East Coast National - this weekend
 

If any board members are setting up to sell, could you tell us where you are going to be. Thanks.

Downstairs - will have much more post war than pre war though

East Coast National
 

Memory Lane will be upstairs showcasing some of our incredible auction highlights, including many Babe Ruth cards.

There’s two floors?

East Coast National
 

Yes Jeff - this show will feature the entire first floor gymnasium & basement. Completely sold out. Should be a great show.

I'll be there!
 

Not sure where yet. You can text me day of at 516-991-5535 and I'll let you know where. I know I have an 8x8 booth. I believe I'm on the main floor. I will have a ton of great vintage with me including baseball high end, low end, raw & graded, sets, Hockey, non sports, football and basketball.

too funny....
 

I can easily go to Google but a thread about the East Coast National without anyone saying where it is? City? State? Building address?

What floor are you on? Too funny.

:D

PS:

Westchester County Center - 198 Central Ave, White Plains NY 10606

500 Table - Sports Card and Memorabilia Show
2 Floors of Dealers (some are on the top floor.....some on the bottom)

Authentication Companies appearing this weekend: JSA

Grading Services: Companies appearing this weekend: BGS(Submissions Only), SGC(Submissions Only)

I will be at the East Coast National with my new acquisitions from the National--21 Graded Turkey Reds (Tris Speaker down) T201 Graded Commons--1950 Bowman graded Stars with many commons graded 8's--1956 & 1957 Raw Stars and commons--40 1971 Greatest Moments--Graded 1957 Basketball Stars and my normal graded Cobb-Ruth-Mantle Stars---thanks, Don Hontz

Is there a dealer list? I can’t find one on the website.

Will be the same dealer circuit crowd as always...maybe a few newbies but do not expect it. Should be a great show first time at the Westchester Center since pre Covid.

Just heard from some attendees that the show is packed. They actually opened up the basement with some dealers, that is a first!

Have fun

let us know how it went

ie let us know how vintage vs Modern

Maybe a first in recent years but back in the day, the ECN always had two floors going. In fact it was as if there were 2 different shows. Upstairs were six foot tables and everything was jammed together.

Downstairs was 8 foot tables and everything was more relaxed. I actually knew some dealers who traded off making more $$$ upstairs for the relative comfort of the extra room downstairs.

For this year:

And I saw a couple of notices there were Air Conditioning issues. Sounds like that will be card show theme of 2023

Regards
Rich

Went yesterday for the sneak peak afternoon. Was there about 3 hours. Two floors and even tables set up in some rooms off the main floor. Good crowd for a friday afternoon. Sure the people running will be thrilled at the crowds they get.

I'd say about 40-60 vintage to modern. Small amount of football. Really was a great deal of vintage cards.

I am largely into memorabilia these days and there was some. I find shows are just awful to try to buy memorabilia. Prices are just insane. As one example, someone had a nice piece of hotel stationary signed by Ruth and the asking price was like $20,000. Photos at $9500 that I know would be lucky to get $2000 at a good auction. A Jackie Exhibits I recently bought last year on ebay for $595 was marked $1500. I realize it's harder to price memorabilia than cards, but for most of it I looked and didn't even bother engaging. I don't know if the sellers don't know what a decent opening price is or they are just waiting for Daddy Warbucks to arrive at a show knowing nothing and buying it.

Some nice eye candy as always from Heritage, Mile High and Memory lane.

Only a few people masking but saw one guy sitting on a chair along the back wall coughing like he was on death's door. Scary bad coughing. People were literally running to get away from him. Very sick man with Covid or worse. Bizarre that someone that sick would arrive in a crowded public space.

Didnt notice any AC issue. By time I left there was a significant line to get in. Like all shows, buy a ticket on line before you go.

Parking lot very crowded. Not sure where you go once the lot is full. And it will be full.

Apparently Josh Donaldson was walking around looking at basketball cards.

Great recap thanks

And I understand Josh looking a basketball cards.
He is thinking that is the only size ball he could hit

Ha, yes perhaps a basketball more his speed.
A few dealers showed me pictures of them with him. I was surprised how jacked he is. Looks like a NFL running back.

Lines at grading companies?
 

Can anyone tell me what the lines were like at BGS or PSA? I tried getting cards graded by Beckett at the National on three separate occasions, and each time, the line was very long, an hour's wait I was told.

Parking can be challenging there. If you're on the right train line, you can take Metro North almost all the way to the show, then just hop a cab or Uber. I think it's under a mile away.

I was there Friday … felt a bit small, so I am somewhat disappointed that this is the biggest show outside of the National. That said it is definitely worth going. I’d say there were 6 to 7 tables with meaningful tobacco inventory that were worth spending time at. That is not a lot relative to the size of the show(prob 10%?), but enough to spend some time and make for a worthwhile trip.

