OAKS Philly Show this weekend....FREE admission FRI & SUNDAY

[Tony Gordon]

I'm sorry to hear this show was so poorly attended. There was definitely an impressive dealer line-up.

I disagree with the folks writing the obituary for card shows. Shows are NOT dead. I attend shows in the Midwest every single weekend. I was set up at the Gonzaga show yesterday in Milwaukee where at least 250 people came through the door and am very pleased with my sales. The previous weekend I was set up at the Two Hearts show in St. Louis where at least 300 people came through the door. These are one-day shows.

In respect to the Oaks show, I've noticed over the past 10 years or so that new shows NEVER do well. It doesn't matter who is set up or who is signing, new shows seem to always bomb. The days where customers will attend any show listed in Beckett is long gone. As several people have mentioned, card shows are much more social today than they used to be. As a result, customers will generally attend the established shows where they have known the dealers and other customers for years. I've also observed that attendance always goes down during football season. Regardless, I do believe there is room for new shows but it takes a lot of patience from dealers and promoters to have some success.

In the meantime, there are plenty of great shows out there. I read about many of them regularly on this board. Sounds like the Shriner's show in Boston is a great show. I'd like to attend that one sometime. I'm looking forward to the Sun-Times show in Rosemont, IL, this weekend. Over Thanksgiving weekend I'm going to attend two shows, one, a terrific show in Orland Park, IL, then back up to Milwaukee for the Serb Hall show. There are terrific shows every weekend in Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri and Ohio that I regularly attend. Shows aren't going away any time soon.