Saturday, January 29, 2022, Sheraton Hotel, Madison, WI

It sure is fun to watch a show blow up. The Madison show has blown up! Massive crowd on Saturday!! I was so busy! I needed some help to deal with all of the customers. I definitely was not prepared for such a huge crowd. 

I woke up at 5 a.m., hit the snooze once, made it out of the house by 6:11 a.m. It was pitch black out. Pretty easy drive. I made it to Madison in just under two hours. Easy load in.

I decided to go with a display case lay out again. I kind of wanted to do binders but with Orland the next day, and I really needed to do display cases for that one, I did not want to unload the car and reload after Madison, so I went with display cases for both shows. I had 10 cases out for the Madison show.

It took me longer than expected to fill them up. I still had three or four more to load up with cards when customers started to ask to see cards in the cases I had loaded already. It was 9:07 a.m. at this point. I thought I still had time! I started to tell people to come back later because I needed to finish setting up.

I was hustling to get it done which was tough because the dealer behind me placed an extra table behind one of his tables, throw in that he is a very large man, and there was no room for us both to fit behind our cases at the same time. I got to know him a little bit too personally due to lack of space.

Pictured below, was the situation behind my tables. Not much room.

​So this room is tight and there is not space for dealers to place additional tables behind their tables. The guy behind me is a veteran dealer who I've known for years, he is a good guy. He has excellent inventory and is far more knowledgeable than I am... but we were bumping asses all day long which was no fun. 

Big asses aside, by 10 a.m., the place was a mad house and I was insanely busy. I hate pulling cards out of my cases and handing them to multiple people but I must have handed out cards to five or six different guys at once and did my best to keep track of them. I'm pretty sure nobody walked off with anything.

It was a bit chaotic and I am not sure what I sold. I know I sold both of my 1963 Topps Bob Uekers. I sold one T205. I sold a 1950 Bowman Andy Pafko. I sold some 1952 Topps high numbers.

I sold a 1961 Topps Bart Starr along with many, many other football cards but can't quite remember exactly what I sold. I also sold a bunch of basketball cards. All in all there were quite a lot of sales. I just about tripled my sales from my first show at the Sheraton back in October. 

There was a lot of shock and awe after this one. I never expected such a crowd nor to have so many sales. Needless to say, I was pretty freakin' happy.

On the buying front, I picked up a few cards. There was a guy who came around twice to sell me cards. The first time I purchased a bunch of 1970's basketball, including a 1974-75 Dr. J. The second time I purchased a 1959 Fleer Ted Williams SGC 7.5.

A few other guys showed me some cards for sale. There was a father and son duo that had two Pete Rose rookies. The cards were in really nice shape and looked real to me but I was not a 100 percent sure. They wanted a lot of money for them and I just couldn't pull the trigger without being 100 percent certain the cards were real. The Rose rookie may be the most counterfeited vintage baseball card out there. I sent them over to Gary, who was set up next to me. Gary wouldn't even look at the cards. He told me he won't buy Jordan and Rose rookies unless they are slabbed because of the counterfeit issue.

Man, was it nice to be set up next to Gary George, one of my favorite dealers out there. I think Gary had a great day as well.

Back to buying cards, there was one weird guy, I'd say in his mid to late 20's, who told me he was selling his dad's collection. He said his dad was in the car along with dozens of boxes of cards. He had one box that he brought in. He let me flip through it. It was mostly 1990's junk with a handful of vintage cards. He also had a Harlem Globetrotters program from the 1950's. I told him I would buy the handful of vintage cards in the box, which included a 1959 Topps Willie Mays, along with the Globetrotters program. He said he wanted to sell everything together and would not let me cherry pick anything out of the box.

The guy was at the show all day harassing all of the dealers. He eventually let some dealers cherry pick some cards, but not me. I overheard him tell another dealer he wanted $400 for the box. I don't know the value of the modern cards in the box but to me, as a vintage dealer, modern cards have no value at all. I did not want them even if he gave them to me for free. 

I tried to show him that I have nothing but vintage cards in my display cases and do not want the majority of the cards in the box. He did not get it. He was still there when I was packing up at the end of the show trying to sell the remainder of the box. When I was loading my stuff into my car, I heard him arguing with his dad in the parking lot.

