Feedback from the 2015 National
 

So...the 2015 National in Chicago has begun, and those of us unable to attend are curious as to how the show is going?

What's hot and what's not?

Let's see your big scores!


Patrick

copied from OBC club report:
Well the show hours today were 4 to 8PM as a sneak preview but somehow we were able to get in at like 8:45AM:) I suppose there are two options on how to manage your bankroll here at the National. Number one go slow budget and spread out your spending over the week. Number two plan on spending a lot on day one because things don't last:) well since we were in the show early I guess you could say I spent $500 at the first table I visited seven hours before the show even opened:)
First stop was at mark Macre and Ted Z table Ted is a legend on Net54 and T206 expert. One thing I learned about getting into these more expensive cards who you buy them from is important too. I bought a nice stack from Mark and one from legend Ted as well.
I started the show with 430 of the 518 T206 in the set so with the HOFers remaining I know this will be a long project.
Spent the first part of my day visiting the dealers I know and had good results. Taylor and I came to the same conclusion: as our collections have advanced visiting a dealer like Ron Estes I mean the guy has 1,000s of bargain prices cards real steals but what the heck I don't need even one card it's an interesting dilemma. After that I was able to walk each aisle of the floor and finish a couple of non sport sets. Taylor texted me to a table where I got another batch of T206 Taylor has a real knack for spending my money just kidding!
I'm up early Thur AM in the lobby as Roomies Spike and Taylor are still asleep so I can't really go through all the cards but I know I added 27 hits to my T206 incl HOFers and Southern Leaguers. It was quite the first day! Mac called me over to a $100 Cy Young T206 I had already bought a stack of T206 from this guy but missed the Cy a Young cause the name is chewed off from a mouse! I passed on the card just to much mouse and acid bath and card looked SO fragile I know I'll never see a cheaper one. So this continues another tradition Mac calls me over to a card I should buy but don't, then all year long I cry in my beer that I wish I would have pulled the trigger:)
Dinner at Haufbrau House was so good sausages and sauerkraut but the company was better!
Amazing Experience!
Guru

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Great reporting!


Let's see some pics of some crazy stuff out there...
Wagners/planks etc....

I'll be checking back often.

Thanks

Here's a video I just found on You Tube taken at the convention yesterday --

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adG643BeiSc


Greg

I didn't want it to end. Just wonderful. Can't wait for the National to come to AC next year.

Tom C

Seeing this just makes me wish I had bitten the bullet and gone. /Facepalm

Very cool,
 

Thanks for sharing that video. I'm bummed that I could not make the trip but AC next year is on my calendar! Thanks!

Mike

Any of the younger crowd also hitting up lollapalooza too this weekend? Considering there's also a music festival in Chicago happening the same weekend makes me really regret not going.

Nice haul Larry!

Many, many thanks for uploading the video. Wish I could have seen the grade of that 1961-62 Topps Bobby Hull, one of my favorite cards. Regardless, nice camera work. Bravo. Thanks again. ---Brian Powell

If anyone is able to get me some of the Manny the Frenchie cards tomorrow at the Upper Deck booth that would be awesome. He is suppose to be there from 1pm - 3pm. My wife is begging me to find someone who can. So much so I'm very close to getting a Ty Cobb card out of the deal. Here's a picture.

http://www.net54baseball.com/picture...ictureid=18882

Steven,

I'm confused...per your other post, I think of you had it your way, you'd be here to get one for her! :eek:

"Post some of the rarer cards you see for those not able to make it or whose wife decided "it wasn't a good idea since we are building a house." (I'm not bitter at all I swear )"


I'll set an alarm for myself and will try to find them tomorrow, although no guarantees. If I can, I hope you get that Cobb.

Early reports from the National: very quiet, literally. I don't hear any of the cheering from the case breaks like I did in previous years, but maybe they haven't started yet.

Also, I'm happy to report that it seems like most people showered before coming to the show today. Can't always count on that with this crowd. :D

Cheers,
Steve

Easily the busiest Thursday I've seen at the national in years. Strong sales from everyone I spoke with.

On a personal note saw one total e105 Mello Mint which was a SGC 30 Wagner Batting at $4500. Asked every single dealer and that was it. Pretty amazing.

Mantles are absolutely on fire according to most I talked to. OJs seemed to be selling well also. Lots of tough t206 backs and print freaks. Still seem to be pretty strong.

