[Fballguy]

Two days was enough for me. As mentioned by others the air conditioning was not firing on all cylinders and the main room was a steam bath. My favorite vendors were all coated in a glistening sheen and I'm pretty sure by 2:00pm on Thursday a pandemic of swamp ass had broken out. The heat only intensified by the crowd, especially when a human ileus, typically an outsized male, stops in the middle of an aisle to play on his phone causing a human pile up behind him. I heard rumors of toilets being down as well. Good times.

I had walked the floor for six hours on Wednesday and six more on Thursday and figured I had seen everything at least twice. But of course, I never could figure out the layout of the place with the side rooms upon side rooms. At one point I decided to take a walk over to Gibsons for lunch, but I was so deep in, I couldn't find the exit. I thought I was going to have to Kool Aid Man my way out. I eventually did escape, but the layout was a mess. And sure enough, less than 30 minutes after calling it a National, back in the comfort of my freezing cold hotel room, a friend texts me a picture of a booth I somehow had missed. Looked like he had some stuff I may have been interested in, but I wasn't going back.

It wasn't the best show in terms of memorabilia (unless maybe you're a Whale...which I'm not). Being a football only guy limited my options even more. For the "$1000 or less" demographic it was slim pickings and what was there was essentially the same exact (literally) stale stuff I couldn't get the dealers to negotiate on at the National last year....or that I wasn't interested in to begin with. The National is all about cards. If you're not into cards, you can erase 90% of the show and it becomes more about getting together with old friends and meeting new ones. That was definitely the highlight of the trip.

In terms of comparison to Atlantic City, AC definitely wins for me. I'm a coastal guy, not a land locked guy, so the scenery is better for sure. Easier city to get to. Straight shot drive from my hotel to the AC convention center. Better food options (close by) and a much better haul of what I collect. Small sample size for sure, but the needle has swung towards AC for now. Not to mention it was one large rectangular room which made it much easier to know what you've seen and then find it again if you're looking for it. I did have a great time though, primarily because of the people, and will be back hopefully many times regardless of location.

I mentioned pictures previously, but for the life of me I can't figure out how to post multiple pics each with individual comments, so sorry for the chopped up array that follows...but here's one to start.

Machine Gun Kelly attempting to slip into the show unnoticed. In all seriousness, that's a great pennant case. I need to get one of those.