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Posted By: <b>Ted Zanidakis</b><p>I would like to thank all the Forum54 members who came to my booth<br />last weekend at the Philly Show. Several bought cards from me; but,<br />more importantly we had some great conversations. Especially with<br />Scott Ingold and daughter Danielle, Mark Rios, Kevin Cummings, Ted<br />Golden, Jon Canfield, Dan McKee, Tom Botticelli and Jim Rivera.<br /><br />In addition, regular Forum posters Mike Peich, John Dreker, Alan, and<br />John Wonkaticket stopped by for some "talking BaseBall" (and cards).<br /><br />And, Forum "readers", who I had some really great conversations with<br />are Durward, Mike (from Virginia), Nick, and a long-time collector and<br /> really great friend of mine Jack Weaver.

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Posted By: <b>leon</b><p>Thanks for acknowledging folks on Net54. I am very much looking forward to the National this year for quite the same reasons. I go for 97% comoraderie and 3% cards....as it seems like the cards are being bought, sold, and traded other ways, most of the times. Don't get me wrong, in the 5-6 Nationals I have been to, I have always bought and sold stuff....but I go to meet board members and other friends in the hobby. Will you be at the National?, setting up? best regards and thanks again for your valued participation on this board...

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Posted By: <b>john/z28jd</b><p>So TRex,youre vouching for the existance of John-wonkaticket? Its funny,ive been to at least 3 fort washington shows at the same time as him and been lost a few miles from his house but ive never seen,or in the last instance been able to get a hold of the guy<br /><br />If John reads this,ill be in Philly tomorrow all day at the Viking Hall,stop by and say hi.I have a feeling i wont hear from him.<br /><br />Sorry i wasnt able to talk much TRex(and others),i had a first timer with me and he had to see everything in the 3 hours we were there.I think they should change the analogy of "like a kid in a candy store" to "like a 35 year old man at his first big card show" to make it more board friendly

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Posted By: <b>Ted Zanidakis</b><p>LEON<br /><br />I have only set-up at two National Conv....1984 in NJ and recently (2003)<br />at Atlantic City. And, I have only attended 2 Nationals....St. Louis (1982)<br /> and 1988 at Atlantic City. To me, the olde Willow Grove Shows and current<br /> Ft. Washington Shows are the "Nationals".<br /><br />The only time I traveled west (way west) is to do the early '90s Kit Young<br />shows in Hawaii. Staying with Mark Macrae in northern California to do a<br />few local shows there before we both flew out to Hawaii.<br /><br />The next time a National is near the East coast I will try to attend. In the<br />last 6 yrs, however, the National (for unknown reasons) has coincided with the<br />HOF weekend. The only other show I do is on that weekend in Cooperstown. It<br />is a great little Show (only 20 dealers) in the VFW building in town. The crowd<br /> is tremendous and the show environment is reminiscent of the early 1980's<br /> BB card shows.

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Posted By: <b>Alan</b><p>Leon: You should come to the Ft. Washington show one of these days. You'll love it !!!<br /><br />All: Is there a reason the National won't come to the east coast. There are plenty of venues that could host it.

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Posted By: <b>Lee Behrens</b><p>Hi Ted,<br /><br />Just curious about the little show in Cooperstown. I have been to 2 induction days fairly recently and never seen nor heard of this show. Where is it located? I really enjoy going on induction day and will probably go on that day again in future trips.<br /><br />Lee

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Posted By: <b>warshawlaw</b><p>Anaheim instead of LA, Rosemont instead of Chicago, Cleveland instead of anywhere else: Cheap. To me, the most logical place for a show would be in a city with a vibrant night life, great restaurants, abundant hotel rooms, fantastic convention facilities and a world class airport. Unfortuntely, the powers that be don't want to spend the bucks to put the show into NYC, Vegas, San Francisco, L.A. proper, etc.

