Setting up at Chantilly this weekend?

[Huck]

Originally Posted by brunswickreeves

I’m curious if the continued and lasting strength of this collecting hobby is mostly driven by the total demographics…many young parents with kids (or modern collectors sans kids) decades away from retirement and no material impact on their current living expenses from a downturn in the stock market (their money of which is more likely tied up in 401ks, than active stock market investment).

I just got back from the show. After a two year hiatus it was good to be back at a CSA show. Why the hiatus? Total lack of decent baseball guests.

The place was busy. I believe it is a mix of both aforementioned demographics leaning heavier to modern collectors sans kids. Oh, kids were present, just not enough to sustain a hobby. To me the vibe is more of an investor, trading, box breaking fest then the Tuff-Stuff and Marco Rol (RIP) CSA shows of my thirties and forties. Pokemon? Actual tables with no merchandise just buying? Interesting business model. It is an endless flip-fest until it isn’t.

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

Glad to hear this, but I would like to see a show this size without the autograph guests--not that I have anything against them--to gauge the strength of the card and memorabilia markets. It does seem that there is a new generation of younger collectors of what we used to somewhat derisively call "shiny stuff" coming to and setting up at shows, but Chantilly has for decades been mostly an autograph show with the dealers as window dressing, and I wonder if that's changed much. In any case, packed is packed and that's great.

I hear you Hank. Today, the crowd was on the floor, not in the autograph area and the lineup today was decent. I arrived just before noon and the line to purchase autograph tickets was minimal. I was there to get Jim Thome. Show wise, perhaps there is now something for everyone, okay, okay not pre-war collectors, though there was a smattering of material. Memorabilia wise there was not much there. Long time vendor Mendy’s did not show up or I just missed them. CSA or local code might be prohibiting dealers from building their booths upward. I could see the entire floor from end to end without much visual interference. Mendy’s always had the five or six, 7 foot tall lighted display cases filled with memorabilia. With the small flat fee for STAR autograph guests north of $100, perhaps some autograph collectors are being more selective. I refuse to pay $350 for Big Papi. Until his price comes back to reality his signature will be missing from my HOF picture. I always remember the refrain a fellow collector responds with when asked about missing signatures, “Well, I don’t have Babe Ruth either”.