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

[uyu906]

My son (12 yrs old) and I went all day on Thursday. I have been collecting since 1976, but this was only the 2nd National I have ever attended and my son's first.

When we entered the hall at 10AM we walked right past Joe Orlando of PSA chatting with some guy in an aisle near the PSA booth.

Things I noticed - I asked at a number of dealers' tables that had pre-war for York Caramels (E210) but found none! Very strange, I thought.

I was also looking for a 1934 Goudey Jimmie Foxx in PSA 3 and could not find one. In fact I only saw a few in any condition, most were not graded or PSA 1's or 2's. Most of the raw were in similar condition. I also saw at least 1 high grade.

I was also looking for Old Judge Baltimore players and John Tener cards. I saw a bunch of Old Judges - but not one Baltimore or John Tener Old Judge. Nada -

Saw lots of high & low grade card stars and RC's from 1950s and 1960s. But less in mid grade - PSA-4-6. PSA 6's I saw in these were priced significantly higher than normal prices for these. I tried to buy a 1951 Bowman Nellie Foxx RC in PSA 6 and found only 1, but could not come to an agreement with the dealer. He wanted $175, but it was OC top to bottom and I just could not pull the trigger.

My most successful buys were 3 graded T206 Baltimore players I needed: Adkins, Dessau, and Dunn (Old Mill).

I met one guy in his 30's at a dealer's table who specialized in high grade 1950s stars and RC's. He dropped 9K on a couple of high grade RC's. The dealer asked him what he did for a living and he said he was an investment broker. I guess those guys really are driving the market now.

Bitter sweet thing, my son bought mostly Pokemon cards (of which there was a fairly large supply) - but we still had fun hanging out all day and he liked looking at the pre-war stuff I was checking out. I was kind of secretly hoping some collector or dealer would verbally encourage him to collect sports cards but no one said anything to him (possibly because he is already 5'10"), except one dealer who rudely told him to get out of a chair at his booth because they were for customers (not realizing I was on the other side of the booth trying to purchase some cards from his partner).

I though the show had plenty of room in the aisles and in the hall in general. Seemed like a bigger space than what was at the last Baltimore National. Easy parking for $15 right next to the convention center.

White House Subs did not disappoint after the show was over.

I will anxiously look forward to the next National on the East Coast!