[Gr8Beldini]

My morning rant is about these dealers that leave their wives behind the table to check out customers looking to spend money. This past National was particularly frustrating.

Dealer #1 had a book of decent 1971's priced right at book with a sign that read, not every card in the book is a common. Fine. I pulled 2 out to upgrade my set. 111 Yankees Rookies and 577 Lonborg. The Battleaxe behind the table held up the Yankee Rookie card (with 2 nobodies on it) and scolded me with, "This one is not a common, I'll tell you that right now!" She then took them to her husband, who informed her that Lonborg is not a common and would cost more. Lonborg is tough and I would have purchased had she not been so insulting. Passed on both.

Dealer #2 - don't know where he is but I've got his wife's attention. I've got money in my pocket and see a lot of Philly Football at the table. If I'm ready to spend $$ on commons, I see no reason not to expect some kind of price break (15-20%?)... I ask her what she can do if I buy a lot of cards. She responded with a hale and hearty, "Don't worry; I'll take care of you"... without committing to anything specific. As the stack starts growing I ask for a subtotal. Came to $78... she told me, "$75 will be fine." Took them because I spent time selecting them, but I had money to spend and could have kept going all afternoon... but not for a 5% discount.

Dealer #3 - More Philly FB but I'm leery of these idiot wives. I'm not buying anything until I get some kind of price commitment (but I am very respectful in asking). The book of Philly FB - the same Philly FB contained on many other tables throughout the show - is priced at full book and she is somehow offended that I ask for some kind of quantity price break (I plan to spend quite a bit)... Apparently she just couldn't do better than full book and I felt like I was being reprimanded as she informed me of that. I went through that book and cherry picked the heck out of it. She had cards that weren't commons in the book but weren't priced. Got them all for common price. Got the team cards for common price. Got the Cowboys; got the rookies; got the minor stars... for common price. Would never have done that with a polite dealer; didn't lose a bit of sleep over it.