I was up bright and early on the morning of Thursday, July 30, 2015. Lisa dropped me off at the Stephens Center around 8 a.m. I went straight for the cafeteria and dined on eggs, bacon and some surprisingly good coffee. I also took advantage of the dealer hospitality room where they had free doughnuts and coffee. The doughnuts were picked over when I arrived but I was able to land a vanilla long john and some coffee.
It is real nice to arrive at a show where my stuff is already set up and ready to go. I simply have to remove the tarps and welcome customers each morning.
I saw a lot of folks from the Orland show all week long. It has been about a year since I have last set up at Orland. A lot of folks like Jim Colias would like me to return to the show. I certainly miss Jim and everyone else at the show but I was treated so poorly by the promoter that I am in no hurry to return. I have also scheduled quite a few replacement shows so finding an open date would be tough. Though, I still would like to promote my own show in the south suburbs. Quite a few guys mentioned that they would be interested in setting up if I promote a south-suburban show. I think I need to get my act together and settle on a venue and pick a date. I will keep you informed on that one!
My first customers of the day were an older couple from Green Bay. They purchased my Jackie Robinson Sport Magazine which I replaced in the case with a Joe DiMaggio Sport Magazine. My next customer purchased some 1956 Topps baseball card. In keeping the Orland theme, Chris, who I know from the Orland show came by and purchased a bunch of cards including some 1970's hockey, 1950's and 1960's football and 1956 Topps baseball. Thanks Chris! It was pretty cool to see Jim and Chris, two of my many favorites from the Orland show. Then I had the pleasure of hanging out with Larry from Berwyn, another great guy I know from the Orland show.
Larry and I always do a cash and trade deal. I like that he comes prepared. Today he brought me some T206s and some Ernie Banks cards. He picked out some of my Play Balls in return. I think I ended up giving him an additional $20 for the cards. I got some cool stuff. Thanks Larry!
Then a guy who was wearing military type gear showed me a box of absolutely beat, creased and torn 1960s baseball cards. He wanted $300 for that box of garbage. I passed. I probably would have paid $50. It was some horrible stuff.
Next up was a customer I have known for a long time from the Fred Copp shows who purchased my 1960 Topps Eddie Mathews All Star card. My next customer was someone I had met recently at the Fishers show in Indianapolis. He purchased some 1971-72 Topps Basketball Trios. Since I have been doing shows regularly all over the Midwest, I recognized quite a few folks this week. I saw lots of guys I know from Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Missouri. Thanks for stopping by and saying hello!!
My next customer was a father and son team from Texas. They spent a lot of time at my 1959 Topps baseball binder. They asked for a price for the whole binder. I offered a really nice deal. They hemmed and hawed and said they had to think about it. They left for a short while, returned and said the needed a better price. I could not do any better without losing money. They ended up purchasing just a few cards. I was pretty amazed that they did not take the deal. Andy rounded out my day by purchasing my 1962 Topps Whitey Ford.
Sales on this day were only a fraction of my sales on Wednesday. I was surprised I did not sell more cards, especially since there was a really large crowd at the show. I thought the beanie would sell for sure. I did not sell any cards out of my football-basketball display case. I watched Dave sell cards most of the day, as often occurs at the large shows. Dave sells high grade post-war and has a steady following.
Seth, pictured above, seemed to have quite a bit of business as well. I was a little bummed that Mr. Cigar was taking up the space between my set up and Seth's for most of the day. It is tough for customers to get at my binders when the cigar man is sitting in front of them. I was also disappointed that PSA did not finish grading my Mantles.
For lunch, I returned to the cafeteria. The food at the concession stands is absolutely horrible. The cafeteria food is not too bad. I ended up getting a stir fry which was pretty good.
After the show, Lisa was stuck at the library with our son Kolby. Scott and Jim were kind enough to give me a ride home. We stopped off for dinner at Josh's Hot Dogs in my hometown of Northbrook, Illinois. I have been going to this place since I was a toddler in the late 1960s. It has had several incarnations over the years but has remained largely a hot dog and hamburger place. I went with Josh's "Junkwich" which consists of grilled chicken on French bread covered in soy sauce, mayo, grilled onions and hot peppers. That sandwich was awesome! Scott and Jim seemed to enjoy their meals as well.
