Passing on cards at last years shows....

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Posted By: t206king

Just wondered if anyone has passed on cards at shows they should have got?


I know i have. seeing Ramelys last year for 30 bucks each (whole stack) and some e93s that are going for crazy money today. i kick my self ever since!!! the market keeps going up, and up and up!!!!

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Posted By: Rhys

Ramly's at 30 bucks each by the stack? Let me know what shows you attend! Forget last year, those were steals 20 years ago!

Rhys

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Posted By: Cobby33

I like it better when I pass up a bad deal and later get it for a steal on 'Da Bay!

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Posted By: jay behrens

No cards shows worth going to within about 500 miles, so I don't have to worry about passing up good deals at shows.

Jay

I love pinatas. You get to beat the crap of something and get rewarded with candy.

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Posted By: Dylan

Are there any card shows in the Seattle area?

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Posted By: Russ Bright

Stuck in seattle area too. There's the one good show once a year (at the seattle center) but nothing else. There used to be 10x the amount of card shops in the area. But that's over now. The 1 shop I go to (for shiny stuff) sells at about 150% because they are the monopoly.

I miss Triple C collectibles and Pacific Trading Cards (in Perrinville, before they make the Ken Griffey chocolate bars and those terrible card sets)

It's hard to collect in this corner of the country if you don't have a lot of money. There aren't too many finds up here either. I kicked around (and got a little interest) of having a NW collectors group to get together and trade/talk a few months ago and got some positive response.

We need more people in Seattle to start our own show (or something...)

I haven't gone to a card show in YEARS for this exact reason (sorry for thread hijack!)

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Posted By: JimB

I am just down the road in Portland, but would be interested in starting a NW collectors group. Maybe we could meet every few months.
JimB

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Posted By: Rhys

I grew up in Seattle and used to go to Gasoline Alley to buy older stuff in the 1980's. I know he is still in the area as he has a website and advertises some decent older sports stuff.

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Posted By: Brian Lindholme

Jim B,
I'm in Vancouver WA now after 8 years on the Oregon Coast (a real bad place to be card collecting!)
I doubt the climate is much warmer in Vancouver for collecting, but I have traveled the NW and rarely see cards anywhere. I'm looking around Wenatchee WA this week, wish me luck:)

Anything on the Oregon side of the Glenn Jackson that is worth searching out?

LMK if you ever get that group rolling...or just want to get a coffee some weekend.

Thanks
Brian L
familytoad

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Posted By: BcDaniels

soon as I get my job transfer.

I'll give you a membership Jimmy!

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Posted By: Mike Campbell

At one time, the Twin Cities had many shows. You could go to the dumpiest mall show, and still pick up 206's (as an example) very cheap. Now there are no more shows. Even if there are, there is not much made before 1990. Pre War cards do not exist in Minnesota. At shows anyway. And when I ask what few dealers there are, why not, they say there is no market here for the "old stough". I did not make the L.A. Show, but hopefully the Ohio one is in my future. Chicago is only a 6 or 7 hour drive, so I may make one of those soon. I sure have saved alot of money, by living in the boonies. Much to my dismay...One last thing, as some of you may know, I concentrate on Foxx things. Not just cards but pins, wire photos, awards, etc. etc. Well, at one the nationals in Chicago, I was scouring the floor for Foxx things, and asked a dealer if he had any Jimmie Foxx cards or stough.....he had never heard of him....now i must say I was taken back by this guy....and during the rest of the day there, I bumped into another dealer who thought I meant Nellie Fox....and he wasn't quite sure who I meant, maybe I am not missing anything by not going to shows.

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Posted By: Jason L

of folks (present board company excluded, of course!)
But at least you didn't have anyone assume you were talking about Redd Foxx...

this is one of the appeals of internet shopping!

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Posted By: Mike Campbell

At the Chicago national years ago, I think there was something like 1100 dealers. I don't know, something like that. I was looking for 5 or 6 specific things. ( rare cards) To make things go faster, I wrote them on a piece of paper, and would just go table to table, and hand this piece of paper to each dealer. I had dealers say things like "Yeah right, GOOD luck" and laugh. I had dealers say, "Never heard of that card". "Never seen one of those". One guy just sort of chuckled and handed my paper back. Now most of the dealers there weren't of this type. and I eventually found everything on the list. One came later, because a dealer had one in his office back in Teaxas. But shows can be quite interesting,,,,and you do meet all types. But that was a big show, and I was tired at the end of the day. But well worth it. And I still have those half dozen items.

Edited to say: There was no Ebay then. This was about the only way to find rare cards. Going to shows was part of the process

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Posted By: jackgoodman

Mike, I remember at several shows, I'd see people wearing signs pinned to their shirts saying "looking for ......" in the hope that a dealer would see their sign and call them over. Had to be easier than handing a list to every dealer, but glad you method proved successful.

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Posted By: leon

At the National this year I saw a guy walking around with a big piece of paper stuck to his body that said he was looking for some 50's regional set. I thought it was a brilliant way to do it....

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Posted By: jay behrens

Julie has t-shirts with her want list on it

Jay

I love pinatas. You get to beat the crap of something and get rewarded with candy.

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Posted By: Sean

Minnesota sucks for card shows, I was down in Bloomington a few months ago at a show and asked a guy who had a bunch of 60's cards if he had any prewar stuff, his reply was "What war? Vietnam?"

Uh-huh.

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Posted By: Mike Campbell

I used a single piece of paper, because I thought I then could have the undivided attention of each person I was dealing with. It worked, but it took a lot of walking. That convention center in Chicago is big....as we all know.

