Hobby history: The second National, Detroit 1981
 

After posting Baseball Hobby News's coverage of the first National Sports Collectors' Convention in Anaheim in 1980, I was looking through BHN's coverage of the second National in Detroit, in the August 1981 issue, and I figured I might as well post that too. There are lots of photos, but more articles than the previous year, including descriptions of all the seminars. Lots of interesting stuff here, and it brings me back. I didn't go to that convention (my first National would be 1993 in Chicago), but I was 15 years old in 1981 and probably at the peak of my youthful collecting.

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Cool
 

I love the ad for the card organizers. I wish they were still available.

Thanks for taking the time to post these two National threads.

Rick

Those card sorters were actually sock sorters then someone came up with the idea of using them for cards....I sold a lot of those way back then

Thanks for sharing this! At 15, this was my first National, and an amazing experience.

While visiting family in December I had to take a drive by that small hotel for the memories. It's now a retirement home.

Looking forward to my 25th National this year. :)

Neat little blurb there about Donruss and TCMA :) .

As noted in one of the BHN newspaper photos -- the 2nd National occurred during the 1981 baseball strike so it was an interesting time to be a dealer/collector. The two hottest cards on the market were 1981 Topps Tim Raines and 1981 Topps Fernando Valenzuela.

The 1981 Fleer mania had already ended by then.