Anyway, here is a long but exciting recap of what I have been up to:
I was set up Sunday, November 17, 2024, in Orland Park. The show was well attended. Sales were okay. I purchased some 1930's hockey cards from Willie that are very cool. I also picked up a bunch of stuff from Walt. Jim offered me a nice stack of cards from the 1970's which I turned down. I have a huge inventory of 1970's cards right now and will only purchase more if they are dirt cheap or come in a lot with some older cards that I need. Steve Trout stopped by my table. I love how he is a regular visitor to this show. I'll be setting up again in Orland this Sunday, December 15, 2024. The kind folks that run this show are doing a toy drive and will have Santa available for photos. I am leaning towards bringing out display cases. I've priced a bunch of new stuff since the Sports Spectacular and don't have any binders reloaded since last week in Oak Creek. I am currently working on reloading my 1960 Topps baseball binder but don't think I'll have it done by Sunday.
After Orland, I spent all week pricing cards for the Chicago Sports Spectacular which was held November 22 through 24, 2024, at the Donald A. Stephens Center in Rosemont, IL. So, the worst show for load in and load out somehow has gotten even worse. It is so bad that I am fairly certain someone is going to get seriously injured.
The problem started after the Pandemic when demand for tables at this show, and most shows, went through the roof. So they expanded the show but in the process took away half of the loading space. Where you once could fit 60 or 70 vehicles, now only fits 20 or 30 which is a complete cluster$&#@ when hundreds of dealers are converging on the space at once.
With so many people in such a small space, you can't see other dealers pulling in or out or walking around. It is so scary. I was terrified I was going to strike someone's car or even worse a person with my vehicle.
This is a tragedy waiting to happen. These folks need to get this straightened out. One suggestion I have is to allow dealers to load in and out through the front circle drive.
Anyway, I arrived Thursday around 3 p.m. and was directed to a hazardous location blocked in the front by a dealer booth, blocked on my left by another dealer's vehicle, and blocked on my right by a steady stream of dealers pushing carts filled with cards and display cases. It sucked! I had two perilous trips to my booth. I set it up as quickly as I could then got out there without somehow killing anyone or smashing into another car. Not a good experience for someone with high blood pressure!
I returned Friday around noon and spent a couple hours loading up my display cases. Once again I was in a new location, by my request. I have been setting up at this show since the late 1990's and have been all over the room during that time. I have never set up in this row but have set up behind it. I was next to the jersey guy from Jersey -- Paul. What a great guy! Paul kept offering to help me set up. I had fun goofing around with him all weekend. One of his employees made some chocolate chip cookies that were out of this world. Paul kept feeding them to me all weekend.
One of the perks of setting up next to Paul is that his booth goes extremely deep, so I was able to spread my booth way back. I placed the 8-foot table, provided by the promoters, back a good 14 to 16 feet. Then I was able to run two 6-foot tables along the opposite side of Paul, along a booth manned by Greg from Waukesha Sports. I then placed a thin 4-foot table up against Paul's set up. I had a really nice little walk-in space.
Both Paul and Greg expressed their happiness that I was their new neighbor and they liked my set up. Apparently, the previous neighbor only used the 8-foot table and did not create a walk-in booth and expected Paul and Greg to provide him an entrance to the space behind his table by reducing the size of their booths. It don't work that way! I know, like I said, I've been there since the 1990's. You get 8-feet of frontage. You want an entrance into your booth, you provide the space, not your neighbors. I've had neighbors bitch to me about this in the past claiming I pinched their space by not providing an entrance -- which is complete BS because all you get is 8-feet of frontage per booth. Your neighbor is not required to shrink their booth and give you extra space. You get some real dickheads at this show. As a result, as thankful as Paul and Greg were that I was their neighbor, I was just as thankful that they were my neighbors. We had a great time and they took care of me and watched my booth so I could take bathroom breaks. Thanks guys!
I was able to place out 13 display cases. No binders. I don't bring binders to Rosemont after one was stolen at the 2010 National. I also keep my display cases locked the whole show. There are too many thieves here and they will go right into unlocked display cases. Quite a few cards were stolen at this past show. Dealers, you gotta keep those cases locked!
Thefts aside, prior to the show, I was worried I would not have enough cards to fill 13 display cases so I really hustled pricing cards. Turns out, I had way too many cards and was unable to place out a large amount of them. I feel like I lost sales because I could not get all of my cards out. For the March show, I am going to leave some of this stuff at home like my Exhibit cards, which sold great at the National but not here. The Exhibits take up a full display case.
Overall, sales were much slower than the March show -- which happens here. My sales at the Sports Spectacular are sooo inconsistent. I never know how it is going to go. I thought attendance was excellent. Maybe one of the best attended Sports Spectaculars ever. A lot of folks did not walk into my booth, they just walked by. I have always felt like a lot of those that attend this show do not collect cards but are there for the autographs or for man-cave items. My neighbor Greg who had two or three spaces filled with memorabilia and man-cave stuff did really well. Though, Paul, on the other side was disappointed as well with his sales. Regardless, he seemed pretty busy to me.
