Collecting "regions" in the US

[Danny Smith]

Ive lived in the mid-atlantic, the south, and now the midwest. The midwest area is very strong compared to where i lived previously based on local shows and quality shops.

The focus here is very heavy on the cardinals, cubs, etc from the 30s to 70s and the prices are strong, which is fine with me as i collect pre war t and e cards but it is cool to be in such a strong collecting area.

[williamcohon]

I would like to chime in with the others who mentioned the Pacific Northwest. I live in Shoreline (just to the north of Seattle), which is the home of the Washington State Sports Collectors Association card shows. I'm sure there are other regions with more activity, but the WSSCA shows are very special. There is a solid core of vintage collectors, and it's a really friendly bunch of people.

The next show is fast approaching - Nov. 3 & 4 at the Meridian Park School.

[glynparson]

I live in the Reading Area and usually have one or more shows within an hour hour and a half drive each weekend. Many times I still have 2-3 to choose from. In the 1900's-early 200's I would sometimes have 10 or more shows to choose from in a weekend.

[wonkaticket]

Glyn, I live in PA you've been going to card shows since the 1900's? Wow what were the prices like? Were Levi and Ted set up in 1900?

[glynparson]

obviously meant 1990's i have been going since the 1980's but have been going obsessively since the 1990's. I actually set up with Levi for about 5 years in the late 1990's.

[Exhibitman]

Metro L.A. [L.A., Ventura, Orange counties] is a bastion of regional Dodgers baseball card collecting esp. Morrell, Bell, Mothers Cookies, and the oil/gas issues from the PCL era, and very strong as well for team and local issue Dodgers stuff. I probably see more of that material from L.A. based collectors than anywhere else. Some of the members here have fantastic Los Angeles-related baseball collections.

NoCal is the overall hotbed of general PCL collecting.

I've run into more ex-Brooklyn Dodgers fans from Florida than anywhere else, which is not surprising given their ages. Buncha snowbirds.

I'd say the Midwest and Northeast are the best overall collector regions just based on the number of regional shows and support for them. We can't even get a decent show to sustain in SoCal.