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

[dembums]

Originally Posted by CharleyBrown

For those that went today, how was the selection of Jackie Robinson cards/items? Was hoping to go today, but I wasn't able to make it. Debating on going tomorrow.

I heard a 1953 Canadian Exhibit Green tint was sold. Matt C. of The Post Game Show had about 75 Jackie items at his booth, which as a Jackie collector, was pretty impressive. Saw a couple Bond Bread Jackies: Running Down Basepath (with a fake signature in blue pen on the bottom left corner),a PSA 1 Leaping with Scoreboard in Back, and the fielding one where he's standing on the bag (forget the technical name off the top of my head).

Prices on Jackie were relatively high, but there were definitely deals to be had.

My first National, so totally overwhelmed, but I loved every minute of it. Especially talking Brooklyn Dodgers with the generation who lived through those golden years. So cool.

[CharleyBrown]

Originally Posted by dembums

I heard a 1953 Canadian Exhibit Green tint was sold. Matt C. of the Postgame show had about 75 Jackie items at his booth, which as a Jackie collector, was pretty impressive. Saw a couple Bond Bread Jackies: Running Down Basepath (with a fake signature in blue pen on the bottom left corner),a PSA 1 Leaping with Scoreboard in Back, and the fielding one where he's standing on the bag (forget the technical name off the top of my head).

Prices on Jackie were relatively high, but there were definitely deals to be had.

My first National, so totally overwhelmed, but I loved every minute of it. Esplecally talking Brooklyn Dodgers with the generation who lived through those golden years. So cool.

Sweet, thanks for the heads up! Wish I was there for that Green Tint. Had one and sold it a few years ago. Incredibly tough to find. Might just have to make the trip down there tomorrow.

[kailes2872]

(long-winded recap coming below. One of my degrees was journalism as well - but I never really did well in the editing class)

After missing last year in Chicago, we did the National as the back end of a pseudo family vacation - it started in Secaucus Sunday night, meandered through the Yankees/Mets at Citi Field on Monday, on a boat out to the Statue of Liberty on tuesday, down to AC on Wednesday with a detour to the Borgata with a 10 hour session in the card room Wedneday Night/Thursday Morning and finally to the convention center today.

I really enjoyed Cleveland a couple of years ago. It was a day trip and it was my first one - so we spent 2 full days walking the show. Maybe the the newness has worn off after being to one of them, but it was much less enjoyable today.

1.) I spent the first 90 minutes in line for PSA. I had 3 cards that I wanted to get slabbed (55 Koufax, 54 Kaline, 55 Robinson). I have the PSA 6 Koufax but wanted the other one slabbed as well (probably 2.5-3). I think Kaline and Robinson would be 3-3.5. I know that it is largely a waste of money to get lower grade cards slabbed - but if it was ever time to sell them off, I prefered the comfort of knowing a solid price as I usually get flaws pointed out and lowballed when selling, and then the same card would have its centering and virtues emphasized when it works its way into dealer inventory. I'd prefer to take the guess work out even if it calls for some extra investment up front. I also had 2 cards that needed reholdered - 56 Red Shoendienst and 33 Goudey Lloyd Waner. Red fell in my safe and the slab opened up. Waner was damaged when I opened up the box from the submission - it was packed so tightly and so well that when I finally got the scissors in, they scratched the plastic - right on the face.

I waited for 90 minutes and had a nice guy who wanted to talk the entire time. And by entire, I mean every possible second. He was a low talker and I couldn't hear about 80% of what he said, so I just laughed a lot. Very nice fellow, just more line talking that what I was hoping for. The boys finally jumped out of line and went and walked the show because they were worn out by him as well.

When I finally got up there, I was informed that they would reholder Red, but they needed to regrade it as well for $40. It is a $25-$30 card in PSA 6. I told her that their holder popped open. She said that they are sonically sealed and incapable of opening - thus I must have opened it and they cannot be sure that it is the actual card - plus it might have been damaged when removed. I decided against it - so now, I need to either deal with it or find another one. What's worse is that there is an open PSA case that I was hoping to put back into their property, but when she accused me of trying to put the slide on a $30 card, I decided against grading services today (plus it was 48 hour turnaround and we are leaving tomorrow - so for $40 onsite grading plus insurance to ship back, it was definitely not worth it).

2.) whew, so 90 minutes in, a rough conversation wtih PSA and now time to walk the show. I agree with comments above, it did seem smaller than Cleveland - even though I believe that there were similar amounts of rows. I had a black Austin 3:16 shirt on today and I got a lot of fun comments. I am folically challenged, so I was getting a lot of WWE circa '96 references. Lots of good times! It was nice seeing Pat & Kevin Savage, Zimp & Wayne (and luckily they were right next to each other). I missed some of the dealers from 2 years ago. I like looking at the pieces from the auction houses, but it was just observation - it would be nice if they put them all together in one section.

3) Speaking of shiny stuff... count me as someone who doesn't understand the case brake phenomenon. They are continually at the mic chatting. People are excited and celebrating the "pulls" and I am not quite sure what the celebration is about. It just creates noise. The food court was always packed full - seats were hard to come by. But with the case break pavilion and the food court, it looked like about a fourth of the convention center was wasted before they actually started selling the cards.

