National advice

[tram4hof]

I'm hoping to make it to the National this year for the first time in about 10 years. I've read National reports on here the past few years and one of the big takeaways was the massive crowds. Any advice for avoiding crowds at the National - besides don't go? Specifically, would you recommend attending the Wednesday sneak peak or going in on Thursday when it opens? Or another time?

Any thoughts and/or anecdotal evidence is appreciated.

[CRT Sportscards]

The only way to truly avoid the crowds is to attend on Sunday.

[bigfish]

I would go Wednesday and Thursday.

[bcbgcbrcb]

What Chris said. Otherwise, Wednesday would be the next best choice.

[rand1com]

Once you get inside the show the crowd is not that bad if you are looking for vintage or pre war cards or autographs. The real crowds are at the shiny tables, the corporate booths, the breaks, the give aways, maybe the autograph lines, etc. There is plenty of room at most vintage tables. Thursday and Sunday are usually the least crowded as already mentioned with Sunday by far the least attended day. However, many dealers leave very early on Sunday.

[notfast]

I feel like Thursday and Friday early are the least busy times. Besides Sunday.

[UKCardGuy]

I was at the National in 2023, so my data points are limited.

On Friday in the last hour it was pretty quiet. I was able to stay 30 mins after official closing to continue making deals.

Using the early entry on Saturday, gave some small respite from the crowds. But honestly, even with the crowds on Saturday, I didn't find it that unbearable. Sometimes I had to wait a minute to look through a bargain box, but not often.

As others have mentioned Sunday was better.