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Posted By: <b>Kevin Cummings</b><p>I echo Leon's sentiments - if you go to <b>any</b> show expecting to come home with a great acquisition, there's a good possibility you'll be disappointed. If you go to a show happy just to meet and chat with board friends and dealers face-to-face the trip will almost always be worthwhile.<br /><br />At shows, I've been fortunate to meet a bunch of folks I never would have had the opportunity otherwise (like Leon and Scott Brockleman, for instance, at the Atlantic City National). My problem is that I'm usually under a time constraint and can't hang out longer to meet folks who aren't at the show at exactly the same time I am.<br /><br />After all our email and phone exchanges, there's one person I'd love to meet - Elliot!

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Posted By: <b>robert a</b><p>Vegas would present a conflict of interests.<br />How could I be losing my money to some dealer on the black jack table and losing my money to some dealer at the convention at the same time?<br /><br />That would be fun though.

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Posted By: <b>Ted Zanidakis</b><p>Lee<br /><br />If you were in Cooperstown only on induction day, you missed the Show.<br />The Show is held in the VFW Hall which is diagonally across the street<br />from the Hall of Fame. The Show is held Friday (11 AM - 8 PM) and Satur-<br />day (9 AM - 6 PM). An auction follows after show closing on Sat. nite.<br /><br />This Summer's HOF ceremonies are on Sunday July 30th. The Show is July 28th<br />and 29th.<br />

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Posted By: <b>Ted Zanidakis</b><p>Leon<br /><br />Thank you for your March 10th post on this Thread, your kind words are<br />really appreciated. I encourage you to try to make the trip to the Philly<br /> Show in May. You will find it to be a very worthwhile experience. Dates<br /> and times are:<br /><br />Friday....May 5th (5 PM - 9 PM)<br /><br />Sat........May 6th (9 PM - 5 PM)<br /><br />Sunday...May 7th (9 PM - 4 PM)<br /><br />P.S....I will treat you to dinner Saturday nite at the William Penn Inn,<br /> which as fine as it gets in the area. <br /><br />

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Posted By: <b>Rich Klein</b><p>Ted:<br /><br />Just as an FYI, the promoters of the National have had to set their dates long before the HOF had been setting their inducution ceremony dates. <br /><br />Last year, for the first time ever, the HOF actually set up their induction dates for five years in advance and the National will, at least for that period of time, not conflict with the HOF ceremony.<br /><br />Sounds like good news for everyone<br /><br />Rich

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Posted By: <b>Ted Zanidakis</b><p>Rich<br /><br />There is no excuse for the promoters of the National not<br />checking the calendar during these past 6 years so they<br /> wouldn't conflict with the annual Cooperstown ceremonies.<br /><br />The HOF weekend has not varied much over these past years.<br />And, now that it is set to the last weekend in July, that wiill<br />not change anything.<br /> And, it's not just me, many hobbyist who I get together with up<br /> in Cooperstown, can't understand why the people who run the<br /> National cannot anticipate that this (HOF w/e) is a major event<br /> in the BaseBall world,<br />There are many collectors who book at least a year in advance to<br /> be in Cooperstown every July. Lodging and facilities are very<br />limited and very expensive in that part of New York state.<br /><br />I recall the National was usually in August. Why did they<br />change that schedule ?

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Posted By: <b>Rich Klein</b><p>The National Convention had to lock up their plans for the next year up to 2 years ahead. Cooperstown would not make their decision until earlier in that same year.<br /><br />There was no way for the folks running the National to know when the HOF ceremony was when they reserved the room.<br /><br />So, don't blame the National Promoters for this as their hands were tied. When the HOF finally realized they should announce dates in advance, no one was happier than the promoters of the National.<br /><br />Trust me, they never wanted a conflict with the induction ceremonies<br /><br />Rich

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Posted By: <b>leon</b><p>I appreciate the offer. There is a small chance I can make that show but if I do I will take you up on your offer......kindest regards

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Posted By: <b>Tom Boblitt</b><p>twice and with very nice results both times. Unfortunately, that was during a time (94/95) when much more vintage was readily available and at a MUCH better price obviously. Not a huge show but in terms of quality it was very good.