I think the first baseball card shows were in "Detroit" in the early 1970's. These shows were the best the hobby had to offer !
Why not a show at "Ford Field"? This is across the road from Tigers Comerica Park. Also casino's within eye range and some great food in "Greektown", HockeyTown restaurant etc. Plenty of vendors in Ford Field . Plenty of seating and room. Would a football field be large enough for dealers ?
One of the few cities with all 4 major sports !!!!
Some slots, some baseball and food after the show each nite should be enough for anyone.

I would love to go to Portland for a national.

never been there..... would like to one day.

Joe, you'd have to pack a steamer trunk or two for such a long trip. And maybe hire some sherpas to carry them for you.

hahaha. so true.

As a southerner I would love another National close to home but I remember waiting in line in the heat at both Arlington shows!!!

I saw several people fall out and get very sick. There were two ambulances that were kept busy.

It was also in Arlington that my wife who has been put up for sainthood even though we are Methodists waited in line for over three hours to secure a Mantle autograph for my birthday present. The tough part of that wait was the first two hours were outside in the sun!

St. Louis was nice but crowded and tough to find a place to stay. A friend and I flew in for the day and flew out that night. The best part was our cab was late so the folks at the airport put us in a limo which dropped us at the front door of the show. The people in the line which stretched several blocks were so stunned when we pulled up that they parted like the Red Sea and let us walk in the door with no wait. No such luck on the return to the airport.

Why not Orlando? Talk about things for the family to do!

I suspect that before long 255,000 sq. ft. will be more than enough space, unfortunately! :(
Val

Orlando sounds great to me.

Frank

+4 (if I counted right...)

San Diego has a huge convention center, perfect weather, extremely close proximity to infinite hotels, bars, restaurants, Petco Park, the Gaslamp Quarter, the Waterfront, Seaport Village, etc.

Plus, it's just a beautiful city. If family members accompany, there's a world class Zoo, Sea World, Horton Plaza, Mission Bay, limitless Golf, and the Beach... all within less than 15 minutes away. Even Mexico is easy access, if you're into that (I think that Tijuana qualifies).

I don't know how you can top San Diego.... is it too much to ask for one National per decade to be west of the Mississippi?

I aset up at my first card show in 1972 at the old Troy Hilton near Detroit. Those old Detroit shows were fantastic. I can remember the great Frank Nagy selling 1959 Fleed Ted Williams sets (without No. 68) for $5 each. Since then, I've done shows all over the country and enjoyed them all. But I've had my best success selling and buying with the Midwest shows, especially Detroit and Chicago.

KalineMan,

Can't you see, that is the reason why I cannot change my vote from Orlando to Detriot. Those "Fleed" sets are not worth much more then $5 today ;).

Lovely Day...

Sorry for the typo. Those Fleer sets were near mint and Frank had dozens of them - along with the 1966 East Hill Pirates sets.

1971 Detroit Show
 

I was 6 at my first show in Detroit in 1971. I went with my uncle and would sit while he searched through 1933 Goudeys ($0.25 per, Ruths were $1.25). Mr. Nagy's table was always the most crowded. He always had a mixture (1959 Fleer - 1961 Fleer sets on the more recent side to an amazing number of Goudeys, Mayos, T206, etc.). It is also interesting to think back to the cards in the different sets that were considered difficult (Birmingham's Home Run, Dougherty/Lord, etc.)

Actually, a football field isn't even close to big enough. Now, granted that there's space around the field itself but a football field is 360ft x 159ft (120 yds x 53 yds). That's only 57240 sq ft. Even if you add 100 ft in each direction, you're still under 120,000 sq ft.

Tabe

If we actually get to vote, I'd vote for San Diego too. It would be nice to attend another National before I die!

Comic-con was at the San Diego Convention Center, which according to the website is 525,701 gross sq.ft. contiguous exhibit space on the ground floor and has 50 loading docks. The only possible drawback I can see is they also say Floor Loads: 350 lbs. per sq. ft. This might mean some dealers wouldn't be able to attend.:D

San Diego is a great idea for a west coast venue. Great convention center, near ball park, tons of restaurants, etc. downtown in the gaslamp area.
JimB

San Diego has lots of beautiful women which might ruin the National's reputation.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...s/intro/090805

A few thoughts (most of which have undoubtedly been discussed to death already):

I think it's imperative that the largest show of its kind cater to the majority. Most of the dealer and collector demographic live on the east coast (with the heaviest concentration being in NY and NJ). It makes no sense to have 80-90% of attendees come all the way out to the west coast. The Anaheim show proved what a poor decision that was.

Chicago is centrally located for all involved and has much to offer in the way of non-hobby perks. The Rosemont Center leaves much to be desired, however. Those in charge of running it should look to Baltimore's venue and take note.

I think Cleveland makes a lot of sense, but again, the venue isn't the greatest. The IX Center certainly offers ample and affordable parking, and accommodations can be found on Priceline for next to nothing (I paid $35/night last year at a Holiday Inn, complementary limo shuttle service included).

Out of curiosity, what would cities such as Cincinnati and Pittsburgh have to offer? These would seem like ideal geographic/demographic areas. From past experience, there's plenty to be had in the way of hotels and dining, and each has an MLB team. I would have included Columbus, but alas, no baseball to watch!

