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AlanNow, here's my longer National report. This was one of my most enjoyable experiences for a show (as a mini-vacation) that I've ever had. Period.
I drove to Cleveland on Wed, Aug 1. (I didn't go to the show on Wed.) Had dinner downtown & went to the Erasure (1980's New Wave band) concert at the House of Blues (same place as the Mastro Live auction was). Great concert !!!
I went to the show both Thurs & Fri all day. Absolutely incredible show !!! It had so much material from vintage stuff to the shiny stuff and everything in between. Cards, memorabilia, autographs, etc,... absolutely everything. It was great seeing collectors & dealers that I haven't seen for a while. I was really physically exhausted by the end of the show.
I absolutely loved the network54 dinner. It was easily the highlight of the entire Cleveland trip. Period. I wouldn't have missed it for the world. It was great meeting EVERYONE from the message board. I'm not even going to try to name everyone I met that night. Great conversations with all. I did notice that some people at the dinner were a lot more shy/reserved than they are on the forum. After the network54 dinner ended, I did walk over to the bar, but I didn't stay for more than a few minutes.
On Friday, I was invited to attend the PSA registry lunch (thanks to a friend) even though I don't have a single card graded. Still, it was really nice meeting the PSA registry guys. They all seem to enjoy the friendly competition of the registry. PSA's Joe Orlando did a Q & A session. The food wasn't half bad, either.
Since I could not afford to attend the Mastro live auction on Fri, I went out to dinner with a long-time collector friend, then headed downtown to the warehouse district to a bar/nightclub. I left Cleveland Sat morning.
Even though I had very little money to spend at the National, I had a hell of a great time !!!
Alan