Feel free to share a cool card show memory

[7nohitter]

Originally Posted by DHogan

That was one of the first shows I went to. It was awesome.

Hey Dave,

That was probably the first 'big' show I had been to. I was 14 at the time, but remember it vividly. I also remember thinking I got a deal on a '72 Nolan Ryan because at the time it booked for $250, but because of a small ding on the side I got it for 'only' $200. Oh well, it was still a great day.

[DHogan]

Any day at a show is a great day.

[steve B]

No big stories, but a couple fun ones.

The first show I went to in 78 was local and in a Holiday Inn in Burlington Ma. It was the "second annual" while the show lasted a long time, well into the 90's and maybe past 2000? It changed promoters and the hotel changed chains several times. I still have the little ad for the show which was a bit bigger than a mid 50's card.

Anyway, first show, and I found out about it from the local dealer whose store I hung out at. Their table happened to be the first one inside the entrance. As I stopped and started looking at the stuff they had set up one of the guys comes over and says " Steve, you've already seen all this stuff beat it and go look at the other tables. " Pretty cool for them to push me towards the other dealers.
Of course, I was spending a couple hours maybe three days a week in the shop and doing some set building for them, so I was a fairly captive customer.


Second was the Wilmington show, forget the year, but Brooks Robinson was the main autograph guest. I'd already gotten an auto from him years before and he'd been incredibly cool (Small adult venue, and he made the whole line wait while he talked about baseball with the one kid there ) I'd picked up a boxful of MSA discs that had a bunch of his cards, and was sorting it while I was having lunch. A kid and his dad sat at the table and started talking about getting the autographs. After a couple minutes I asked the kid if he liked Robinson. He did, and actually knew something about his career which had probably ended before the kids was born. Asked him what he thought of the discs, which he thought were cool. So I told him Brooks had been really great to me when I was about the same age and gave him a stack of discs with a couple Robinsons and a few other players who were or would be in the HOF. A nice bit of excitement for him. And more fun for me than I'd expected.

Steve B

[GasHouseGang]

This isn't exactly a "show" story, but autograph story. I saw in the newspaper that Duke Snider would be down at the local mall to sign free autographs. I figured it would be a zoo since he's a legendary Dodger player, but I got a baseball and took my wife, since she always likes to go to the mall. When we arrived, I looked for the crowd I was expecting, but didn't see a line or crowd anywhere. I finally spotted Duke, and no one else was around! We walked over and I got his autograph and my wife who can talk to anyone, proceeded to catch up with Duke for around 20 minutes! It was like we were old friends just catching up. Duke couldn't have been nicer! Here's a baseball legend, just hanging out at the mall! We thanked him again for the autograph, and wished him well. My wife had no idea who he was, but we had a great time talking to Duke!

[Volod]

At one of the first card shows I ever attended - around 1982, or so - I was searching for early Bowman cards and wasn't having much luck, until near the last table, where a small, foreign-accented gentleman was displaying many stacks of exactly what I needed. I had my six-year-old son with me and was holding on to him with a death grip, as I tried to explain to the puzzled dealer that I couldn't let go of him because my hyperactive autistic son would tear off into parts unknown and wreak mayhem on anything he could get his tiny hands on. To my surprise, the guy pulled a box of old beater cards from under his chair and asked if my son would like to play with them. It worked long enough for me to examine a stack of '51 Bowman high numbers and buy about twenty cards. As I paid him and thanked him for his consideration, he said he understood what I was dealing with and only wanted to facilitate a purchase, but I have always suspected that he had experience beyond mere card dealing.

[Exhibitman]

Nice stories, all!

I have been attending card shows since the 1976 ASCCA show at the Roosevelt Hotel in NYC, so I've been to too many and many stories. My favorites:

On the celebrity front, the one that sticks out was a Hollywood Park show I attended where Raiders and Rams were the highlight guests. I happened to be in the hallway when the Raiders came in: Kenny Stabler, Jack Tatum and a few others. Just got to say hello to them but it was like rock stars; those guys had swagger. I went to the bathroom and who ended up next to me? Snake. I don't recall the small talk but he was cool about talking to a fan in the can. I think Stabler was cool about everything.

Sorta show related: I was at the Cleveland National a few years ago and staying at the Sheraton (?). I always ask for the second floor because it has stairs down to the lobby and I don't like waiting for elevators. I step out of my room one morning to go to the show and run, literally, into Jim Brown. Like running into a brick wall. I looked up and said "excuse me", saw who it was, and said "Hey, you're Jim Brown...but I bet you knew that already." He laughed. I asked if he was there for the Hickerson HOF induction and the show and he was so we chatted about that for a second before I let him go on his way. That was actually the second time we had a card show conversation. Years ago when he was a free guest at a show in L.A. I got his autograph on an early card, which wasn't typical at the time [many collectors still treated card signings as card defacing]. He asked why I was having an expensive card signed and I told him because he was the greatest RB who ever played and I wanted a card signed by the GOAT. He seemed genuinely complimented by it and thanked me.

Memory that wasn't: One of the trips to Cleveland I booked a seat in first class because it was only $300 more each way than coach. I wanted to sit in row 1 to stretch my legs but I hate window seats and the aisle was taken, so I opted for the second row. During the flight the man in row 1 aisle stood up and I thought how lucky I was not to be in the window seat next to his because he was even bigger than me. Then I realized it was Dave Winfield. So I missed having a flight conversation with Dave Winfield.

He likes boxing too: I was at one of the Chicago National shows and ended up at a fellow boxing collector's table where he was sitting with his table partner and an older gentleman talking Sugar Ray Robinson and other great fighters of the 1940s-1950s. I sat down and we had a nice discussion for a while before the stranger got up and said he had to go. I then noticed two things: he was tall and had a championship ring. Boston Celtics HOFer Sam Jones.

Alltime best card show memory: the first card show that we [me, Jason and Anthony] promoted a few years ago in SoCal. We had no idea whether the idea would work but the support was great and everyone had a good time. Lost a bundle on the event but it was a blast. Maybe we'll do it again some time when work and home pressures wind down some.

[DHogan]

Originally Posted by 7nohitter

Hey Dave,

That was probably the first 'big' show I had been to. I was 14 at the time, but remember it vividly. I also remember thinking I got a deal on a '72 Nolan Ryan because at the time it booked for $250, but because of a small ding on the side I got it for 'only' $200. Oh well, it was still a great day.

The first show I went to at BC high, Bill Russell was signing for $350.00 each. I thought people were nuts for it.