Sunday, December 16, 2012, Gonzaga Hall, Milwaukee, WI -- How'ya Cobb doing? I'm Cobb damn fine, thank you!
I was a bit discom-Cobb-ulated this morning. You see, I have a routine down for the Gonzaga show. I wake up at 6 a.m., hit the road by 7 a.m., arrive at the hall by 8 a.m., set up, open for business by the show's opening bell at 9 a.m. Today, however, the start time for the show was moved up to 8 a.m. to accommodate the Packers-Bears game. Thus, I had to move my entire routine up by one hour. Which meant I had to wake up at 5 a.m.
So the night before, I loaded the car then set my alarm for what I thought was 5 a.m. Turns out I set the alarm for 5 p.m. I would have missed the show if Chuck T. didn't show up at my house at 5:45 a.m. Thanks Chuck!! So I had to hustle to shower, get the dog out, get the kids ready, then everybody and a pile of Chuck's cards into the car. Some how we were on the road by 6:15 a.m. I don't know how I did it but everything worked out fine.
There wasn't much doing at Gonzaga at 8 a.m. I was a little concerned early on. We had a nice crowd last month even though the Packers had a game and the mega Sun-Times show was just an hour and a half away in Rosemont, IL. Today, Johnny Logan was scheduled to sign autographs and a Babe Ruth autograph was slated for the live auction. With Christmas just a week away, I thought we were going to have a big crowd. We ended up with a smaller crowd than usual. However, my sales were good and I picked up a T206 Cobb, pictured above. My first Cobb!!!
The Cobb is one of the coolest cards I have ever owned. The purchase got me thinking. I've owned quite a few cool cards over the years. Here my top 10 favorite cards I've ever owned:
1. T206 Ty Cobb
2. 1933 Goudey Lou Gehrig
3. 1933 Goudey Jimmie Foxx
4. 1933 Goudey Rogers Hornsby
5. 1934-36 Diamond Stars Lefty Grove
6. 1934-36 Diamond Stars Bill Dickey
7. 1934 Goudey Hank Greenberg
8. 1939 Play Ball Joe Dimaggio
9. 1939 Play Ball Ted Williams
10. 1948 Leaf Babe Ruth
Honorable mention: 1948 Leaf Jackie Robinson, 1952 Bowman Mickey Mantle.
Back at the show, prior to the Cobb purchase, a new customer got my day going by purchasing some 1972 Topps baseball. A regular customer picked up some 1967 Topps baseball. A father and son team purchased some 1971 and 1972 Topps Brewers. Mark picked up some 1955 Bowman baseball. Jim also picked up some 1955 Bowmans. Jeff picked up a large pile of 1956, 57 and 1972 Topps baseball.
Mike emailed a list of 1971 Topps football prior to the show. I filled as much of the list as I could. Mike came by early and picked up the cards. Jason picked up some 1955 Topps baseball. A regular customer picked up a 1964 Philadelphia Johnny Unitas and a 1961 Topps Jack Kemp. Another regular picked up some 1960's and 1970's Topps baseball. Gary picked up a 1958 Willie Mays, 1956 Topps Sandy Koufax and a Roberto Clemente along with a large pile of 1964 Philadelphia football. Thanks Gary!
A new customer picked up some 1974 Topps baseball. Another new customer purchased a 1972 Kelloggs Willie Davis PSA 4. A regular customer purchased some 1963 Topps baseball. A new customer bought a 1948 Bowman Ewell Blackwell. Jim rounded out my day by purchasing a 1971 Topps Mike Shannon. I usually write down all the sales but I know I missed some because I was a bit tired and I had a busy period from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. where I was trying to help three or four customers at once.
On the buying front, a stellar day! I picked up the aforementioned Cobb along with a T206 John J. McGraw, a 1968 Topps Johnny Bench rookie, a small pile of 1953 Johnston Cookies, some 1953 Bowman football, some 1970s football stars, and some 1964 Topps Giants.
While I was looking forward to the live auction of the Babe Ruth autograph today, it turned out to be anticlimactic. I didn't now this prior to the show, but they started the auction for the Ruth auto at $3,000 -- which is about $1,500 above the going rate for a Babe Ruth autograph. In fact, there was a dealer today that had a nice framed Babe Ruth auto on his table for $1,500. Needless to say, the Ruth auto did not garner a single bid in the auction.
I enjoyed having my kids and Chuck T. with me today. As I said earlier, Chuck T. brought some cards to sell. Mark was nice enough to purchase a box of cards from Chuck. Thanks Mark! I think Chuck enjoyed the show. This was his second appearance at a Gonzaga show. Though, I think he too was a bit tired. I think he was up at 4 a.m. or so to make it to my house by 5:45 a.m. from the far southwest suburbs of Chicago.
My kids had a good time as well. The WSCA gave out goodie bags to kids. My kids LOVE goodie bags. The kids also purchased a few things in the room. We all ate cake. The kids had hot dogs. By noon, however, the food stand was out of food! This has never happened before at any Gonzaga show I have attended. The reason was that the kind folks who run the show gave out free food tickets to all the dealers. So by the time I went to claim my free hot dog, they were out.
My kids also participated in the kids' auction at the end of the show -- which is something I think is completely awesome! It was also cool seeing Johnny Logan. I love seeing old time players from yesteryear. Did I tell you I bought a Cobb? Great show today!!
I'm still one blog behind. I have a Bloomingdale blog due. I'm off work most of this week and should have a chance to knock out the Bloomingdale blog.
As I write this, it is Christmas Eve, December 24. Merry Christmas Everybody!!
Next week, I'm back at Orland Park for the December 30th Orland Show. I had a terrific Orland show a few weeks ago and am looking for more of the same. See you next week!!
