Views and observations from AC - share your experience at the National!

[Republicaninmass]

Originally Posted by Pat R

Well maybe if you weren't there on Thursday when the convention center lot was full at 10:15 am or tell it to the Atlantic City police directing traffic outside the convention center or the parking lot attendants in every lot we went in that was full or the taxi drivers and casino valets who all said the parking was an absolute mess on Thursday.

When I left on Friday at about 12p. It looked like the parking lot was blocked off because it was full already!

[notfast]

Had a good time, like always but Atlantic City is an absolute shit hole. I guess if you stay at Harrahs/Borgota and Uber to convention center, you’d think otherwise but anyone defending the town is either clueless or blind.

We walked from Ballys/Claridge multiple times and even at 8am we ran in to panhandlers and people doing the dope fiend lean. Had to deal with dirt bike riders and squeegee guys during ubers to an airbnb less than 1 mile away from hotel.

Our group is from the Baltimore area and we all said that AC is basically Baltimore with a beach.

I didn’t talk to a single person who had anything to say about AC that wasn’t overwhelmingly negative…except for people from NJ/NY. The only positives anyone had were that it was a close drive, myself included.

[sportscardpete]

I thought it was a great National. There was definitely a good buzz. Not a lot of vintage stuff (because Jeff took all the Ruths). I spent a good deal of time meeting folks (like Jeff), which was probably the highlight.

One thing that amazed me was the wide range of ages present. I think that is great for the hobby.

[notfast]

As for the show itself, I thought it was great. I was helping out a dealer for Wed-Fri with mainly modern even though I dabble in both modern and vintage.

Prices were high across the board but there were deals to be found. EVERYONE who came to the booth was selling. Modern vintage TCG etc. People’s prices weren’t great either, much like majority of the dealers.

Overall, the hobby is beyond strong IMO. People are just changing their focuses.

Edit - forgot about some of the best convos I had in the PSA lines. Met and talked to so many diverse people. From guy grading 51 Mantle to a PMG Kobe. The last line you had me picking up a 2022 card, talking to guy from this group who was a t206 expert picking up a 51 mantle mixing it up with woman behind us with a $50k Luka card.

[Johnny630]

100 Hundred Dollar Bills Everywhere from 14 year old's to 70's. On dealer had a bank counting machine on his backup table. Wow. The wealth in this hobby is broad reaching.

[hcv123]

I had an INCREDIBLE show - literally didn't have time to use a rest room from Wed-Sat. Sold a very broad range of material. As mentioned a very broad range of ages - also saw a lot more women than I usually see at shows. Great to meet a few and see a few other Net 54 members. Anyone who said the show sucked, clearly was at a different show.

That said a few well deserved criticisms - The reliance on union personnel was horrific - I was unable to set up Tuesday despite arriving at 10AM because it took the union 3.5 hours to deliver 4 tables I had ordered and paid for 3 months earlier (that were supposed to be waiting at my booth)!!

Lack of internet connectivity!! How they operate a "Convention center", a place which by definition is in large part about attracting and doing business with a signal that sucks so bad that you almost cannot conduct business is disgraceful. I spoke to 1 customer who got separated from his son and was unable to get through to him on his cell phone because there was no signal strength! I lost a few transactions (buy and sell) because I was unable to do due diligence on the net. Utterly ridiculous. I know there was the option for dealers to pay $80 per day for a locked WIFI signal - That would have been +30% of the booth cost - ridiculous and still doesn't resolve the issue for people walking the show. Didn't speak to anyone who chose that option, so I don't know the quality of that signal.

It wasn't an issue for dealers, but I heard from many customers about the parking nightmare.

All in all my takeaway - the hobby is VERY healthy!

Howard

[mrreality68]

just a few last things related to AC

1. The wifi/cellular issues might have been done on purpose but not sure. I spoke to many dealers and they said that the Show wanted them to pay $350 each for Wifi access for the 5 day show. most did not but a few supposedly paid.

Regarding parking. The convention center Wed thru Friday seem to have issues on those days and on Thur and Frid I did see signs saying parking lot full. But another member said it well. There were plenty of options if you used the Parking finder website or if you parked at the Casinos and walked.

Regarding prices. That depends on dealers. We can all expect prices at the National Show to be higher do to the dealers overhead. However, if you really take a look around, take notes of what you find and where you can find deals/prices that you are comfortable with. I did find some dealers that were way way over even the National Show prices and I found others I was comfortable with and bought from them. I do believe some dealers had some cards that were just display cards and they did nto intend to sell and thus priced those really high.

Overall meeting the members on the Forum and others was the best part.

Regarding the Crime and other issue like that I did not see any problems since the event is during the day and if you stayed on the main paths (like the street the tanger oultet was on) and you walk in or near groups issues can be avoided.

I would and will go to the National Show again if they do it in AC.