Your Favorite Local Shows, Past and Present.
 

With constant, never ending stream of auctions, and talks about the major shows that are around the nation, such as The National, I think local card shows have become overlooked. Whether it be from the past or the present, what were or are your favorite local shows near you?

The Tuesday night P.A.L. Show in Parsippany, NJ of the mid 90's. Got me started on my T206 journey. Great Vintage dealers at that show.

silver spring armory auctions in the early 90's had some great stuff.

Columbia, MO, Springfield, MO, and several different shows in Kansas City. These shows have grown and have made it unnecessary to travel to bigger regional shows such as Chicago, Dallas, and Houston.

It would be easy for me to say the George Washington Motor Lodge/Fort Washington show due to there size, but I'll go a little more low key. Growing up I always liked the shows at the Montgomery Mall, Village Mall, and of course the old Warrington Motor Lodge where I got my first old card, a 72 Clemente in action.

Hey Richard. Did you ever got to the Auctions at the Warrington Motor Lodge. I think it was R & B Auctions.

Hard to say, no one comes to Colorado Springs. There was a local show last month. First in over 2 years. 95% new and game cards. There was a smattering of old cards (pre 80) and even less .0001% vintage.

Pretty much not gonna go back to that one. Denver, has them but it is not the easiest place to get to these days.

B. T.

Seems like we did a thread like this or I happened to bring this one up in regards to a different type of conversation, but the VFW Hall in McHenry in the late 80's used to do a great small shows. Where I bought a lot of my 1969 Cubs team set. Not the greatest condition by my standards today, but man I had a lot of fun putting that set together the old school way. I have it in one of my binders to look at now and again.

Not that I can remember. I was young. One of the reasons the show stood out to me is probably because the Warrington was owned by the family of one of my friends growing up.

I was a steady attendee of those R&B card auctions. Always picked up a lot of older cards and some T206 cards. A lot of fun back then.

epic east coast shows
 

Wayne Miller show in Columbia,MD
Silver Spring Armory (MD)
Willow Grove, PA

White Marsh and Golden Ring Mall Shows Baltimore late 80’s early 90’s along with The Fifth Regiment Armory in Pikesville Md. Ahh so many Great Memories of Brooks Robinson, Johnny Unitas, Lenny Moore, Art Donovan, Paul Blair, I could go on and and on and on.

East Brunswick NJ Ramada Inn
 

Regular shows at the long-gone Ramada back in the early 80’s were my gateway to better shows - especially the Willow Grove EPSSC shows. Got many cards at the Ramada that are still in my collection, including my first Goudeys.

Old shows
 

Willow Grove was terrific. Being from East Brunswick I also like the Ramada Inn but the North Brunswick fire house show was great as well !

Look at that - two EB natives on one thread. What are the odds?
Pretty good, apparently.
Forgot about the fire house shows. And the Brunswick Square mall had a couple of sports/antique shows as well back in the day

Albany NY
 

The Keetz shows were pre-1976 only , held in Albany NY in the late 80’s and probably before (that’s when I discovered them)
I built most of my prewar collection foundation there.

It’s one of those things where I wished I had bought every HOF card on the tables, because the costs are now astronomical. Of course, it’s relative as I couldn’t afford them then either :p:rolleyes:

i'm from jersey
 

used to love going to Ocean County mall shows as a kid....

there are some decent shows at Bordentown a few times a month presently....:):):) also, at Colts neck Firehouse

I saw a central Jersey Guys here....:D

Hinsdale Holiday Inn
 

The Hinsdale, IL Holiday Inn shows in the late 1970's and through the 1980's. Those were the Chicagoland Sports Collectors Association shows, run by Bruce and Bonita Paynter. The table fee in 1978 was $8.00. Fond memories.

As much as I love going to the card shows, it's always been something sporadic for me through the years.

I think the first one I ever went to was somewhere on the shoreline in CT when I was a kid and went solely to get my 1983 Topps card autographed by Jim Rice.

Went to a couple of others in CT here and there which was always fun as my Dad would point out some of the cards he remembered having when he was a kid from the 50s-60s.

I do remember the University of New Haven in CT had a run of a yearly card show which I attended a few times, not sure if they still do it but I enjoyed it. Managed to get Jim Rice and Fred Lynn to autograph a baseball for me one time, just need Dwight Evans on it now but I don't know if he does shows or anything.

After moving to Virginia once I was out of the military about 12 years ago, I've gone to a few here. Not small but have been to the Chantilly show a small handful of times, eventually I'll go again. There is a monthly card/comic show at a hotel in Tyson's Corner area that I pop into once every few months or so. Nothing much going on there but it's always fun to just go to a show once in awhile and look at stuff.

The first Thursday of each month at Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley, CA. These shows were organized by Mike Berkus and Steve Brunner. They also staged our major shows each Labor and Memorial Day as well as our first national conventions in 1985 and 1991.