Clippers baby! (And a beautiful new stadium!)

Nah, the place is filled with takers.

San Diego would be a great venue. All you guys/gals would dig this place for those who have not already been here.

Mike Berkus is on the Board of Directors of the committee that organizes The National. He is a registered member here (MBerkus), although he reads and posts infrequently. I'm sure if someone took the time to PM him, he'd be glad to come on and discuss San Diego, as well as other options. You can find him through "Member List" in the "Community" tab.

Last year at this time, he did exactly that. Unfortunately, one rude member took to some name calling (couldn't understand why they never considered Nashville, or some such nonsense.) If he does agree to talk, let's try to keep it polite. (I know. I know. Pot, meet kettle.)


I mention this because he is able to offer insight as to why certain cities will never work. I know that I learned about the union rules at the Javitz Center in NYC through his posts. Those rules would increase the cost of every booth by over $2400.

Point taken. Aside from that, much like some parts of the country get invaded by cicadas every 17 years, central Ohio falls prey to an annual summer influx of pissants. So the National committee would have to work around that.

Did you say 17 years or 17 minutes?

If it were held in Pittsburgh we certainly wouldn't have to worry about getting great seats there's going to be plenty available for a long time. (Sorry Pirates fans). :rolleyes:

With all the revitalization to Pittsburgh I think it would be a great city to have a national, not to mention so many dealers and collectors seem to be in that area and not to far from the east coast. Won't the Suntimes and Sportsfest Chicago shows take a blow with some many back to back huge shows especially with everyone gearing up for the national ? Chicago is good as it is in the middle for east and west coasts but seems to be a bit overkill.

I would pay to watch someone who found the walkway from the Hilton to the Baltimore Convention Center challenging try to navigate some of the streets of Pittsburgh.

So Ford Field would be way to small, how about Cobo Hall ( 700,000 square feet +) ?

They could get KISS again as autograph guests!

+1 for Las Vegas...............

My opinion is Kansas City. Centrally located in the US. Stadiums 15 min from convention center, plenty of hotels, parking, ect. Lots and Lots of after hour activities, shopping, gambling, food, ect. Hell I may even have a BBQ at the lake (15 min from the center). I think KC would be great and it is cheap to fly into and get in and out of.

Dont forget the Negro League Hall of Fame as well, not to mention Kansas City could use an event like this. The Baltimore show sounds like it was a success and was definately good for the the city and boosted the Orioles attendence levels quite nicely. Vegas would be fun but all the distractions could put a hurt on some collectors wallets, on the other hand someone could hit a jackpot and go blow 50k at the show !!

It sounds like Baltimore was quite a hit with everyone, sorry I missed it. While many didn't care for Cleveland, it was within driving distance for me and that made it convenient and since it was my first National, quite enjoyable. My wife and daughter enjoyed the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as well as a decent meal to make up for my time at the show.

Chicago is also close enough to drive to and I hope to make it there in the future. Pittsburgh could be a good choice, that city has really revitalized itself in recent years and as was mentioned earlier, it should be easy to get good seats to a Pirates game.

San Diego would be great but the added expense of a flight would strain some of us in the east, I know it works both ways :( and it is more expensive for some of our western collectors to make their way toward the Atlantic.

It is probably impossible to please everyone so the powers that be will have to make the decision that best suits the majority of collectors/dealers.

RC

Edited to add: I think the bbq at Andrew's in Kansas City would be worth going to as well.

Kansas City would be a terribly long drive for most people. I don't mind the suggestion, however, but think most others would not care to drive all the way there. It's equally out of the way for nearly everyone!

It's never been important to me, but I think it is of interest to many collectors that the show's host city has an MLB team playing at home sometime during the course of the convention.

What was the attendance figures in Baltimore ?

Leon
 

I mainly just read the threads on here and rarely post.

Just wanted to mention that I had the chance to meet Leon while a few of us were busting packs and having a few adult beverages in the Hilton bar.

Super nice guy and extremely knowledgeable. Was a pleasure just listening to him.

OK, brown nosing done.

lsutigers....
 

It was a pleasure meeting you guys too. I do love the hobby. Yeah, there are a few people (even on this board, go figure) who try to antagonize and always be sarcastic, but that is just their nature. They have fun doing it (I guess), so who cares?

You guys look like ya'll were having a lot of fun busting those packs and examining the centering and corners for that elusive 8 or 9. That's what it's all about!! Hope to see ya'll doing the same exact thing next year. I doubt I will remember your names but I might just ask again, pull up a chair and have a cold one with ya'll. Take care now and thanks for the kind words...

1st ever national, and it was great!

My venue suggestions would be to alternate East, Central, West, Central, East, etc.
Central could alternate between Cleveland and Chicago.
Throw in a Las Vegas every 4-5 years.
Each coast would see one every 3 years.
I know that some of you saw dealers that you have never seen before - the locals who won't travel across the country - point being that the dealer mix will change by location.
Unlike Alan's unlimited resources, I won't travel more than 2 hours for a show.
Andrew - thanks for the pics and enjoyed meeting you and Dad at the Wed. dinner.
Regards all - Will