Lots of kids and younger folks which was very refreshing.

Until next year...

That video is drool-worthy!!!

I got my 62 topps football and 67 topps football completed today.

I only found two dealers with a RAW Ditka rookie (guy I bought from for $115 actually had 3 of them) in the entire room.
And the same story for the 1967 topps football #59 unmarked checklist. One I bought for $40 and another for $75.

A few notes.

-The box break area is Huge and active.
-Panini was by far the busiest of the card manufacturers
-Every dealer I purchased from was very friendly and dare I say even talkative best cutomer service I experienced at nationals I have attended.
-One thing missing from VIP bags is a free deodorant sample. ..apparently many national attendees are unfamiliar with this product.

Dave,
I noticed the ole deodorant thing too!!! Eeeewww

I going on Saturday....anyone with 1954 high grade cards or 1933 psa ruths?

Levi I am sure. :)

I bought a card or two from him...maybe he will discount a card to market price as a favor...

Thursday sales were stronger than expected by a wide range of buyers. I sold an E98 Matty to a 15 year old girl - tough negotiator that shopped the whole floor a knew what she wanted. Cobb sales are going for way over book - what else is new.

Awesome

Day two what hurts more my head my feet or my back? First stop Mark M and Ted Z table but after thumbing through their T206 cards I passed for now and began my day. And I made a mistake a "veteran" like me should not make. SCD is selling their new big vintage book for $10 it's a heck of
a buy so I pick one up. Well the mistake was, now I have to lug this brick around all day! Prob should have stowed the book behind someone's table better yet wait till I'm leaving to purchase but I'm not always so smart.
Mostly smaller purchases to start off with, although I did finish off my 1959 Topps Hockey set AND picked up a discount 1957 Topps Hockey Bucyk RC on the cheap. Also purchased a 1960 Topps Bobby Hull I am SO close to finishing off my Topps Hockey run!
I did pick up several '69 Topps football "4-in-ones" to push that set along and of course chipping away at my non sports wantlist too I finished my 1976 Happy Days set with a couple of stickers of Richie and the Fonz it's the little things in life right?
Took a much needed break at the in lobby Starbucks and had a nice convo with roommate Spike plus I got to set down my sixty pound backpack! Running into OBC members all day and met Geordie, Gary, and saw Jason sporting the new OBC t-shirts.
Went back to the off grade t-206 guys table and bought a few more and ended up with eleven more hits to my t206 list that's thirty-eight hits so far:)
After the show we took the train into Chicago for our traditional meal at Mother Hubbards sports bar met Ray L and his wife. Chicago is so beautiful and let me tell you the women are beautiful too! I ate WAY to much last night.....
I have a meet up scheduled today with some of the Net54 football guys at noon and then the Net54 party tonight. More OBC members rolling in today too, just look for the hats (although their are three versions of hats). Lots of activity in the pack busting area but at least there's not all that annoying cheering they did last year:) I don't quite understand what they do back there but they seem to have fun. Off we go for day #3!

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Video of vintage at national
 

Becket posted a cool video of the BBCE table that's not well labeled so I'll post it here:

http://youtu.be/JI2VWyVQHgE

I'm on a plane from ny to chi to hit the national for a day trip - I'll plan on taking lots of video of the vintage tables and specifically old Red Sox stuff including Ted, Doerr, Jimmie Foxx, Smoky Joe Wood etc. If there are any Ted fans in attendance here. - id love to grab lunch. I'm new back into he hobby and have very few collector contacts.

My plan is to spend about half my budget on vintage wax and half on the above posted Red Sox. I'm not a dealer so whatever i spend is SPEND so I'm going to try to keep it below 2-3k as I'm having a baby on Aug 19 and it's just the principle of doing that so close to birth that is holding me back from that 5-8 range. I'm so excited that I can't stop smiling - there are two of the tiniest card shops in all of Manhattan and one in Brooklyn and it's all Yankees gear so this is just going to blow me away. Anyway - more from the floor in a few!

Everyone have a good Friday at the show!! Looking forward to seeing some more pickups and hearing stories today.

For everyone going to the dinner tonight, please have a beer in my name. I'll be cracking some in Columbus around 4:30 this afternoon.


