Favorite Dealer(s) at the National

[Archive]

Posted By: Michael Peich

A number of us have commented on the acquisitions we made, the wonderful people we met, the actvities we particpated in, etc. at the National. But, what about the dealers? Who was/were your favorites?

I would start with the dynamic duo of Scott Brockelman and Leon. Not only did they have an amazing array of vintage cards, they provided a much needed oasis in the building where we could all rest, talk, and ogle their cards. Kudos to them.

A favorite of mine was John Billingsley (San Antonio). John is a knowledgable, affable, wonderful man who is willing to negotiate a card's price, especially for Net 54 members. A good transaction leaves the dealer and buyer feeling as though they each profitted from the transaction, and I always felt that way with John. He was a highlight for me, particularly since he had some great M-116s!

I should also mention Gary Nucherino for all the reasons T-Bob mentioned, and the fact that he had some nice E-cards. And, I enjoyed spending time looking at David Levin's OJ's, much in the same way I look at cards when I'm at the Hall of Fame. David also had a large cache of T-206s and that allowed me to fill in a number of them and get to seven cards from the end (no, that doesn't include the big six).

What about the rest of you?

Cheers, Mike

[Archive]

Posted By: ted

John Billingsley was great! I picked up some nice cards from him and he even paid me a fair price for the cards i was selling! He was pleasant and fair. I as always love seeing what Scott and Leon have. I still think we need to do something for Leon, i know that running the board isn't a lot of money and he does it out of love of the cards, but we need to find a way to thank him for his time! Another dealer, who doesn't deal in pre-war anymore but used to is William McAvoy (bill to those of us that know him). He is polite and fair with his prices, very passionate about the game and he and his whole crew are just nice to deal with.

BlackSoxFan

[Archive]

Posted By: tbob

Gary Nucherino was my favorite with the Dynamic Duo of Leon and Scott and John Billingsley right behind. I met several nice dealers and almost all were pleasant although many of the names escape me. One dealer whom I have bought cards from in the past and also competed against on ebay who was very friendly and whose prices were competitive was Tom Witek. I purchased one card from Tom on-site and bought another one he had at home but is mailing. I enjoyed meeting Tom and rank him near the top also.
On the other end of the spectrum, although he seemed quite cordial, I thought Wayne Varner of Shoebox Cards whose motto seemed to be "not a penny less than the listed price" missed a lot of sales and money by his tight fisted attitude. His prices weren't all that great to begin with either. I bought a PSA4 E93 Chance from him and it was probably one of the very few cards I bought at the whole show which was full price.
The best negotiator I saw at the show as far as getting the best possible price on a card had to have been Tim Newcomb. Tim is a master at getting the best possible price. I hear Quan is quite good also but I never got to see him in action. My favorite line of the whole show was when I asked Gary N. if he was still giving a Forum 54 discount on his cards and he said yes he was, Quan immediately informed Gary that he hadn't heard about any such discount. Gary turned to Quan and said dead-pan, "Quan, you have to buy a card first in order to get a discount." We all laughed at that

[Archive]

Posted By: bcornell

I heartily agree with all of the names previously mentioned and would add Ron Vitro, John Goodman, Mark Irodenko, and the SCGaynor table (although Scott & Andrew were absent). Actually, the stereotype of the grouchy dealer has taken a beating in the past few years - almost everyone is pleasant & willing to talk.

My one gripe about the Brockelman/Luckey oasis was that Quan wouldn't yield his plastic chair...

Bill

[Archive]

Posted By: warshawlaw

Ron Vitro was a pleasure to deal with; got some great vintage photos.

John Billingsley is always a class act and I had my biggest value purchase from him.

Steve Verkman was very reasonable at this show; I picked up a trio of nice cards from his table at a very good price.

The guys from Amazing Adventures in S.F. had just about the only nice PCL stuff I was able to locate and were very pleasant to deal with. And I didn't have to pay CA sales tax this time

John Gay, who is a boxing dealer from Sacramento, had a table and gave me the best deal of the weekend on a stack of tougher exhibits I needed, plus that Matty postcard.

Next to the N54 nest at Scott and Leon's I probably had the most fun hanging out at JJ Johnston's table. JJ is an author and actor from Chicago originally who was selling his book on Chicago boxing, selling rare fight posters, and generally telling tall tales of Hollywood and boxing.

