West Coast Sports Collectors Expo 4-6 June

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Posted By: warshawlaw

I went Saturday.

Skank row was gone; the show was strictly pg rated (I had to ding the grade down from G due to abusive language by collectors and truly scary bellies on some of the fatter dealers).

There were quite a few good vintage tables. Trevor was there with his usual jaw-dropping spread of OJ's. Had a nice long visit with him and others who dropped by his table. Andy has a beautiful SGC graded collection of N300's. Gorgeous stuff. If you are looking for something from that set, contact him ASAP.

The show did not seem all that crowded, but the people who did attend seemed very satisfied with what they found. Nearly everyone I spoke with added significant items to their collections.

T card and E card prices were very strong. Trevor had a nice run of E90-1's including a Cobb and a PSA-slabbed E90-1 labelled Bender that was actually a Standard Caramel E93 card that just jumped off his table. Post WWII cards were dead. Tables primarily stocked with rows of slabbed 1950s-1960s cards sat idle for most of the time, and dealers were dropping their asks considerably, especially on cards lower than 8's. I also saw quite a few Zeenuts, but no stars or HOFers. Nonsports was strong. I picked up a few nice 1920's Exhibits including one of Buster Keaton from Steamboat Bill, Jr. (which Walt Disney spoofed with Steamboat Willie, the first Mickey Mouse cartoon), and Elvis in full concert. Boxing card prices were outrageous. Dreck selling at 5x book. I don't know how many of these dealers make a living given what they try to charge...like shopping in Tijuana, you have to haggle away 80% of the price.

I got one very big item from my want list: 1928 PCL Exhibit Averill. Grade is somewhere between extremely crappy and really crappy, but as rare as it is, I'll take it. Also picked up a nice bio of Lefty O'Doul and several T206 variations and tough backs.