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I was at the show on Thursday. I thought it was pretty good. I found the pricing to be a little better than the last time I went. I didn't find any deals, but the pricing at some of the tables was fair. I picked up some hall of famers I needed:

T206 Crawford with bat PSA 4
T206 Flick PSA 4
M116 Sport life PSA 4
Bulgaria Sport Ruth & Schmeling PSA 5
1939-46 salutation Ted Williams PSA 6

I also Picked up a few post war cards:
1964 stand up Killebrew PSA 6
1965 Topps Brock - PSA 6
1961 topps Berra - PSA 6

I resisted the urge to drop money buying vintage wax.

Walked the show since Tuesday and only saw one Gehrig RC-- the same "1" that's been on eBay forever. So much for upgrading! Great time tho. Lots of fun and gregarious folks with whom to talk cards and baseball.

Steven,

I picked up a pack of the cards for you. PM me your address and I'll send them to you.

Cheers,
Steve

Great pick ups everyone!
 

felt like I was there!!

thanks to live feedback from Jantz, Ted Z,Chris B, Brian W, Adam G, Sean C, to name a few ! thanks guys for the reports, I know I'm a pia :)

Larry....great score of 206:)



CONGRATS EVERYONE!
I was going to get a ride from nj with my friend and show up on Sat, but looks like there isn't a lot of T206 scraps there, plus it would be rushed for me....
good news is the show so far seems better than the previous years and Scrap continues to be well sought after:) kinda "bitter sweet" for me....

so I am re grouping and am already counting down the hours until A/C, where I can finally display my freak show "Circus"!:D
a lot of my collector friends are already planning the trek:)

Please continue these great reports!

LET'S see more Scanz:D

BTW..........Where's Wonka??????????:o

Steve W....
 

great to have you posting BTW:)

Thanks Johnny! The forum has been a big help for me the past two months. We really have some great, thoughtful members. :)

Here are some scans of what I picked up at the National. This is my first time posting scans. Let me know if I screwed it up. Thanks. :D

Attachment 199036

Attachment 199037

Attachment 199038

Attachment 199039

Attachment 199040

I picked up a raw E102 Bescher, but no E105s - as Danny said they were non-existent. There was a lot of great eye candy though as always!

T206 Crawford.....
 

That left border on the Crawford is HUGE. Very cool oversized T206.

Mike

Lots to see
 

I think it's time for the National to embrace social media in a different format/use. A collector like myself can submit what he is most after, let's say an Oxford Confection Speaker and then this info is transmitted to all dealers in advance. Then when I come to the show I can open a site that says which table has the card I'm after.

I know, I know pain in the ass for the dealer, BUT WHAT IF, I put in my wants 2 weeks in advance. Each of us could have up to 5 posts. It would sure eliminate my walking the show and looking to see if the dealer had oldies or not. I'm sure I missed one somewhere because I'm sure I missed some tables.

I would think this would benefit dealers just as much if not more. How many get asked for something that they don't have with them but have back in their shops/inventories? I bet a system like this would increase sales across the board by 30%+

Just finished my first national experience Thursday and Friday

Gotta say it was a great time. I picked up a few t206 back stamps , passed on a few also . Most everyone was very friendly only had a couple of dealers that were less than friendly. Added a couple of t207's that I needed.

I don't recall seeing any Oxford confectionaries, t227 cobbs, low grade cracker jacks. Although I was focusing on "stacks of t206's".

It was a challenge for me to walk the whole show in 2 days.

Johnny you are right the only t206 scrap I recall seeing was Leon's multi strike.

I was disappointed that I didn't grab any t205 commons. I was actively looking for them but never found any even remotely close to the price at which I've purchased 8 on eBay the last 2 weeks.

I did find a new interest in topps coins and seeing a lot of post war regional issues and topps non-base sets made me want to list Al Richters collection as one of the top three I'd like to see.

I'm slamming a couple of Stiegls now in prep for "double fisting corona's " ( as Leon put it) at the net54 dinner- which I hope tops off a great 2 days- so excuse the "stream of conciousness report.

In summary I had a great time and recommend the national to any card collector who hasn't been!

I also am experiencing my first National, and it has been great! I picked up some wire photos and type 1s of Teddy Ballgame...will post when I get home. What a great environment and experience!

