Fanatics Chicago show = major disappointment

[thescooper]

At least you have a card show, try living in Vancouver Canada

[Edwolf1963]

I forgot about that this weekend. I recalled they usually have a spring show and saw the dates last month - thought that may work for me to head out (I'm about 45 minutes away) but completely forgot until now. Reading your post, I don't feel too bad about missing it now Sorry it turned out to be such a disappointment/waste of time. Any of the vendors speculate as to why? Definitely not a lot of local promotion (that I noticed anyway) - in fact, what I recall jogged my memory of that show was seeing one of the grading companies note it on their upcoming shows.

[basesareempty]

I believe that since Fanatics bought out Mounted Memories a couple years back they have changed their business model, gearing the show more towards the autograph guests as opposed to the card customers.

[midmo]

Originally Posted by basesareempty

I believe that since Fanatics bought out Mounted Memories a couple years back they have changed their business model, gearing the show more towards the autograph guests as opposed to the card customers.

I was wondering about that. All their website shows is the autograph guests, no real mention of cards/dealers at all. I thought about going to check it out anyway, but other things came up. Glad I didn't make the trip.

[Danny Smith]

I made the exact same mistake. Terrible show. The few vintage guys were like "oh I thought they advertised that this was a tiny show?" Uh. No. I expected the usual Chicago show. It was horrible. Of course it looked packed because of the auto crowd but it was a joke for vintage.

[keithsky]

I agree what a terrible show. It was like a throw back from the 80's in size. My brother and I have been going to the Suntimes shows in November and March since it was started by George Johnson and those shows are always pretty good with a few being duds even if it has changed hands a few times over the years but this show was the worst in a long time and not sure why they did it only a couple months after the March show. Maybe deeper into the summer might have been good. Besides the room being so small and only guessing 50 dealers or so the autograph pavilion was in the back of this small room so when the signings started it must have been a nightmare for the dealers that got stuck in front of the autograph area. They were supposed to have the current Cubs there with Bryant and Rizzo and the rest after the game so I can't imagine how that went with the crowd in that small room. When the doors opened the line was moving so slow that 2 guys behind me complained to one of the employees walking the line why and his reply was it's crowded. Well no S#*t. If you were looking for supplies or newer stuff then it might have been ok for ya but vintage or game used nothing. I think the consession area was about half as big as the show floor. 10.00 admission, 15.00 to park, 20.00 in gas. Priceless. NOT.

[Jewish-collector]

As Bob mentioned, the Fanatics shows are very focused on autographs. As a matter of fact, they are one of, if not the very best autograph shows in the country and they do shows every few months in different cities across the country. They routinely have guests signing autographs that have never appeared at a public signing for fairly reasonable prices.

Their shows do have dealers with cards, but most of them are weekend warriors or dealers that have the shiny stuff. A lot of those dealers focus also on having cards, photos, posters, replica uniforms, etc,.. for signing from the autograph guests that appear at the particular show.