Mall shows

[JollyElm]

We had one here last month at a mall in a pseudo-free CA county. No masks required, held inside a former (huge) Forever 21 store. It was awesome, especially since there was a food court 100 feet away, and they had some quality autograph signers for people into that area of collecting.

[mr2686]

I always loved those mall shows back in the day. In fact, I got back in to the hobby after going to a mall show to see Duke Snider in the late 80's. Fun times.

[commishbob]

There used to be several regular mall shows in the Houston area. I made lots of them as a customer and a few as a 'dealer' if you can call selling some old Astros scorecards and a few cards being a dealer. My lasting memory of mall shows is wandering around a very sparsely attended one early on a Saturday morning in Almeda Mall in southeast Houston. Sitting at a small table by himself, waiting to sign for anyone who recognized him was Bob Feller. I think he was charging five bucks. A pretty weird scene for me as I was used to always seeing someone 'handling' signing requests for show guests but he was alone. For my $5(?) I got a signed postcard and a few minutes of baseball talk with a Hall of Fame pitcher.

[oaks1912]

The mall shows are still happening on the West Coast. There are monthly shows in Washington (Auburn & Everett) and Oregon (Portland). In addition the greater San Francisco Bay Area has been hosting both types of mall shows.... 1) Free admission accessible to the general public, and 2) Secured businesses within a mall with paid admission.

The recent show in Fairfield,California inside the former Forever 21 store, featured more than 300 tables on over an acre, and attracted more than 2000 people. They will likely continue as long as the interest in sports items (particularly recent issues) remains strong.

[jingram058]

Originally Posted by oaks1912

The mall shows are still happening on the West Coast. There are monthly shows in Washington (Auburn & Everett) and Oregon (Portland). In addition the greater San Francisco Bay Area has been hosting both types of mall shows.... 1) Free admission accessible to the general public, and 2) Secured businesses within a mall with paid admission.

The recent show in Fairfield,California inside the former Forever 21 store, featured more than 300 tables on over an acre, and attracted more than 2000 people. They will likely continue as long as the interest in sports items (particularly recent issues) remains strong.

Can you get good stuff cheap?

I got a 58 Topps Mantle for $70 at the Coral Square Mall, Coral Springs, Florida. I remember that like it was yesterday. This was in 1997 while I was stationed at Key West. I went home (my wife and daughter were living on Flamingo Road by the Sawgrass Mall in Sunrise while I was stationed down at Key West) on weekends, unless I had duty. It was on a Sunday, and we went over to Coral Square. This was University and Atlantic, I think, near where my wife worked. Lots of restaurants. When we got therer, everyone was packing up to go home. I had $70 in cash in my wallet. The seller said it was giving it away, but yeah, he'd take $70 cash for the Mantle card.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

We had one here last month at a mall in a pseudo-free CA county. No masks required, held inside a former (huge) Forever 21 store. It was awesome, especially since there was a food court 100 feet away, and they had some quality autograph signers for people into that area of collecting.

Bingo! I'm going to a food court today and try to sell my autograph and offer fries with it. Honestly I've never had any success selling my vintage quarter pounders and PSA will not grade them.

[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Bingo! I'm going to a food court today and try to sell my autograph and offer fries with it. Honestly I've never had any success selling my vintage quarter pounders and PSA will not grade them.

Reminds me of this gem...

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[bbcard1]

I used to run some mall shows that I just loved. At that time, the malls had something called a "Community Room." It gave us the ability to be located at the mall yet still have the atmosphere of a mall. I would often get minor leaguers or retired major leaguers to come and sign free autos at the shows. A few of the guests who appeared included Juan Bonilla, Rocky Bridges, Wally Moon, Alan Knicely, Ron Hodges, Bill Dailey and Tom Parsons. Free admission, free door prizes, you could barely make your way through the shows. We raised money for the local SPCA. Honestly, what killed them was that the malls shut the community rooms. When it got out into the main body of the mall it lost its intimacy and just wasn't the same.

[Leon]

I have set up at some smaller shows before, sometimes unexpectedly LOL....They were more a labor of love and shooting the shit with friends than a money making venture. Some of them were a fun for a while.
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[ocjack]

In SoCal, I remember in the early 90's there were some struggling mall shows still being attempted. The problem was, most of the stores in the mall were vacant and you felt like you were in one of those zombie movies where only a handful of people are wondering aimlessly around the mall. It was a slow, sad death of the mall show.

[UKCardGuy]

I don't remember mall shows but I remember a baseball card shop in Prestonwood Mall in North Dallas in the early 80s Any chance that anyone here remembers the name of the shop or even has a photo?