I had to chuckle as I drove away. About a mile or so down the road, I stopped at a Speedway to get some gas. At $3.15 a gallon, gas was far cheaper in Madison than by my house in Illinois where it is $3.54 a gallon.

As I was filling up, a lady who looked absolutely deranged popped up from behind the pump. She was chubby with crazy frizzy hair, wearing a sun dress, and a pair of sandles with no socks. It was like 20 degrees out. It was cold.

She seemed to have trouble talking. She had this look on her face like she was scared to death. She gets out, "excuse me sir." I stopped her right there and said I had nothing for her. I watched her walk up to everyone at the station who was pumping gas. She was shivering.

Then I watched her get into a Prius and put on a coat and she drove off with a short man wearing a baseball cap who was driving the car. So I'm guessing this is their scam -- she tries to get sympathy by being underdressed and shivering in the cold. But they were driving a Prius! Those cars aren't cheap. Maybe I need to try this scam, looks like there is more money to be made scamming people at gas stations than working a legitimate job or selling sports cards.

As I drove away, I started to think that maybe the baseball cap dude kidnapped her and makes her beg for money. She seemed really out of it and really scared. It was a weird deal. 

Besides those weirdos at the Speedway, it was a tremendous day in Madison. We're definitely still in boom times for card shows. It is a great time for the hobby. I'm looking forward to the next Madison show on February 26.

I have a couple of open February dates that I'd like to fill up with shows but can't seem to find any. Looks like I am going to have one or two Sundays open just about every month with the discontinuance of the Buenavista show. There are all sorts of new shows popping up but they all seem to be Saturday shows -- which is so weird because there used to be no Saturday shows at all in Wisconsin, unlike now where just about all of them are held on Saturdays. Did I do this? Are they all following my lead in Oak Creek? I only created that show on a Saturday because there were none... now just about all the Wisconsin shows are held on Saturday.

Looks like I am going to have to do a second show and hold it on a Sunday because there is now a lack of Sunday shows in Wisconsin. While in Illinois, unlike Wisconsin, there are hardly any shows at all. I might do a Sunday show in Illinois. What do you guys think?

So the Madison show was the front end of a double bill weekend. I did the Orland Park show on Sunday. Orland show report coming soon!

In the meantime, my Oak Creek show is this Saturday, February 5. Dealer tables are sold out, as my phone buzzes while I type this up with folks asking for tables. It should be a great show. I think I have 104 or 105 tables total.

Then on Sunday, February 6, I'm setting up at the Schaumburg show. I'm doing binders at both shows. 

Have a great week everybody, hope to see you this weekend! Let's keep it going!

​Pictured below are a few more photos from the Madison show.

Sunday, January 23, 2022, Root River Center, Franklin, WI

The weather forecast was actually spot on. We received a good three to five inches of snow here in Northern Illinois on Saturday night into Sunday morning, as predicted. It took three hits of the snooze alarm before I could get out of bed and look at the snow. I debated on sleeping in but I have a self-imposed winter snow rule that I follow before cancelling on a show. My rule is that I've got to get into my car and start the drive to the show. If the weather and the roads are conducive to travel, I'll go to the show. If the roads are dangerous, I'll turn around and go home.

My amazing wife cleared off the snow from my car and shoveled the driveway (she's a keeper!). The roads in my neighborhood were plowed. Unfortunately, the neighborhood plows do not work on the main roads. It is actually really silly and inefficient how things are set up in my little burg. The village plows the neighborhoods while the county and the state split up the main roads. 

The village and the county always do a bang-up job clearing the snow, but the state, on the other hand, takes its sweet ole time before they clear the main road leading to the highway. As usual, that road was scary. One of two lanes was sort of cleared.

I figured the highway would be better until I saw the piles of snow on the entry ramp -- that was scary. I was not sure if my car was going to make it onto the highway. Thankfully there was not much traffic and my car, which is usually horrible in the snow, made an easy transition from the snow-covered ramp to the partially plowed highway.

There are four lanes heading north when I enter Interstate 294 from Half Day Road. The three left lanes were sort of clear while the far right lane had a layer of snow on top of it. I had a scary choice at this point. One choice was to move into the middle lane that was partly clear but then have to deal with cars speeding too fast for conditions. The second choice was to stay in the slow lane that was covered in snow. I decided that staying in the slow lane covered in snow was safer choice than getting in one of the other lanes and being tailgated at 70 MPH in snow and ice. 

The snow was wet and other cars and trucks kicked up sludge and covered my windshield a few times. As I just stated, my car does not drive well in snow. So I was blinded and sliding, going about 50 MPH. I started to think that I should exit the highway and head back home to the comfort and safety of my warm toasty bed. Only problem was that all of the exit ramps were a mess. I thought I would spin out for sure if I pulled off onto one of those exit ramps that did not seem to be plowed at all. I nervously drove on, trying to stay in the tracks made by the cars in front of me.

With heavy winds blowing my car about, slush flying from other cars and covering my windshield, it was scary as hell. I just took it slow in the one lane that was not plowed. Steady as she goes.

Just past the Illinois-Wisconsin border in Kenosha, Wisconsin, I saw nothing but brake lights. I did not hit my brakes because I knew my car would fish tail, so I just took my foot off the gas and was able to slow down in time to get a full view of a jackknifed semi-truck with its back end smashed up against the median and front end extended across the highway. Luckily, this occurred on the other side of the road, southbound. I was heading north, shaken but still too scared to pull off the highway.

The roads cleared up when I hit Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. I could breathe and drive stress free the rest of the way. There was much more snow back south. Thankfully the general Milwaukee area did get nearly as much snow as Northern Illinois. A couple of the intersections in Franklin, Wisconsin, were bad and in need of plowing. I fishtailed a little bit on one turn but made it to Root River in one piece, but very late. I had wanted to be there by 8 a.m. but did not arrive until 9 a.m.

The parking lot at Root River was full when I arrived which I found promising. I saw Randy loading in and he and I were the last dealers to arrive. I brought out 11 display cases. I could have fit one more but I was having trouble fitting them all into my car.

Set up took a while. Customers started to arrive and were glued to my display cases as soon as I filled them. There is a grandfather and grandson team that I met in Oak Creek a while back. They were itching to look at some cards. I let them go through the display cases on their own while I finished setting up. Otherwise, I would not have been able to complete set up. My pal Dave McDonald had previously vouched for this pair so I felt comfortable letting them go through the cases on their own.

When I finally finished setting up, the pair had pulled a large pile of cards. After they paid, I had already more than doubled my total take from last month at Root River -- Woot! Despite the snow, attendance was excellent. I was worried that the Packers loss to the 49er's the night before might deter some folks from coming out. There were a lot of grumblings about the Packers special teams but, like I said, attendance was excellent... so were my sales!

I don't even know what I sold. I was tired out from the Lake Station show the day before and from my scary drive to Milwaukee, so the day was a blur. All I know is that I had a big pile of cash at the end of the day and was pretty freakin' happy. 

Unfortunately, I have conflicts with the Root River show over the next two months and can't make it back until April. Seems like all the dealers had great days. I don't know what was going on but that show absolutely rocked! Can't wait till April!

The sun was out and the roads were all clear for my drive home which was easy peasy. Even the lame ass State of Illinois plows had cleared Half Day Road. 

There is no rest for the weary. I am setting up in Madison at the Sheraton on Saturday, January 29, 2022. Then in Orland Park on Sunday, January 30, 2022. I am leaning toward binders for Madison and showcases for Orland.

The next Oak Creek show is February 5, 2022. Busy, busy, busy. See you in Madison!

Dealer Scott Ziegert showed me this card of Alex Binelas and informed me that Binelas is from Oak Creek, Wisconsin, the location of my famous Salvation Army card show. Scott said Binelas is no longer with the Brewers, I believe he is now with Kansas City.

Pictured above is my Pre-War display case at the Root River show.

One last random photo from the January Root River Show.

Saturday, January 22, 2022, Lake Station VFW, Lake Stations, IN

This is one of those shows where I really like the promoter, really like the venue, really like the dealers, but attendance is off and sales are slow. I am at a loss as to why more people do not attend this show. There are not a lot of shows in the general area and many of the customers, who do attend, come from places far and wide like Michigan and southern Indiana. I do like the fact that I reach some customers here who I do not normally see at any of my other regular shows.

So, I had just three sales. The first was to a collector from Michigan who is working on the 1950 Bowman set and he was taken aback at the amount of 1950 Bowmans I had in my display case. He purchased quite a few along with a smattering of 1951 Bowmans.

