Will anyone be giving a blow-by-blow account from the National this year?

[Tennis13]

Alright, so here is a brief (i mean long) summary of tonight and what I saw in a quick 2 hour tour (new baby, so getting out was a homerun from the wife). I usually spend nearly 2 full days browsing, this was 2 hours:

1). I collect 1933 Goudeys and 1934 Goudey Gehrig's, but have learned so much from you all the past year, so I was more up to speed on stuff I saw. Overall, very disappointed with the overall 1933 selection. One guy, though, had the market cornered on the medium end 1933 and 1934 Ruth/Gehrig, with a few higher end ones as well. I bought a 1934 Gehrig from him. Aside from him and the auction houses of course, i saw one 1933 yellow Goudey Ruth 7 for sale and that was it. Last year I saw 1 Gehrig sgc 7/84 1934 which I bought on the last day. Outside of auction houses, this higher end stuff harder to Find, I have to be honest, in 1933/1934 Goudey.

2). I saw one guy who just owned the Caramel Cards. The red ones. He had a lot of them, so if you are looking for those, they will be there. Same with the 206 stuff. I saw those a lot. I sort of feel like an outsider not collecting those on this forum.

3). There is a very big dealer who has a very big table every year. I was very disappointed with his Gehrig/Ruth selection from my 2 years to now. He must have sold most of his stuff and is unwilling to replenish at current prices. Also it seems like the 1933 Gehrig isn't appreciating at the lower-mid range like some other cards. I dont love this card, hence my move to 1934 ones.

4). Lots of chatter--remember I was there for 2 hours so it's relative-- about the increase in price of some Koufax and Clmente and Mantles. Like the guys that have been around a long time --not me obviously-- are sort of dumbfounded. Not sure how many of those guys are you guys on the board. (I was wearing an obnoxiously bright orange Rafael Nadal shirt today, in case I met some of you. ). So i am not sure if they echo your sentiment, or it was your sentiment expressed in person.

5). I wanted to pull the trigger on some modern wax boxes: 1983 topps baseball and maybe 1985 fleer baseball. Because 83 was one year before I started to collect, and I always liked 1983 and 1984 topps cards. It seemed that that early to mid-80s stuff is sort of getting into a sweet spot. It wasn't cheap, but not expensive either. But i would venture to guess it has appreciated as well recently. I was surprised how much I wanted this stuff, but I didn't buy any of it. You could convince me to spend like $10,000 on this stuff and vault it for 7 years and double or triple your money as guys like me get nostalgic.

6). I don't know how the modern guys do it. My eyes glaze over, and there is just no way to easily display everything. As a Cubs fan, I wanted a Contreras and a Baez card, but I was so confused as to why something was $15 vs $60 vs $100 and didn't even grt into the 4-figure stuff. Its also so damn hard to display that I cant find anything easily. It's like a supermarket where the beer is shelved next to the swiffers and then the next aisle has the swiffer next to the pet food with the beer on the farthest aisle. None of it makes sense, and it's never in the same place twice. It gives me a headache to try to get to the bottom of it all and get organized. One guy has an awesome assortment of 2010-2016 baseball unopend boxes which I love, but I need someone to explain which one to buy to get a shot at my favorite Cubs best cards. Kris Bryant. Kris Bryant. Kris Bryant. It almost makes me want to barf how much stuff people have of his, except he's not a Yankee.......yet. So I will keep my food down for the time being.

7). People were dragging, wondering how they were going to make it to 8 pm I heard this on multiple tables. So not sure what their day looked like before 4 pm when it opened to public, but multiple people were tired by 7:30-ish.

8). Random story of the day: some dudes seemed to be travelling with a bunch of Joe Namath rookies. Not sure why. Only told this second hand, then I saw them and confirmed it.

9). This is my third national. Two years ago I saw so much of my dad's 1950s-1960s cards that I figured they'd never go up. So take these comments with a grain of salt. I will say that the third time around, I have gone from overwhelmed and bright eyed to a bit more of a steely assassin, and I don't know how I feel about that. I didn't buy a vintage Cubs pennant or a Northwestern University mini silk thingy and I would have in prior years.

