Thoughts, observations and opinions on the National

When It Was A Hobby

This was our 16th National Convention. However, it was our first convention in nearly five years. During that time, we had two major battles with a life-threatening illness, a personal family tragedy, and a key employee who stole a great of money from one of the firm’s accounts. Thanks to a group of incredible doctors and nurses, and the support our friends, we are well on the road to recovery. The employee is under investigation, and is likely to be “out of touch for several years to come.

We always enjoy the NATIONAL because it provides us with the opportunity to catch up with dealers and collectors with whom we have corresponded or worked over the past three decades.

Without going into all the old stories when one could buy 100 T202’s in excellent to mint to near mint condition for $400 or THE NATIONAL where we purchased a Just So (now graded 6) from Bill Mastro for $1000, we recognize that skyrocketing prices, highly visible public auctions and the transparency provided by the Internet and services like Vintage Card Prices make it unlikely that an exceptionally rare, graded baseball card would be sold rather than auctioned.

We did manage to acquire three cards for America’s Toughest Want List as well as two extraordinary pieces of memorabilia.
We enjoyed the show because it reminded us of the days when it was a hobby. While Goody Goldfaden, Frank Nagy, Buck Barker and others are only distant memories, it was great to see a few legendary collectors like John Rumeriz.

We have loved this hobby for more than three decades. Although we collect a old cardboard, we appreciate that the market will continue to evolve. We accept and embrace that fact.

However, two days at the NATIONAL did remind us of how much fun we had when “it was a hobby.”

Bruce Dorskind
bdorskind@dorskindgroup.com
America's Toughest Want List