Sunday, April 24, 2022, Civic Center, Orland Park, IL

Back after missing the last March show which conflicted with Strongsville. Easy drive down to Orland on this overcast morning. I think I made it there in about 35 minutes, which might be a new record. I also beat the rain which came down hard shortly after I loaded in.

I was able to snag one of the large green carts for load in but was unable to get one after the show for load out. That large cart makes a huge difference. Unfortunately, there are always one or two dealers that hoard those carts after the show. Kind of a scumbag thing to do.

The group that caused an obstacle loading in a few months ago was back. They were down to just one table this time and placed boxes of worthless junk in front of their table. Of course, they were all standing in front of the boxes that were already out in the aisle, so navigating around them was difficult once again.

I really have to wonder if they sell anything. They have nothing but worthless memorabilia on their table like Starting Line-ups and bobble heads not even in the boxes. At the end of the show, I did not see any empty space on their table as they continued to clog the aisle while I tried to load out. It did not look like they sold a thing. With such a large group hovering around one table, it appears to be more of a social event than a sales event for these folks. I wish they would move to the side hallway. Better yet, why don't they skip the show altogether and hold a garage sale? 

Anyway, I owed Terry some money from that last Lake Station show. Unfortunately, I spent all my cash the day before at Root River. I brought my checkbook and was able to pay Rich table fee with a check but Terry wanted cash. Then he sold me some more cards, digging an even deeper hole. I really did not want to run to an ATM and was hopeful that Orland would work its magic and bring me some cash!

Set up across from Terry was my good friend Carl, who offered to loan me some cash to pay Terry. You guys know Carl? He sells modern cards and sets up with his grandson. Extremely nice folks. Any day that I get to hang out with Carl is a great day!

Though, Carl, Terry and I had hoped to sell some cards on this great day but our prospects did not look so good as I observed rain through the window and empty aisles throughout the room. Slow arriving crowd. I am not sure if it was the rain or what. The few folks that did enter the show around 9 a.m. hovered around Record-Store Steve's table. Terry noted that the vintage crowd always starts out with Steve.

Terry was next to me at this show and he expanded to two tables and had a large selection. On the other side were two young guys selling modern cards. One guy had asked for one of my chairs. Normally, I would have handed him a chair but at this show, unlike any other show, I have a crowd sitting behind my tables, so I could not part with any of my chairs.

There seemed to be a chair shortage at this particular show. I saw a guy lift one of Terry's chairs while he was away from his table. I dubbed the chair thief Happy Quacky, because he is always so freaking happy, like overly happy, bordering on creepy and maniacal. He had just one table but placed five chairs behind it. Why did he need so many chairs behind his table? 

Back at my tables, I brought out all of the binders again. I also put out the dime box and the two 50-cent boxes. Yesterday at Root River, I realized I could have used a second display case so I brought out an extra case to Orland.

Nothing in front of my tables to start the show but the wind. Pat Quinn soon filled the void. He seems to be the first guy at my tables at most every Orland show. I always enjoy chatting with Mr. Quinn, who is one of the godfathers of sports collecting in the Chicago area. I am pretty sure his card shop was the very first in Chicago and may be one of the very first in the country. I think I mentioned many times how I begged my dad to take me there as a kid in the 1970's. I always enjoy talking with Mr. Quinn and am glad to see him in good health.

Other than Mr. Quinn, I spent most of the early part of the show watching the clock turn and staring at the door waiting for my pal Will to walk through with some coffee. Sitting there, waiting for Will, my mind started to wander. I thought about Orland shows of old. What ever happened to Tom Ward? Anyone know? I haven't seen that guy in a good 10 years. How about Larry Weiss? I haven't seen Larry since the pandemic hit. Anyone talk with Larry Weiss? Like Will, Larry used to bring me a nice warm cup of coffee. I miss those guys!

