Wilmington Mass Show (Shriners) - anyone setting up or attending?

[Belfast1933]

I'm really looking forward to attending the Nov 4-6 card show in Wilmington Mass... I'm wondering if any Net54 members will be attending or setting up to sell there?

If anyone is and has any of these to sell or trade and will be there, hit me up!

1915 Cracker Jack Fred Clarke

1935 Diamond Star Hank Greenberg

T204 Ramly HOF cards

Thanks and see you Nov 4th -

Jeff

[BabyRuth]

I'll be there November 5th!!!

[rand1com]

I will be set up at tables 63 and 64. Only pre war cards I have are 31 different 1912 T207s currently listed here on Net 54.

I have a hodgepodge of other material including a 1960 Leaf complete set in nice condition, a few thousand autographed items including photos, index cards, cuts, and baseballs, original photos, scorecards, etc.

Randy Hartsoe

[TUM301]

Always enjoy the Shriner`s shows. Will be going Saturday maybe Sunday as well.

[warrior1978]

I'm planning on being there on Friday

[Dead-Ball-Hitter]

I'm planning to be there on Saturday. If any Net54 members would like to meet up briefly for introductions and pleasantries around 1:00pm at some designated spot in the facility, please let us know.

[RhodeyRhode]

I will be there, Friday and either sat or sun. Very excited for this show.

[Donscards]

I will be setting up at the show--I have mostly graded cards--Ruth-Cobb-Gehrig-Mantle-etc--I will have 3 1952 Topps Mantle's--also Ruth Auto's--checks of Ruth-Cobb-Walter Johnson & Matty==This is the Best show in New England--alot of Great Dealers--Should be a good time as usual. thanks, Don Hontz

[hcv123]

I will have a lot of vintage - 1900-1980, Ty Cobb's, Mantles, Ruths, Fresh to market collection of 1959-1962 cards, complete 1950's and 60's sets, HUGE HOF Hockey collection, Football, Basketball, non sport and much more! Stop by and say hello!


Table #107

[NATCARD]

I will be there at Tables 252-253-254. Hundreds of freshly graded SGC, PSA, Beckett cards from T's to ultra modern. Some nice vintage Wax boxes from BBCE, Complete and partial sets from the 50's to 70's, Topps Progressive Proofs including the 1977 Reggie Jackson, Original Negatives. I will have on display many of the key cards from the T206 Carolina Brights Find auction coming up in November. Jeff Weisenberg
National Card Investors

[topcat61]

I'll be there looking for plenty of vintage, can't wait!

[soxinseven]

I will be set up at tables 113-115 with John Liffmann as always. We will have a wide selection cards this year but the focus is always on pre war.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by soxinseven

I will be set up at tables 113-115 with John Liffmann as always. We will have a wide selection cards this year but the focus is always on pre war.

Tell John hi for me. He was the intermediary for me acquiring my 1903 Horner Composite. He had it hidden under a table at a national, on consignment. When I saw it, I knew I wanted it.
.

[soxinseven]

I will let him know. We usually end up talking about that composite a few times a year. It really is an incredible item.

Originally Posted by Leon

Tell John hi for me. He was the intermediary for me acquiring my 1903 Horner Composite. He had it hidden under a table at a national, on consignment. When I saw it, I knew I wanted it.
.

[Vintageclout]

Originally Posted by Donscards

I will be setting up at the show--I have mostly graded cards--Ruth-Cobb-Gehrig-Mantle-etc--I will have 3 1952 Topps Mantle's--also Ruth Auto's--checks of Ruth-Cobb-Walter Johnson & Matty==This is the Best show in New England--alot of Great Dealers--Should be a good time as usual. thanks, Don Hontz

Great to hear Don! As always, I will be set up directly across from you for Memory Lane. Looking forward to seeing you. Regards, Joe

[Leon]

That's funny....

Originally Posted by soxinseven

I will let him know. We usually end up talking about that composite a few times a year. It really is an incredible item.

[ldrunner27]

Wow that is an amazing piece. Thanks for sharing, Leon.

[Belfast1933]

If anyone sees a nice 1915 Cracker Jack Fred Clarke, save it for me!

Really looking forward to the show….

Jeff

[Kutcher55]

Will be there most of Saturday morning and maybe Sunday morning as well. Been looking forward to this one for a long time.

