Posted By:
warshawlawI am writing this from the hotel adjacent to the convention center. I've been to all days of the show thus far.
I'd say there is less prewar (WWI) material here than at the last two Nationals. It has been very hit and miss. I had a huge hit on day 1 (the "holy grail" of Lefty O'Doul cards, Pebble Beach Clothiers; thanks Mark), and since then only a few things of note. The dealer base of the show is definitely not as large as the shows in CHI and CLE. I'd say 20% of the table are manufactured memorabilia, 40% are shiny new crap, 20% are postwar vintage, 10% are vintage memorabilia, and 10% have significant prewar cards. You do a lot of walking between interesting tables. There are large areas of the floor that are more or less dead zones. I was also surprised at the apparent number of dealer no-shows. I counted at least 10 tables that were set up with name plates but empty and several spaces where tables had been set up on Wed-Thurs and surreptitiously removed by Friday. A couple of boxing collectors enterprisingly homesteaded a vacant space; gonna have to try that next year.
Prices are all over the place. Many dealers are over ebay in pricing (call it a convenience factor) but there are bargains out there, too, it just takes ridiculous digging. I picked up some really nice 1940 Play Ball HOFers, some T206 HOFers, some Zeenuts and Obaks, about a dozen Exhibits for my sets, a nice Sid Gordon autograph, autographed PCs of Cool Papa Bell and Judy Johnson, a check from the 1927 Yankees signed by Ruppert and Barrow and used to pay World Series expenses, and some nice boxing stuff.
For those who did not come, you really missed some great evening socializing. The Mastro party was fantastic. They held it in a private museum in L.A. which just blew everyone's minds. The attendees were a who's who of collecting (and schmucks like me too). The N54 dinner last night was really nice, too, although I was so worn out from the prior evenings' social engagements and bar closings that I was not entirely awake for it.
Edited to add: it sounds like I got a lot of stuff but it was big lot hits at individual tables rather than single items culled from a broad base of tables.