Man, do I hate the I294 Tollway. I am so sick of the perpetual road construction. Regardless, I did have an easy, albeit bumpy, drive down to Orland. Also, load in was easy as that garage sale group was noticeably absent. Though it is still tight when you walk into the room. I don't know how the dealers hack it in the first row because there is no aisle space.
Like Rockford, the day before, I brought out all of the baseball binders and four display cases but added one bin of football binders. I have a little more space in Orland than I do in Rockford and misjudged my Orland space because I had room for more football binders.
I changed up the cards in the display cases for Orland and placed all of my hockey and basketball cards out along with 1970's baseball and football from 1964 to 1981.
Once again, all of the vintage customers lined up at Steve's table early on. Things were slow in my neck of the woods in the morning. Will showed up early with coffee and Mickey D's. He brought along my favorite Blue Jays' fan, his grandson Charlie. Thanks for the coffee and breakfast Will!
Our pal Tony Schaefer drove up from Central Illinois. It is always great to see Tony, who bought some cards. Thanks Tony! My guy who is working on 1973 Topps baseball, after completing his '72 set recently at my tables, found a nice stack. I forget this guy's name but he is always so happy and enthusiastic. He normally shows up with his son but said he could not get him out of bed on this morning. I can relate. My kids were sound asleep when I left the house.
Mark bought his usual stack. Rick just about cleaned me out of 1970's basketball while Eddie purchased all of my 1948 Bowman basketball. Things started to cook! Duke purchased a nice pile of cards out of my display cases. Thanks guys!
Mike D. was there with his son and they purchased some hockey cards. An old customer purchased a pile of cards. Will purchased a pile of 1969 Topps football. Thank Will! The big winner today was Pat who purchased all of my 1961 Fleer Greats, all of my 1964 Topps Giants, and a pile of hockey and basketball star cards. Thanks Pat!
After a slow start, this turned into another solid Orland show. I just love the Orland show. My sales are almost always excellent in Orland.
On the buying front, a couple of dealers offered me some cards but were just a tad too high on their prices. A longtime customer offered me a shoe box filled with baseball common cards from 1958 through 1973 for just $200. I couldn't get the money out of my pocket fast enough. I also bought a stack of cards from Walt, a dealer who drives up regularly to Orland from Central Indiana. There were a bunch of 1961 Golden Press in Walt's stack. Then Junior cornered me in the parking lot while I was loading in and I purchased some Zorro cards from the 1950's along with a Richard Nixon campaign button. Junior finds all sorts of stuff and is a great source.
The great Bobby Hull was at the show once again, signing autos. Young Charlie got a hockey puck signed by Bobby.
My pal Paul Ponce was also at the show. It is always great hanging out with Paul. We need to meet for lunch, buddy!
So all of the shows I have attended so far this month have seen a reduction in attendance. I think it may be the weather. It is always tough competing against nice weather. Though I am pleased that even with the lower turn out, sales have been excellent, especially in Orland which is just a dynamite show.
Next Orland show is June 12. I hope to have some binders reloaded before that one!
In the meantime, I'm heading up to Green Bay for a good-sized show this Saturday, May 21. Then I'm setting up at the Root River show in Franklin, WI, on Sunday, May 22.
I feel bad for my Wisconsin friends. It is too bad the Bucks lost to the Celtics. I thought they had the team to repeat. I think the Bucks get by the Celtics if they have Khris Middleton healthy. I watched the Heat beat up the Celtics in the first game of the conference finals last night where PJ Tucker was able to put the screws down on Jayson Tatum in the second half. I never understood why the Bucks did not resign Tucker after he was a beast for their championship run last season.
Speaking of beasts, Jimmy Butler is a beast! As a Bulls fan it has been painful to watch him excel elsewhere, after starting is career in Chicago. I love Zack LaVine, who the Bulls received for Butler from Minnesota, but LaVine's no Jimmy Butler and it looks like we're going to lose him to free agency this offseason. Regardless, it looks like that Heat-Celtics series is going to be pretty good.
I switched back and forth between the Heat-Celtics and Blues-Avalanche games last night. What a great hockey game. I haven't had much interest in watching the hockey playoffs in a while since my Blackhawks have been so bad these past several years. But I grew up with Avalanche winger J.T. Compher's mother, so I have been following his career and am rooting for the Avalanche to win it all this year.
Lot's of good sports to watch right now. Come on out to the shows this weekend and let's talk NBA and NHL playoffs!