I was a bit tired this morning and my mind started to play some tricks. These lyrics popped into my head:

Waiting for the break of day
Searching for something to say
Dancing lights against the sky
Giving up I close my eyes
Sitting cross-legged on the floor
Twenty five or six to four
Staring blindly into space
Getting up to splash my face
Wanting just to stay awake
Wondering how much I can take
Should I try to do some more?
Twenty five or six to four
Feeling like I ought to sleep
Spinning room is sinking deep
Searching for something to say
Waiting for the break of day
Twenty five or six to four
Twenty five or six to four

Then like clockwork, Mr. Will walked through the door with Chicago as his soundtrack! What a sight for sore eyes and for a gullet desperate for some warm flowing coffee. Joe had the coffee this morning. Will had the sausage mcmuffins. I love those guys!!!

The party started with Will and Joe! Thanks guys! Customers finally made it to my tables and eyes were down, binder pages were flipped and stacks of cards started to form. Yes, there is magic at the Orland show!

While sales started out slow, by 10 a.m., sales were steady for the next several hours. I ended up having a really nice day and was able to pay Terry that cash I owed him.

Let's see, what the heck did I sell? Mark, who is a big fan of this blog, was one of my first customers. Thanks for the kind words Mark and thanks for the purchases! My guy, who has been slowly building a 1975 Topps baseball set at my tables, brought a pile of lists this time around and pulled out a pile of cards from many different years.

Rick purchased some 1960 Topps and some 1972 Topps baseball. Thanks Rick! My guys who recently finished a 1972 Topps set at my tables started on a 1973 set. Thanks guys! My one guy who only buys out of the cheapy boxes found some cards in my 10-cent box. Thanks for the three crumpled up dollar bills! Phil, who purchased a pile of 50-centers at the Woodstock show purchased another pile at the Orland show. Thanks Phil! I was also able to give Phil his cards that he left with Gene at the Woodstock show.

One of my regulars pulled out a nice pile of cards then had to race out to an ATM to pay me. He took quite a while. I almost put the cards back but got distracted and he finally made it back to pay me. Another regular purchased my 1959 Topps Norm Cash rookie. Terry purchased my 1966 Topps Jim Palmer rookie.

Duke, who I met at this past Fanatics show, purchased a 1966 Topps Pete Rose. He was disappointed that I did not have more display cases out, like at Fanatics. As I was telling Terry, my buyers at the Orland show are set builders and they want to see the binders, so that is what I bring out. I did have two display cases out. Maybe I'll add a third next month.

Gil pulled a nice stack from the 50-cent box. Mike found some hockey cards. A new customer, that Carl sent over, found some 1960 Topps cards for his set. Then I saw a guy who was a regular customer years ago. Of course, I can't remember his name but I do remember that he was a principal at a local grade school. He remembered me and said he was working on his 11th 1970 Topps baseball set! He needed a Bench and a Ryan to complete the set. I did not have the cards. He later came back and showed me some that he purchased elsewhere.

Will purchased a pile of 1956 Topps stars. He also started a 1969 Topps football set. Thanks Will! It is a rare show when Will is not my best customer. Somehow he got outflanked by another customer, who I have not seen in months. Of course I do not remember his name but I do remember that he is a Chicago firefighter. He purchased a ton of cards! Mostly basketball and hockey.

Another customer, who reminded me that we met at one of Fred Copp's shows years back, found a pile of cards as well.

I saw a guy wearing a T-shirt advertising Lottie's Pub, one of my old hangouts in Chicago. We got to talking about Lottie's and another popular Chicago bar called the Lodge, where he used to work. Somehow we got on the subject about how the neighborhood around Wrigley Field has changed since the 1970's. Another customer chimed in and said he grew up in the neighborhood back then and said that the Cubs hired him as a kid to clean uniforms after the games. Some pretty cool stories.

Speaking of stories, one of the best story tellers around, Paul P., graced us with his presence and treated us to a bevvy of old neighborhood stories. Paul needs to write a book. You guys ever read anything by James Farrell? He wrote the Studs Lonigan trilogy in the 1920's or 1930's. Paul was a Studs Lonigan-type character growing up on Chicago's South Side and has many similar stories.

