West Coast Sports Collectors Expo 4-6 June

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Posted By: Donald Johnson

Anyone been to this show before? Is anyone planning on going? Is there a good selection of Vintage material?

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Posted By: Anthony

Its just OK. Last time there was Trevor Hocking with an amazing run of Old Judges across from Greg Schwartz (BOTN) with a nice selection of E cards, but that is about it. Tik was there a few shows ago but hasn't been back in a while. In my opinion the SF labor day show is vastly superior, but still lagging far behind the Sun Times and Ft Washington shows (not to mention the National)

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Posted By: warshawlaw

If you are looking for pre WWI stuff, it is pretty thin, but I always seem to find something I need from later cards. Last time was a 1954 Dan-Dee Al Rosen and a 1928 Exhibit Hack Wilson.

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Posted By: quan

pre-war stuff is thin, but I go there every chance I get.

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Posted By: botn

Well worth attending. You can always find something. Chet Woods from NY will be there and he always has a decent sellection of vintage and modern vintage material. Nothing exotic but solid inventory. The usual guys that set up sometimes have a vintage card or two as well. I will not be set up this time.

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Posted By: Trevor Hocking

I will be setting up. I find it a great show to set up and buy cards. I bought about 20 or so N172's a couple of N173's and about 100 T206's, which all sold in about an hour. So all in all not to bad. I should have a very nice selection of 19th century cards along with a new stock of some nice 20th century and 50's stuff as well. Come say hi. I'm pretty hard to miss, just find the guy with all the Old Judge's. Just for looks GREAT SHOW!!!!

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Posted By: Aaron M.

Just an okay show, but definitely not for kids. Last time a good quarter of the booths were filled with porn stars hocking their wares.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

but the promoter swears that it will never happen again.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

Anyone want to link up during the day? How about we meet at Trevor's table (look for the OJ's) around noon? I am of course presuming that Trevor wouldn't mind us using his table as a reference point...

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Posted By: warshawlaw

I went Saturday.

Skank row was gone; the show was strictly pg rated (I had to ding the grade down from G due to abusive language by collectors and truly scary bellies on some of the fatter dealers).

There were quite a few good vintage tables. Trevor was there with his usual jaw-dropping spread of OJ's. Had a nice long visit with him and others who dropped by his table. Andy has a beautiful SGC graded collection of N300's. Gorgeous stuff. If you are looking for something from that set, contact him ASAP.

The show did not seem all that crowded, but the people who did attend seemed very satisfied with what they found. Nearly everyone I spoke with added significant items to their collections.

T card and E card prices were very strong. Trevor had a nice run of E90-1's including a Cobb and a PSA-slabbed E90-1 labelled Bender that was actually a Standard Caramel E93 card that just jumped off his table. Post WWII cards were dead. Tables primarily stocked with rows of slabbed 1950s-1960s cards sat idle for most of the time, and dealers were dropping their asks considerably, especially on cards lower than 8's. I also saw quite a few Zeenuts, but no stars or HOFers. Nonsports was strong. I picked up a few nice 1920's Exhibits including one of Buster Keaton from Steamboat Bill, Jr. (which Walt Disney spoofed with Steamboat Willie, the first Mickey Mouse cartoon), and Elvis in full concert. Boxing card prices were outrageous. Dreck selling at 5x book. I don't know how many of these dealers make a living given what they try to charge...like shopping in Tijuana, you have to haggle away 80% of the price.

I got one very big item from my want list: 1928 PCL Exhibit Averill. Grade is somewhere between extremely crappy and really crappy, but as rare as it is, I'll take it. Also picked up a nice bio of Lefty O'Doul and several T206 variations and tough backs.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

was Andy Madec.

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Posted By: Anthony

I"ll concur with Adam's assessment- the show was much less crowded than I remember it being before on a Saturday. I did find 4 cards I needed, which is 4 more than I did at the last show, saw a huge layout of OJ's at Trevors table, meeting Adam in the process and picking up his boxing card book. If you have any interest at all in boxing I would highly recommend it.
Trevor has some 19th century prints that were pretty incredible, but we both got pulled in opposite directions before I had a chance to ask him details- any background on those Trevor?

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Posted By: Julie Vognar

...

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Posted By: Anthony

http://www.andymadec.com

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Posted By: spaceops03

I was in LA for business and was only able to attend the show for a couple of hours Friday night. I did see 2 or 3 dealers that I knew from other areas: Kyle Boetel from Denver, Alex ? from Boston, etc. Also, I had the opportunity to meet some dealers I had only interacted with on an email basis. Andy Madec, Trevor Hocking, Goodwin and Co, etc.