Glad you all enjoyed the video. Not all pre-War related but here is a link to numerous National-related stories: http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com...-convention-2/

I had a great time today in my one day at the National. Although I didn't plan it that way, my entire card haul consisted of T206s (all raw, of course) on which I got some pretty good deals. They included five HOFers (all three Matty bought as a lot, see below, and two of the Mordecai Browns), four Southern Leaguers, a Piedmont Factory 42 (thanks, Ted Z!), a Tolstoi, an Old Mill, and three very nice-looking commons at very reasonable prices. I also got a big stack of VCBC magazines and a couple of books from Wildfireschulte. In addition to him and Ted Z., I got to chat with numerous other Net54 denizens, on the show floor as well as at the dinner. They included Frank Burkett, Ed Hans, Jay Miller, Leon, Rhett Yeakley, Mac Wubben, Jobu (aka Bryan), Steve D, and others. Thanks, everybody!

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...ds/image_9.jpg

Great to meet Frank B, Steve D, trdcrdkid, Jobu, and others at the mixer last night thank you Leon! I'm still having a great time chipping away at all my sets and also picked up nine hits T205 and five more hits T206 including W Johnson and Cy Young thanks to Net54 member Mike P!
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tony....
 

thanks for the report! I heard there wasn't hardly any scrap there:confused:.....they are being held tight nowadays;)......I think a lot of collectors have become wise.....the little gems turn up hidden on ebay like a treasure hunt....I did hear of 2 particular scraps that were the only 2 spotted.....but they were huge cards:eek: wish I was there just to hold them.....I do not want to divulge what they were because they were so special......I heard the gentleman was going to hold onto them.... I would've too:D.......

glad everyone is having a great show:) those pick ups are great! keep 'em coming

Leon, I wish I was at the dinner also....

next year my friends! lock your scrap up, johnny will be in AC with the side show freak show "THE CIRCUS" on full display....:)

Stuck in Columbus? You poor bastard. [emoji6]

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It was great to meet you too, LuckyLarry! I knew there were some people I was forgetting!

Slow start this morning - not the usual flood of buyers. Must be a collective Net54 hangover?

He lives!!


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Only one pickup but still a great show for me. Favorite part as always is the great conversations on and off the floor. Big thank you to those who helped me.

Any cool Negro Leagues baseball stuff at the show? This is my first National missed in the past 12 years so not there to find out myself.........

Hey there Robert. Did you stop by my photo table and say hi????

Chris....
 

you had a GREAT show;)

I found 2 dealers with t205s that I thought were very fair. I ended up buying a big stack for my wife. I even bought a t206 for myself. It was a great show. What grade of t205 s were you looking for?

Really busy on the floor Saturday but still had a fantastic time! I'm always looking for the next thing to go after, and being such a pre war novice a couple people thought the 1911 M116 Sporting Life might be a fun "affordable" way to go. I like the looks of them so I picked up a couple one of each back I am told and we will see where this goes:) My flight home is tomorrow (Monday) so I'll be at the show today to turn out the lights! Larry

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I'm not "the younger crowd" any more but my wife and I saw Old Crow Medicine Show and Brandi Carlisle at Ravinia north of the city on Saturday, ( I live between Chicago and Milwaukee, about an hour away from the National). I did the show yesterday, while my wife shopped nearby. I should have posted something about the Cubs playing Milwaukee at Miller Park not too far away this weekend.

My best find and best story involves finishing 1962 Post football set which I've chased for twenty years. If you don't know it includes a few difficult SPs and one EXTRA tough SP #93 Dave Baker. I'll share that story on the football side when I get home. Larry

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The National
 

I went yesterday, and I must say, I felt like there were more memorabilia dealers this year compared to last. I didn't pull the trigger for the most part, but did find something I just had to get. It wasn't out on the dealer's table, but he let me come back and shuffle through a few things and I found it...a 1941 portrait signed by Ted Williams. Unfortunately it is inscribed, but...my Grandmother is named June...so we will just run with that;) Congrats to all the dealers on a wonderful show!

It was an enjoyable day yesterday, not as crowded as I expected, overwhelming the amount of cards though. Considering I'm not a collector seeking high grade cards nor cards older than '57 probably makes it easier browsing. I can see where being organized and focused on wants and needing multiple days to browse would be beneficial for the serious collector. I did buy one graded card, a '57 Clemente, also from '57, Yankees & Dodgers sluggers cards and an off center Aaron. A grouped sale at a reasonable price. Three Mantles; '63,'66 & '68. At one table I piled up high number Cubs & White Sox mid 60's cards but also discovered early 70's Bobby Hull, Tony Esposito and Stan Makita cards deeply discounted as well as a Gale Sayers (creased slightly) but very cheap considering the market ( at least I think). A '66 Koufax and a '62 Banks, both non-graded, bought steeply discounted topped off my purchases. I know it's a quite modest lot I bought considering the crowd here but replacing or adding cards from my childhood makes me smile like a kid plus I got to hold Babe Ruth's bat...how cool is that?