Great sales, great company, and great stories equals a great day in Orland, despite the rain and slow start. Will, Joe and I capped off the day at the sub shop. Now I am looking forward to the next Orland show on May 15.

In the meantime, come visit me in Madison on Saturday or Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Sunday. Next Oak Creek show is May 7th. Be there or be square!

As I stated in my Root River blog, I forgot my phone at work on Friday so was without a camera. No photos from the April Orland show. Below are some photos of my Orland purchases.

Saturday, April 23, 2022, Root River, Franklin, WI

As I started to unload my car in the Root River parking lot, PJ pulled up with a bag of Mickey D's. I tried to load in and set up as quick as I could to follow PJ's lead and go get myself a bag of Mickey D's. McDonald's is less than a block away from the show. I was able to get an Egg McMuffin and some much needed coffee before the masses entered the show.

Shortly thereafter, I was busy and stayed busy most of the day. I brought out all of the binders, one display case, the 10-cent box and two 50-cent boxes. As you all know, I am really bad with names. Quite a few guys, who I regularly see, purchased some cards and, of course, I can't remember anyone's name. One of my regulars purchased my 1959 Topps Mays/Snider card. Another regular, who I know from the Oak Creek show, purchased some football cards. He said this was his first time at the Root River show. I'm glad he came out!

A couple of my Madison regulars made the trip to beautiful Franklin, Wisconsin, and one guy purchased some 1959 Topps baseball while the other guy found a bunch of stuff in a number of books. Thanks guys!

Another customer, who I met at this show back in February, found some 1952 Topps cards. Kevin and Rich purchased a pile of cards. Thanks guys! Jim pulled a bunch of cards out of my Braves binder. Thanks Jim! Eric found some cards. Bruce about cleaned me out of 1965 Topps star cards. Thanks Bruce! Robin found a bunch of cards.

Sales were pretty good, not quite like the February show, but good enough where I went on a buying spree. I was really surprised at the availability of cards to purchase. I don't think I bought anything at the February show. I was able to purchase a stack of Philadelphia football and some 1977 Topps Cloth Stickers from Jeff. Robin brought me a stack of 1960's football, both Topps and Philadelphia. Not much price negotiation on these cards because the prices were good.

One customer offered me a small pile of 1959 Canadian Football cards. He wanted an offer but I have never seen so many of these cards at once and was unsure what to offer. We decided he was going to research the value then offer me a price at the next show.

One of my Madison guys offered me a box of 400 cards largely filled with 1959 Topps and 1968 Topps. There was a handful of stars and high numbers. He wanted $400, which would have been a buck a card. I looked over the cards and did not think I could sell a large number of the cards for at least a dollar. I'm trying to buy for resale where I can make a few bucks on the deal. I countered at $300. We settled on $325. I appreciate the deal!

I rounded out my purchases with a nice stack of 1971 Topps baseball from Eric that included a Dave Concepcion Rookie PSA 5. Thanks Eric!

So I ended up spending just about every penny I made at the show on these purchases. After buying Eric's cards, I had just one dollar left. Eric came over and spent $20, so I was able to go home with 21 bucks. Woot! Thank Eric!

Once home, my wife promptly took the 20, I was left with one dollar... but I had a good time and am very happy with my purchases!

The next Root River show is on May 22. PJ and I are debating on whether to set up at the June Sports Spectacular. I think I have mentioned this before but traditionally the June Spectacular is a lousy show. I'm only considering setting up because the March show was really great and we are in some crazy times for the hobby, so there is a chance the June show could be alright. I also have that weekend open, so it could work. I am still a little hesitant because table fee is $400 and I have had shows where I dropped $400 on the table only to earn $400. I'm not sitting in Rosemont for three days to only make table fee! I don't know, this is a tough call!

​So I forgot my phone at work on Friday and could not take any photos at the Root River show. Instead, I've got some images of my purchases.

