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#1
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: DMcD
I arrived in Chicago on Monday evening and am presently ensconced in the friendly confines of the Rosemont Embassy Suites Hotel across the street from the site of the imminent National. I have created a new album on my ImageEvent photo site and have posted some photos already of my "tourist day" in town today (Tuesday). The plan is to upload pictures each night of the day's goings-on. The computer I brought with me is a full-grade POS so I can't guarantee anything but I will do my best for you guys that couldn't make it here. (If any of you that are staying at Embassy Suites hear loud vulgarities that begin with "f" coming from the fourth floor, that will be me scolding the effing computer). |
#2
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: leon
Thanks for posting a thread like this and I will see you in several hours....if you are around. Tonight is the 5pm-9pm show night so it's going to be a little bit late of a one....I should be at the Embassy Suites at around 2pm-2:30pm today and will head over to pick up my badge, cases, etc.... (knock on wood)..... |
#3
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Peter_Spaeth
If I were a woman reading the above description I think I would be offended. |
#4
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Steve
Peter beat me to it. Tex, just a wee bit outta context here. |
#5
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Tom Boblitt
Monday night late......was in the show most of the day yesterday while people were setting up. Gonna be pretty big--about like the last couple Nationals here. Not as big as the 1993 National at McCormick place though. Went to the Cubs game last night....IN MILWAUKEE......little 90 mile road trip. Beautiful stadium..........will try to upload some photos later like David........ |
#6
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Peter Thomas
Should get in to Sofitel about 3:30 this afternoon. Will get over to pick up tickets and catch up with who I can find at the show. A little sad that Chris will not be there, first National on my own, but he is going to be in New York earning some money for future cards. |
#7
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Marty Ogelvie
nice post David, Did you go without the Mrs'? |
#8
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: paulstratton
You're one funny mofo David. Keep the updates coming. |
#9
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Bob
David- great post, keep them coming for all of us guys stuck at home |
#10
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: S Gross
David, FYI, when you edit a post it messes up the link. |
#11
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Dan Bretta
Here's a link directly to David's National pics. |
#12
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: DMcD
How ya doin', sportsfans! The first day of the National is pau. Got there at 5, stayed until 9, walked miles of aisles, saw plenty nice cards and jawboned with lots of Net54ers. Took a few photos, just had a look at them and unfortunately many of them are a tad on the crappy side, mostly either due to poor focus or flash blowback. Nevertheless, I am in the process of editing them and hope to upload a couple of dozen in the next hour or so. I need to take the Imageevent site off-line in the meantime. I will edit this post when the pikkies are ready. |
#13
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Alan
We got in about 8 pm local time. Just finished dinner. Now deciding what to do.... !!! |
#14
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: paulstratton
Instead of Mr.Mint they now have Mr.Armpit by the front door? |
#15
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Jodi Birkholm
Gizmo has that coveted spot. |
#16
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: DMcD
Paul: Unfortunately, Brockleman-Luckey is actually situated nowhere near the front door, more like Outer Boony Boony Land, but it is still the Hub of the Universe as far as the show is concerned and a swell place to hang out, too. |
#17
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: paulstratton
I was just messin' with Leon, I figured they wouldn't want to be by the front door anyway. |
#18
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: MVSNYC
thanks...great report so far! i can't wait to walk those aisles... |
#19
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Dan Bretta
Great photos David...keep 'em coming. |
#20
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: DMcD
Dan: Tik & Tik, $950, I believe, but my memory, she no so good. The card has your name all over it. |
#21
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Leslie Westbrook
...that dinosaurs-eating-baseball-players picture REAL bad. |
#22
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Alan
Michael - |
#23
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Jimmy
Dan, |
#24
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
David, nice pictures, much appreciated. Please have Pat wrap up that Alpha Engraving McGraw and send it my way. |