Heaven help me if I get the T-206 bug.

My wife shopped at the nearby mall....and bought nothing.

Fair to good grade. I'm not saying they weren't fair prices. I only recently decided to work on completing my set ( already have the hofers, just decided to go for the commons as well) and I gave myself a $$ limit per card. Almost all the fair/good commons started at twice what I had seen on eBay . There were one or two dealers who weren't a lot higher than my limit but I wasn't in the mood to ask for a discount and still be paying my max price .

I even told a couple of dealers that their prices seemed to be in line with everyone else and I may need to raise my self imposed limit.

Rick....
 

trust me.....try on a T206:D

Great time!
 

My wife and I were at the National all day on Thursday and Friday. I thought it was really great. My only regret is that we couldn't come back again on Saturday and Sunday.

Here are some of my observations:

On Thursday we arrived about 15 minutes before the doors opened. There were probably a thousand people already lined up waiting to get in, and by the time the show opened there were another thousand line up behind us. Everything was well organized and it didn't take us long to get inside at 10:00.

We saw, literally, 1000's and 1000's of T206's. Dozens of T206 Cobbs. Dozens and dozens of 1933 Babe Ruth cards. Prices were unbelievably high. I bought 2 cards for my collection at reasonable prices, but I passed up others that were 3-4 times ebay pricing. Dealers would negotiate a little, but not much. For instance, a T213-2 low grade common, which can sell on ebay anywhere from $25 to $40, was priced at $90. The dealer came down to $70, but I didn't want to pay that much.

Many of the SGC10 T206 and raw low grade T206's were in the $30 to $45 range. These are cards that would be $15 on the BST.

I did see some great deals at Deans tables. I expected his prices to be sky high, but he had a binder full of low grade tobacco cards that were reasonably priced. Maybe I should have bought the entire binder?

I saw 2 Magie error cards, 2 or 3 Planks, and the PSA 2 Wagner that was at Scott and Leon's table. One of the Magie's seemed to be priced reasonably at 6K, but that is way out of my league. I also saw a Peck and Snyder in one of the auction house showcases.

There were many, (several thousand?) T205's, and some of the dealers seemed to have some decent pricing on the raw, off condition cards. I asked just about every dealer about T213's. I saw 1 T213-1, 1 T213-3, and maybe a dozen T213-2's, of which 5 were Cobbs. I bought a T213-2 Baker and a Leach.

If you collect other sports, this would have been a good show for you. I was surprised that several dealers seemed to deal exclusively in vintage hockey cards. One dealers case had 40 Topps and OPC Gretzky rookies, ranging in grade from 2 to 9. The prices seems very reasonable to me.

Several dealers had vintage football, one had mostly boxing, (I think we know who that was :)), and there was some vintage basketball.

If you are a non-sports card person you would have loved this show. There were 1000's and 1000's of non sports cards. There were many boxes of low grade $1 non sports cards to pick through, and some beautiful vintage sets.

There was a large crowd on Thursday, and many times it was impossible to get to a particular table to see what they had. Several times I went back to a particular dealers table, only to see many people standing there so I couldn't get close. Most of the dealers were friendly, although on Thursday it seemed like many of the dealers were more interested in chatting with their friends rather than taking care of their customers.

On Friday morning the crowd was smaller, so it was easier to engage the dealers and they seemed more inclined to interact with their customers. The crowd started to grow in size as the afternoon wore on, and by 5pm the place was crowded again. My wife and I (God bless her!) covered the entire show and nearly all of the 600 dealers on Thursday, and then we went back and did it all again on Friday.

If you collect modern cards, modern auto'd and gu cards, or open packs, there were an unbelievable amount of these cards at the show. There were a couple of dozen dealers who had nothing but box after box of $1 modern cards, and they appeared to be doing a tremendous amount of business. There were several dealers who appeared to have nothing except many boxes of 10 cent cards and one dealer with a lot of 5 cent 1980's baseball cards. Customers were flocked around these dealers and they seemed to sell a hell of a lot of these 10 cent cards, although I can't believe they would be able to pay for their show expenses and make a profit by selling dime cards. That works well at small local shows, but with the high table fees and travel expenses at the National, it doesn't seem profitable.

