The National Thread
 

Post some updates, stories, and pics if you got ‘em…..I'll start:

Went last night to the Sneak Peek. Maybe the only time I can go this week, but may try to make it back this Saturday. Regardless, last night was probably all I needed to see what I wanted. It was only a 1:45 min drive for me, so getting there, and in and out, was a breeze. Parking was easy ($15 at Convention Center, and $10 across the street in a smaller lost that probably fills quickly). I parked for $10 across the street. Traffic was pretty light when the doors opened and seemed light throughout the evening. Speaking with several dealers, optimism was high as they expected fewer from greater distances, but far more from NY area who otherwise may not attend a National.

Best part, as always, was meeting and spending time with several people including Brett Lowman, Chris Hornung, Keith Javic and Bob Freedman. Focused on finding vintage memorabilia and skipped all the glossy modern plastic crap. Vintage memorabilia was slim, but the usual suspects had some good stuff: Keith Javic, Jon English, Sport + Spool Antiques, Corey Leiby, Bill Kozlowski.

Keith Javic and Jon English were the highlights for me (sorry no pics, was rushed for time and focused on seeing it all in one evening). Didn’t see anything stellar that interested me, so focused on some bargain bin shopping for the few bucks that were burning a hole in my pocket. The highlight was a nice large cabinet photo (14” x 11”) of Cornell 1896 football team I got from Javic. It’s a bit roached, but full of great equipment content and detail - I look forward to framing it with a nice mat.

Others may have some pics to share. All in all was worth the short trip and I ended up spending about $300 + $22 admissions + $10 parking + $4 tolls. Here is a link to some pics of the items I picked up that will fit into my cabinets nicely:

https://goo.gl/photos/aFqp54LpFXBv7tAi7

Awesome, Joe. Sadly couldn't make it this year.

Wow it's been quite a while since my last post here...

Hope all you guys are doing Ok and having a great week at The National.

Good to hear from you, Jimmy. Four years isn't too long. I have seen members be a member for 7 yrs before their first post. Whatever floats your boat :).

Thanks for the welcome!
4 years!! I need to acclimate myself.

:)

National
 

Thank you for sharing

Sandy

I bought a non baseball item in a WW2 purple heart medal. Kind of sad to see it at a baseball show and sadly in googling the name on the back it looks like the hero didn't return from the war.

Brock I'd Google Purple Heart and how to return it. I think there's even a place to return it to the government if no family is found. Was it engraved with his name? Pretty sad a family member doesn't have this.
Might try here: http://purpleheartsreunited.org/

Buying wasn't too good for me .. But it's always good to see friends that you haven't seen in awhile .. The only keeper I picked up so far

Hey Joe, great pick-ups!
Did you notice any early turn of the century hockey items?
By the way, I hope all is well with you these days.

Brent

Adding a Jackson isn't what I call a poor buying day Matt:eek:

Niiiiice piece of lumber:D

Lol - thanks Mike . It is a nice bat but I expected more to turn up . I'll see how tomorrow goes .
Matt

Was there for two days and just got home.

Spoke with a lot of people and got a ton of email addresses of collectors who wanted me to opine on their autographs.

It was a blast waiting in line for autographs and talking with other collectors.

Spence said Podsada was there, but i didn't see him.

I was there yesterday. First time at a National and it is crazy how huge it is.

Unfortunately I could not find any items I was looking for but I had some fun opening some packs, and I gave a whole bunch of cards to PWCC to consign. Also met some really cool people and of course saw some jaw dropping items.

Great Looking Bat - thanks for the info!

What's everyone's best pick up?

Just made our way home from the show today after spending all day yesterday and few hours on Wednesday night strolling around and shopping.

I had a thoroughly enjoyable time and being able to share it with my Dad, brother, and a number of our hobby friends made it all the more special...that, and because it was here at home in NJ!

I did manage to score a nice c.1860s lemon peel base ball as well as a really cool H. Harwood and Sons sales receipt (with great graphics) from 1871 that reflected a purchase of $184 worth of specialty baseballs.

Additionally, I was able to move a few of the items I brought along for sale and trade and actually managed to come home with a few $$ more than I went down with...a perfect show!

I'm gonna get some pics of my acquisitions up before the end of the weekend. Till then, I'll enjoy reading about what everyone else pulled.

Jonathan
www.dugouttreasures.com

I was expecting more to show up as well. Walked the floor both Wed and Thurs. Picked up a couple of cards but this was my only memorabilia pickup. Overall, a good show but was a little disappointed.

Was surprised by the lack of vintage equipment. By the time I got there today a couple of the vintage guys had packet up and left

Went to my first National since 1988, the last time it was in AC, today. Wasn't expecting to go, but decided a couple days ago to do it.
Met a lot of nice people, some renewing old friendships and made some new ones as well. Was hoping to meet Rhys and Scott, but maybe next time. Finally met that Kriendler fellow along with Phil Napolitano. Ben was nowhere to be found(I think he was just avoiding my awesomeness).
Unfortunately, I didn't find a whole lot there to bring home. No signed 34 Goudeys that I needed and came away with a single Gehrig photo from Kevin Lewis(No. You cannot have any of my Gehrig photos.)

