The National Wrap

The National entrance.

Now that we are a few days removed from this years National Sports Collector's Convention in Chicago, I thought I would gather my thoughts and talk about my experience this year.  I know, I know.  You have already read 300 posts about the show and you are over it.  Well, tough.

This was by no means my first trip to the rodeo, so to speak.  I have attended the last five NSCC shows that have come through Chicago (my first was at the 14th show in 1993, also in Chicago at McCormick Place).  Because I live so close to the city, it doesn't take much to make the 50-60 minutes trip out near O'Hare to attend a show.

With Lou Gehrig's uniform

But this year was different than in past years.  My focus this year was less about the fulfillment of want lists, the acquisition of mass quantities of cardboard, auto-hounding, or ultimately breaking the bank.  This year I decided to make it about the three most important things that keep my in the hobby...Friends, Family, and Fun.  I'd call it a success.

We hit the show for one day out of the five it was opened.  Our day of choice was Saturday, which is generally the busiest day of the show both with events, autograph guests, and foot traffic.  We showed up to an already packed house at 10AM, right as the doors opened.  Oh, I forgot to mention.  The "we" I keep speaking about are my wife and three boys all under the age of 12, which means FREE ADMISSION!  But that's not why I brought everyone.  I love to share and encourage the hobby with my family.  What better way to do that than to experience the biggest show of the year.

My hobby has been something that has taken up a large portion of my time, energy, and attention since I started collecting.  This is why I try to involve everyone in the collecting process.  My two boys are well aware of my cardboard obsession and it rubs off on them.  I encourage them to participate, not just accumulate.  What does that mean?  Actually look at the pictures, the design, the colors.  Read the stats on the back.  Read the player story-lines.  Staying engaged with the cardboard in your collection makes a big difference in what you collect, how you collect, and why you collect.  I keep this at the forefront with my kids so they stay engaged and it is exciting for them.

Protecting the wife from danger.

My step-son has just recently been introduced to the world of cards and he is a natural.  His first "real" cards came last Christmas and he hit the ground running, organizing them by teams without being prompted.  It almost brought a tear to my eye...almost.  My wife.  Well that's a whole different ball game.  She is, dare I say, almost as obsessed as I am.  I got her hooked by including her while breaking open boxes.  She LOVES to open packs.  She, unlike myself, even enjoys numerically sorting cards.  She loves to be involved, because I love to be involved.  We can have intelligent (if you call it that) conversations together about cards, players, teams, and the sports themselves.  She's said on a number of occasions that she never thought she would actually like sports.  Cards have helped bridge that gateway.  If you are reading this, you're welcome, Babe.

Getting dunked on by MJ.

With the family portion out of the way, let's move to friends.  As many of you know, I have been blogging since 2009 (not as much recently but still).  I have made many friends in the hobby over the years as a result.  Twitter has only helped to magnify that, as have the many other trading forums and seller's gateways out there in the interwebs.  The National is probably one of the best places to meet up with many of these people, put faces to names, talk shop, and generally just enjoy the company of other similar minded collectors.  I have a few people that I almost always see at local shows in Chicago and we trade cards (yes, I said trade).  I will say that unfortunately this year, circumstances beyond my control made seeing a few of my collecting buddies impossible.  But nonetheless, Sal (from Puck Junk...you know the "other" guy from the podcast...ha ha) and I got together, swapped some cards, swapped some stories, and got caught up.  I also met a couple faces from Twitter and got to talk to a few VIPs from the card manufacturers.  The National is by far the best socially interactive environment for collectors.

Which brings me to the FUN portion of the post.  What would this hobby be without fun?  It wouldn't be a hobby, that much is for sure.  Sometimes I think collectors forget the fun part.  It becomes more about the "hits", more about making money, more about turning a profit.  It turns the hobby into a job, which is fine if that is actually your job.  But for the rest of us, hobby burnout is easily achieved when the perspective inches away from fun.

Getting ready for the Kids Break.

The National this year was the most fun I have had with the hobby in quite a long time and I think has energized me to get back on track with my collecting goals.  Why?  Well the first two reasons I have already discussed are a big ones, family and friends.  Beyond that though, where else can a guy (or gal) completely geek out over cardboard and just be one of the crowd?  There was something for everyone at this years' show and we took every opportunity we could in the short time we were there.

Rocky. Nuff said.

Instead of spending all day hunting and gathering, we spent most of our time having fun.  We participated in the Upper Deck wrapper redemption program which got us four packs that resulted in four autographs!  The kids got to experience their first "group break" as they participated in Panini's Free Kids Break featuring Paramount Basketball.  There was even some team trading going on before hand.  We got Topps to float me 300,000 Bunt Coins and experienced their "death by plush" red carpet.  We took pictures with dinosaurs.  We jumped into a Shadowbox card with Michael Jordan.  We saw so much memorabilia and cool artifacts from sports' storied past (some iconic in nature, some bizarre).  We saw auctions items drool worthy.  We got to hear an epic "Pack Wars".