My second sale was a 1961 Topps Stan Musial. The buyer was another dealer set up at the show from Crown Point, Indiana. He had quite a few vintage cards on his table at really good prices. I would have dropped some coin with him had I earned some more money. I hope to see him again when I have money in my pocket!

The third sale was to a guy who bought a bunch of stuff from me last month, he purchased my 1965 Topps Embossed Willie Mays. That was it! No other sales! A lot of my regulars did not attend which resulted in a lot of down time. I enjoyed chatting with Mike Slinkman, who predicted the 49er's win over the Packers. 

Mike alerted me to a new menu in the bar consisting of toasted ham and cheese sandwiches and baked mostaccioli. As much as I love a toasted ham and cheese sandwich, I can't do it because I'm lactose intolerant. So I went with the mostaccioli which did not have much cheese in it, instead there were some nice chunks of Italian sausage. For three bucks, it was a great meal!

After lunch, I picked up a flyer from the dealer set up to my left and learned that he is promoting shows in nearby LaPorte, Indiana. I have conflicts for all of his dates. I would like to set up at one of his shows in the future. Bob, who runs the Lake Station VFW show, does not have any future dates currently scheduled.  If he does schedule some dates, I will try to attend.

I love these old towns in northwestern Indiana. There are a few taverns near the highway in Lake Station and I have observed over the past few months that they are packed with customers when I drive by around 8 a.m. One of the taverns is called "He Ain't Here." This is my kind of town!

LaPorte is a little larger than Lake Station and always feels like a trip back into time when I visit there. There is a great old-time ice cream parlor in Downtown LaPorte that I like, along with some great antique shops. I hope to add Northwestern Indiana back into my show schedule soon!

I have some holes in my February schedule and just can't seem to find any nearby shows to fill them. There are so many new shows popping up but they all seemed to be bunched up on certain dates. I wish they were spread out a little more so I could set up at some of them.

One of the dealers at my Oak Creek show, Matt Lambrecht, is putting on a show in Green Bay on May 21. I'm going to give Matt's show a shot. It has been a few years since I last set up in Green Bay. I do love Green Bay, it is a really great town and the area around it is absolutely beautiful. Green Bay is kind of the gateway into northern Wisconsin which is filled with lush forests, amazing country towns and isolated beaches along upper Lake Michigan.

Right now I have February 13 and February 27 open. I don't think I am going to be able to find any shows to fill those slots. March is going to be a crazy month with two three-day shows on the schedule. Then I have a bunch of openings in April that I need to fill up. I am starting to consider driving a little further for some shows in Iowa, Michigan and further down into Indiana. I'll let you know what I decide to do.

Setting up at shows that are more than a few hours away present all sorts of problems, like increased overhead and a lot of time lost driving. I would rather set up closer to home. Though, I have to admit, it is fun doing shows further out because I rarely know anyone at those shows and I get to expose my inventory to a whole new group of people.

Anyway, this past weekend was of the double bill variety with Root River on Sunday. My show report for Root River is coming up shortly.

In the meantime, I have another busy weekend coming up with the Madison show on Saturday and Orland on Sunday. Then we are back in Oak Creek on February 5. Busy, busy, busy!

Saturday, January 15, 2022, Salvation Army Community Center, Oak Creek, WI

While January card shows are generally well attended, there is always that fear of a bad snowstorm to throw a wrench into things. My Oak Creek show is generally held on the first Saturday of the month but that Saturday would have been New Year's day this month. As I stated previously, the Sal was closed New Year's Day and they had another event on January 8, so the first Saturday available was January 15.

I am soooo lucky we held the show on January 15 because Mother Nature roared on January 1, bringing a nasty snowstorm which would have killed the show. Even though I know the weather forecasts are rarely accurate, I kept nervously checking them in the weeks before the show. Initially snow was forecasted for January 15. On the Friday before the show, Ginger Zee was reporting a massive snowstorm that would blanket most of the country. I was concerned.

Luckily, Ginger's storm ended up far south of Milwaukee. We only had some flurries. It was a little cold out but not bad weather for a January card show in Milwaukee. Thank you Mother Nature!!

Attendance was tremendous! Probably the best attended show in the past six months. As Harry Caray would say, "Look at that crowd!" 

Bob, who operates the show in Lake Station, Indiana, was set up at the January Oak Creek Show. I appreciate his efforts in driving all the way up from Indiana. Thanks Bob! Early in the morning we were talking about how we both worry prior to the show if anybody is going to show up. Almost eight years in and I still worry before every show about attendance. 

Thankfully, my worries were quickly abated as piles of customers started coming in around 8:30 a.m. and kept coming and coming. Thank you everyone! Nothing makes me happier than to see the show packed with people, COVID notwithstanding.

I gave myself the space right by the front door. Initially, I was going to set up in the Game Room but we had to block off the back parking lot so the folks coming to the Sal for another event had space to park. I normally load in those back doors when I set up in the Game Room. I was feeling a little run down from my diabetes and did not want to cart my stuff all that far so I gave myself the prime spot by the front door.

PJ was the only dealer to complain about the lack of parking in back, so I gave him a spot by the front door as well. Everybody was happy. In fact, this is the first show I can recall, in about forever, that I did not receive any complaints from any dealers about anything! Everybody was truly happy! 

This was about the most perfect day I could ask for. Of course, a handful of guys cancelled last minute because they claimed they had COVID. A few guys were no shows but I overbooked and we had the place well covered with dealers.

Being the first table in, I had folks buying cards before I could finish setting up. It was nice to see Jason, a longtime customer, who has not been around in a couple of years. Jason purchased a few T205s. Thanks Jason! Scott made the drive from Illinois and purchased a bunch of cards. Thanks Scott! A few new customers purchased cards and things were rolling right away.

Normally, I have two helpers at this show, Jason and Rachel. Jason was out with COVID and Rachel had to leave early. Thankfully, she was able to come out earlier than normal and I was able to leave her at my tables and get everything done that I needed to get done, like collecting table fee from 65 dealers, which takes several hours to complete. I was able to make my rounds and be back at my tables in time for Rachel to leave for her real job. Thank you Rachel!!

It was nice to be out and mingling in the crowd. Such a great crowd at this one! I received a mix report from dealers on their sales. Most said sales were great but a few said sales were slow. I like when dealers who report slow sales also say it doesn't matter because they were having fun. Looked like everyone was having fun.

Big day on the buying front. A new customer said he heard about the show on the radio, which was awesome. I love free radio advertising! He had a box of cards including three T206s. I bought the T cards. The goofy guy from the Buenavista show sold me some 1955 Bowman football. I bought some of Eric's doubles. I picked up a box of 1960's baseball from Bruce. Then I picked up four boxes of cards from Jeff that included vintage from all four major sports. Nice haul!

One minor rant... I have one dealer that removes his name plate at every show and switches tables. It is starting to piss off other dealers and I have to put an end to it. Dealers! You gotta set up at your assigned table. Don't switch out tables! It is not fair to the other dealers. Play nice!

Nothing else to rant about for a change. It really was a picture-perfect day. I had two Sloppy Joe sandwiches, which were awesome as usual. They made a double batch this month because they ran out last month, so I was able to take some home. Thanks Mark!

Mark is the guy in charge at the Sal and I can't thank him enough. He shows up there with me at 6 a.m. and stays well past the end of the show at 3 p.m. He is an absolute superstar and one of the nicest guys I know. I would not be able to do this without Mark and am so grateful for everything he does.

I am also grateful to all of the tremendous dealers, all 65 of them. There are another 50 on the waiting list trying to get in. Be patient guys, I'll get you in... eventually. Most of all, I want to thank everyone who attended the show. We can't do it without you guys! Much love for you!!

Next up is a double bill weekend for me with Lake Station, Indiana, on Saturday, and Root River on Sunday. I'm probably bringing out show cases for these shows. Let me know if you want to see any binders. Have a great week and see you next weekend!!

I am always too busy to chat at the Oak Creek show but will have plenty of free time in Lake Station and in Franklin next weekend. Come on out!

​Below is a photo of one of my favorite dealers at the show Saturday, Jeremy Hasslebring.

Sunday, January 9, 2022, Civic Center, Orland Park

After the Rockford show, I checked the news reports online, and viewed reports stating that freezing rain was going to make travel unsafe Saturday night and Sunday. Later that night, I unloaded my display cases from my car and threw in the bins of binders. My driveway was a little slick but I fully expected the Illinois Department of Transportation to salt the highway for my trip to Orland Park in the morning.