Phil aka Tere1071
Upgrading my 1953 Bowman Color;
1971; 1972; 1974; and 1975 Topps
Baseball sets
Working on completing my 1970 and 1973
Topps Baseball sets

Coral Square Mall, Coral Springs (Fort Lauderdale), Florida. The full-mall shows there in the 1990s were absolutely astounding. Many, many cards in my collection were picked up there. You could haggle over prices, and the sellers didn't get all puffed up about it. I really miss those shows!

I remember going to the George Washington Motor Lodge as a teen with my uncle who got me into collecting in the 80's.... I still work in the area and like to reminisce (now a Thompson Acura dealership there).

The Robbinsville Show in NJ was always a great place to find tough cards ('73 Topps in decent shape).

Loved heading up to White Plains to the Gloria Rothstein shows - loved seeing tons of '52 Topps and plenty of Mantles those days.

My favorite card shop was going w/ that uncle to John Broggi's shop (JKJ Collectibles, I believe) - so many years ago.....

The George Washington Motor Lodge in Willow Grove for me. Bought my first T206 there from another attendee. It was a trimmed at top Mathewson for $16.00.
I do miss those days of almost no parking and having to follow people to their cars to get their parking spot........to the 75 people in line in front of you to get in.......to the inhale and suck in your gut to get to the next table......Oh the good old days.
Bob

As a dealer living not too far away, I think the Willow Grove and Ft. Washington were my favorite shows.
The Gloria Rothstein shows were always fun and GR herself was a real piece of work.
Growing up there were no shows. Just us neighborhood kids trading under a shady tree.

The card shows at Boston College High School in south Boston were amazing. I remember when Bill Russell first started signing autographs at $350.00 in the early 90's. That would have been my whole weekly pay check.

I remember well that BC High show when Russell ended his policy of not signing autographs. Waiting outside for the show to open I got to chat with another autograph guest, Moose Skowron, who was a great guy.
No compendium of local shows would be complete without mention of the Bishop Guertin show in Nashua, NH, which was New England's semiannual show in the 70s and 80s. Bill Dod and his baseball team ran this show in the high school gym and cafeteria with tables manned by most of the region's leading collectors as well as dealers. The material that changed hands in Nashua still boggles my mind.
Bob Richardson

Michigan had many shows in the 80’s & 90’. Plymouth was one of the best, also Dearborn, also Mall shows were popular. A lot of small shows at VFW & other halls. Miss those days. Joe

Central Jersey Shows
 

Yea I remember all those shows in the 80's and was at many of them. Besides some of the ones already mentioned, I also went to shows at the local malls (Middlesex Mall seemed to have a show 3 or 4 times a year) and the Holiday Inn on Route 22 in Springfield had at least a show every month.

I remember looking at the show listing in Baseball Hobby News (I think) and there were always 3 to 5 shows every weekend withing a short drive.

Mike

I was a vendor at many of the 1980's New Jersey shows. The Sunday Parsippany shows were the best in North Jersey and I had some days when I sold just an amazing amount of cards/dollars. Always bought well there as well.

Rich

Wait...what? You went to that show? That show was run by the Fox Valley Collectors which was run by myself as well as Doug and Corky. That WAS an awesome little show and I am so grateful for you to even remember it.

I loved that show. I have so many vivid memories of shopping those aisles.

Those were run by Bob Rose and his brother. I believe they were from Taunton. The show where Russell signed was his first ever show signing. They had a reunion of most of the 1956-57 Championship team. I had been corresponding with one of the members who had fallen off of the radar, Dixie "Dick" Hemric. I tracked him down in Indiana I believe. They had a private dinner that night at the hotel, Sheraton Braintree. I was invited. It was great to just sit there and listen to them talk about their lives. Russell was the only one who did not attend. One of the next shows had Jo Jo White. They forgot to send a car for him to get to the show so I drove him. Those shows ended when one of the Rose brother got cancer and passed away.

Bishop Guertin was a great show. You would have pretty much every hardcore collector from the Boston area make that drive up Rte 3. Being right off of the highway was a bonus. You would not only get some of the dealers who did the Greater Boston show there were also those who only did shows in NH and VT.

I liked the VFW show in Braintree. That was a fun Saturday show. I remember buying a beautiful 1950's 5x7 photo of football HOFer Bob Waterfield signed in fountain pen at one of those shows for $3.00.

Big Billy Hedin also ran some decent shows. I think he did the Mansfield show.

Thanks for the information Michael. :)

[QUOTE=Originally Posted by Michael B
I liked the VFW show in Braintree. That was a fun Saturday show. I remember buying a beautiful 1950's 5x7 photo of football HOFer Bob Waterfield signed in fountain pen at one of those shows for $3.00.

Big Billy Hedin also ran some decent shows. I think he did the Mansfield show.[/QUOTE]

Michael,
That Braintree show was run by Bob Polio, a longtime collector who I heard was still running it until a year or two ago. Though small, it featured top dealers Ron Johnsen, Paul Longo and Art Andersen, from whom I bought some wonderful cards over the years.

