I haven't been to this Philly show since it recently moved to Valley Forge. I had been going on a regular basis since the mid 1990's and have even attended a few shows back when it was in the old motor lodge in the 1980's.
It's too bad it has gone downhill. Outside of the National, this had been known as the very best show around. The fact that it moved initially to Reading before its new location didn't help. But, I think a more valid reason for the decline could be that Hunt Auctions is not really a show promoter.
A show has different purposes for the different types of collectors. Some collectors are mainly interested in the in-person autograph signings, so they don't care what dealers are setting up and what they are bringing to sell. There are, of course, the "shiny stuff" collectors, who don't care about the autograph signings nor vintage material. The members of Net54 are, obviously, interested in vintage cards & memorabilia, so again it doesn't matter who is signing.
I think Mr. Hunt has decided that the autograph signings are more important, so therefore a lot of the national dealers have stopped setting up because a lot of collectors of vintage cards were not attending. There may be other reasons, but that's a large part for it. If they truly want it like the old days, they would have to put much less emphasis on the autograph signings to try to get the vintage dealers back.
I plan to attend the Oaks show in November. You need to remember that the Oaks show is the promoter's (CSA/Marco) first time trying something outside of Chantilly (and previous Richmond show some years ago). It depends on what direction Marco wants this one to be. Does he want to concentrate on autographs or does he want it to be more cards & memorabilia ? Perhaps Marco can make this Oaks show more for vintage cards & memorabilia as opposed to autographs like the old Philly show used to be.
I don't see how both shows are going to survive. One will end up as the new "Philly area" show and one will be history. Time will tell.
Alan
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