4.) The manufactuers area in the center seems to be a lot of unprodcutive space. Again, because I don't do modern stuff - except for a new set for the boys every year (more on that later) - So, it is square footage that is unproductive for me - along with the AH displays and the case break area - basically 1/3 to 1/2 of the space I just gloss over and run right through -except for getting to make a baseball card with Topps.

5.) The material is always great. Besides seeing the lucky 7 4.5 Cobb and the 4 Wagner, the coolest table I saw was one that had tons and tons of T206 Cobbs, Matty's, Youngs, Johnsons, etc. He also had a bunch of 33 Ruths, Gehrigs, just beautiful, amazing inventory. He was selling the full Ruth run in PSA 6 for 58,000. He was selling a 4 Cobbs as a set as well. He had 3 52 Mantles with the PSA 5 going for 115,000. A different income stratesphere, but it was breathtaking for me looking at all of them there.

6.) I am always impressed with the amount of material at Levi's table. I think that if I had unlimited funds and the ability to pay a super premium that would require me to take a terrible hit if I ever had to liquidate, I could probably fill every single thing on my current want list.

7.) I spoke with Scott at Just Collect. He is a super nice guy. I really wanted to say hey to Leighton as he gave Conner a T-Shirt and a T206 card a couple of years ago when he discovered pre-war, but he wasn't there at the time. It was probably something that he doesn't even remember but it left such an impact on me and Conner and I wanted to thank him personally. I saw Scott last year at the Robert Morris show in Pittsburgh and related the story - and he recalled it as I was explaining why I was looking for Leighton today. I hope that I never have to sell and I continue to grow my collection but those are the kind of things that make me want to deal with those guys if something were to ever happen - and it makes sense why they get such good material all of the time (and it was cool seeing the Plank from the fairy godmother find).

8.) My want list is pretty small right now as I am finishing up my 55 and 54 Topps ugrades. I am on the verge of buying a 63 fleer set and have a few other upgrades in the set run that I am hitting as I go along - but I didn't have a huge list of singles that I was going to sit at a table and go through commons trying to build my sets. This saved some time. I also bought a 54 Berra and 54 Billy Martin on Monday night, so I counted them as show purchases. I have set up a 63 Fleer and 64 Rose purchase with a very nice N54 member and am transacting that next week - so I am counting them as my National purchases - even though I didn't actually buy them at the show (they will be there when I get home).

9.) The one thing that I did buy was the boys' 2016 Topps sets that I get them every year - so that we have the set run going to current. Last time, I went to Steel City collectibles. They had them for $40. I took a flyer and asked if they would take $75 for two. In 2014 they did, when I asked, the immediate response was "NO SIR!" I told him that I would walk the floor and see what I could find and maybe be back later. I ended up finding a smaller vendor who had them for sale for $40. I asked if he would discount a multiple purchase. He said, "How about $75 for 2?" SOLD. I then went and spent $42 on sheets and binders. That was it. I should have waited until the end of the day because it got tiresome lugging them around.

10.) The boys were treated well, but now that they are 17 and 14, and are getting closer to me in size, it wasn't quite the free for all that it was in 2014 - when random people would pull them aside and try to give them free stuff. My younger son was asked by the Panini rep if he wanted to participate in the NBA kids case break at 4 with the Memphis Grizzlies. Alas, no Grizzlies were pulled, but he did get a nice consolation prize. The only problem was that we had walked the floor nearly twice by a quarter after 3 and we spent the next 30 minutes just sitting in the food court waiting until the break started at 4. As soon as he was done there, so were we. I would have never imagined not only finishing in one day (it was 2 full in Cleveland), but being done 90 minutes before it shut down.

11.) Prices were all over the place. I can usually look at 1-2 cards and have an idea of pricing strategy. One guy had a 68 PSA 5 Clemente for $250. He had other cards that looked to be about 3-5x the going rate. That was a quick walk by. Another guy had very strong pricing - a PSA 6 Kaline (albeit the first generation label and it looked like it had some marks in the border) for $700 - but had some room. I need to get it but didn't love the card. I know tht it was a $500 a few months ago, but $700 with some room seemed reasonable - and that was how his inventory was priced. Another guy had 33 Ruth's at a grand a grade, decently price low grade Ruth and Gehrigs, and other solid, fair prices. The 50's and 60's prices are heavy at the National - A PSA 6 Rose was $1400. I saw a PSA 6 Clemente that was not especially nice (off center, just meh) for $5500. They tended to run $4500-$6500. 5's are consistently $3000. I am so happy that I pulled the trigger for mine last March for $2200 - and it was $400 above SMR at the time and I worried about paying too much). Koufax PSA 6 was consistently $2000. Aaron was generally $3000 for PSA 6. There were deals to be made, I just had a pretty narrow list and I already had the 63 fleer set up, so I had to keep that in mind.

