Will anyone be giving a blow-by-blow account from the National this year?

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by brass_rat

I've had a great time hanging out with collectors (net54 and non) thus far -- everyone is in great spirits. Wednesday and Thursday seemed a little slow, but it's sure to pick up with the big autograph names showing up for the weekend days. I'm not a (paying) autograph collector, so it doesn't make a difference to me.

The floor area is nice and wide open, although I wish booth numbers and dealer names were more prominently displayed...it helps for jotting down notes.

I've bought exactly one card thus far...for the most part, these are the highest prices I've seen at a National, but maybe it's just what I'm looking at. Several times I've seen cards I've wanted, but their sticker prices are literally 3x what the dealer paid for them either on ebay or a major auction house in the past 6 months. It's hard to start a negotiation when a real price is so much lower than the sticker. Then again, kudos to people that actually list prices on their cards?? Catch 22.

I've also noticed that PSA's line is literally an hour plus wait for the entire day...and SGC is a ghost town. Not a good sign for the state of competition.

One of the more interesting things I've seen is the dealer who had a stacked full case of 60's decade Mantles...all raw. He was happy that he had sold over 200 Mantles already, mostly to dealers. Doesn't seem to care that he's leaving money on the table...the collector that I was with explained that this dealer doesn't believe in grading. I'm sure the dealers buying those Mantles do though...

The Jumbo Wagner is on display...some people may think "seen one, seen em all", but I always enjoy seeing a Wagner...especially one so nice.

I'll write more tomorrow. Are there any particular details people would like reports about?

Cheers,
Steve

sounds similar to last year....i know last day the line was fast to PSA..like a 5-10 minute wait if people stay that long....


as far as prices of dealers..its about not having to wait for an auction to a buy a card if in fact the card is available...dealers have to buy cards so they cant sell them for what they paid for them obviously...will always be a markup...