[russkcpa]

Wish I still lived up north. Great show. I see Denny McLain will be there. He was quite the character with an incredible life story. Love the "Beyond the Glory" self-narrated documentary. Great story about him letting the Mick hit number 535.

[aelefson]

I will be there all three days most likely. I am up for a meetup if others are as well. Should we try for 1pm at the snack bar area on Saturday? I shouldn't be too hard to miss as I usually have my arms full of early memorabilia (bats, posters, ephemera, etc.) to sell.

Alan

[Kutcher55]

Btw looking for (1) a 38 heads up Foxx lower grade (graded). (2) a crummy Seaver RC (3) high end 75 Topps minis, PSA/SGC 8 or higher on key players, ungraded NMT+ on select others (4) graded 64 Topps standup Yaz, preferably PSA 7. (5) other oddball Yaz issues (6) beater NFL RCs of QBs from late 50s to early 70s ending with Bradshaw in 71.

I think that’s it. Looking forward to saying hi to Don, Howard and anyone else.

[Kevin Savage]

We will be set up at the show all 3 days in Wilmington, Mass. Really looking forward to it. We will be buying and selling- maybe even trading.... Thanks-
Kevin Savage and Pat Blandford, Kevin Savage Cards

[lowpopper]

one of the best shows in the country

[RhodeyRhode]

If bringing cards looking to sell or drop off at auction, how does everyone carry them? Are backpacks ok?

Thanks for your time

[peterb69]

Have a good time at the show guys, I have to work this weekend. Best show in New England.

[Kutcher55]

Originally Posted by RhodeyRhode

If bringing cards looking to sell or drop off at auction, how does everyone carry them? Are backpacks ok?

Thanks for your time

Backpacks are fine. No issue there.

[RhodeyRhode]

Ok thanks!!

[byrone]

Hope everyone has a great show

[Vintagecatcher]

Decided to check out the Shriner's Show in Wilmington, MA this afternoon. I had not been there for a few years. Every year more and more of the modern stuff creaps in.

Highlights included: a nice Tom Needham Carl Horner Cabinet, lots of nice T207s, lots of 205s and T206s.

Best selection of prewar cards was found at Ed Hans and Dan McKee's tables.

Picked up a E254 Walter Woods, PX7 Chief Meyers Domino Disc, and a colored Johnny Kling S74 silk from Ed.


Patrick

[warrior1978]

I spent about three hours there today and have been to the past several of these. There was a lot of vintage, many of the major auction houses were there and a few grading companies.

Many of sticker prices seemed to be at peak plus and not reflective of the market slipping a bit. Of course you can always try to negotiate the price. I spent zero time on the ultra modern tables and very little time at tables with zero prices listed. There were a lot of nice expensive vintage cards on display.

[Kutcher55]

Thanks for the report. Was hoping we would see a bit of thawing in vintage prices with the recent downtick but not surprised to hear that is not happening. Then again it was Friday so maybe prices will moderate as the weekend rolls on. Going there today and possibly tomorrow.

[talkinbaseball]

We just got back from the show, I was able to hang out with Bob Thing, Dave & Meri Schrader, met Kevin Savage & met Ed Hans who I was able to make a Fair Deal on a Mello Mint.
John

[Belfast1933]

I spent about 5 hours at the Wilmington Mass show yesterday - a great collection of vintage… 2nd only to the national over the summer.

But my takeaway was that dealers looked uneasy and I hear quite a few say buying was down, especially for higher end cards. At least one dealer said they were not coming back next year. I saw some fairly prominent dealers with some heavily discounted offers for graded cards from the 50’s and 60’s (though, I didn’t see a ton of stated discounts for pre-war. But not a ton of sales either)

It surely feels to me that the top of the crazy card run up has come and gone and I’m not sure we’re near the bottom yet.

(I’m not at all complaining! Would love to be able to stretch my hobby budget further in the next year or so. But I might be more nervous if I “invested” in higher end modern cards, based on what I saw yesterday)

[BabyRuth]

Was there yesterday too. I second was Jeff said - many dealers told me the same thing, buying is definitely down a bit. I've been attending for 20+ yrs and the crowd seemed less than prior years. Still a great show with many deals to be had.

[Johnny630]

Originally Posted by Belfast1933

I spent about 5 hours at the Wilmington Mass show yesterday - a great collection of vintage… 2nd only to the national over the summer.