Saw Andy's N300's, and a nice PSA 6 T205 Cobb that caught my eye.

Trevor had two full showcases of N172's, mostly SGC graded, couple of nice OJ cabinets, E95 Cobb, some N162's + lots of other stuff. The mislabelled E90-1 Bender was actually an E98 (he got this from me if we are talking about the same card).

Saw another small table of strictly T205's and T206's mostly lower grade.

Lots of 50's and 60's stuff.

BVG, PSA, SGC, GAI were all there + Mastronet.

Anyway, I was only there for about 3 hours Friday night and there was more than I could really concentrate on in the short time I was there. Glad to meet those folks that I did. Overall assessment, glad that I went. If I had the time, I would have set up.


-Don Johnson

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Posted By: quan

i was there on sat and slow show as usual, but i expected as much. trevor was def. the highlight of the show. we talked for a bit and he even let me handle a few of his ojs and such.

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Posted By: Trevor Hocking

Thanks for all the great comments. I feel so out of place when I go to that show. There is next to no vintage cards, but I guess that is a win win for a dealer. It was nice to meet a lot of the board members, a lot more than I expected. By the way Adams book is amazing!!!! I did pick up some good stuff (thank you Donald). Some of the highlights where a N172 Glavin SGC 50, a nice run of Carmel cards, some T206's, and the star jewel, I was waiting for a few of the other dealers to finish packing up there stuff while I was saying my good bys, (Mastro had already packed up.) along with most of the other dealers. Along comes this guy who seemed a little odd but very nice. We talked for a long time about the old days of collecting and he starts to pull some boxes out of his bag (I know you are all drooling at this point) When I started to look through his boxes he had a 53 and 54 topps set in MINT in mean MINT!!! shape. He then started to tell me how he has the complete run of Topps and Bowman cards that he collected as a kid in the 50's 60's and 70's. I know you are all think did he buy it, no I did the right thing, I told him about Mastro and graded cards and the whole nine yards. So I will be setting up an appointment for him very soon. I hope they give me a kick back j/k. It does end a little in my favor. He went on to tell me that he has a complete run of Boston player in all the T, E, and N cards as well if I would be interested in those as well. So I am going to go take a look at those soon. I know I will pay very well for them. I will keep you posted.
Trevor Hocking

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Posted By: J Levine

Stopped by the show on Sunday...not all that crowded...did see some stuff but the dealers were horrific in their prices...I offered to buy about 25 mid-70s items of Pete Rose, none that book more than $2-$3, and he quoted me $10 each and told me that he could get more at the National (and was rude about it)...i told him to try and I would be back in a few months when they have not sold....and make the offer again...

The table with the T-205s was nice but a little overpriced except for a blazer common (probably sgc 80 or above) soverign back that was $150.

Purchases were little for me at this show. I did buy
1 t-205, 2 obaks, and a mid-'80s Phillie oddball (all well below book). Trevor had a fantastic OBAK advertising sign and his usual selection of Old Judges.

Most of the dealers in pre-1950 stuff were a little overpriced but that is Los Angeles for you.

-J Levine

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Posted By: Aaron M.

I went on Saturday and found the show to be okay--although I thought it was well attended for what I was used to. I collect mostly vintage memorabilia, so I rarely pick up anything at this show (I end up attending because I've convinced myself that the one time I don't attend I'll miss out on a great find).

I did find an attractive (but toned) 1952 Brooklyn Dodgers signed baseball with a nice Jackie Robinson signature I'd been looking for. The dealer was asking $3,400 which was at least $1,000 more than it was worth. I considered telling the dealer that the night before an absolutely gorgeous Mint 1952 ball sold for just over $3,000 on Leland's and offering him $2,200-$2,400, but figured the price gap was just too large to reach any kind of deal.

This would have been a great addition for my collection, but the dealer priced himself out of a sale.

In any case, after the May I had, in which I picked up TWO 1948 Lou Gehrig Leaf Premiums (for which I'd been looking for almost two years) and a "Keep The Dodgers in Brooklyn" pin (for which I'd been looking for more than a year) on E-Bay, among other great finds, I have no complaints.

E-Bay may be rife with fraud and poor customer service, but it is still the best tool for a collector in the history of the hobby.