Pricing is about what I’d expect. I bought a few commons for my collection at prices somewhat in line with what I get on net54 and other private deals. I looked at a few of the key cards I need but they are generally priced at the high end of a the range of realized auction prices, in other words adding another vig onto a 20% vig. Not really necessary for me to lift those offers.

They claim it's a 500 table show.

Biggest show I've ever been to other than the National.

There could very well have been 500 tables. It just didn’t seem big . I was up and down aisles very quickly. There were 6 or 7 tables I spent time at with tobacco, so I guess that math leads to way less than 10%

This is the funniest thing I've read here in a while.

-Al

Went today with my son. Enjoyable time overall! We had to park down the street as the lot was full. Lots of vintage, mostly priced well above market comps. In some cases so much that it wasn’t worth negotiating. Like Snapolit said, one dealer with many Ruth autos that were marked 4-5x market. Maybe just a show and tell?

One thing I still don’t understand is why dealers don’t mark prices. It’s strange but I guess they don’t mind being asked for multiple different prices.

Lots of modern autos, boxes, signed photos and other memorabilia. Jordan autos at usual high prices. Many Fleer Jordan Rc’s. Not many Ohtani autos. I had one for sale but not much interest. Some very cool type 1 photos and esoteric premiums. Fun time to see many cards, but probably cheaper to buy online or at auction.

Interesting experience for me. Arrived around 12 noon…I’ve been to this show many, many times in the past. First time ever I just barely made it into the parking lot across the street before they closed it. Parked on the curb as all the spots were full. I had to wait 20-30 mins to get into the place for admission. As I was standing on the sidewalk. Other than that I had a good time with my kids. Dropped off my submissions to SGC, talked to some friends, and got Tony Perez’s auto. Air conditioning felt ok upstairs, downstairs was significantly warmer. I liked the variety of non-sport and oddball items. Did any of you notice more modern “celebrity cards/autos “ than normal?

I went Friday. Paid the extra $10 to get in early, and it was pretty quiet and parking was no issue in the lot that is close to the building.

Dropped off a 1949 Dodgers ball at JSA.

PSA wasn't in attendance. Used SMR Collectibles to submit a bunch of tickets and a few photos. Never submitted either before, so hoping that it all goes smoothly. The SMR people were super friendly and patient.

My focuses are somewhat niche, but walking around, I was disappointed by what seemed to be a real lack of memorabilia (signed balls etc.) I also collect from the early 2000's (early GU cards of legends and working on the 2000 Fleer Greats of the Game Auto set). Didnt see a ton and the prices I was quoted were probably 30% higher than eBay on the items I did see and inquire about. Not sure why you wouildn't sell for eBay prices or less in person with people paying cash, but there wasn't anything I was dying for, and so all I bought were some supplies.

I will say, I bought a few boxes from a vendor there and if anyone is like me and had their cards and other items stored in a random mess of boxes, the boxes are game-changing, and at a show where shipping isn't a cost to be factored in, they are not expensive. Spent $14 on 3 boxes for toploaders and graded cards, and I'm thrilled. The toploader boxes fit baseballs in ball holders almost perfectly (the 3 column box was a drop tight but I was able to get 15 balls in.


Hoping to get back there on Sunday to pick up my Dodgers ball and get some more supplies. And who knows, maybe there will be a deal on the last day.

I overheard one dealer say he has to price over comps because people grind him down on the price of everything. I can see that happening but can also see people walking away if you’re that far apart.

I was there for an hour on Friday with willingness to spend 6 figures. The prices were so absurd compared to recent comps that I couldn’t even bring myself to engage in any negotiation, ie, 5K items listed for 25K, etc. So instead of spending the money at the show, I spent 6 figures last night in Heritage and 6 figures last week in REA. At least in auctions there’s a semblance of realistic pricing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian (Post 2365794) Can anyone tell me what the lines were like at BGS or PSA? I tried getting cards graded by Beckett at the National on three separate occasions, and each time, the line was very long, an hour's wait I was told.

On Saturday afternoon with two passes past Beckett tables, no line and not one person submitting.

Bought some stuff for sets I am completing but overall, most singles were overpriced for the condition.

There were a couple of searcher tabels with decently organized singles going back to the 30's that had nice discounts posted...

Ecn
 

Thanks, Tim.
Yeah, I dropped off some cards but did not buy anything. The line stretched out the front door. As others have mentioned, cards were pretty over-priced. And I was prepared to spend, having been blown out on my white whale in the LOTG last night...er, morning. Some nice eye candy, but out of reach.

I did see a bunch of kids wheeling and dealing. They had cash to burn and knew what they were doing--they had the negotiation skills of much older folk.

Commoditization is alive and well. And all I could do was think about the good old days........

One of the saving graces of the Westchester show is you can buy a Nathan's hot dog and fries (with cheese, of course) at their modest food court. I've seen a lot worse options.