On the buying front, one of my best Sports Spectaculars in a while. I purchased a nice stack of 1959 Fleer Ted Williams cards which I really needed. I also purchased a stack of graded cards including a 1960 Topps Warren Spahn along with some other odds and ends.
On Sunday, I turned in my contract for the March show where I will be in the same spot between Paul and Greg. I might just load in from the parking garage because it is just too freakin' scary to load in from the poorly designated loading area.
I was totally exhausted after the Sports Spectacular and had a rough week but found time to finish reloading my 1959 Topps baseball binder in time for the Madison show on November 30, 2024.
As tired as I was, I found the energy to put together Thanksgiving for my family. Both my wife and daughter worked on Thanksgiving, so it was up to me to pick up my son from the train station and procure our dinner from Whole Foods with some supplements from Heinen's and Sunset Foods. I don't cook for Thanksgiving. I purchase precooked stuff and heat it up.
I was still heating up the food when my folks arrived. The boy went and picked up the girl from work. Lisa arrived later and we had a really nice Thanksgiving dinner. Hope yours was nice as well!
Then on Saturday, I mistakenly set my alarm for 5:30 p.m. instead of 5:30 a.m. I woke up at 6:47 a.m. in a panic. I did not have time to bathe so I threw on some cologne and extra deodorant. Hope I didn't stink at the Madison show!
Madison is a two-hour drive from my house. I arrived there just before the show opened at 9 a.m. There was already a crowd in the room. I had to hustle loading in then setting up my binders. Sorry if I was rude to anyone but I was not ready to chat at that moment. I needed to set up! I was able to get it done quickly but had no time to get any coffee from the faux Starbucks in the hotel lobby. Ugh! I can't function without coffee. Thankfully, one of my regular customers went and got me a cup of coffee. Thank you!!!
Unlike the Sports Spectacular where there is no pattern whatsoever to my sales, the Madison show is always consistent. I get a nice group of set builders in the morning then not much action in the afternoon. The rest of the day went according to plan. Sales were good but not quite as good as October where I totally rocked it. On the buying front, nada. I was offered some 1980's and 1990's cards. No thank you.
I was absolutely starving when I left the show. Normally, I arrive early enough to purchase some breakfast at the faux Starbucks. Not this morning. I hustled my way out of the show around 2 p.m. and headed straight for the Golden Corral in Janesville. I absolutely love the Golden Corral while my wife and kids hate it. So I can only go there when they are not with me. I had a wonderful meal, as usual. Located next to the Golden Corral is a gas station with some of the best prices around. I filled up and had a pleasant ride home.
No rest for the weary! I had to work my tail off to prepare for the December 7th Oak Creek show. I had 13 of my regular dealers take the month off, so I had to fill their spots from my waiting list. I have to contact two or three people on the waiting list to get just one to commit. It always boggles my mind when I leave a message for someone on the list and they don't bother to respond.
I worked all week on getting the right amount of dealers. I had a few cancellations during the week, including a couple on the night before the show. Ugh! Then there were the cancellations on the morning of the show which always drives me nuts. I had one guy show up looking for some space and was able to plug him in the gym. Dealers who are not regulars at this show and are looking for space --- arrive at 9 a.m. with your stuff, I will more than likely have a spot for you. At least there were not any cold no-shows. I had four dealers contact me that morning stating they were unable to attend. I was able to fill one of the spots but the other three went empty -- which drives me nuts when I have more than 125 people on my waiting list!!!
So I had a whole bunch of new dealers which is always interesting. I could not leave my tables to see what they had. All the new dealers did real well. We had 1,095 through the door, one of our best attended shows of the year! All the new dealers want to come back. Unfortunately, with 13 regulars returning, I don't think I will have space for them. Sorry guys!
I had a great day! Sales were excellent. Buys were fantastic. I purchased a box of 1959 Topps baseball commons. Then one of my dealers in the Chapel directed a guy to me who was selling cards that had belonged to his brother, who had recently passed away. I don't know who directed the guy to me but I am in your debt. I purchased a nice pile of stuff that included a 1956 Topps Willie Mays, Ernie Banks and Al Kaline. Good stuff!
The best part of the show was that I got to spend all day with former Brewers pitcher Don August. I love that guy. He could not be any nicer and any more entertaining. We had a steady stream of folks looking for his autograph and purchasing his book. I loved watching him give pitching pointers to kids. I also thoroughly enjoyed his endless stories. He told me George Brett was the toughest hitter he went up against. He also had many stories of adventures playing overseas in Taiwan and Italy -- you'll find these stories in his book!
Man, what a fun day!!!
Next Oak Creek show is January 4, 2025. Next show for me is this Sunday in Orland. Hope to see you there!!!
Now for some photos: