Posted By:
Jodi BirkholmThis show was a sore disappointment from an autograph standpoint. Nearly all the decent material I viewed was stale--I had seen most of it sold in various auctions over the last twelve months. Shows are no longer the optimal way to unearth fresh material. Yawn. I may as well have stayed home.
Several people have asked me how I can sustain my existence without setting up at shows. Honestly, what show patron is going to race up to my booth to ask for an autograph of an obscure player who perhaps ten people are familiar with? It would be ridiculous to pay the nearly $1000 it cost for a small table at this year's National. I really don't understand the train of logic some of the dealers were following. I saw more than one table set up with mostly $5-20 autographs of ballplayers/golfers, etc. framed or displayed in plaques with preposterous price tags attached to their corners. It was pitiful--I wish these dealers all the best, but please, for your own sake, learn a little bit about business before dropping that kind of money on table space!