Saturday, January 27, 2024, Sheraton Hotel, Madison, WI
A week of foggy conditions in my little burg prepared me for the foggy morning ride up to Madison. I am always worried that there will be a truck stopped ahead on the road in the fog and I will slam into the back of it. I did see a few trucks on the side of the road, thankfully, none stopped in the middle of the road!
I was a little late arriving to the show. I could not get out of bed, as usual. I arrived around 8:30 a.m. and saw droves of customers piling into the hotel. It took me two trips on the hotel cart to get all my display cases, 10 total, to the upstairs ballroom where I was placed next to my pal Tom Mularz and behind good guy John Boomer.
I did not finish loading up the display cases until 10 a.m. I find it very stressful to load the display cases while customers are hovering about and some ask to see cards before I finish loading all the cases. That will teach me to get to the show late. I really need to arrive early when I bring out the display cases!
My father and son football guys both purchased some cards. I love these guys. As I've stated before, I think the dad was my very first Madison customer years ago when I regularly set up at Darren's shows. Ken found some 1958's. A couple of guys purchased some piles, which were much appreciated.
A young guy purchased a T206 common. Kevin purchased my 1954 Red Heart Red Nellie Fox. Big Mike purchased some cards. A regular customer purchased a bunch of 1952 Bowman baseball, just about cleared me out. Randy, who is working on Cubs sets, purchased several 1951 Bowman Cubs. Quite a few new customers purchased cards today. I remember I sold a few basketball cards. I was surprised I did not sell any hockey cards. The big winner today was a new customer who purchased a nice pile of stuff. I was very pleased with my sales today.
On the buying front, a guy I have known forever, but for the life of me cannot remember his name, sold me a near set of 1971-72 Topps basketball. I think I am missing just 14 cards. Instead of breaking up the set, I am leaning towards completing it, though I need some of the biggies like Lou Alcindor and Jerry West. He also had some high-end slabbed vintage for sale, but I just had enough funds for the basketball. I advised he try Big Mark, Tom and Gary George. I think he ended up selling most of it to Mark.
I was pumped to see Tim Fritz, one of my all-time favorite guys in the hobby. Tim says he is on the mend from some serious health issues and hopes to attend more shows. I also enjoyed chatting with John and Mike from Premier Card Shows.
It was a pretty great day. The show was packed. It got really hot for a while in the room. I guzzled down some ice-cold Mountain Dews which helped deal with the heat.
The Madison show has just been solid of late. I can't wait for the next one on February 24, 2024! Kudos to Beau for running another great show!! It may be a two-hour ride to Madison, but this show is just too good to miss!! I plan on attending as many Madison shows as I can in 2024.
A lot of the dealers were asking me for space in Oak Creek. Unfortunately, the Oak Creek show is sold out indefinitely. I am taking names for my waiting list. Interested parties can email me at [email protected].
Speaking of Oak Creek, the next show is this Saturday, February 3, 2024. Again, I have sold out 180 tables. Should be another fun show. I think I am going to be set up in the same spot across from Lake Country Cards in the back hallway. I may move to another spot if some knucklehead no-shows me. Beau and I were talking about no-show dealers and what a headache it is and how these guys make it so difficult to operate a show.
Anyway, the Madison show was great and I am looking forward to a great Oak Creek show this Saturday! Hope you can make it to Oak Creek!!!
A week of foggy conditions in my little burg prepared me for the foggy morning ride up to Madison. I am always worried that there will be a truck stopped ahead on the road in the fog and I will slam into the back of it. I did see a few trucks on the side of the road, thankfully, none stopped in the middle of the road!
I was a little late arriving to the show. I could not get out of bed, as usual. I arrived around 8:30 a.m. and saw droves of customers piling into the hotel. It took me two trips on the hotel cart to get all my display cases, 10 total, to the upstairs ballroom where I was placed next to my pal Tom Mularz and behind good guy John Boomer.
I did not finish loading up the display cases until 10 a.m. I find it very stressful to load the display cases while customers are hovering about and some ask to see cards before I finish loading all the cases. That will teach me to get to the show late. I really need to arrive early when I bring out the display cases!
My father and son football guys both purchased some cards. I love these guys. As I've stated before, I think the dad was my very first Madison customer years ago when I regularly set up at Darren's shows. Ken found some 1958's. A couple of guys purchased some piles, which were much appreciated.
A young guy purchased a T206 common. Kevin purchased my 1954 Red Heart Red Nellie Fox. Big Mike purchased some cards. A regular customer purchased a bunch of 1952 Bowman baseball, just about cleared me out. Randy, who is working on Cubs sets, purchased several 1951 Bowman Cubs. Quite a few new customers purchased cards today. I remember I sold a few basketball cards. I was surprised I did not sell any hockey cards. The big winner today was a new customer who purchased a nice pile of stuff. I was very pleased with my sales today.
On the buying front, a guy I have known forever, but for the life of me cannot remember his name, sold me a near set of 1971-72 Topps basketball. I think I am missing just 14 cards. Instead of breaking up the set, I am leaning towards completing it, though I need some of the biggies like Lou Alcindor and Jerry West. He also had some high-end slabbed vintage for sale, but I just had enough funds for the basketball. I advised he try Big Mark, Tom and Gary George. I think he ended up selling most of it to Mark.
I was pumped to see Tim Fritz, one of my all-time favorite guys in the hobby. Tim says he is on the mend from some serious health issues and hopes to attend more shows. I also enjoyed chatting with John and Mike from Premier Card Shows.
It was a pretty great day. The show was packed. It got really hot for a while in the room. I guzzled down some ice-cold Mountain Dews which helped deal with the heat.
The Madison show has just been solid of late. I can't wait for the next one on February 24, 2024! Kudos to Beau for running another great show!! It may be a two-hour ride to Madison, but this show is just too good to miss!! I plan on attending as many Madison shows as I can in 2024.
A lot of the dealers were asking me for space in Oak Creek. Unfortunately, the Oak Creek show is sold out indefinitely. I am taking names for my waiting list. Interested parties can email me at [email protected].
Speaking of Oak Creek, the next show is this Saturday, February 3, 2024. Again, I have sold out 180 tables. Should be another fun show. I think I am going to be set up in the same spot across from Lake Country Cards in the back hallway. I may move to another spot if some knucklehead no-shows me. Beau and I were talking about no-show dealers and what a headache it is and how these guys make it so difficult to operate a show.
Anyway, the Madison show was great and I am looking forward to a great Oak Creek show this Saturday! Hope you can make it to Oak Creek!!!
Pictured above left is my Madison show neighbor Tom Mularz, an excellent vintage sports card dealer. Though, next month, I am charging Tom rent when his customers cover my display cases.
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