I was surprised when I went out to my car Sunday morning and there was no ice on my windshield. Awesome. I figured the roads would be fine... which they were. While I was driving to the show around 7:30 a.m. and listening to news radio, the newscaster said the roads were a mess and advised everyone to stay home. What? The roads were fine! 

The only ice I saw was in the parking lot at the civic center. I parked, opened the car door, looked down and saw a sheet of ice. I also saw some scruffy bearded guy throwing down salt. I cautiously exited my vehicle and loaded my stuff into the civic center. I wore my winter boots and did not slip. 

I think guys who wore sneakers slipped in the parking lot. I saw one guy hit the deck. Lesson here... don't wear sneakers when there is ice on the ground.

Terry, who arrived at the show long before me, said the parking lot was a sheet of ice when he got there causing his car to slide and hit the curb. I was thinking this might be a good day for me to hand out my business card. Textbook case of negligence on the Village of Orland Park for not salting the parking lot the night before the show. 

Unfortunately, the weather reports and the ice scared off a lot of people. There were several empty dealer tables and we had maybe a fourth of the crowd we had at the last show. I was disappointed because the roads were fine. The only ice was in the parking lot at the civic center and it soon dissipated under salt.

In addition, after having such a great show in Rockford and Saturday, I was expecting a great show in Orland, which turned out to be a dud. It was a wasteland in front of my binders for most of the show. Good thing I brought out the dollar boxes because most of my early sales came from those boxes.

One guy asked if I would discount the cards to 50-cents each. I told him "no." The cards are already discounted at $1, plus I sell them 6 for $5. I've written about this many, many times, yet I am always frustrated with customers who ask for discounts on cards that are already discounted. There were quite a few cards in those boxes worth $5 to $10, I'm not going to sell them for 50 cents. I probably should not sell them for $1. Maybe I should increase the price to $2 each then give some numbnut the cards at a $1 "discount."

The guy obviously knew the value of the cards in the $1 boxes because he bought piles of them and came back a few times with no complaints.

I would like to talk about cheapy box etiquette. Now the guys that regularly go through the binders are very considerate of one another, which I appreciate greatly. However, the guys that go through the cheapy boxes have no manners at all. I think if a guy is standing in front of a box, going through it, making piles, no one else should stick their paws in there. Wait for the guy to finish going through the box -- "take turns" as Mrs. Utne, my first-grade teacher taught me in 1973.

I rarely bring out the cheapy boxes but when I do, there is always chaos around the boxes. I just don't understand. Honestly, the stuff in those boxes isn't that good. No need to fight over junk. There is much better stuff in my display cases and binders. I just brought the dollar boxes this time because I noticed I had extra space on my tables at the last show and I wanted to fill the space. I'm not bringing cheapy boxes to the January 30th show, too aggravating.

Also aggravating was the fact that almost all of my regular customers were AWOL at this show. Stop listening to the weather reports!

If it wasn't for Will and Minnanette, it would have been a complete disaster. Will purchased a pile of 1971, including a bunch of star cards. Thanks Will! He also brought me some breakfast. There is no bigger superstar than Will!

In addition to being my best customer and one of my best friends, Will tells the best stories. I love his stories about serving in the military during the Vietnam War. He was stationed in the south and has so many great stories. He should write a book. 

He told me that his mother saved everything, including his draft papers. He brought some of the papers to show me.

Some of Will's best stories are about his dad, who was a Chicago cop on the 1950's and 1960's. What a character!

One of my favorite stories about Will's dad is the one where he let Will's older brother Ed drive the family car when he was just 13 years old. Will's dad was a big fan of the A & W Restaurants, which used to be everywhere when I was growing up. So, in this story, Ed was driving his dad around Wisconsin and dad asked him to pull over at an A & W.

Neither was aware that a local policeman was in the parking lot and the officer observed the 13-year-old driver get out of the car. Ed then received a ticket for driving underage and without a license. This occurred in 1955. Will's mother saved the ticket, pictured below. What a cool piece of family history!