I've been attending Nick Shoff's shows in Tyson's Corner, VA; Silver Spring Armory; and now Annandale, VA for 30 years

Andy

Bob ran a nice little show. When I first started going I did not own a car, but figured out I could get there via the Red Line. That was especially nice if I was going to hit the record stores in Kenmore Square after. No need to worry about parking and dealing with the SE Expressway.

I, too, relied on the T to get to the Braintree show (as well as BC High), but hated that you had to walk several blocks out of your way to get to the VFW because the folks in Braintree didn't want anyone cutting through their neighborhood to get downtown.

From the late 1970's to 1992, the greatest Sportscard Show on the East coast was in WILLOW GROVE, Pennsylvania at the George Washington Motor Lodge.

Furthermore, a 2nd Show alternated at the George Washington Motor Lodge in the Valley Forge area.

Alternating between these two Shows from March thru to December were these 4 shows, and this was an amazing experience. The best dealers in the hobby
back then (and some of them still now) were a real delight to deal with.


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TED Z

T206 Reference
.

This one. Tuesday nights turned into a tradition. I worked in Fairfield and played softball games off 46 and was also in a juggling troop that practiced in Parsippany, also on Tuesday nights.

Dinner with my grandparents, softball during spring and summer, card show, juggling, late night pizzas and drinks at the Reservoir Tavern in Boonton. Every single Tuesday for years.

I was also a big fan of the White Plains show and the handful that would pop up every now and again at the Wayne Manor. Bruce was never there but it was always a decent show.

Then I moved to DC, haha. Now it's definitely the Chantilly show!

Ted Funny to think about how the more things change, the more they stay the same, in regards to great shows being located in the Valley Forge Area!

And to everyone, keep all the stories coming! I love to hear them.

Favorite BB card Shows
 

Here is a 1983 Willow Grove Show program. 1983 was the 1st year that I set-up at this fabulous Show. This program contained
several pages of very worthwhile information pertaining to the Dealers, Showroom layout, events regarding the Hobby, etc., etc.
On the back cover of this program was an advertisement for the tremendous Seafood Restaurant (only a short distance from the
Convention Center). The BOSTON SEA Party was a very popular restaurant in the 1970's - 1990's. It was a consistently excellent
franchise, as I can attest to, having eaten at this one, also in Carol Stream (IL), Cherry Hill (NJ), and Denver.



https://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan...vesept1983.jpg . . https://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan...rtyMar1983.jpg


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

This thread came to my mind after reading this article, by Rich Mueller, concerning the Rhode Island Show. It celebrates it's 47 anniversary! Which I'm sure not many shows can say the same!

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...ard-show-2023/

It includes an original advertisement from the show in 1978, with quite the autograph lineup, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron and Rod Carew! Only a Dollar entry to boot! Anyone here attend that show in general? Maybe have some fond memories?

Wonder how much some of the pre-war cards were going for back then? Would've scooped up as many Wagner's, Cobbs, Ruth's and Gehrigs I could afford, and some Mantle's too!

https://cdn.sportscollectorsdaily.co...8-796x1024.jpg

San Diego used to have a monthly card show at the Scottish Rite Center. It was a pretty good show for San Diego. There was plenty of everything - Frank and Viv Barning would set up with T206 cards and there'd be other dealers with older cards. There'd be dealers from Los Angeles and other areas every once in a while. Then it shut down sometime in the 90s. Then there was a smaller show but not much vintage. I'm not sure if San Diego has any shows anymore.

It's been a LONG time since there was a west coast national. I've been to a few Nationals since the last west coast national, but it's just a pain to have to travel to them. I'd hang out with an old collecting buddy at the nationals but he passed away a while ago so it's not as fun anymore.

Edited to add - no, those Scottish Rite shows were nothing like a good non-National east coast show like Ft. Washington and other nice east coast shows.

Nick's shows in the 1990s were fantastic for Senators collectors, maybe 10 dealers with all kinds of vintage Washington stuff, not to mention the chance to connect with the handful or so of other hardcore Nats nuts you had become friends with. Sadly, they're all gone now. Nick knew how to run a show, too.

Been going to this show for many years, but not quite back to 1978. Still a pretty good show that I try to never miss because there really aren't any others of any size around here.

They added a Fall show for 2022. I hope that one sticks around too.

I have only done a handful of shows but The Philly Show and the National have been the best for me. I go to the Dallas Card Show too. It's about 92% new stuff but there is that other 8% to look through. Plus, it's just down the street from where I live. I will be there in a little while with some hobby friends whom have set up.
.

I am hoping that Las Vegas has some shows worth attending. I just recently moved near there and that is the closest big city that has shows from time to time.

Not a show but a local dealer who set up at shows in the 80s-90s.

He sold cards, new and vintage fishing equipment, and guns. As a young man growing up in South Dakota he had all the fun stuff in one stop.:D

I think Ft. Washington, PA was a worthy successor to Willow Grove.