But my takeaway was that dealers looked uneasy and I hear quite a few say buying was down, especially for higher end cards. At least one dealer said they were not coming back next year. I saw some fairly prominent dealers with some heavily discounted offers for graded cards from the 50’s and 60’s (though, I didn’t see a ton of stated discounts for pre-war. But not a ton of sales either)

It surely feels to me that the top of the crazy card run up has come and gone and I’m not sure we’re near the bottom yet.

(I’m not at all complaining! Would love to be able to stretch my hobby budget further in the next year or so. But I might be more nervous if I “invested” in higher end modern cards, based on what I saw yesterday)

I wonder if it was the same vibe from dealers set up this weekend in Dallas.

[Kutcher55]

Was at the show for three hours yesterday morning. Seemed reasonably crowded although I agree the energy was down a bit from recent prior years and there was some apprehension in the air. I would imagine there will be some bargains today but I can’t make it. Overall observations:

1. It’s a set builders paradise. This is the only local show that has guys with binders packed full of cards by set going back to 1951. My personal favorite is JP’s Sports Collectables. Great dealer to work with, very fair on pricing.

2. The amount of merch both pre and post war is staggering. Hard to estimate the retail value of the cards in the room but I will take a stab and say $30-50m. Lots of T2xx stuff, Goudeys and Play Ball. It does seem there’s a little less heads up than the other stuff. I was looking for a 38 Foxx and saw a low and mid grade one but neither one had the “XX” and the pricing was significantly above what I’ll eventually grab on line.

3. Great specialty stuff. I’m a Yaz collector and got to know the guy with the top Yaz set in the registry. He didn’t have the 64 stand up I wanted but I did grab a nice PSA 7 1971 Greatest Moments from him and that was my grab of the show.

4. Good 75 Topps minis are hard to find. Plenty of guys had stacks of minis but finding true 7+ cards is tough and there was very few if any high end graded minis in the room. If there was, I couldn’t find it though I did manage to upgrade some commons and secondary cards.

5. Raw Tom Seaver RCs are hard to find. Didn’t see a single one although I saw several overpriced graded examples.

Overall I stuck with my game plan and avoided any impulse buys. I found zero arbitrage opportunities which isn’t usually the case and most stuff there is overpriced, some of it laughably so. You really need to choose your spots at a show like this. Also I met Howard C and he was a nice guy. Wish I had more time though.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Johnny630

I wonder if it was the same vibe from dealers set up this weekend in Dallas.

I wonder how many card doctors were walking the floor passing out consignments to auction houses.

[Johnny630]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I wonder how many card doctors were walking the floor passing out consignments to auction houses.

I don’t know I continue to get emails from them every day lol

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Johnny630

I don’t know I continue to get emails from them every day lol

Not much has changed, unfortunately, and my perception is that people care even less.

[hcv123]

1) There Was a pretty good crowd all 3 days. Many more lookers than buyers at my table. That said I still had what I would call a good show though down from "the Covid" shows. I heard mixed reviews from other dealers. More "slower sales than usual", but some (like the dealer next to me - who I saw was very busy the whole show) who said they had a great show.

2) The bottom appears to be falling out of the ultra modern market with some rare exceptions, but still seem to be many buyers and sellers at lower levels. While there is some price weakening and a need to negotiate a bit more than the past 2 years on more common vintage cards, the low supply, high eye appeal and generally higher grade stuff is holding its own so far.

There is a lot of low and middle end stuff being offered - very little really great quality stuff.


Great to meet, Jim, Jason, Alan, Ed and a couple of other Net 54 folks whose names elude me right now. Great to be set up across the aisle from Ed and Dan!

[danmckee]

Neat Show! I was last there about 15 years ago and was set up with Scott Brockelman representing Brokelman and Luckey auctions at the time.

I had the huge pleasure of setting up with Mr. Ed Hans this time and had a blast!

Great seeing a bunch of folks I have known forever and I don't get to see by doing just the Chantilly, VA and Philly shows.

Thanks again Ed!

Great experience all around except getting stuck for 1.5 hours in a dead stopped back up by White Plains on the way home due to an accident.

I sure hope no one past away from that bad crash.

Dan Mckee

[soxinseven]

I had a great show both buying and selling. Foot traffic was very steady and I had time to chat with all the regulars that stop by every year.
Great conversation as always with Ed Hans, Dan Mckee, Bryan Dec, Brian Drent, Alan Elefson, Scott Sarian, Steve H and countless others.
Sadly, this was our first show setting up without Chris Smith who passed away early this year.