Only real bummer I had was with a rather sour dealer who had an incredibly bad rug and who charged me sales tax on a cash sale on an already overpriced card; like he's gonna remit. If it hadn't been a real rarity that I absolutely had to have for my exhibit collection and my research, I'd have walked. And that thing on his head; it wasn't just a bad toupee, it was an incredibly bad one. Looked like Sylvio's (Sopranos) pompadour gone gray. I mean, that sucker was so hat-like I expected to see ear flaps. In Cleveland he had about a dozen entertainment exhibits, all vastly overpriced but tough, and refused to deal even a buck on them. I have to admit that it did my heart good to see the same damn cards in his snowcase at Chicago. I hope to see them again in Anaheim Eventually, inflation will cause his prices to catch up with reality. I expect to buy the cards in 2010.

[Archive]

Posted By: zach

Hard to say a favorite but....I wanna say thanks to Leon and Scott. Scott sold me four t206 hofers including Johnson. Also Ryan C. Thanks again for the dihigo and taking your time to explain to my dad and I the negro leagues,their cards,etc.

[Archive]

Posted By: bcornell

that sucker [toupee] was so hat-like I expected to see ear flaps

"Warshaw heading off the ice with yet another game misconduct, folks...". That one made me laugh out loud.

I wonder who'll venture to Anaheim next summer after the huge amount of griping I heard last week about getting there. It isn't exactly a trip to Buenos Aires, but some apparently disagree.

One more primo dealer I wanted to mention: TIK.

Bill

[Archive]

Posted By: scott

would somebody be able to give me contact info for gary nucherino,scott billingsley or any other dealers that are great to work with?there's so many people out there with great cards it amazes me that more dealers do not negotiate more.one great deal ,and that dealer has a customer for life...as a tight fisted attitude can turn somebody off forever.plus think when you get a great deal you tell all your friends etc.and thats good for the dealer.it is obvious but missed by some.

thanks, scott

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan Koteles

John Billingsley and Wayne Varner for patience, kindness and having cards for everybody. Both of these guys are more then fair in their dealings and always make it fun. REALLY GOOD QUALITY STUFF FROM THESE GOOD OLD BOYS !!!

If only everyone was fun in dealing with , every show would be a winner!...thanks guys....iam sure I'll be talking to both of you soon.

Dan

[Archive]

Posted By: Brent Butcher

I would like to thank Gil Porter out of New York for a great transaction at the National. I was able to purchase a group of very nice N162's that included a psa 8 Beecher for a very reasonable price. He has many high grade 19th century cards including a psa 9 King Kelly! I would highly recommend him to any of you. His web address is:

www.hhcards.com

[Archive]

Posted By: andy becker

i was with brent at the time of his purchase. congrats again brent! i have never done any business with gil, but he is indeed a gentleman.
i am very much looking forward to my first purchase from harvey horseraddish co (gil porter).
great seller AAA all the way!

[Archive]

Posted By: Jay Miller

My favorite dealer at the National was Steve Verkman. Not only did he have some good cards but he had by far the best looking table.

[Archive]

Posted By: Lee Behrens

I have to put in the good word for John Billingsley, great to talk and great to work with. Scott and Leon get a extra thanks for there generousity. I would have to say that there was not a dealer I talked that gave me a reason not to buy something from them.

My question to Scott & Leon, Did you get rent from Quan for the chair on Friday? I was back and forth to the table about 4 times and Quan had not seemed to move but still had his smile on his face.

Lee

[Archive]

Posted By: quan

i was there only once when you walked by, the other times must've been my dunderhead twin brother

as mentioned before scott sold me my favorite item, john billingsley was great to talk to and easy to deal with. gary nuchereno showed me some great stuff, and leon for sacrificing his chair to me half of the time on thurs and friday.

[Archive]

Posted By: JimB

I have the second or third the kudos for Gary Nucherino and also the Scott and Leon table. Bill Goodwin was also quite friendly and had all of the current auction items there, many of which are really incredible.
JimB

[Archive]

Posted By: Glen V

Some tables were great just to look at, while others had some nice cards that I was able to pick up. Then a couple did both - my favorites: TIK, TIK, & NIK and Leon/Scott. Honorable mention to Ryan C.

I was able to pick up a nice Peck & Snyder from Leon (but had to put it back down when I saw the price )



TIK's display:

[Archive]

Posted By: leon

You forgot to tell about the gaping hole in your collection that you filled....No more D's needed, correct?

[Archive]

Posted By: Glen V

Didn't get into what I bought where... A big thanks to Leon for the Tarzan. Almost finished with the D issues, but I'm still missing a D380 Clements Bread (square version).

[Archive]

Posted By: Gilbert Porter

Many thanks for the kind remarks above - unfortunately our website (hhcards.com) is in the process of major update, so please be patient for our end of month "renewal." Very little is currently listed, since we are awaiting the long-delayed fulfillment of our programmer's contract. One way or the other, though, it will be updated before Labor Day.