​Back to my big sales at the Orland show. After Will, long-time customer Minnanette was my next big spender.​

I haven't seen Minnanette in a couple of years. She said she was afraid to come out during COVID. I did not recognize her at first because she lost a lot of weight. She looks great while, I, on the other hand, have gained a lot of weight during COVID, and look a little like Uncle Fester. It is a good look for me.

It was business as usual with Minnanette as she pulled piles of cards out of my binders. I am going to try and put a box of cards together for her to give my binders a rest. I am not a wholesaler so it is difficult for me to sell to resellers like Minnanette. I have a simple system of inventory, I've got star cards, commons and a few cheapy boxes. I've got to figure out how to make a box for Minnanette. There are a lot of guys who just flip cards. They buy in quantity and have boxes ready to go for resellers. I'm just not set up that way. I prefer to sell to collectors rather than resellers.

I think I am going to bring display cases to the next Orland show coming up on January 30. It was depressing sitting there all day with very little action out of the binders.

On the buying front, I picked up a 1957 Topps Roberto Clemente -- Will has already claimed it. I also picked up a pile of 1958 Topps commons and some star cards from the 1960s. It is hard for me to get out of the Orland show without buying cards. I turned down a bunch of stuff because I just wasn't making any money, as result, had no cash to pay for cards.

Rare off day in Orland. Hopefully the weather is better for the January 30 show which will have former White Sox outfielder Carlos May signing autographs. I went through my autograph collection after the show and saw that I did not have a Carlos May autograph. I need to dig something out before the show to get signed.

Up next is my show on Saturday, January 15, 2022, at the Salvation Army, 8853 S. Howell, in Oak Creek, WI. We'll be back to the three rooms plus the hallway filled with dealers. My show has become the largest monthly show in the area. If you haven't been there, come check it out! It has really turned into the best show around. But don't take my word for it, come see it for yourself!

Saturday, January 8, 2022, Rock Church, Rockford, IL

Everybody knows that it is winter and the chance of snow, wind, bitter cold is high. However, the folks that issue weather reports resort to hysteria and consistent false forecasts. I have learned to ignore the weather reports.

All day Friday, I saw the reports calling for freezing rain and slick roads for Saturday. My drive to Rockford on Saturday occurred under sunny skies, a little cold, but a beautiful day for January in northern Illinois.

Looks like there are a lot of others that, like me, don't take these weather reports all too seriously because we had a really nice crowd at the Rockford show. There was some sleet and some light sprinkles on the drive home but nothing too bad. The roads were fine. My drive home was fine.

So after bringing out binders to this show the past two months, I changed it up and placed eight display cases on my tables. I filled the cases with baseball from 1909 to 1968 along with football from 1948 to 1968.

​I was located next to Skip and behind Tom. We have a nice number of vintage dealers at this show now which I think helps me greatly because vintage customers don't want to see just one vintage dealer. There were at least six of us with vintage on our tables. I think the word is getting out that there is vintage at this show. I had some really nice sales.

There was a young guy who bought a bunch of cards from me last month who was set up on this day. Nice guy. He came over and purchased just about all of my T206s. A new customer purchased my 1964 Topps Willie Mays. Skip purchased some 1959 White Sox. A father and son team purchased a bunch of Duke Snider cards, various years. There was another guy who bought a bunch of cards from me last month and this time he spent a good hour at my table and purchased a pile of cards from all years.

While I was helping the one guy go through all of my cases, another guy showed up and asked to see some of my Mantles. Already, I had quite a few guys look at the Mantles but none pulled the trigger. I did not recognize this guy and I assumed he was window shopping like the others. That will teach me! He purchased three Mantles. I was ready to go home but I stayed and sold more cards! Great day in Rockford! My best Rockford show to date!!

I did not buy anything at this show but was able to pay off the cards I bought last month from Terry Hatch. Not much brought to my table. One guy tried to sell me a 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey but I must have a dozen of them and don't need any more.

The local Rockford NBC station stopped by the show and posted a nice little write up on their website. Link to the story below:

Various collectibles on sale Saturday in Rockford | Top Stories | wrex.com

Next Rockford show is on February 12. Don't listen to the weather report!! 

Next up for me is my show on January 15 at the Salvation Army Community Center, 8853 S. Howell, Oak Creek, WI. I am leaning towards a display case set up. I brought binders to the December Oak Creek show. I have a really nice inventory of vintage football cards and want to show it off. I'll probably do two or three display cases of football then one case of basketball and hockey and the rest I'll fill up with baseball, maybe 1960's on.