That nice meal numbed the hurt for a lousy day at the National. I was expecting far more sales after such a great day on Wednesday. Once home, I passed out quickly and slept well. Yes!
Below is a short 52-second video I took while walking around near my booth. I'll have the Day 3 blog up shortly.
It is real nice to arrive at a show where my stuff is already set up and ready to go. I simply have to remove the tarps and welcome customers each morning.
I saw a lot of folks from the Orland show all week long. It has been about a year since I have last set up at Orland. A lot of folks like Jim Colias would like me to return to the show. I certainly miss Jim and everyone else at the show but I was treated so poorly by the promoter that I am in no hurry to return. I have also scheduled quite a few replacement shows so finding an open date would be tough. Though, I still would like to promote my own show in the south suburbs. Quite a few guys mentioned that they would be interested in setting up if I promote a south-suburban show. I think I need to get my act together and settle on a venue and pick a date. I will keep you informed on that one!
My first customers of the day were an older couple from Green Bay. They purchased my Jackie Robinson Sport Magazine which I replaced in the case with a Joe DiMaggio Sport Magazine. My next customer purchased some 1956 Topps baseball card. In keeping the Orland theme, Chris, who I know from the Orland show came by and purchased a bunch of cards including some 1970's hockey, 1950's and 1960's football and 1956 Topps baseball. Thanks Chris! It was pretty cool to see Jim and Chris, two of my many favorites from the Orland show. Then I had the pleasure of hanging out with Larry from Berwyn, another great guy I know from the Orland show.
Larry and I always do a cash and trade deal. I like that he comes prepared. Today he brought me some T206s and some Ernie Banks cards. He picked out some of my Play Balls in return. I think I ended up giving him an additional $20 for the cards. I got some cool stuff. Thanks Larry!
Then a guy who was wearing military type gear showed me a box of absolutely beat, creased and torn 1960s baseball cards. He wanted $300 for that box of garbage. I passed. I probably would have paid $50. It was some horrible stuff.
Next up was a customer I have known for a long time from the Fred Copp shows who purchased my 1960 Topps Eddie Mathews All Star card. My next customer was someone I had met recently at the Fishers show in Indianapolis. He purchased some 1971-72 Topps Basketball Trios. Since I have been doing shows regularly all over the Midwest, I recognized quite a few folks this week. I saw lots of guys I know from Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Missouri. Thanks for stopping by and saying hello!!
My next customer was a father and son team from Texas. They spent a lot of time at my 1959 Topps baseball binder. They asked for a price for the whole binder. I offered a really nice deal. They hemmed and hawed and said they had to think about it. They left for a short while, returned and said the needed a better price. I could not do any better without losing money. They ended up purchasing just a few cards. I was pretty amazed that they did not take the deal. Andy rounded out my day by purchasing my 1962 Topps Whitey Ford.
Sales on this day were only a fraction of my sales on Wednesday. I was surprised I did not sell more cards, especially since there was a really large crowd at the show. I thought the beanie would sell for sure. I did not sell any cards out of my football-basketball display case. I watched Dave sell cards most of the day, as often occurs at the large shows. Dave sells high grade post-war and has a steady following.
Seth, pictured above, seemed to have quite a bit of business as well. I was a little bummed that Mr. Cigar was taking up the space between my set up and Seth's for most of the day. It is tough for customers to get at my binders when the cigar man is sitting in front of them. I was also disappointed that PSA did not finish grading my Mantles.
For lunch, I returned to the cafeteria. The food at the concession stands is absolutely horrible. The cafeteria food is not too bad. I ended up getting a stir fry which was pretty good.
After the show, Lisa was stuck at the library with our son Kolby. Scott and Jim were kind enough to give me a ride home. We stopped off for dinner at Josh's Hot Dogs in my hometown of Northbrook, Illinois. I have been going to this place since I was a toddler in the late 1960s. It has had several incarnations over the years but has remained largely a hot dog and hamburger place. I went with Josh's "Junkwich" which consists of grilled chicken on French bread covered in soy sauce, mayo, grilled onions and hot peppers. That sandwich was awesome! Scott and Jim seemed to enjoy their meals as well.
That nice meal numbed the hurt for a lousy day at the National. I was expecting far more sales after such a great day on Wednesday. Once home, I passed out quickly and slept well. Yes!
Below is a short 52-second video I took while walking around near my booth. I'll have the Day 3 blog up shortly.
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