#25
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: DMcD
Jeff: SGC has a showcase entitled "The Patrick Preece Collection" for which you can pick your favorite superlative- stunning, breathtaking, jawdropping, all of the above. Holy Moses! The Alpha Engravings alone were worth traveling 5000 miles for. That AE McGraw is my favorite. I will take some more pictures of PP's cards today and post them this evening. Are you coming to Chicago btw? Hope so. |
#26
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Bryan Long
Now I am jealous. I wish I could have gone. Those cabinets look great! I was able to speak with Patrick Preece last year in Cleveland and his collection is quite amazing. Doe sanyone happen to have Leon's cell number on the board that would be willing to let me know what it is? Brian, do you have it? |
#27
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Alan U
David, nice photos, thank you for posting them. I've never been to a National, but now I really want to go. |
#28
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: MVSNYC
Alan- i'm finishing up some things in the office now, and will be catching a 4pm flight from LaGuardia...i'll be at the Net54 Party tonight... |
#29
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: DMcD
It was a long and satisfying day at the National. Dropped off some cards at SGC and completed my canvassing of the convention floor (which is about the size of friggin' Rhode Island; oh, my aching feet!). Wanted to see everything in general prior to zeroing in on certain dealers which I will do tomorrow. Picked up a number of obscurities which were way far off my want-list radar but for which resistance was futile. Main keepers were a beautiful photograph of Prince Oana fireballing for Aratani and a handful of photos of Honolulu Braves (thirties Hawaii semi-pro brewery league) which need to be seen to be appreciated and a mysterious post card depicting a group of ballplayers in an array of major and minor league uniforms posing on a small town street with no clue as to who what where when other than the dealer's notation "South Dakota 1945". One of the great things about the National is that you can march the card over to someone like Mark Macrae, then lean back and listen to him brainstorm baseball. I'll post the card when I get back home and maybe some of you can help identify the players. I am just about positive however that Joe Jackson isn't in the picture. |
#30
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: barrysloate
David- cool pictures from the dinner...but that's Jay Miller, not Ray. |
#31
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Rob D.
David, |
#32
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: paulstratton
edit due to complete lack of sleep...keep up the good work David |
#33
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Matt Goebel
David, |
#34
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Aaron Seefeldt
I was at the national all day and evening on Wednesday... |
#35
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Bryan Long
I have heard from a few people as well that the sticker prices on many cards are way above market value. I guess they have to make their money somehow |
#36
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: DMcD
Thanks for all the positive comments, people. The National experience is too huge to capture with a two-bit digital camera but I am doing my best. I wish you all could be here for the real deal. I am having a terrific time and my guess is alot of the other guys would echo the same sentiment. |
#37
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Bob
David- I'd be interested to know what the general consensus was regarding attendance. It looks a little on the lean side but I guess you'll know more after today (Friday) and Saturday. Also, there hasn't been any word yet on caramel cards (E93s, E94s, etc) Just wondering if there are any available and what they are going for vs. what they sell for on ebay etc. |
#38
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Dan Bretta
Thanks for making the time for us folks who couldn't be there David. You have a very desercning eye...I especially enjoyed this photo of Joe Jackson taking some time out of his schedule for some Net54ers. |
#39
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: DMcD
TBob: Compared to the other National I was at in Anaheim the crowds appear to me to be way more sparse. I would venture that the dealers are hoping that the weekend crowd will pick up. I am not a caramel guy, yet anyway. I just nod my head when somebody mentions E-Ninety-whatevers and pretend like I know what they are talking about. I hope someone else can weigh in and answer your question. Hope those ribs have stopped giving you grief. |
#40
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: samuel
I hope I'm not out-of-line, since I don't know anyone here, to say that I'm really enjoying this thread. thank you for letting me in on something I wasn't able to experience. |
#41
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Bryan Long
