They especially will not go to LA.
They control a lot of money from table fees. My understanding is they get the Atlantic City convention center free of charge and are able to keep the bulk of that money. What they are doing with it is a mystery cloaked in double secret riddle. If I am wrong about that feel free to correct me, it won't hurt my feelings. I was a Navy CPO and a High School Principal for 20 years, so I don't have any feelings.

Orlando, Fl

It seems like in the past one of the reasons the promoters gave for not holding the National in various cities was that the convention centers in these cities were not considered large enough. With the reports back from this past one in Chicago indicating that a large section of the hall was 'curtained' off, is it about time for the promoters to consider other locations as well?

Brian

Rumour has it that the Great and Mysterious Oz the selection Dude was hidden behind said curtain.

AC
 

Love it. Had a great time at the show and at night.

Better to have crabs in Baltimore than lousey in AC.

Planning or commenting on an event three years in the future is not in my DNA.

Where's the thread about next week's tee times?

Being from New England, I love the Atlantic City (and Baltimore) shows, I can drive there and save on showcase rental, flight and also can bring more stuff---Last year at AC, was a great selling and buying show---Chicago was very good last week as usual---It was very nice meeting Net 54 members for the first time. The Net 54 banquet was very interesting with the speakers and free Pizza and Beer is always nice. Leon always does a great job.

Steve
 

[QUOTE=Snapolit1;1686695] And there are hotels literally across the street. On the downside, only real choices to grab a decent lunch were in the hotels. At Atlantic City I jumped in a taxi and in 5 minutes went to a nice Italian restaurant. Chicago certainly works well though with the proximity to the airport.

Hey Steve, Uber can have you at any one of a couple of dozen great lunch spots within a 5 minute drive of the Convention Center in Chicago.

Rick

2 hours from NYC is misleading for those of us traveling by air.

I live in L.A. To get to the East Coast from here I have two direct choices: a Jetblue redeye from Burbank (easy airport close to home) to JFK then travel on to AC or a regular flight from Los Angeles International ("LAX") on a number of airlines to JFK or Newark, followed by a drive down. When I checked last time there were no direct flights to Philadelphia from LAX. Going to LAX adds nearly 2 hours to my trip on the front end because traffic is so horrendous. I can go Burbank to Phoenix with Southwest. Transferring planes in Phoenix (or at some other hub with another carrier) to get to Philly adds more time to the trip than the drive time differential between Philly and going into JFK or Newark directly. Add the hours on each end to the time required for airport security, flight, baggage and related airport logistics, car rental or ground transport acquisition, etc., and the trip becomes 12-14 hours from the West Coast, door to door, all-in. Each way. And there is no direct train access from NYC to AC as far as I could tell. When the show was in Baltimore I could travel to NYC then take Amtrak from Penn Station down to the the show, which was a piece of cake. I tried to line up a similar thing for AC and found there wasn't one.

National
 

Absolutely cant wait for the 2019 National,
Im starting to put some money and cards aside

Not doubting any of this, but do you have any more flight options going to Cleveland?


QUOTE=Exhibitman;1686793]2 hours from NYC is misleading for those of us t





raveling by air.

I live in L.A. To get to the East Coast from here I have two direct choices: a Jetblue redeye from Burbank (easy airport close to home) to JFK then travel on to AC or a regular flight from Los Angeles International ("LAX") on a number of airlines to JFK or Newark, followed by a drive down. When I checked last time there were no direct flights to Philadelphia from LAX. Going to LAX adds nearly 2 hours to my trip on the front end because traffic is so horrendous. I can go Burbank to Phoenix with Southwest. Transferring planes in Phoenix (or at some other hub with another carrier) to get to Philly adds more time to the trip than the drive time differential between Philly and going into JFK or Newark directly. Add the hours on each end to the time required for airport security, flight, baggage and related airport logistics, car rental or ground transport acquisition, etc., and the trip becomes 12-14 hours from the West Coast, door to door, all-in. Each way. And there is no direct train access from NYC to AC as far as I could tell. When the show was in Baltimore I could travel to NYC then take Amtrak from Penn Station down to the the show, which was a piece of cake. I tried to line up a similar thing for AC and found there wasn't one.[/QUOTE]

direct LAX to Philly
 

Adam, American Airlines offers 3-4 direct flights a day from LAX to Philly. I routinely fly one of them. They aren't cheap though, about 50% more than when US airways had the flights.

I have the easy solution. All of you West Coast dealers move out to the East Coast. There. Problem solved.