I also have gotten the 'What War" ? In asking for specific cards from specific sets, I would also get some blank stares. Due to the sets being unknown to them. But....this is not to denegrate all dealers. Most of the dealers at the nationals are not this ignorant of pre war items. But alas, some are. I figured handing them a piece of paper took less time than having to look through each dealers inventory. It worked for me, so I will probably use that tactic again. It works if you are looking for a few select items. Most of the cards I am seeking are so obscure, it will take years to locate them. Like the Uncle Jack's....etc.etc

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Posted By: jay behrens

There hasn't been a decent show in MN since the days Mansco Perry and shows at the the old Thunderbird Motel next to the old Met Stadium. Geez, that's eons ago

Jay

I love pinatas. You get to beat the crap of something and get rewarded with candy.

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Posted By: Mike Campbell

Those were actually some decent shows. You never knew what you might find there. Remember when Al Rosen used to come to Minnesota. Oh those were the days......I even recall Hager being here. Eons ago....Not that i bought anything from them. I recall one show where Rosen had three autographed balls perched on pedestals right in from of him. A gehrig, Ruth and a Foxx. All 9 or 10 quality. All overpriced. I recall the Foxx was $4,000. That was 13 or 14 years ago. At least i thought it was overpriced for the time. Minnesota will never have decent shows again. Bummer....

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Posted By: jay behrens

I'll really date myself on those shows. That last one I went to was in 1983, the first in 1980. The first one I went to, I remember someone having some OJs there, including a Harvey Stovey, which I really wanted, but passed on it to buy a bunch of Rose rookie cards and other Rose cards. I also picked up 2 stunning 56 Topps cards of Clemente and Jackie Robinson. The color on the Robinson was unreal. I wish I still had that card. It was something to behold. I also a few t205s and t206s and bunch 55 Topps. Lee bought 200-300 57 Topps at the auction for really cheap price, even for that time. Something like $10 for the group. There were very sharp and included a lot of HOFers.

The other memorable thing from that show is that I got into it with Larry Fritsch about his pricing. Even as a teenager I was a baseball card terrorist He had a beat to death 56 Clemente that look like it just came out of the spokes of a bike. He wanted $5 for the card. I had already seen the card I would ultimately buy and it was priced at $3. I asked him how he could charge $5 for that card when a NM example barely booked for that much. He told me I had no clue what I was talking about and quit bothering him.

I also remember seeing a really nice t205 Matty for $10, but passed. Damn that Pete Rose fixation back then, lol.

Jay

I love pinatas. You get to beat the crap of something and get rewarded with candy.

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Posted By: robert a

Rhys,

I live about a mile from Gasoline Alley in Seattle. It's a fun place to look around, but I've never seen any vintage cards in there.


Familytoad,

Please stay out of my jurisdiction when looking for vintage material!
For some reason, the only vintage baseball items I have found in Washington have been B18s. Wish I liked those.

Dylan Russ, and others,

A few collectors have been talking about organizing a vintage card meeting in Seattle, but I guess it hasn't been our number one priority. We do meet once in a while though. Feel free to email me and I'll keep you posted.

Rob

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Posted By: jay behrens

Kieth Snyder always had a great selection of memorabilia when I knew him in the 80s. He never had a whole lot in the way of cards, but he had lot of other great baseball stuff. I ended up selling him all my Seattle Pilots stuff when I got out of the hobby.

Jay

I love pinatas. You get to beat the crap of something and get rewarded with candy.

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Posted By: Mike Campbell

The Thunderbird shows I attended were very early to mid 90's. You could really find some serious stuff there. 206's up the wazoo. Gobs of them. I wish I could go back in time..but then if I could go back in time, there are many things I'd change.

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Posted By: Sean

Jay & Mike,
Have you guys been to Twinsfest in a while? Do they have anything worth while? The last time I went was 15+ years ago (I think they had just won the World Series in 87).

Jay I had my Rose fixation somewhere around the mid 80's; I hope to pick up a low grade example one day, I had that card on my christmas list for years.

Sean BH

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Posted By: Mike campbell

Regarding the Twins Fest. I may be wrong but the last few times I've been there, there is only (I may be wrong, but not much) one dealer who ever has what could be called vintage material. He has some nice stough, albeit, it tends to be 40's and 50's cards, some 30's sometimes, but that's about it. He's Bob Krawitz of the Ninth Inning, in Saint Paul. other than him, forget it. He's very honest and forthright. But you'll find no other items there that go back much further than the 70's. The twins fest is not worth going to in my opinion. At least if it's vintage you are seeking. back in the 90's sometimes you could find a nugget or two. No more. Bob at the ninth inning is about it for that show. Great guy though.

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Posted By: Dave Rey

Brian --

Washington state is a very tough place to find pre-war material -- doesn't matter what part of the state you are looking in.

I worked at U-Trading in Seattle for about 3 years in the 1990s and probably had as good an opportunity as anyone to see what was circulating in the Seattle metro area during that time. There's a good supply of post-war stuff if you know where to look or who to ask, but we always had trouble scrounging up pre-war baseball cards.

Of course, there are fun regional and minor league issues in the NW that don't show up much in other parts of the country. Still, to get Obaks and Zeenuts, I generally had to wait for Mark Macrae to come north for the annual Seattle club show.

Plus, there are a couple really motivated private collectors who tend to scoop up just about all of the really really cool stuff...

I live just outside of Spokane now and it is a total barren wasteland for pre-war material here. People pretty much had to move it with them when they migrated to the NW and not many folks decided moving their pile of cards was worth the trouble if they pulled up stakes back east, I guess.

If you find any cool Wenatchee Chiefs stuff on your swing through Wenatchee (having tried that myself 50 times, I doubt you'll find anything), I'm always interested...