From a collection standpoint, we picked up multiple early 2000s hockey wax boxes for the price of one of today's releases.  We got to sift through dozens of boxes of $.10, $.15, $.25, and $1.00 boxes (although the kids probably were sick of that quickly).  My team sets and player collections increased.  I knocked a bunch off my want lists.  The kids picked up a box to break together and the amount of free cards given to the kids was crazy, too thanks to Panini, Topps, and host of other dealers.

I'm glad I got to experience the National this year and I'm looking forward to 2017.  But mostly, I'm glad my family got to experience it with me.  Those memories will surely outlast any cardboard we added to our collections. 

Card Show Review 11/23/13

I attended the Chicago Sun-Times Sports Collectors Show in Rosemont, IL over the weekend.  It is a three day show filled with dealers from all over the US and Canada, featuring autograph guests, card auction houses, authenticators, and more.  I wish I would have taken some photos but my phone battery isn't what it used to be and after about 10 minutes of walking around, I kind of forgot about doing it.

I have been going to these shows each year (twice a year in March and November) for the past 5-6 years and can generally anticipate what I am going to see there.  Most of the shows take place in the smaller convention hall at the Convention Center, leaving the larger hall for shows like the NSCC or whatever comic book convention is currently taking place.  Somehow though, they always find ways to cram a lot of things to see in that space.  But for some reason, this years fall show seemed a bit off.

The first thing I noticed as I traversed the convention floor was how well we were able to maneuver up and down the aisles.  It seemed the interior aisles had been widened to accommodate more traffic, or at least that's the way it appeared.  With enough mapped out space to fit over 300 dealers, I was amazed at how much underutilized space there was on the main floor area.  Usually the dealer tables line each aisle from end to end.  This weekend (or at least on Saturday) I counted at least 17 empty dealer spaces.  I'm not sure what to pin this one on.  Could be a number of things like cost, timing, or even the pending weather in the Eastern part of the US.  Regardless, there was much less to see as we made our rounds.

The autograph lineup was still top-notch as Mounted Memories had guests signing throughout the three day event.  You can check out their lineup here if you want to see what you missed out on.  But something I noticed on Saturday was the sheer turnout in the autograph pavilion.  While most shows of this kind draw thousands of people to the auto lines, this one seemed a bit flat.  I'm not sure if the guest list on Saturday wasn't up to snuff for the auto seekers out there in the Chicagoland area but the lines for people like Brian Urlacher, Len Dawson, and Gordie Howe were smaller than I ever expected.  Maybe it was the price tag on having items signed, I don't know.  Also, I noticed that after 3PM, announcements for guests stopped completely.  At about 3:30, the auto pavilion was a ghost town.  That was also weird for a show that ended at 5PM.  Not even the "meanderers", as I call them, were left hanging around.  I didn't partake in any auto hounding, as is customary for my show attendance.  While I'd love to get things signed by all the guests, I tend to get nervous with the price tags the show promoters put on some of these players.

My third beef with the show, and this is probably not the shows fault by any means, was the lack of new hockey product available from many of the box dealers, and for that matter, the number of box dealers that were even there was minimal.  These shows usually boast about 7-10 large volume "retail" dealers of unopened product.  These dealers sometimes include folks like Dave & Adams, Baseball Card King, Blowout, Atlanta Sportscards, Steel City Sports, etc.  D&A was there, the King was there...the rest, not so much.  There were two other dealers that had any significant amount of product available that I found.  Only one of those had any hockey product.  Even D&A was sort of a disappointment because they only had their main box table.  Their "discount" table was no where to be found this time.  Maybe everyone is ramping up for Black Friday.  Yeah, that's it.  I will blame Black Friday.

Finally, I was actually disappointed with the amount of "Discount box" tables at the show.  There were tons.  TONS!  In fact, this time it was actually rare to see anyone that didn't have countless 3500-5000 count boxes full of $.10, $.25, $.50 or $1-3 cards.  Ask and you shall receive (as I have after previous shows) is how the old line goes, but this was kind of overkill.  When you consider that many dealers simply got into these on a whim, it was a little off-putting.  You could tell by the preparation they put into them.  Most dealers with discount boxes have done them for years, have them sorted, have them priced accordingly and have them stocked with manageable inventory so the collector's can peruse without dropping handfuls of cards onto the concrete floor.  There were a large number of guys with boxes set up this way, but when you took a closer look, nothing had a label.

Perfect example...one table I stopped because something shiny must have caught my eye.  I began looking through a rare box of hockey singles.  There were three rows in about 100 present on the table with hockey cards.  The lid was proudly displayed behind the box as if to say "look at me if you want to know the price".  I did.  There was no price.  I asked the dealer, who reluctantly looked up from his phone for a minute, how much were the hockey cards.  He says, "That depends.  Most of the goalie cards are a buck.  The rest, it just depends."  Frustrated by that answer, I begin to quickly sift as I didn't want to spend more than another minute here.  Seeing my frustration, he exclaims, "Just hold a card up that you'd like and I will give you a price."  Ok, cardboard merchant, I will.  So I begin with a small stack and hold up one, after another, after another.  Five prices in and the dealer says, "How about you make a pile and I will quote you a price when I'm done."  But I liked your first way.  I don't find enough to justify a pile so I say, "Will you take $10 for these here?"  He says, "How about $12?"  "$11 and you got a deal", I retort.  I leave the table $11 bucks poorer....but wait till you see what was in that pile in my next post.  5 Lesson's learned from this joker and others...