I have a crazy weekend coming up with the Madison Show on Saturday, April 30, 2022, and a show in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for Sunday, May 1, 2022. So Madison is a two-hour drive then after the show in Madison, I'm heading to Cedar Rapids which I think is close to a three-hour drive from Madison. Then after the Cedar Rapids show I have a nearly five-hour drive home! What was I thinking?!!!

Well, here's some of my reasoning: I have been having a tough time trying to pair the Madison show with something else so I have been checking on Iowa shows because I figure Madison is about an hour drive to the Iowa border.

So I saw this Cedar Rapids show pop up on Facebook and booked it without really thinking it through. Besides the long drive, another problem is there is a bigger show in Des Moines that same day. I think that Des Moines show might kill the Cedar Rapids show. I probably should have booked the Des Moines show but that would have added an additional hour to the drive. Gawd, I hope there are some vintage buyers at that Cedar Rapids show. If not, I may be on the road home by noon!

Reminder, my Oak Creek show is coming up soon on May 7. I've got Dorsey Levens, Craig Newsome and Shannon Clevelle signing autographs along with 77 dealers and 122 tables -- it should be an extravaganza!

Do I have any blog readers in Iowa? If so, please come out to Cedar Rapids on Sunday!!!! It has been about 10 years or so since I last did a show in Iowa. I am sort of looking forward to it. Should be different!

This was a double bill weekend. Orland blog coming soon.

More photos of my Root River pick ups:

Saturday, April 16, 2022, St. John's Church, Woodstock, IL

Aahh, no Lowball Lonnie, no Mopey Mitchell, no Mr. I Got, just a pleasant day in beautiful Woodstock, Illinois. I have to give out props to all the dealers at this show (well, except for Gene).

The dealer to my right offered to move both of his tables down so I could have more room. Much appreciated. The dealer to my left was set up for the first time and was a happy camper. I think he took Gene's harassment in stride. If you ever set up at a show with Gene, expect some harassment. I first met him at Corky's old Elgin show and dubbed him the "Snarky Guy." He is as old as dirt and just as snarky as ever.

My sales were better than last week at Lake Station but not quite as good as Rockford or even my last show in Woodstock in February where I sold a 1973 Topps complete set. I did not bring out any complete sets this time around. I had one table plus a card table for space and was able to get out most of my baseball binders and most of my cheapy boxes.

​The cheapy boxes were quite a hit. Phil, who I know from the Orland show, pulled out a nice stack from my dollar box. Then Gene came over and gave me a couple of cards Phil left over there. Hopefully, I remember to bring them to Orland next week and give them to Phil.

Kevin purchased a pile of 1964 Topps baseball. Thanks Kevin! A new customer purchased some 1967 Topps baseball. Another new customer about cleaned out my 1977 Topps baseball binder. Lots of set builders at this show which was really nice. Another new customer found a bunch of 1975 Topps baseball in my nearly depleted binder. He said he is just 11 cards away from completing the set.

The cheapy boxes got quite a work out. I think it will be awhile before I bring them out again. I need to reload them. Speaking of fans of the cheapy boxes, has anyone seen Larry and Carol? I don't think I've seen them anywhere this year. Hope they are alright!!

One dealer jokingly asked if I had any vintage cards.

I enjoyed chatting with Mike from the Rockford show, young Nick who sets up at my Oak Creek show, and my pals Lou and Donny. Great seeing everybody.

I did not purchase anything. The only card I was offered was a 1952 Bowman Mickey Mantle PSA 6 for $11,000. See photo below. I really enjoyed looking at the card but did not have 11 grand in my pocket. Cool card! In purchase related matters, I was able to pay off Larry for some cards I bought from him at the last Schaumburg show. It is always nice to catch up on my baseball card debts.

Curtis, the promoter, gave me a set of rules for the show. Good idea. He said he is tired of dealing with dead-beat dealers. I can relate! What a pleasant guy that Curtis is and he runs a real pleasant show. I enjoyed myself Saturday. I really appreciate everyone who purchased cards from me in Woodstock.

