Unless you're looking for a very oddball item, I don't understand why people would buy anything at the National when you can get it in an auction for significantly less. For me, going to the National is for a few reasons - I loved being able to bring in a big $ card by hand, get it graded, and consign it face to face after talking with a few auction houses. It eliminates the stress of shipping. Second would be the autograph guests. Getting to meet one or more of your childhood heroes is pretty cool. Third, it's basically the best sports museum in the world, especially this year. Not often you get to see the most valuable piece of sports collectibles in history in person. While it wasn't a priority for me going, I do enjoy the social aspect as well. None of my friends or family really speak the language of sports cards so it was nice to chat with people while waiting in the hour long lines.
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Collecting nice-looking but poorly graded cards of legendary HOFers
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