10). There seem to be a ton of like 1978/1979 Topps baseball boxes. The white ones with red and blue. Was there some sort of case break in that in last few years? Lotsa authenticated boxes going from $1200 to $1600. I saw two 1986 Fleer Basketball unopened boxes.

11). Garbage Pail Kids are sort of my dirty little secret, and I only saw one Series 2 authenticated box about 10% premium to ebay prices. There was the occasional pack of Series 3 and 14, but not much else. I bet none of you give a flying you knw what about that.

Ok, sorry if this rambled. This is just my view from the cheap seats.

[Leon]

Thanks for the update, Tennis13. Much appreciated...

[4815162342]

Originally Posted by Leon

Thanks for the update, Tennis13. Much appreciated...

+1 Thanks for posting, Tennis!

[HexsHeroes]

.

Tennis13, actually, your observation on item #13 (Garbage Pail Kids) was well received here, as I have a 11 year old godson who has been collecting them for the past 4-5 years. So he will appreciate the update. Who knows, maybe on my next return trip to a mid-west National, I will bring him along and together we can hunt GPK packs and cards :-)

[Tennis13]

Originally Posted by HexsHeroes

.

Tennis13, actually, your observation on item #13 (Garbage Pail Kids) was well received here, as I have a 11 year old godson who has been collecting them for the past 4-5 years. So he will appreciate the update. Who knows, maybe on my next return trip to a mid-west National, I will bring him along and together we can hunt GPK packs and cards :-)

One of my biggest regrets is not pulling trigger on a series 1 box on ebay in 2002 for $600.

[begsu1013]

.

[Yoda]

Tony, I would be more than happy to scan if I knew how to. My PC skills are still sorely lacking. But wait... the fact that you and several knowledgeable people have never seen a counterfeit one before gives me faint hope that SGC got it wrong and mine just might be ok. Perhaps PSA or BVG might express a favorable verdict. Or I might just tuck it into my Cobb collection, believe it to be real and say to hell with the grading cos. Just before I submitted the card to SGC, I was sitting behind the cases with a bunch of fellow old geezers swapping baseball card lies at the LOTG table. One of the gentlemen there, probably a Net54 guy whose name I never got, apparently an expert on early baseball PC's, took a look at it for a long time, wasn't happy with a couple minor things but said he thought it might have a chance.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Yoda

Tony, I would be more than happy to scan if I knew how to. My PC skills are still sorely lacking. But wait... the fact that you and several knowledgeable people have never seen a counterfeit one before gives me faint hope that SGC got it wrong and mine just might be ok. Perhaps PSA or BVG might express a favorable verdict. Or I might just tuck it into my Cobb collection, believe it to be real and say to hell with the grading cos. Just before I submitted the card to SGC, I was sitting behind the cases with a bunch of fellow old geezers swapping baseball card lies at the LOTG table. One of the gentlemen there, probably a Net54 guy whose name I never got, apparently an expert on early baseball PC's, took a look at it for a long time, wasn't happy with a couple minor things but said he thought it might have a chance.

SGC is very good at spotting counterfeit cards, PSA not so much. You could try them and probably get it into their slab, but if SGC says fake it probably is.

[MW1]

Originally Posted by Yoda

Tony, I would be more than happy to scan if I knew how to. My PC skills are still sorely lacking. But wait... the fact that you and several knowledgeable people have never seen a counterfeit one before gives me faint hope that SGC got it wrong and mine just might be ok. Perhaps PSA or BVG might express a favorable verdict. Or I might just tuck it into my Cobb collection, believe it to be real and say to hell with the grading cos. Just before I submitted the card to SGC, I was sitting behind the cases with a bunch of fellow old geezers swapping baseball card lies at the LOTG table. One of the gentlemen there, probably a Net54 guy whose name I never got, apparently an expert on early baseball PC's, took a look at it for a long time, wasn't happy with a couple minor things but said he thought it might have a chance.

[gnaz01]

Originally Posted by Leon

Thanks for the update, Tennis13. Much appreciated...