Can anyone comment on the quality /quantity of pinbacks and figural pieces at the show?:D

While not directly looking for those items, I did note that there were several booths that had both of those types of items available. Some seemed very nice to me, but am not expert in what defines quality specifically.

Can anyone comment on the quality /quantity of pinbacks and figural pieces at the sho
 

The best and largest presentation of bobbin heads etc was by Inside the Park Collectibles and Mike H. It looked like their show was going very well

I collect Brooklyn Dodger pins and was not able to pick up a any of the tough ones that I needed. Most of the good Dodger pins that I saw were stickered at ridiculously high prices. I found a few pins at scattered tables. Sam Q of Sports Treasures had the largest assortment of pins of all sports. Unfortunately he didn't have any Dodger pins that I needed.

Figural trophy's there in other sports but not baseball. Bunch of loving Cups but I did not see any spaldings etc.

I didn't see any good baseball figurals.

Anyone see Negro League material at the show? It seemed that the past several years that I attended, only Ryan C. and maybe the AH's had anything significant, and theirs wasn't for sale, just previews for viewing.

As promised ( if anyone even remembers ;) ) here are some pics of the two items I picked up at the National...

1.A nice example of a c. 1850s - 1860s, single piece, Lemon Peel style base ball.

2. An 1871 sales slip from the H. Harwood & Sons Company for the sale of baseballs...models included are the Red Dead Ball, White Dead Ball, Champion, Cock of the Walk, and Practice among others. As I am a bit of a Harwood Baseball Mfg. enthusiast, this was a perfect piece for me!

Hope to hear more about everyone else's scores from the show.

Jonathan
www.dugouttreasures.com

Come to think of it, I didn't see Ryan C. at all

Most of my pickups... Apologies for the crude cell pics. I'm most excited about the Hoyt image ('21 WS) and the vise.

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...807_175213.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...807_180231.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...807_175132.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...807_175243.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...807_175324.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...807_064343.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...807_064204.jpg

I was there two days I planned to be there for four but I got a call Monday saying I could pick up our new Cocker Spaniel puppy Thursday. So Thursday and Friday were dedicated to our new pup. Tuesday I went to the VIP reception and got all 3 autographs and then got on line to get in during the sneak peak. My wife came with and helped by sorting out all the free swag and even breaking open a few boxes at the Topps wrapper redemption booth.
Small crowd so I was able to move around quickly. I was looking for early Baseball Programs and was disappointed I saw very few. I was also surprised to find that although it was a very large show and had great auction house displays there was not as many nice pre-war cards as I thought would be at a National. Post war was a different story lots of nice 52 mantles 55 Clemente's etc. Jeff at Card Country had a really nice assortment of great post war stars. I met him and a few other really nice net54 guys on Wed. I almost pulled the trigger on the Felix Mendelson that I saw another board member picked up. I saw it early in my first run and try to mostly look on my first run and then go back and buy on my second unless it is high on my want list. There was a small crowd for many of the paid autograph guests on Wednesday. Gary Sheffield signed my 500 HR ball and was very nice but the line was short. After his auto I finished my second round dropped some stuff off at PSA and drove back home.
Saturday I bought some stuff to sell and talking to dealers I knew early Sat. I got a mixed reaction some said business was slow some said good but many said that they were disappointed that not much stuff walked into the show for them to buy. Again the lines for Frank Thomas and Eddie Murray were kinda short and I was surprised. Cal Ripkin had a decent crowd and was SO nice to his fans. I also got a signature from Marty Brodeur who again was very nice. I was walking out and was checking a few booths that had interesting stuff and there on top of a showcase was a Bazooka Box that I had my eye out for for a very long time a 1968 Clemente Full BOX.. well you all know how it goes one purchase can turn a so so show into one you will remember for a long time. Hope the national comes back to the North East soon.

I was there on Saturday, pretty good crowd a lot of dealers. My 1st National since it was in AC in 2003. Wife went with me, and she liked it more than I thought she would. We were at the show for about 2 hours or so, then went to dinner and did some gambling.

Saw a few things I wanted, but we're a little out of the budget right now. I did pick up a game used Opening Day Baseball, Red Sox vs Yankees from 1959 from the Bob Turley collection.

Attachment 240504

I was there Tues thru Sat. It seemed to be less dealers than a usual National. And fewer collectors. Because of the location, the show was just a bigger version of the Valley Forge and/or the White Plains show. Many, if not most of the west coast dealers and collectors were not there. Had a great time as usual.

I was able to pick up this beauty 1910's Charles M. Conlon Type 1 Photo of Hippo Vaughn for my Cracker Jack "Conlon" Photo Collection.

For those that haven't seen, Chris Hornung took some great photos from the National...

http://www.antiquefootball.com/nscshow16.htm

Those are some great photos Chris posted. I already saw an item I am disappointed I missed. Thanks for posting that