The National in Baltimore

[Abravefan11]

I have never been to a National and have two young sons that aren't ready for one yet. I have however worked out the details with my wife and we will be coming to Baltimore. She's agreed to the trip and the O's game, just not the show. That's good enough for me.

I look forward to the opportunity to meet a lot of the board members.

[Jewish-collector]

Tim,
You will love the National !!! See you in Baltimore.
Alan

[4815162342]

My wife refused to go, so I convinced a buddy to come along.

[ChrisStufflestreet]

I'm still on the fence about whether I'll be able to get to Baltimore. I want to (and it's a straight shot up I-95 for me), but it might not be an option for me financially.

I have been to several in Cleveland and Chicago. Each time, I've made it a family trip and my daughter has been treated very well. What's funny...as an 11 year-old kid I had a totally different treatment by card sellers than what my little girl has received. Back then, dealers really seemed to want kids to just stay away, because the parents were the ones holding the cash. Now, people enjoy seeing kids come in with their parents, a common practice 25 years ago.

Here we on on the National floor last year:



And here she is with Dolly Konwinski, who played in the AAGBPL from '49-'52 and appeared during the "old-timers" game scene and HOF scene in A League of Their Own, one of her favorite movies.



She had a blast last year. At one point, a gentleman stopped by and asked if he could give my daughter some tickets for free autographs. I bought a cheap baseball, and she enjoyed meeting the retired stars. At the end of the show, I stopped by at the end of Bob Feller's appearance. I didn't buy an autograph ticket, but as a fellow veteran, I just wanted to let him know how much I appreciate the way he dropped his glove and joined the Navy as soon as he could when he heard about Pearl Harbor. He looked over to my little girl and said, "Would you like me to sign that ball, sweetheart?" All he asked was to see her smile. And she did.



Rich Klein and I talked about this at the show last year and I'll say it again here...but I really like the way some sellers are with kids. I think a lot really understand the effect of getting them acclimated to the hobby, because we need the new blood to survive.

Long ramble over...but I'd absolutely recommend visiting the National, even if it's only to actually meet some of the people you've known through avatars and nicknames in hobby forums or as eBay sellers.

[danc]

The National is all about the experience, seeing things in person, gazing upon display cases of items that will be featured in an upcoming catalog, meeting new people, seeing really nice cards...that are at eBay Store prices. You will do as I do, find yourself purchasing something at a higher price just so you can leave the experience with something.

I often find sticker shock when I see a nice card, make the dealer open the case, flip it over, to reveal an orange sticker (that I know will be a pain to get off, leaving residue) and a price which is 300% over what you should pay for something, especially if you would have stayed home and had that $1000 to have fun with.

The most rewarding thing about going to the show is just being around people who have the same passion as you, who you may only recognize through handles and when you enter the premise, you will see lines and lines of tables that will take you two good full days to look at all the stuff. I hope Baltimore is a success, but like some above, have my doubts.

DanC