I was able to talk to several board members. Some were selling and some were buying. Two of the high points of the show were checking out Ed Hans Mothers Bread and Tango Eggs cards, and Rhett taking the time to show me a portion of his incredible Holsum Bread collection. It would be worth the trip to the National even if you did nothing other than spend some time at Rhett's table and see what he has.

I thought it was a great show, and I am already starting to think ahead to Atlantic City.

Rick

Rick
 

...........stellar report! want to see you in AC next year...

I have been trying to get a gauge on the T206 scrap market/ availability and demand, since as you know, that's my focus.....DID YOU SEE ANY??

I have only been reported one legit card scrap spotted, and another purchased by my friend....but other than that NOT EVEN A blank back 06???????:confused:

wow....if that's the case, they are disappearing more than I expect?????????

Kevin, I made it by a couple of times, but each time you were literally surrounded! I did speak to a young man (your son?) who was helping you. Business must have been good!! I had a great time. Several hours disappeared in a hurry!

Kudos
 

Kevin Lewis is a wealth of knowledge and eager to share it. What a great opportunity for me to hear a little about the photo part of the hobby !!

I have all of one T-206, bought on a whim at an antique store years ago for $10-$12, I'm fighting the urge. There are so many cool vintage pre-war cards. I may pick up one or two here and there someday just to have examples but I'm fighting off the urge, I light candles, chant and burn incense to chase away the impulse to delve into complete obsession in compiling sets...that's Jim Jones craziness. :eek:

I'm not very knowledgeable on the really old stuff but it seemed to me there was enough of it around to satisfy any collector seeking any condition, amazing collections really. As for prices, I don't know if they were good or not but I negotiated on everything I purchased. I'm not sure about the pre-war market.


Have to add; I also picked up four signed B/W photos, 1934 Ray Berres Brooklyn Dodger photograph from Wide World, ( my wife, a nurse, took care of him a couple times, said he was the nicest guy, told great stories), a Cubs 1950's Hank Sauer, Dee Fondy, Phil Cavarretta, Ted Lyons signed in ink pen, a Berra/Larsen 1956 World Series perfect game photo. I'll frame them and hang them up in the baseball part of my finished basement.

Scrap
 

I didn't see any scrap, but then again, I wasn't really looking for it. I wish I had been thinking about that, but I think I would have picked up on it if I had run across one.

Anyone notice SGC
 

Wish I was there, sounds like a blast!

Anyone notice or talk about the price difference/demand between SGC and PSA for major and semi-major cards?

Any Negro League Baseball stuff? I know there were plenty of T206's, aren't they at every single show throughout the country?

Rick...
 

come to the dark side!!! :D you will love 206!! trust me......you can collect so may ways.....you can email me anytime, I will help.....they hold their value overall.....Wagner holds the set in high demand......trust me, a blue chip issue:)

Rick!

I have been bothering everyone for the scrap report:)......2 sighted at the whole show:eek: not even a blank back available!

ANYONE SEE ANY??:confused:

I bought t205s from 2 dealers. One only sold PSA except for 1 card which was priced as a PSA. The other only brought his PSA and said he sold SGC for a little less. Nothing like the 1 grade difference that people were saying. The second guy also took my SCG cards at a fair price in trade, although I did spend quite a bit with him and have bought from him off Ebay. The registry must be a powerful drug.

I also graded some cards. I ended up going with SCG and their grading was very strict, but for the most part fair. A couple cards were .5 to 1 low IMO. I also did a few modern cards with BGS and found the same (I got the min grades that the cards were) although the subs seemed a little low. I don't know if it was just the show or the TPGCs are all tightening up their grading because of threads like the one on here.

I arrived on Saturday at around noon...bought tickets..there was zero line.....looked around for a bit.....card prices for 1954 topps big guys much higher than ebay...ended up doing a small deal for a duke snider card for 100 less in exact same condition as dealer one table over who wouldn't bude on the price.....took about 2 mins..one table down :)

the dealer I bought the card actually said 'well if I were to sell it on ebay I would net just about the same and you paying cash'

not sure why when paying cash dealers want more on some cards then they sell on ebay.....unless super super example of the same grade perhaps...

anyway, was fun ....