1. If you are selling cards at a show/online/store etc., price your merchandise.  It helps you as a seller and prevents you from having to look everything up or haggle with people.  If there is one thing collector's don't like, it's having to stand and wait for a dealer to look up a price in Beckett.  It's unprofessional.  Who is running your business?  You? Or the price guide?  It's called a guide for a reason...not a law.

2. Know what you have.  If you know nothing about the product you are selling, why bother?  Don't ask me what it is or what I think it is worth.  There were too many guys with hockey offerings at this show that had no idea what they were selling.  They didn't know who the players were (unless they were Hawks), they didn't know anything about the sets they came from, they didn't care to know either.  Just because a card has an autograph or a piece of memorabilia doesn't make it immediately a minimum $15 card.  At least make an effort.

3.   Pay attention to your customers.  I know of the 500 people you see in a day at a show, only 20-30 might make a purchase.  But every one of those other 470 people is a potential customer.  When you are chowing down on a gyro with cucumber sauce running down your face or buried in your iPhone or laptop computer and can't look up for fear that you will miss a Facebook alert, you have no business being there.  People want engagement, they want interaction (except the 400lb greasy, sweaty guys at the $.25 vintage baseball table), they want to know that you are interested in whether or not they make a purchase.  I walked away from two tables that I planned on spending at least $10 at but couldn't get either dealer's attention to ask a question.

4.  Have fun.  Too many frowns.  Too many scowls.  Too many folded arms with pouty looks on their faces.  That prevailed all day long.  It seemed the only people having fun at this show were my kids, the people at the PSA booth, and that guy that yells at people for touching his cards.  Card collecting is supposed to be fun.  You aren't going to make a ton of money in this business and you definitely won't if people think you are angry and bitter about it.  You got into this business because you love the hobby and love sports.  Try to show a little bit of that passion you once had.

5.  Act professional.  Immaturity, rudeness, and a generally condescending attitude don't help anyone.  You are running a business, we are patronizing your business.  If you had a storefront and we came in, I highly doubt you would ignore us, scoff at our inquiries, or act as though we are inconveniencing you buy spending money on your products.  I deal with business people all day with attitudes and grudges against humanity.  I certainly don't want to spend my free time involved with my hobby dealing with the same types of people.

As a side note, I'm all for using "hype-men" or models to promote a product.  I understand why it's done and generally, I think most people get it.  But having half-clothed models standing next to your table, not giving things out, not trying to offer something or get you to sign up for something, not even promoting anything noticeable, but just standing there making googly eyes at everyone doesn't make much sense to me.  No I don't want to take a picture with you.  No I don't want a hug from you.  Just move out of the way so I can look through that box over there.  Because when my kids ask me "what happened to that girls' pants", I'm no longer amused. (I know it's probably hypocritical but this is my rant)

But it wasn't all bad.  In fact, despite my criticisms (of which there are always many) I had a great time with the kids, got to see a couple friends in the hobby, traded some cards, and picked up a few needs along the way.  I always enjoy these events because it gives me an opportunity to meet with other collector's and exchange cards, stories, and sometimes ideas.  I will be posting some of the stuff I got at the show a little later.  There were some interesting things I was able to find.

My 2013 National Sports Collectors Convention Experience

Now that everyone has had a week to recover from all the NSCC Show wrap-ups, reviews, critiques, and showcases, I figured I would strike while everyone has probably lost interest and give my 2-cents.

I went to the show on Saturday ONLY.  Even though I live outside of Chicago, it is still about a 70 minute drive to Rosemont for me, barring no traffic (and that isn't bloody likely).  Taking a week off of work to attend every waking moment of the show, while extremely tempting, is not feasible either.  One day is about my limit so I have to make the most of it.  Saturday morning, I scooped up the kiddos, loaded the truck with my battle pack, and we headed out (late of course but that's besides the point).  After our customary card show day breakfast and a brief stop at the Speedway for my giant cup of Dew and a fill-up for the pick-up, we were on our way.

My kids and their excitement as we make our way into the National.

Arriving at the show was just like any other large show in the Rosemont Convention Center.  We exited the expressway onto River Rd. and proceeded down to the parking garage that is shared by the CC and the neighboring hotels.  $13 to park isn't cheap but I've definitely seen much worse.  After heading to the top enclosed floor (also customary) we made our way through the garage, across the skywalk, and into the hallowed sanctuary of cardboard known as the National Sports Collector's Convention.

I planned on Tweeting pictures and status updates throughout the day but by noon, my phone was out of juice and the couple dozen tweets I had already sent through my Twitter App had apparently went AWOL.  I think only one or two actually posted to my account.  The rest apparently ate up my battery life trying to send to the the Twittersphere.  Since that plan was foiled early on, you can see why this is a very text heavy, non-image laden post.

