Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael B
You need to get off your high horse and perhaps bone up on reading comprehension. I was not commenting on his knowledge of signatures but rather the snarky comment which would discourage others from attending. Neither he, nor I, nor you know what the OP's level of collecting or price tolerance is. Only he can make that determination. It is fine that the commenter chooses not to attend any more. That is his choice.
It serves no purpose to make comments that would cause someone to question whether they should attend at all. His attending is a much more accurate litmus test than any comments on this board. My comment "You won't know what is there until you go." is much more appropriate. It does not matter what I bought or the price I paid. I enjoyed the show. I found items I wanted AND I will make a very good profit on what I bought and what I paid to have signed. Last year I spent under $300 in Chicago and quadrupled that in the sales of the items. That excludes the Morgan Bulkeley which I will sell for 6-7 times what I paid for it.
Also, you do not know me, how long I have been collecting or what knowledge I have. YOU should be a little more careful before you resort to insults, your words not mine!
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The OP has been posting on here for long enough so that I actually do know at least a little of what he collects. My comments were accurate for his needs, at least in regards to what I know of them, as I too keep my eyes open for similar things.
If people want to go to meet any of the signers like you did, my comments don't serve to discourage anything or anybody. They'll attend for those quite different purposes. I was talking about autographs being sold by dealers, not paid signings and meeting those athletes.
Nothing snarky in what I wrote. If I can help save somebody a few days of their time, a lot of walking around and wasted expense, I don't see that as a bad thing. Apparently, I need to be even more clear in what I write so that nothing is left over to misinterpretation:
Insofar as vintage baseball autographs of any note are concerned, both HOF and non-HOF, there was nothing good to see or purchase at any National I attended from 2008-2018. Most quality material was on display in auction house booths and not being offered for sale. The precious little quality material that was being sold by dealers was offered at price points that did not make sense to even inquire about. I tried to remain positive, but came up pretty much empty handed show after show. I quit attending and have not regretted this decision one bit. Everyone I've talked to who has continued to attend and work the event has told me this was a wise decision and they wished they didn't have to be in attendance. Collectors I have dealt with for many years are in the same camp. It might or might not be of interest that the two other folks who echoed my sentiments in this thread have around 100 years of combined collecting experience between them.
If you'd like to meet your favorite athletes and pay to have items signed, then by all means, go for that reason. If you treat the show as your social
event of the year, great. Go for that reason. If you wish to buy shiny, newer autographed items from recent private signings, go for that reason. If your optimism outweighs coming up with noting decent to buy year after year, then keep those hopes up and keep right on attending. People who answered "yes" to any of the above won't be listening to my advice, anyway.
You said you found a few items and spent a total of $15 on them. Putting aside your meet and greet and signatures from that encounter, was attending this show truly worth it for those items? I am not putting you down in any way for asking this. I'm just trying to weigh your expenses versus these pickups and any profit that is hoped to be generated. If I was going into this situation knowing that's all I would purchase, and didn't want to meet the basketball player, then that would be a colossal waste of time to me. But that's me. If you're happy with it, I tip my hat to you.