+2 great observations

[bobbyw8469]

Originally Posted by gnaz01

+2 great observations

+3. I wonder what the Joe Namath "group" was doing?? Are they trying to sell them? How many did they have?

[Tennis13]

Originally Posted by bobbyw8469

+3. I wonder what the Joe Namath "group" was doing?? Are they trying to sell them? How many did they have?

I didn't personally see the stack. I saw the guys. I was told 30. But I don't have personal confirmation.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by Tennis13

I didn't personally see the stack. I saw the guys. I was told 30. But I don't have personal confirmation.

i wonder what condition the cards were in...but i was surprised at the large POP for that card..i assumed it would be far less...

[bobbyw8469]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

i wonder what condition the cards were in...but i was surprised at the large POP for that card..i assumed it would be far less...

That card probably has an extremely misleading report. I'm sure it has been cracked out numerous times.

[Joshwesley]

Finally another tennis fan (I'm a teaching pro)..

Great account of the national and thanks!

[ullmandds]

Originally Posted by bobbyw8469

+3. I wonder what the Joe Namath "group" was doing?? Are they trying to sell them? How many did they have?

id guess the joe namath group is doing the same thing as the sandy koufax group and the roberto clemente group!!!!

[Northviewcats]

A lot of effort went into your post, Tennis13. Especially after spending time on the floor at Nationals. I enjoyed reading it. Thank you.

Joe

[Tennis13]

Originally Posted by Northviewcats

A lot of effort went into your post, Tennis13. Especially after spending time on the floor at Nationals. I enjoyed reading it. Thank you.

Joe

No problem. I was a journalism major in college, so I just cranked it out in between waiting tables.......I love going to the national and given that I work in finance, I am so curious about the market segmentation that seems to be occuring. The ability to restrict supply in some of these cards is so intriguing to watch.

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by Northviewcats

A lot of effort went into your post, Tennis13. Especially after spending time on the floor at Nationals. I enjoyed reading it. Thank you.

Joe

A big +1 on that--thanks much for taking the time!

Larry

[vintagehofrookies]

Originally Posted by Tennis13

8). Random story of the day: some dudes seemed to be travelling with a bunch of Joe Namath rookies. Not sure why. Only told this second hand, then I saw them and confirmed it.

they were probably getting them signed as Namath is signing Sat.

[ullmandds]

Originally Posted by vintagehofrookies

they were probably getting them signed as Namath is signing Sat.

that wouldnt be very smart if they were graded...esp high grade.

there appears to be no shortage of jordan rookies at this years national!

[Snapolit1]

One of the big auction houses was selling a Gehrig rookie exhibit SGC 30 I think for $35K. Not a bad investment considering where that card is sitting right now on the Heritage site with nearly a month to go in bidding.

[pawpawdiv9]

Aaargh. Make me wanna go back and take the BestOffer I had with 707 on Ebay on his poor water damaged copy he had for sell at 4k-ish.
Waiting for the bubbles to burst any moment now!!!

[BeanTown]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

One of the big auction houses was selling a Gehrig rookie exhibit SGC 30 I think for $35K. Not a bad investment considering where that card is sitting right now on the Heritage site with nearly a month to go in bidding.

Was that the card at Memory Lane (I Own It) booth? If yes, I looked at that card and one of the employees own it. He had a price tag of 60k on it. I didn't see another 1925 Gehrig Rookie there on the floor. I saw a 1927 Gehrig Exhibit and bought it for a great price from Scottsdale Cards.

[Section103]

Saturday morning at the Nationals and the Feds havent been on the floor yet for a dramatic bust? :smh:

[Bicem]

No kidding, saw 2 different dealers with at least 75 Jordan rookies each.

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

there appears to be no shortage of jordan rookies at this years national!

Why would there be a shortage--in nearly 30 years of collecting, this card has never been in short supply.

Best wishes, Pete,

Larry

[ullmandds]

Originally Posted by ls7plus

Why would there be a shortage--in nearly 30 years of collecting, this card has never been in short supply.

Best wishes, Pete,

Larry

well the sentiment seemed to be that the demand for jordan rookies was insatiable...perhaps not? To justify the ridiculous prices being paid for 9's and 10's...you'd think supply was short.