Seeing all the pictures - it is really killing me that I was not able to attend this year. I hear there are some really great items there as usual - most of which I would not be able to buy. I missed not attending the net54 dinner. It is a great event that all should try and attend at some point. Meeting the people we talk to all the time on here is the best part, besides seeing a crap load of cards that I will never be able to buy Everyone there is very lucky and I will see you all next year! |
#42
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Bob
See Bryan, if you hadn't spent all that money in Vegas buying future book tickets that the Indians were going to win the World Series in 2008 you'd have had a ton of money to spend on cards in Chicago. Just kiddin' |
#43
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Rick McQuillan
Please tell me that the price sticker isn't stuck directly on the slab of the King Kelly! (Photo 52) |
#44
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Bob
C'mon guys, you are leaving the rest of us hanging! |
#45
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: 1880nonsports
must give you my thanks for all the pix! Super! I was there for only a couple of days and no time to see anything. You made me feel like I was there.......... |
#46
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: DMcD
Got a late start today. Arrived at the show around noon. First off, stumbled across a vendor that had really cheap fifties Topps cards so did a bit of upgrading to my '53 and '57 sets. Then wandered over to Tony E-Trade to shoot the bull and admire his Zeenuts and D304s, but didn't buy anything. Next went over to Terry Knouse to look over the amazing array of cabinet cards he has this year. Ended up buying a couple; an Arlie Latham Player League cabinet and one of Hank O'Day. (I've got some shots of the cards on the picture site). These cards are going to be my big keepers from this National; the rest is gravy. Also had the opportunity to get some education from Terry about 19th century cabinets. Terry knows alot and he is generous in sharing his knowledge. Next wandered over to Leon and Scott's table to do some consigning of some of my dupes. Picked up some neat postcards along the way. Never saw any FBI agents, but did get some stink eye off a CTA crossing guard. Before I knew it the afternoon was pau and it was time to head to the Mastro auction. It was to be held at the ESPN Zone in downtown Chicago. They had buses for us; Friday pm traffic was hellacious but we still managed to get there on time. They had a great turkey dinner buffet waiting for us. Not just generic "great" but like, Holy Moses! this place is just a Chucky Cheese for grown-ups why is this turkey better than anything my mom ever cooked? But I digress. Auction started at 9. The venue wasn't quite what I expected. I had envisioned James Mason and David Niven types in a formal theatre setting but it was just a bunch of us pudgy white guys in a sports bar. Nevertheless, the auction proceeded at a quick pace. A lot of stuff seemed to underperform the "minimum estimate". I thought the BG Speaker was a good deal at 13K and the W600 lot at $22K seemed low. I had my sight set on the 1912 NY Giants portrait. Went bid for bid with a phone bidder but eventually had to fold my hand. The photo in real life was stunning in a way that the catalog barely suggested. It was much larger than you would think and the contrast and, above all, the clarity made it so vivid. The phone guy is going to be very happy once he peels away that yellow Mastro tape. The big drama of the evening, of course, was the T206 Wagner. It got to a million in no time, and a phone bidder and a proxy mysteriously duked it out until it topped at $1.35 million. It was a bit of a thrill, by the way, to be allowed to touch the Holy Grail earlier in the day. Some guys might think it's no big deal but I thought it was cool. |
#47
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Cy
Hi David, |
#48
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Jodi Birkholm
David, |
#49
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
David, your posts made me laugh twice: the 'axis of evil' computer you purchased and the 'stink eye' you received in Chicago. Thanks for the effort and pictures; you're a good guy. |
#50
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Aloha from Chicago
Posted By: DMcD
Jodi: Terry Knouse = TIK Sr. Terry gave me a about three-quarters-of-an-hour worth of insight into these cards and 19th century cabinets in general and it was like a freshman sitting in on a graduate seminar. I will count it as one of the best if not the very penultimate [ ] experiences I have had in Chicago which includes being born here some six decades ago but that is another story. As for your specific question as to where did he find them I misplaced that factoid in my addled memory. Since you are at the show I would encourage you to return to TIK & TIK and talk some story with Terry and maybe pick up one of these babies if you are into it. Prices were in the ballpark of a decent T3, not exorbitant. |
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