Unfortunately, I can't make it back to Woodstock until July. I have conflicts the next two months including a show in Green Bay in May and the Sports Spectacular in June. A shout out to Tom Mularz who gave me his table for the April show. Thanks Tom! I do not have a regular spot at the Woodstock show and am never certain I can get in. Though, Curtis always seems to find me a spot. Thanks Curtis!

Up next for me is Root River in Franklin, WI, on Saturday, April 23, then Orland on Sunday, April 24. I'm bringing out binders again. I should have my 1960 Topps baseball binder reloaded and ready to go by Saturday.

Have a great week everybody!

Sunday, April 12, 2022, Lake Station VFW, Lake Station, IN

As I previously stated, this is a weird show because two guys, Bob and Darren, run two different shows at the same venue. Now I have done Bob's shows but this was my first Darren show. While the room was filled with dealers, I found it interesting that there was only one other dealer that I recognized from Bob's show. As far as the crowd, seemed pretty much the same as Bob's show.

Like Bob's show, I was plagued by Lowball Lonnie most of the day. This guy is such a drag. As usual, he pulled out a bunch of cards from my binders and asked for them at less than half of my sticker price. Um, no thank you. I would rather keep them. Then he placed some back and still fought me on the price.

He was much more talkative on Sunday than at past shows. While he was trying to get a huge discount, he told me he lost his job but then his story changed three or four times. I doubt he lost his job. He was playing the sympathy card in an effort to get me to give my cards away. He told me he has no one. He lives alone. He doesn't have a wife or kids. Sad, sad, sad. Well, this guy is just a sad hustler. I need customers like Lowball Lonnie like I need a hole in my head. I wish he would just go away.

I had a total of four sales and made just a hundred bucks on Sunday. I was the one having a sad day, not Lowball Lonnie! One of the other sales was from another regular I have dubbed Mopey Mitchell. The other two sales were from good customers. One of the other guys is working on vintage football sets and I know him from the Orland show. He also came out to my pop-up shops in Palatine last year.

The last customer was a younger guy who drove up from Indianapolis and purchased a nice stack of 1968 Topps baseball. One of the reasons I like setting up in Lake Station, Indiana, is that I usually get some customers who drive up from southern Indiana or from Michigan. I don't get these customers at any other show. So I am probably not done with Lake Station and will set up again at either Bob or Darren's shows when one fits my schedule. Both Bob and Darren are really great guys. I also like meeting these people from Indy and from Michigan. If I could just get more of them to attend the show!

Not just the southern Indiana and Michigan collectors, I really need to figure out a way to get any vintage collectors to attend the Lake Station shows. There were at least four vintage dealers at the show on Sunday. We had an excellent selection of vintage cards! Jim and Terry were set up across the way from me. There was also one other vintage dealer, who I have never seen before but he had a really nice inventory. Jim has become the Mantle Man with a number of beautiful Mantles in his display case. Terry had deals galore on his tables. Such a waste that there was such a great selection of vintage in the room but few customers for our wares.

Actually, when I saw Jim and Terry when I arrived in the morning, I thought that maybe Darren's show drew more vintage customers than Bob's show -- Not! I did purchase a pile of cards from Jim and Terry, making the trip worthwhile. Thanks for working with me guys!

I am not sure when I'll next be in Lake Station. I have conflicts for both May shows and the guys have not listed any shows for June yet. I only have one open date in June which is on the 5th. If either Lake Station promoter schedules a show on June 5th, I'll probably be there. I just need to figure out how to lure in more vintage buyers!

Food report: I enjoyed a $3 hot dog with chips from the bar. The bartender called me "honey." I love that!

Not much else to report. Card shows are very Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Some shows are filled with vintage buyers while others hardly have any. There is a new show in Wisconsin, around Milwaukee, that fits some dates in my schedule but I am worried that there won't be any vintage buyers at the show. I have to think about that one.

Next up for me is the Woodstock show on Saturday, April 16th at the St. John's Church, 401 St. John's Road. The Woodstock show is the smallest one I do but I have had some really nice shows and some not, so very nice Mr. Hyde shows. My last one there was excellent. Quite a few of my blog readers and Facebook followers came out for me. I really appreciated the support and hope to see you guys again on Saturday!