[QUOTE=rats60;1437244]I bought t205s from 2 dealers. One only sold PSA except for 1 card which was priced as a PSA. The other only brought his PSA and said he sold SGC for a little less. Nothing like the 1 grade difference that people were saying. The second guy also took my SCG cards at a fair price in trade, although I did spend quite a bit with him and have bought from him off Ebay. The registry must be a powerful drug.


The registry will only be non-important when you see the big auction houses not quoting POP counts for commons and not breaking sets and showing the registry ranking for the sets......let me know when that happens and I wont worry about psa grades...

On the way out of the show, I was passing a few last tables when my son started getting a little tired. A lady behind the table offered him a mint Oreo. He thanked her and started eating while I looked one more time at her case. There was a stack of 34 Goudeys!

I found one I didn't have, Larry French I believe, and snapped it up. Never would have seen it if it hadn't been for her generosity.

So to Genie and Marty Pritchard of Old Vintage Baseball Cards, thanks for the card and the snack!

[QUOTE=1952boyntoncollector;1437266]Some of us are actually collectors and not investors looking to put a set together and then sell through an AH. We can buy what we want and then let the AH strong arm PSA to cross them at the same level if we ever decide to sell. The key is to not buy over graded cards. I only see the registry as an ego trip.

[QUOTE=rats60;1437272]
right I agree....but the OP was inquiring about the drug effect of the PSA registry..i just pointing out its real and here to stay...drugs are typically bad for you and offer a fake state of euphoria...and not real..implying the PSA desirability isn't based on any fact or real..... plus good luck trying to strong arm PSA into cross grading ......I just pointing out things that would happen for the PSA desirability to fall off....not talking about if as a collector you have to choose one or the other...

Most collectors do sell cards eventually.....and several sellers have different price opinions with buyers....some of these price opinions differ between SGC and PSA graded cards....just pointing out PSAs desirability over SGC in the selling market if a collector ever decides to sell.......but collectors are free to collect whatever they wish...that's the fun of the hobby.......

Thanks for the write ups guys. What about caramels? Where there a lot of E95's, 93's, 92's (Croft's Candy or Cocoa's) or 98's? In general, caramels seem to have been pretty flat some since their peak. Curious if there seems to be any type of comeback. I'm hoping not so I can still get some of the one I want before a spike comes around again.

:D Thanks

Some, but not a lot, Dean .. at least in comparison to the T206s. I concur with the previous posters, seemed like every table had them. More of those than I have ever seen at any show - even tougher backs. On the caramels, I picked up a few E94's at some reasonable prices. Saw some E93s, but prices seemed more in-line with where they were during the last bubble. Noticed some E98s, E95s and E92s as well, but you had to hunt around some and ask.

Some other observations: More AH's now than I could ever keep track of! Seems like everyone has an AH now - signs up on several tables about buying or consigning with them.

Busy Thurs and Fri - every vendor I talked to said traffic and sales were quite good heading into the weekend.

707 had a big spread (as usual), but the few times I passed by (both Thurs and Fri) I didn't see anyone at their tables.

And to think up until this show I always thought "Panini" was a grilled sandwich ;)

I went on Saturday with my Brother and Nephew. This was my 2nd national. I had a good time. Bought a couple t206s for my HOF t206 collection. Most dealers I spoke with were very nice and helpful and always willing to negotiate. All in all from my personal standpoint it was a worthwhile trip.

As others have stated I did feel like it's as much as a place for auction houses to promote their next auction as much as it is a place for dealers to sell cards but hey that's part of the hobby as well and honestly I like looking at some of that stuff because 99.9% of it I'll never own so it's cool to atleast see it in person.

One thing I noticed that I didn't notice the last national in Chicago and I think is a positive thing for the hobby is the amount of kids and teenagers I seen buying cards, busting wax at the panini and topps booths and what not. Even seen some kids helping out running dealer booths. Seen plenty of parents both moms and dads helping their kids pick out cards or educating them on the hobby and I think that's great. There's always a lot of chatter about the hobby dying because kids can't afford to be involved or baseball cards don't interest them like they did us when we were kids but I think there's still a healthy amount of kids into the hobby. Sure most of them are more into the autograph cards and busting packs and stuff but hey gotta start somewhere.

Eh, I didn't see much of a future with the kids when they are just there with their parents who collect.....cause not all the collectors kids will collect..and that will result in a smaller group all together...the..future would be healthy if more kids whos parents DID NOT collect started to collect...than that would be a net gain......as opposed to a net loss that I saw...