[toppcat]

I've been reading through several hundred old hobby pubs, mostly from the 60's and 70's, during quarantine and can say that the 70's were really a time of convention growth, which went from semi-informal gatherings in homes at the beginning of the decade to taverns, motels then hotels by the middle of the decade and of course the first National in 1980. Mainstream media coverage started kicking in around 1974 as well.

I came onto the scene in 1981 and there were card shops springing up everywhere and almost countless shows by 1983-84 at the latest. In terms of being able to buy awesome stuff at great prices though, by about 1971-72 it was getting harder and harder to do so. Really tough times were still available and sold but they were already drying up. And superstar pricing began around 1970 as well, although it took a couple years to catch on. But there was still a lot to buy at fairly good prices as early Willow Grove attendees will no doubt attest. And no one knew what full checklists were for many sets still in the 70's, which was a constant theme in the hobby pubs and info was sent around to fill things in. Richard Egan in particular was a catalyst for this.