Pictured below are some photos and a silly video my 10 year-old daughter Tabitha took on her iPod Touch. Enjoy!
I was a bit discom-Cobb-ulated this morning. You see, I have a routine down for the Gonzaga show. I wake up at 6 a.m., hit the road by 7 a.m., arrive at the hall by 8 a.m., set up, open for business by the show's opening bell at 9 a.m. Today, however, the start time for the show was moved up to 8 a.m. to accommodate the Packers-Bears game. Thus, I had to move my entire routine up by one hour. Which meant I had to wake up at 5 a.m.
So the night before, I loaded the car then set my alarm for what I thought was 5 a.m. Turns out I set the alarm for 5 p.m. I would have missed the show if Chuck T. didn't show up at my house at 5:45 a.m. Thanks Chuck!! So I had to hustle to shower, get the dog out, get the kids ready, then everybody and a pile of Chuck's cards into the car. Some how we were on the road by 6:15 a.m. I don't know how I did it but everything worked out fine.
There wasn't much doing at Gonzaga at 8 a.m. I was a little concerned early on. We had a nice crowd last month even though the Packers had a game and the mega Sun-Times show was just an hour and a half away in Rosemont, IL. Today, Johnny Logan was scheduled to sign autographs and a Babe Ruth autograph was slated for the live auction. With Christmas just a week away, I thought we were going to have a big crowd. We ended up with a smaller crowd than usual. However, my sales were good and I picked up a T206 Cobb, pictured above. My first Cobb!!!
The Cobb is one of the coolest cards I have ever owned. The purchase got me thinking. I've owned quite a few cool cards over the years. Here my top 10 favorite cards I've ever owned:
1. T206 Ty Cobb
2. 1933 Goudey Lou Gehrig
3. 1933 Goudey Jimmie Foxx
4. 1933 Goudey Rogers Hornsby
5. 1934-36 Diamond Stars Lefty Grove
6. 1934-36 Diamond Stars Bill Dickey
7. 1934 Goudey Hank Greenberg
8. 1939 Play Ball Joe Dimaggio
9. 1939 Play Ball Ted Williams
10. 1948 Leaf Babe Ruth
Honorable mention: 1948 Leaf Jackie Robinson, 1952 Bowman Mickey Mantle.
Back at the show, prior to the Cobb purchase, a new customer got my day going by purchasing some 1972 Topps baseball. A regular customer picked up some 1967 Topps baseball. A father and son team purchased some 1971 and 1972 Topps Brewers. Mark picked up some 1955 Bowman baseball. Jim also picked up some 1955 Bowmans. Jeff picked up a large pile of 1956, 57 and 1972 Topps baseball.
Mike emailed a list of 1971 Topps football prior to the show. I filled as much of the list as I could. Mike came by early and picked up the cards. Jason picked up some 1955 Topps baseball. A regular customer picked up a 1964 Philadelphia Johnny Unitas and a 1961 Topps Jack Kemp. Another regular picked up some 1960's and 1970's Topps baseball. Gary picked up a 1958 Willie Mays, 1956 Topps Sandy Koufax and a Roberto Clemente along with a large pile of 1964 Philadelphia football. Thanks Gary!
A new customer picked up some 1974 Topps baseball. Another new customer purchased a 1972 Kelloggs Willie Davis PSA 4. A regular customer purchased some 1963 Topps baseball. A new customer bought a 1948 Bowman Ewell Blackwell. Jim rounded out my day by purchasing a 1971 Topps Mike Shannon. I usually write down all the sales but I know I missed some because I was a bit tired and I had a busy period from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. where I was trying to help three or four customers at once.
On the buying front, a stellar day! I picked up the aforementioned Cobb along with a T206 John J. McGraw, a 1968 Topps Johnny Bench rookie, a small pile of 1953 Johnston Cookies, some 1953 Bowman football, some 1970s football stars, and some 1964 Topps Giants.
While I was looking forward to the live auction of the Babe Ruth autograph today, it turned out to be anticlimactic. I didn't now this prior to the show, but they started the auction for the Ruth auto at $3,000 -- which is about $1,500 above the going rate for a Babe Ruth autograph. In fact, there was a dealer today that had a nice framed Babe Ruth auto on his table for $1,500. Needless to say, the Ruth auto did not garner a single bid in the auction.
I enjoyed having my kids and Chuck T. with me today. As I said earlier, Chuck T. brought some cards to sell. Mark was nice enough to purchase a box of cards from Chuck. Thanks Mark! I think Chuck enjoyed the show. This was his second appearance at a Gonzaga show. Though, I think he too was a bit tired. I think he was up at 4 a.m. or so to make it to my house by 5:45 a.m. from the far southwest suburbs of Chicago.
My kids had a good time as well. The WSCA gave out goodie bags to kids. My kids LOVE goodie bags. The kids also purchased a few things in the room. We all ate cake. The kids had hot dogs. By noon, however, the food stand was out of food! This has never happened before at any Gonzaga show I have attended. The reason was that the kind folks who run the show gave out free food tickets to all the dealers. So by the time I went to claim my free hot dog, they were out.
My kids also participated in the kids' auction at the end of the show -- which is something I think is completely awesome! It was also cool seeing Johnny Logan. I love seeing old time players from yesteryear. Did I tell you I bought a Cobb? Great show today!!
I'm still one blog behind. I have a Bloomingdale blog due. I'm off work most of this week and should have a chance to knock out the Bloomingdale blog.
As I write this, it is Christmas Eve, December 24. Merry Christmas Everybody!!
Next week, I'm back at Orland Park for the December 30th Orland Show. I had a terrific Orland show a few weeks ago and am looking for more of the same. See you next week!!
Pictured below are some photos and a silly video my 10 year-old daughter Tabitha took on her iPod Touch. Enjoy!
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