I'm going to veer from the path or righteousness for a minute here and give my honest opinion of what I experienced.  Most reviews and discussions regarding this years show have been nothing but good will and praise for the dealer success, daily turnout, interactive events, and general organization (with a few exceptions).  While I'm not a dealer and I didn't attempt to stand in endless line-after-line of autograph guests, I still didn't get the impression that it was a record attendance like the promoters keep touting.  In fact, I didn't feel the excitement and energy like I usually do when I go to the NSCC (or any other show at the CC since there are two big ones each year put on by the Chicago Sun Times).

The promotions were there in force.  Upper Deck had their pack giveaways if you opened their product at their booth.  In fact, by the time we got up there with our packs in tow, they weren't really even checking.  I had a box of Fleer Retro Hockey that I opened, gave packs to both my kids and we all got to choose from the grab bag-o-packs.  Panini did much of the same only they "pre-opened" your boxes for you with small operationally precise incisions into your packs.  I picked up a 2013-14 Score Jumbo and a 2012-13 Rookie Anthology.  Leaf was there too, although I didn't partake in any of their freebies or promotions.  So was Topps but again, since they got out of the hockey business, I kind of ignore them.  All of the manufacturers had daily events, promotions, and excitement building craziness planned.  But with the exception of Blowout Cards 3PM Ping Pong Ball Raffle complete with carnival barker at the helm of a bullhorn, I hate to say it but I was kind of bored.  

Keep in mind that I went on a Saturday, generally the biggest day of the 5-day event, arriving about an hour after the general admission doors opened, stayed till almost 5PM, and not once was I ever pushed, stepped on, hurried along, or generally run over.  In other words, I felt like there was no one there.  Now maybe everyone was doing what I didn't do, and that's hound for autographs at an average price somewhere north of $85/guest.  That would explain the lack of bodies on the convention floor.  Or maybe everyone was hanging out in the Olympic Pavillion searching for their precious pins or taking their stuff for a shot at reality show stardom on the overly hyped and somewhat contrived TV show "A Piece Of The Game".  I don't know but I didn't feel like this was a record attendance by any means.  Two years ago in Chicago the place was on fire by 10AM on Saturday.  It was wall-to-wall people and you could almost barely move down any of the center lanes where the vendors were without being knocked around a few times.  That lasted from door open to door closed that day.  Not so much in 2013.

But maybe this was a good thing.  Believe it or not, myself and my two sons were able to traverse the entire show floor, see most of what was there, participate in a few promotions, stand in one autograph line, and even had time to sit for a spell and bust some boxes with my friend Sal from PuckJunk.com.  Now I didn't park myself at any quarter or dime boxes because with the kids, that is generally not a good idea.  So that saved time.  And with the exception of Mr. Murray Bannerman, I skipped the auto pavilion altogether and didn't even go into the Olympic area.  So with that said, we were able to see all we could see in a limited amount of time.

Overall, we had a great time.  I always enjoy time with my kids and they thoroughly enjoy going to these shows with me and seeing all the interesting sports memorabilia, autograph stars, and millions of different sports collectibles.  Plus, it gives them a chance to experience some fundamental elements of this great hobby of ours like the show environment itself, trading with other collectors, the art of negotiation, and the thrill of the chase.  I was able to pick up a few singles for various PC collections I have, some autographs, and a few boxes of new product which I will show on here soon.

The kids?  Well they got some memories that I don't think they will forget anytime soon.

1. They got to keep almost all the promotional pack cards from both Upper Deck and Panini.  Why anyone needs (9) 5-card sets from that day is beyond me.
2. They snagged a bag full of various freebies from dealer tables like the guys from Pro-Mold, COMC, Cardboard Connection Radio, and the Benchwarmer girls (at least I think that's who they were).  
3. A guy from Topps came up to them and gave them a couple mini-MLB vinyl figures from their booth (which turned out to be Evan Longoria and Dustin Pedroia).  
4. Some random dealer gave them both a handful of penny sleeves and top loaders to go with an entire opened factory set of 1989 Upper Deck Baseball.  Bet you can't guess which card was missing???  I felt guilty for their generosity (or cruel joke) so I bought a few cards from their discounted auto box. 
5. They both got to create their own cards at Upper Deck which has spawned a new activity to do with those cardboard decoy cards at our dining room table.  
6. My oldest son pulled not one but two autographs from the wrapper redemption programs.  He received an autograph of Chicago Blackhawks young gun, Brandon Saad from the Upper Deck booth and a 8x10 jumbo card autograph of St. Louis Rams wide receiver Brian Quick.
7. Each of them got to get one blaster box from the D&A Cardworld discount table.  Both of them pulled an autograph and jersey card out of each blaster...yes, I said both of them...out of blaster boxes...that were discounted...how old before they can play the lottery??? (they were 2012 Bowman Baseball and 2011-12 Upper Deck Series I hockey in case you wondered)  
8. They each got an 8x10 autograph of former Chicago Blackhawk goalie Murray Bannerman.  Mr. Bannerman actually talked to both the boys about baseball, hockey, and why my oldest should be a hockey player since he didn't have any front teeth (I got him to sign a puck).  

Like I said, when I get all the pictures together, I will be sure to post them all.  Here are a couple that didn't get obliterated by my phone...

 An awesome Jackie Robinson memorabilia display.  It was very eye catching so I took a pic.

The aftermath of destroying a jumbo box of 2013-14 Score Hockey and a box of 2012-13 Rookie Anthology.  

What I pulled from my Panini wrapper redemption packs.  I suppose it could have been worse.

Card Show Recap - - Sun Times Sports Spectacular

Every trip to a card show should be accompanied by some collecting goals.  Otherwise, it becomes just a melee of ridiculous purchases and time spent ogling things you have no intention of ever acquiring for you collection.  A couple weeks ago now, I made my bi-annual trek out to Rosemont, Ill. to take in the sites at the (eh, em) 46th Annual Chicago Sun-Times Sports Collectibles Convention.  Considering this happens twice a year, I'm not sure you can call this an "annual" event.  Bi-annual maybe?  What do I know?  I'm not a marketing guy.  At any rate, I picked Saturday to hit the show floor as there is never enough time on a Friday and Sunday just seems too rushed.

(Check out this link from the Herald to see a few pictures of the show)

As I said, you need a game plan at these shows.  The sheer amount of dealer tables, merch vendors, industry businesses, and memorabilia peddlers can be overwhelming when you consider the 220,000 square feet of show floor these things take up (and that was the small hall).  The National will be here too this year but we will save that for later.

So my goals on this trek...

1. Pick up some set needs to try and knock out an incomplete set or two.  Never an easy task considering many of the "common" tables have very large men parked two deep in chairs, actively engaged in a feeding frenzy over all the $.10 cards they can get their greasy fingers on.  This will require strategy and cunning unlike has ever been seen (not really but you have to have some flare for the dramatic otherwise it isn't interesting).

2.  Find some cards for my Player PCs (Guerin, Lemieux, Jagr, Tangradi [I doubt it] perhaps a footballer or two).  This is usually an easy one considering they guys I collect have a plethora of cards out there that I have been unable to acquire over the years.  I don't really think I will ever complete a comprehensive player list of any of these guys but as long as I keep collecting, I'm sure gonna try.

3.  Pick up some autographs for my Penguins project I started last year.  This is something that has always kind of just happened but was never a priority.  This time that changes as I have an extensive list of guys I need to cross off my roster. 

4.  Do some trading.  What fun would a show be without the aspect of the hobby we all love?  Not very.  That's why I spent the better part of my free time over the few days before the show, digging through wantlists of the collectors/bloggers I knew would be there.  Trading is my favorite part of the show.

5.  Pick up some cards for my Team PCs.  Again, this is usually an easy one as my teams of choice tend to be popular ones.  I try to get at least one cool card from each sport (hockey, baseball, and football) that I don't already have.  Keep in mind, cool is in the eye of the beholder.

6.  Bust some wax.  Usually I have a list of boxes that I am targeting, whether for set building or otherwise.  This time around, with many popular hockey releases cancelled, I don't really have a certain type in mind.  I will just see what has the best bang for my buck and go from there.

Let's see how we fared this time around.

1. Pick up some set needs to try and knock out an incomplete set or two.

In typical fashion, the cattle were a grazing.  Big Time!!  There wasn't space to be had at many tables, even just to take a peek at what was on them.  That makes for a long day when you are a set building on a quest for completion.  So instead, I stuck to the quarter, three for a dollar, and other discounted bins, hoping to find something, anything that will fill my goals.  As luck would have it, I was able to pick up quite a few cards from my Parkhurst Champions set I'm working on as well as a few Victory Rookies I still needed.

But the big score came during trading.  Guys knocked out my 4th complete base set for this years Upper Deck Series I and also contributed to numerous other sets.  I can successfully say that I completed a set (albeit a duplicate one).

2.  Find some cards for my Player PCs (Guerin, Lemieux, Jagr, Tangradi [I doubt it] perhaps a footballer or two). 

No brainer here.  I got a handful of Lemieux's, a handful of Jagr's, a couple Guerin's and one Bettis card for my secret, unpublished "Bus" collection.  I already showed every one the Jagr's the other day after he got his 1,000 career assist and the Lemieux cards too.  Here were the other's in case anyone wanted to see...oh, no?  No scans?  Ok, then.  Moving on.

3.  Pick up some autographs for my Penguins project I started last year.

Surprisingly, this came easy too.  I found two tables with cheap auto cards, mostly certified, and they had plenty o'Pens.  In fact, there was one table that I even put some back from my stack that I pulled because I felt like I was going overboard.  These will all be posted over on my Auto Project blog that you can get to from this link or over on the side panel.  I will say this though, I have 12 more players crossed off the master list.

4.  Do some trading.

Again, no brainer.  There is always at least one trade going to go down at these shows, assuming another trader will be there.  This time, there were three.  Unfortunately, I didn't know about the third until it was too late so I had nothing available for them.  Next time, though.  Trades at these shows goes something like this...I find a small-to-large stack of things from a persons want list, they find find things off my list, and we swap.  Nothing fancy, no book values, no worrying about who gets the better deal.  No pressure.  That's the way I like it.  I ended up with a bunch of stuff for my set lists including the final UD cards I already mentioned up there.  I also ended up with some other really cool things which will be posted about later.  Thanks to Sal & Nick for all the goodies.

5.  Pick up some cards for my Team PCs.

I picked up 6 Steeler cards, 2 Pirates, and a bunch of Pens stuff.  I would say that this goal was met in spades.

6.  Bust some wax.

Wax is obviously a misnomer nowadays.  But I will still call it that probably forever.  I didn't really have a target product this time around.  I had an idea of some things I would have liked to see at certain price points but all of it was high-end and none of it was in my budget.  What I did wrestle with and finally compromise on was a box of 12-13 Panini Classics Signatures, which I already posted about, a box of 11-12 Panini Rookie Anthology, which I already posted about, and a box of 11-12 ITG Between the Pipes which I haven't posted about but will in the near future.  All the boxes yielded some really nice stuff as you can see if you check out the box break reviews.  I was very fortunate and the breaks were a lot of fun.  

That Card Show...

That Sports Spectacular Show that was held a couple weekends ago at the D.E.S. Convention Center in Rosemont was not definitely not what it was cracked up to be.  Not by a long shot.  But, nonetheless, I still was able to find some cool things to add to the old collection.

A few observations (some of which have already been made by other bloggers):

1.  They didn't have the show in the normal spot.  It was downstairs in one of the back halls.  The room was large enough to fill with all the dealers and still have plenty of room for the endless list of Tri-Star sponsored signing guests.  But, many of those tables were either empty, taken up by memorabilia and "art" dealers, or in such disarray that it was pointless to even bother looking.  Plus my three favorite dealers were also there...the guy with the plastic over his tables so no one can touch anything and a sign that reads "DON'T PUT HANDS UNDER THE PLASTIC"; the guy with the laptop and no pricing on anything and when you ask him, everything is Beckett Hi Value or HIGHER; and the guys with the two boxes full of National Treasures, The Cup, and UD Black autos that you can't afford and three glass cases full of "Hot Packs".

2.  Quarter boxes are all the rage and many dealers at this show took full advantage.  These tables were everywhere and if you had the time, energy, and patience to give them a whirl, deals were to be had at every turn.  That is, if you could actually get to a table.  The popularity of these has grown to the point where every 400lb, ripped t-shirt wearing, "comic book guy" looking dude with dirty hair and extreme body odor pulled up a chair and parked themselves for hours.  Surprisingly, I did manage a few go-rounds at a couple tables and I'll post those later.

3.  As much as I love my kids, taking both of them to one of these shows is very difficult when you want to "window shop".  Patience is not one of their strong suits to say the least.  But overall, they did quite well, especially after we found the $1 Starting Line Up guy.  Who would have thought that a Steve Bedrosian SLU could give such entertainment.

4.  Trading is still, by far, my favorite part of the show.  These Chicago-land shows afford me the opportunity to trade with a few guys (some bloggers, some not) that never fail to surprise me when we sit down at a table to swap.  So far, there have pretty much been four of us that regularly frequent these shows and use this as our opportunity to unload what others want and save on postage at the same time.  I was able to land some interesting stuff this time too which I may or may not post about.

5.  I mentioned before that many dealers, especially regulars, were absent at this show.  That wasn't good if you were planning on buying wax.  Normally there are five or six dealers with a large supply of unopened boxes and cases.  This time, I only counted three with more than a handful of product.  I'm going to pin that on the fact that the National is coming up quickly and many guys are saving their wares for that show.

The autograph ticket was quite impressive, especially if you are a fan of Chicago sports.  But even while at the show, many cancellation announcements were made for guests that were scheduled to be there.  Something about that doesn't sit right with me when I pretend in my mind that I am an auto hound.  A promoter plans a show as big as this (not National size but definitely not your Sunday afternoon swap meet either) with an autograph guest list as extensive as this was, pre-sells a ton of tickets, including pre-sold autos, and we find out five minutes before line up time that the guest isn't coming?  It just seems strange that these are last minute cancellations.  I would think these things are firmed up all the way up to "game time".  But what do I know?

I'm going to stretch out the posts of what I added to my collection but I suppose I can start out with a bang.  Here are a couple oldies, but goodies for sure and my three new favorite cards that I own. (Don't get to excited because my favorite cards change at the drop of a hat.)  From the 1971-72 Topps set, I give you...

The only "action" photo in the entire 1971-72 set and the biggest card too, is now part of my collection.  The best part is the condition of this thing.  There is a nicked corner at the top and a little off centering but that is pretty much it.  An iconic card for sure.

 My oldest Bobby Orr card and my favorite.  This one isn't as nice as the Dryden but is still in pretty good shape for being over 40 years old. 

Mr. Hockey himself...if it wasn't for the bottom right corner and the surface scratch on the "ED" in Red Wings, this card is almost perfect.  To think, Howe would still play another 10 years after this card was produced.  They don't make them like that anymore.

Here's what $10 can buy you at a "dying a slow death" card show.