I went back today to pick up my 1949 Dodgers signed baseball that I dropped off at JSA. As expected, the major signatures were all authentic (Jackie, Campy, Reese etc) outside of Gil Hodges which as I suspected, was a clubhouse sig.

I walked around a bit, but prices seemed like there was little to talk about. I spoke to a few vendors. Foot traffic at the show was apparently pretty good, but a lot of people were coming looking to sell. I heard a vendor saying that his experience at the show was making think he needs to sell more on eBay, since people were offering so little, but my personal experience was that prices seemed super high. For items I was interested in, I was ready to pay at least eBay prices and even a bit higher since it is in person, but I barely even asked about items since the prices labeled that I was interested in were consistently quite a bit higher than eBay and auction houses.

I went on Saturday, and I can confirm that this is by far the largest East Coast National since the Gloria Rothstein glory days of the Nineties. Dealers everywhere, and while a large piece of the overall action involved the newer shiny stuff, there was enough available to make things interesting for the likes of us.

As for prices - well, if you're looking for graded stuff or top tier cards and/or condition, yes, the dealers all seem to have had Christmas in their eyes. But I'm a bottom feeder, and when you collect off condition stuff or oddball items, you can find bargains. I picked up an even quantity of sports cards and non-sports cards at very attractive prices. One dealer announced in no uncertain terms that he was retiring, and he priced his inventory to sell. Another had a few interesting non-sports lots and was willing to discuss prices.

I didn't find everything I was looking for, but that's always the case. The show was well worth the trip, and it's nice to be getting out of the house for a change. The large crowds seem to indicate that lots of collectors are emerging from the pandemic eager for the card show experience. Ebay remains an important part of collecting, but it's not the only part of collecting. :D

Alan

I talked to two collectors that went to the show this weekend and couldn't agree more with the above. Dealers that priced their cards as of today did well. Ones that had prices from 2 years ago did not.

From comments though, if anyone thinks that card shows are a thing of the past, you are definitely mistaken. This show was extremely busy and people were looking to buy. I hope this continues at the next big show, the Philly Show.

True. Great crowd. Smiling happy people. Lots of kids. All good in my book.

Unfortunately not a great place to buy anything really nice.

Sorry to hear nothing has changed in the over 16 years since I've worked this show. I worked so many shows there and never once found anything to buy (seeking autographs only, however). Colleagues and I always dreaded having to work any event held at this location.

I keep going but I haven't bought something at a Westchester show in probably 15 years. I've also seen the same case sitting in front of the same guy pretty much every one of those years. It hasn't yet dawned on some people that their prices are the reason they haven't sold anything in a decade.

But they keep coming too.

Nor has it dawned on the customers to stay home. You couldn't get me to that show at gunpoint.

I'm confused as to why you could never buy ANYTHING at this location. Was it the prices being high in your opinion so you couldn't make an easy flip? Is your want list so advanced that you need the major auction houses to come up with items for you? Or is there some other reason? Hard to believe you could never buy ANYTHING there

Rich

I don't have a problem finding things I would buy at these shows. My problem pops up when it comes time to pay a reasonable price for them.

I don't think the problem is limited to one or two posters either. The problem seems to be universal and unending as I happen to see the same cards in the same cases in front of the same dealers for all of time.

Same mentality you see every day on ebay.

Were you actually there? It did not sound like it. :confused: And are you actually attending the Philly show?

The East Coast National, sadly no. The Philly show, yes.

It's a combination of everything you mentioned, but especially what Packs mentioned regarding the same dealers with the same merchandise, year after year. Same with the big National.

It really gets to be absurd when you see a guy who priced their card at $2,000 four or five years ago, failed to sell it in that time, and now has a nice new $4,500 sticker on it instead.

LOL. Odd to make an assessment of a show without having been there.:confused:

Just stating what I heard. I look to seeing how things are at the Philly Show.

If you've ever wanted to torture yourself, read the readers' comments to a new play or movie review in the NY Times. Out of the first 100 overly verbose chest thumping rants, only one or two will be folks who have actually seen the play or movie. But you'd be suprised how much they have to say about it though. It's truly nuts. Many will start "Though I have not seen the play. . ." and then go on for a 200+ word critique.

I guess the rules of evidence don't apply to movie or card show reviews. :)

Went to an East Coast National about 20 years ago, so I'm a little our of date.

Is it worth the drive from Boston? How does it compare to the Shriner's Show?

Thanks

Bob

My frame of reference is very dated, but I'm hearing that little has changed. I would not advise driving down from Boston.

I've also worked the Shriner's show, again many years back, but used to find more variety there, likely due to the presence of more dealers who don't travel far beyond New England. Sure do miss Hall's Nostalgia. The most interesting, eclectic shop I've ever been inside. Loved their old fashioned auctions, too.