:eek:

Nat'l back in AC?
 

Awesome! I'll be there.

I'll be there
 

Enjoyed 2016 with my kids - will be back again in 2020!

Woo Hoo!
 

Really enjoyed it last year - but it is convenient for me, I will admit.

It was real easy for me to drive to and find parking. Traffic leaving was harsh, but I should've known that leaving AC around 6PM on a Sunday was going to be rough. Other than that - it was great.

I understand that it's far for those on the west coast - and that there's no local airport.

I'm not a dealer, and I'll spend one day there - so a 2.5 hour drive to attend the National is oaky with me. I'll be there in 2020!

Amen Rich. Chalk me up as one of those Southerners who will be in Cleveland in 2018, Chicago in 2019 but not Atlantic City in 2020, inaccessibility of flights being the major, but not only, reason.

Just picked a random day next month to see what the flight options are from Dallas to Philadelphia on Expedia. 12 direct flights and 56 with a connection. Yeah I can see why it's next to impossible to get a flight within striking distance of Atlantic City. I usually say if I don't have at least 100 flight options a day a place is not accessible.

3 direct round trips Dallas to Cleveland that day.

Cleveland Airport to IX Center 7 minutes
Philadelphia Airport to Atlantic City CC 96 minutes

I live in Northeast PA so I am glad it will be back here, however Philly is a much better choice or even Secaucus NJ would have been a good option. I guess the free space in AC pays for it. I was really happy last year.

True.

Soon someone can bring up the fact that it's a really really dangerous place too. That was a never ending theme in 2016. Unlike Chicago and Cleveland of course.

AC was great and stoked for it again.

Cleveland is great. Atlantic City was very good. Chicago is good. I would like to see some effort made to add Dallas, Denver, St. Louis, and Kansas City to the list of cities. It doesn't look like that is happening, and the west coast is likely out as well. People can vote, but the current board has all the power and they really don't care what the exhibitors want. I'm getting too old to worry about much beyond 2019, but I would love to see them go out on a limb and schedule a National somewhere other than the above three. Not sure what happened with Baltimore either, it was an excellent show, a great place to visit.

All joking aside do you think a National will ever be held on the west coast?

There is zero chance of this as long as the same cheapskates run the NSCC. None at all.

These guys would run across the street to pick up a dime that they can pocket. So, if they're given a venue for free, as happens with AC and Cleveland, they won't go elsewhere.

There are few dealers on the West Coast. That's not the issue. Pretty soon, there won't be many dealers anywhere else, either. That's where it's been heading for the past decade.

The only hope for the National is to get it out of the hands of the guys who are currently running it.

If it is on the east coast, I can think of a handful of better places than AC: Baltimore, DC, Philly, Atlanta, Newark, Charlotte, Orlando, Boston, NYC, even Raleigh.

So who are "they" that run it, how are they chosen, etc? Do they just own the name?

If folks are unhappy with the location (and I understand why), why not support some of the other larger shows, like Tri-Star in Houston and work to make those bigger?

Just thinking out loud here.

Not a snowball in purgatory's chances of it going to the West Coast. I'd like to see them throw a bone to the west coast by holding the National in Denver at least once.

The Tri Star in Houston is a long haul for most Midwest dealers. It is a typical autograph show with dealers of cards taking a back seat.

The Good Old Days
 

The Good Old Days when the National came out West

Or Long Beach would be an awesome choice.

When I worked with IndyCar, it was a pain in the tail to work at Long Beach. We, as vendors, couldn't even set up our own stuff. Had to pay some local union or something to do it for us. It was ridiculous.

If the same applies to a card show, I'd want no part of that as a seller.

-kin

I have fond memories of some working class bars in the Long Beach community.

Yeah, nobody touches my stuff but me. It ain't much, but it is all mine.

Tom
 

in all due respect......Newark???????:eek:(car jacking capital of the world!) Philly??????? (don't make a wrong turn there) :eek: Baltimore :eek: talk about "rough" neighbor hoods:D

3 pretty rough neighborhoods if everyone was worried about AC:)

Ha...Johnny, yeah, that caught my eye too...not sure Big Daddy's ever been to Newark.

Mike
 

hahaha! true jersey in you!:D

I'm sure he meant well.....probably was thinking of the airport.....but anyone from jersey knows about Newark!

:)

Newark isn't that bad. Some terrible areas with the projects but I know many people who go to work everyday in Newark with out incident. And is no carjacking capital of anywhere. You want a scary place, try Camden NJ.