Let's face it.  The days of the local hobby collector's show are almost at an end.  No more do we find the plethora of places to go to get your cardboard fix on the weekends, whether it be the local mall, VFW, or banquet room at the Holiday Inn.  Sure, if you live in a larger market (or Canada) you might find a smattering of interesting things on weekends.  Heck, my fellow Canuckian collectors have been posting all sorts of goodies from a variety of shows that take place north of the border.  But for some of us, local shows are a thing of the past.

My local show is no exception.  There is an old elementary school that was converted into a community center many years ago very close to my house.  Four times a year, they have a fairly large "rummage" sale that features as many as 120-150 tables.  If you could see this for yourself, you'd be shocked.  It's wall to wall junk tables filled with ceramics, clothes no one wore even if they were fashionable, records, books, and other assorted knick-knacks.

But for the card collector, there has always been a portion of the show reserved for dealers and sellers of all sorts.  It is starting to become apparent that these shows are less than attractive for dealers as more and more tables remain unfilled.  I've even thought about picking one up sometime to try and sell off some of my collection but I can't compete with the guy with a table full of thousands of vintage cards, the guy with all the SLUs, or the one and only hockey guy with more top shelf GU and Autos that I think he has them specially made for himself.

Well, the hockey guy didn't show up this time so what was I to do?  I stopped by the first 10 tables I came to...no hockey.  I circled back to cover the other side of the aisle...no hockey.  I couldn't find hockey anywhere.  Finally, after going through about 50 tables, I found a few guys willing to part with a few cards.  I spent a total of $10 on 10 cards.  Here is what you can get for $10 when a card show is dying.

2010-11 Black Diamond QUAD DIAMOND Gordie Howe - These quad diamonds are a rough pull out of hobby boxes and blasters alike.  I think you only get one in a blaster and maybe two in a hobby box.  They are not inserts but are the high numbered base cards.  There is no serial numbering on them but they are most definitely short printed.  The black and white photo of Mr. Hockey here makes the card almost look entirely made of metal.

2009-10 Upper Deck Ice Fresh Threads Jakub Voracek Jersey - Hey, I didn't say they were all great but this is a nice jersey piece with a stitch right through the middle.  Voracek has been a Jacket since coming into the league and is a pretty solid winger.  He also is known to throw down on occasion.  I think the only time I remember him in my hockey memory is when he was destroyed by Kris Letang in a game last year after being cross checked in the back about 8 times along the boards.  I'm sure the video is out there somewhere....oh, wait, here it is...

2009-10 Upper Deck Ice Frozen Fabrics Alexander Frolov - I'm not a Kings fan but there is something about purple on a jersey swatch that just draws you in.  As for the player, eh.  But it's a jersey and as I already said in another post, I have been obsessed with them lately for some reason.  Frolov spent the better part of 8 seasons out west until the Kovalchuk lottery last year made him dispensable.  He went to the Rangers to help boost the production of Marian Gaborik but that never panned out either.  His season ending injury pretty much sealed the deal that he wouldn't be back in the Red White and Blue...literally.  He defected to the KHL back in May.

1999-00 Be A Player Millennium Signature Series Martin Straka Autograph - Pittsburgh Penguin...check.  On-card autograph...check.  One of the all-time Penguin greats...check.  How could I go wrong with this one?  It is interesting how these cards scan.  The silver holo-foil makes the player image much more predominant than normal.  You almost can't see the autograph but it's there, trust me.  But, wait.  It gets better.  Not only did I get one Marty signature...but...

1998-99 Be A Player Martin Straka Autograph - Two!  Two Martin Straka Autographs!  Ah, Ah, Ahhhhh.  This was by far my least favorite Penguin uniform in their history.  As much as I am not a huge fan of the baby blues they sometimes bust out, I think I disliked these even more.  That computer generated pigeon they put on their jersey's was laughable.  I just can't believe they lasted as long as they did.  Maybe that's why they couldn't get back to the finals for so long after the back-to-back Cups.

2005-06 SPx Winning Materials John LeClair Dual Jersey #/350 - LeClair is pretty much synonymous with the Legion Of Doom and the Flyers.  He scored 50 goals with them three years in a row and was the first American born player to do so.  But, there was a time back in 2005 that the infamous CBA that everyone either loves or hates kicked in.  The Flyers were forced to dump cash quickly and John was a casualty along with Tony Amonte.  The Pens signed him to a 2 year deal and he finished third in scoring, passing the 400 career goal mark.  He also put up his 9th 50+ point season that year.  But was one and done for John and the Penguins (well 1 1/2 actually).  He was released in December of 2006.  He is in the US Hockey Hall Of Fame.  Maybe one day, the big Hall?  I doubt it, though.

2006-07 In The Game Heroes & Prospects Jordan Staal - Here we have Mr. Staal III, the third brother to be drafted into the NHL.  Staal is such a powerful guy out on the ice and his scoreing capabilities still blow me away everytime I watch him play.  It makes you wonder how bad the Penguins actually were to be able to get this guy (oh, and Fleury/Crosby/Malkin too).

2000-01 Crown Royal Jaromir Jagr Jewels Of The Crown - A little known insert set from one of the 10 million Pacific sets put out between 1998 and 2003.  For some reason this was a Jags card I didn't have...at least I didn't think I had it.  Hmmm?  I really need to update my lists. 