Hope to see you Saturday in Oak Creek!!

​Pictured below is my offensive line at the Rockford show.

Sunday, January 2, 2022, Woodfield Hyatt Hotel, Schaumburg, IL

Honestly, I was a little disappointed I could not operate my Oak Creek show on January 1st. I knew it would have been difficult to pull off a New Year's Day show and I was a little relieved when I learned the Sal would be closed on the first... but I still wanted to have the show.

I scanned the Beckett Show Calendar for another show on January 1st but could not find any nearby. At least I had the Schaumburg show on January 2nd.

As it turns out, a January 1st show would have been a disaster as we were hit with the first big snowstorm of the season. The roads were horrible Sunday morning on my drive to Schaumburg. I had a very scary drive. Upon arrival, promoter Joe said he was surprised to see me. Well, it takes a little more than some snow to keep me from a card show.

In addition to the horrible state of the roads, it was bitter cold outside. I was hoping to snag a hotel cart for load in but they were all being used. I used my cart to load in but it takes two trips on my smaller cart. 

Doreen saved me from a headache and caught me as I was about to enter the elevator to head on down to the usual spot for the show in the basement. Instead of the basement, the show was in a back ballroom, which I did not know existed. I much prefer that back ballroom than taking the elevator down to the basement.

My tables were located in the middle of the room near the back, split between modern card dealer Steve and a younger modern card dealer. I like the brown velvety tablecloths that the hotel provides. The room looks good, classy.

Set up went smoothly. I brought out eight display cases thinking I had eight-foot tables but turns out they were six footers and could only fit seven cases. I filled the cases with baseball cards from 1909 through 1967.

I was amazed at the nice turn out with such awful roads covered in ice and snow. A few dealers braved the roads from Wisconsin like Josh Brothers and Randy and his kids. A lot of friendly faces at this show like Skip, Karl and Tom, who commented on my Orland blog and the dope who placed his cup of Coke on my table. Mike also commented on that guy as well.

​I received several comments and compliments about my pop-up shops that I ran at my law office in Palatine early last year. I need to plan for another one soon.

While the room was filled with people all day, kind of slow for me. Junior was my first sale of the day. He purchased my Yaz rookie. I sort of think I originally purchased the card from him. I bought a McCovey rookie from him as part of the transaction. My only purchase of the day. As usual, Tom and I were the only vintage dealers.

This has always been a modern show with just one or two vintage dealers sprinkled in. My expectations are always low for this show because the vintage crowd just does not attend. Joe told me our old buddy Andy called and asked if I was setting up but Andy was a no show. Hope to see you this weekend in Orland Andy! Joe told me he went to grade school with Andy.

I was thankful I made that early sale to Junior because sales were slow all day. A new customer, who said he is just getting back into collecting vintage, purchased a few Ernie Banks cards. A few more guys purchased some cards. I can't remember what I sold. I do remember that my old friend Randy purchased some 1957s. I gotta remember to bring the '57 binder for Randy at the February show.

The other Randy, who was set up across from me with his kids, and who came down from Oak Creek, purchased a few cards. Thanks guys! While this is not my worst regular show it does have the most expensive dealer tables out of all of the shows I do so after table fee, I was disappointed with my sales. I must admit, my sales were better than the December show.

I am not sure what to bring out for February. I brought the binders in December and display cases in January. Maybe I'll bring out a mix of display cases and cheapy boxes and binders for the February show, which I think is on Super Bowl Sunday. If any vintage collectors are planning to attend the February show, let me know what you want me to bring out.

The temperature really warmed up after the show and the roads were much better for my drive home.

Up next is a double bill weekend with Rockford on Saturday and Orland on Sunday. I'm thinking display cases for Rockford since I've done binders the past two months. I like to change it up. I'm bringing binders to Orland where I have a lot of table space and need to figure out what else to bring. I'm thinking maybe one display case with basketball and hockey.

Then my Oak Creek show is scheduled for January 15, 2022, at the Salvation Army Community Center, 8853 S. Howell, in beautiful Oak Creek, WI. Dealer tables are sold out as usual. I'm hoping the Oak Creek show starts out with a bang!

See you next weekend!

​Tony