12.) I had marked my list to see some of the Net54 folks and visit their booths. Unfortunately, I left it at the hotel and didn't have it to reference. If you saw a guy in an Austin 3:16 shirt and you were nice, I appreciate it. I am starting to get burned out on the hobby a bit. I always feel like I am the buy high sell low guy and I feel like a lot of these dealers would really stick it to me if they figured they could make a buck. If that is the way to get ahead in the hobby then count me out. I would witness the negotiation as they were going through material and buying. It was always discounting their collection, reminding the collector that they had plenty of inventory and would be sitting on it for a while, cherry picking the best stuff, giving a low ball take it or leave it offer, yet continually asking anyone with a backpack or a box in hand what they had and then going through the same exercise. If 70-80% of VCP is what I can count on, I shutter to think how much I would lose if I ever got liquid. Oh well, I collect for my personal pleasure - to buy up the stuff that I could never afford when I was a kid. I hope to pass it on to my boys some day. When I was a kid, I was often shoo'd away by the dealers as I was a low rent guy wanting to look at the big cards in their cases.

End of Rant, End of recap. File under TLDR, or enjoy if you were unable to attend and wanted a taste of what it was like. Probably not going to Chicago next year, as $60 for the three of us to walk through in 4 hours doesn't really justify it - but I will probably break down and go to Cleveland in 2 years if I am still in this collecting game.

Cheers,
Kevin

P.S. heard rumblings from a dealer that an autographed Mantle ball was swiped today.

[timzcardz]

Just wanted to say that you guys reporting here really suck!

For months I've been planning on going Saturday, but have been exhausted lately. Pretty much decided last night that I might not be up to the 6 hours of driving roundtrip. So, I got on the 5:26 train this morning, heading to work in Manhattan, tired and resigned to not going tomorrow.

Now reading the reports here, I'm reconsidering. Have to see what I feel like tonight.

[Mountaineer1999]

Originally Posted by kailes2872

12.) I had marked my list to see some of the Net54 folks and visit their booths. Unfortunately, I left it at the hotel and didn't have it to reference. If you saw a guy in an Austin 3:16 shirt and you were nice, I appreciate it. I am starting to get burned out on the hobby a bit. I always feel like I am the buy high sell low guy and I feel like a lot of these dealers would really stick it to me if they figured they could make a buck. If that is the way to get ahead in the hobby then count me out. I would witness the negotiation as they were going through material and buying. It was always discounting their collection, reminding the collector that they had plenty of inventory and would be sitting on it for a while, cherry picking the best stuff, giving a low ball take it or leave it offer, yet continually asking anyone with a backpack or a box in hand what they had and then going through the same exercise. If 70-80% of VCP is what I can count on, I shutter to think how much I would lose if I ever got liquid. Oh well, I collect for my personal pleasure - to buy up the stuff that I could never afford when I was a kid. I hope to pass it on to my boys some day. When I was a kid, I was often shoo'd away by the dealers as I was a low rent guy wanting to look at the big cards in their cases.

End of Rant, End of recap. File under TLDR, or enjoy if you were unable to attend and wanted a taste of what it was like. Probably not going to Chicago next year, as $60 for the three of us to walk through in 4 hours doesn't really justify it - but I will probably break down and go to Cleveland in 2 years if I am still in this collecting game.

Cheers,
Kevin

P.S. heard rumblings from a dealer that an autographed Mantle ball was swiped today.

Nice write-up Kevin, enjoyed reading. I've never been to a National, I did not know there was such a thing until a couple years ago when I became a member here. From what I have read, the common theme at The Nationals seems to be the over pricing of cards and the word 'rude' is used a lot. So I wonder why go? The money spent just to get there with travel, hotel and food etc. , then what does one get? Overpriced cards and rude dealers moving you along because he can tell you aren't going to drop $6K on a 1955 kids bubble gum card.

[tennisguy]

Originally Posted by Mountaineer1999

Nice write-up Kevin, enjoyed reading. I've never been to a National, I did not know there was such a thing until a couple years ago when I became a member here. From what I have read, the common theme at The Nationals seems to be the over pricing of cards and the word 'rude' is used a lot. So I wonder why go? The money spent just to get there with travel, hotel and food etc. , then what does one get? Overpriced cards and rude dealers moving you along because he can tell you aren't going to drop $6K on a 1955 kids bubble gum card.

Understandable.

[Snapolit1]

I've been in the room for about 7 hours and didnt meet a single person I'd consider rude. Overwhelming people seem almost giddy to be in a room with so much cool stuff and so many folks with same hobby.
As they say, your mileage may vary ....

[Snapolit1]

PS. I don't consider someone rude for not negotiating on price. I may not appreciate it but it's their prerogative.

[kailes2872]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

I've been in the room for about 7 hours and didnt meet a single person I'd consider rude. Overwhelming people seem almost giddy to be in a room with so much cool stuff and so many folks with same hobby.
As they say, your mileage may vary ....

I apologize if I came off as saying they were rude to me. In most cases, quite the contrary. At worst, they were indifferent and there is no harm there. I was only speaking to the collection/card buying process from patrons as I witnessed a half a dozen of these transactions. Admittedly, I have deep scars from a transaction gone wrong at a show when I was 9 years old that I won't rehash here - so I always view with a skewed eye, but the general walking of the floor and interaction was pleasant.