2010-11 SP Authentic Sign Of The Times Colin Wilson Autograph - Again, I don't know how many people would get excited over Colin Wilson, or for that matter a Nashville Predator card.  But it's an on-card auto of a great future star of the Preds.  Colin centered the top line for Nashville in only his first full season, putting up 34 points in 82 games.  Hopefully good things to come from this young guy...he's only 21 (as of writing this). 

And my favorite of the bunch...

1955 Bowman Ted Marchibroda - This one is in excellent condition and adds to my Steelers PC.  This was by far my favorite pick up of the day.  Especially for a buck!!  For those of you thinking "Ted was a Steeler?"  The answer is yes...for a little while.  He was the Steelers first pick in the 1953 draft and played on the team the following year.  After that, he left to join the army.  In 1955 he came back and played another year until he finished his career with the Chicago Cardinals in 1957, not a long career at all.  But, Ted is much better known for his coaching prowess with a 28 year resume that includes stints with the Redskins twice, the LA Rams, Baltimore (Colts), Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, and Buffalo. Most people will remember him most recently as the coach of the Indianapolis Colts from 1992-95 and then the first head coach of the Baltimore Ravens after they were unceremoniously yanked from Cleveland by the Great Satan (aka: Art Modell).

All-in-all, not a bad bunch of cards for a 10 spot.

The Spoils of War - Card Show Review

It was a battle on Saturday at the 40th Annual Sports Collectibles Convention at the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL.  Anytime you gear up for a card show it is like packing your bags for a long battle in the trenches.  I was armed with my Pittsburgh Steelers backpack filled with various lists, top loaders, and boxes so that I could hold my spoils.  After a quick breakfast and a shower, I headed out.  Here is my take on the show.

First, there were tons, and I mean tons, of autograph opportunities.  I think I listed many of the autograph guests in my last post.  The only problem I had with it is the fact that many of them were charging well over $50 for a single item.  Don't get me wrong, there were quite a few signors that were under $20, but $60 for Chris Johnson?  $90 for Derrick Rose?  $250 for Emmitt Smith?  If you wanted them to personalize it or sign something other than their name, it cost extra.  Not to mention the photo op session that they charged for before hand.  Where does all this money go to?  Once the event gets paid for, and then the promoter, and then the autograph sponsor, how much does the athlete get?

Second, with the popularity of Ebay, COMC.com, Sportslots, and a plethora of other sportscard marketplaces, it still amazes me that "book value" is clung to like Linus to his blanket.  There were so many people walking around with a Beckett in hand.  It was almost comical.  I lost count of the number of dealers that relied on the perceived "book value" for pricing their cards.  If not for charging the exact price that is listed in Beckett, the majority of them at least posted the prices on the card so the casual observer would feel like they were getting a deal.  The worst instance was in the buying category, though.  I listened to countless numbers of collectors talking with dealers about buying.  Many of the dealers claimed they were buying and even had signs posted but I really didn't see much going on.  The only deals I saw take place were for vintage, condition sensitive baseball cards and some memorabilia.  In these cases, most collectors wound up taking a bath for the sake of walking away with something in their hands. 

Third, what recession?  I didn't arrive there until after 11:00 AM due to heavy amounts of traffic driving around downtown Chicago.  That coupled with the fact that it was blizzard like conditions.  I can't understand how it was in the 60s three days this week and then it snows...but that's another story.  The convention center was packed with people.  Considering the parking for the center was $13 and the admission was $10, this was not a cheap show.  Pair that with the cost of autos and you have a very pricey Saturday afternoon.  I didn't see money hampering anyone there, including myself.  Yes, I spent more than I care to share and I saw many more like myself doing the same.  It was good to see the hobby is still thriving, if not sometimes in spite of itself. 

My goals were to walk away with some player PC cards, a couple wax boxes, a set or two completed, and possibly an autograph.  Here is an idea of what I ended up with.

• Player Collection Cards:  20+ Jaromir Jagr cards, 50+ Mario Lemieux cards, 4 Bill Guerin cards
• Complete Sets: 7
• Partial Sets: 1
• Set Fill-ins:  70+ 2009-10 O-Pee-Chee Hockey cards, 15+ 2009-10 Upper Deck Hockey set (I am 1 card short!!)
• Wax Boxes:  2007-08 O-Pee-Chee Hockey Hobby Box, 2009-10 Champs Hockey Hobby Box
• Team Collections:  25+ Penguins cards
• Game Used:  15 Game Used cards
• Supplies:  1 box of 9-pocket pages

Overall, it was a great show.  I haven't been to this show in many years and it was definitely better than I remembered.  It was nice to see so many collector's actively involved in their hobby.  Despite the numbers of people there, I somehow managed to run into Sal from Puck Junk at one of the tables that featured a larger hockey selection.  It is always cool when you get to talk with a fellow collector about a hobby that you share in common.  That is another reason why I love this blog community.  Regardless of what or how we collect, we all share that common thread and the passion for our hobby. 

I should be posting some of what I ended up with over the next week or so.  I will also be posted my box breaks for the OPC and the Champs.  I am going on vacation from Wednesday until Sunday so my posting may be limited if not at all for those days.