What do you want me to bring out to Woodstock? Right now I am planning to bring out all of my baseball binders. I also have several autograph binders that I pulled out of circulation a few years ago because sales were very slow. I am thinking about reintroducing one of my autograph binders. The auto binders are freakin' cool. I've got some really neat stuff in there, including dozens of signed old Sport Magazine pages.

On the other hand, I might pull an audible and bring out the cheapy boxes, instead of the binders. I'm not exactly sure yet. The Woodstock show gets a lot of the same customers I saw last week in Rockford, who just went through all of my binders. I might want to change it up for Woodstock.

There are a lot of things I like about the Woodstock show. Curtis, the promoter, is awesome. Such a nice guy. He usually provides doughnuts or muffins for the dealers. The other dealers that regularly set up at this show have real nice inventories, mostly modern cards. Nice folks, all of them. There is just a pleasant vibe in the room.

​Speaking of vibes, more along the frenetic variety, don't forget that my next Oak Creek show is coming up on May 7 and will feature autograph guests Dorsey Levens, Craig Newsome and Shannon Clevelle. This will also be my largest show to date with 77 dealers and 122 tables! It is going to be a mad house! I invite everyone to attend except Lowball Lonnie! Does Lake Station have a Lonely Hearts Club where we can send Lonnie?

Anyway, see you Saturday in Woodstock!

Saturday, April 9, 2022, Rock Church, Rockford, IL

It was pretty cool that my good buddy Dave McDonald was set up next to me at the Rock Church show. Prior to the show, I told Dave that this is an excellent show for vintage. Luckily, he was able to secure a table as there was a last-minute cancellation.

Dave seemed to have beefed up his inventory and had a lot of nice vintage cards out on Saturday. Others commented to me that they were impressed with the quality and condition of Dave's cards. Dave has a terrific eye and always stocks beautiful cards. When he gets off grade cards, he flips them to me. If you are looking for high-grade raw vintage, Dave is your man.

Beautiful vintage cards aside, for some reason, the second Saturday of every month is filled with card shows in the general Wisconsin-Illinois area. I have not been to any of the others but I am fairly certain that the Rock Church show is the best of the bunch. This show always has a large number of dealers with an incredible variety and is well attended.

I get a lot of vintage set builders at the Rock Church show. I brought out all of the binders and was busy most of the day. It looked like Dave was busy as well. I'm hoping he is back next month.

I had many sales but most were of the small-dollar variety and overall sales lagged behind last month when I had higher end stuff out. I'll probably do something a little different for the May show.

On the buying front, I did not purchase anything but ended up making a trade with Terry Hatch. Now, I love Terry, I have known him for years but our trades never work out in my favor. He gave me a small box of 1971 Topps high numbers along with some 1972's that included a handful of high numbers. In return, I gave him a stack of 1972's that included stars and mostly high numbers.

Dollar for dollar, maybe the trade was even but I figure in the time I spent pricing the cards and the fact that those spots in the binders are now empty. If I don't receive money for cards, I look at it as a loss. I hate having my binders wiped out when I receive just cards and not any money in return. It just feels like a complete waste of time for me, considering the effort I put in sorting, pricing and inserting cards into the binders. I am just not a big fan of trading.

Like I said, quite a few guys did actually pay for some cards. I appreciate you! Thank you to everybody who spent some money at my table!

I did get offered some cards. A young guy had a box of 1990 Topps. No thank you. An older guy had some unique slabbed cards that featured a 1941 Play Ball card with a cut signature below, all in the same slab. He had three or four of them and wanted $80 a piece. The cards were commons and not in very good shape. They were 15-dollar cards at best. I figured the autographs were worth about $15 to $20. I also dislike cut autographs. I like to see the original item that was autographed. Cutting out an autograph from a photo or even a note card leaves it less desirable, in my opinion. Anyway, I would have been a buyer at $40 but not $80. He said they were selling on eBay for $100. I doubt it.

I watched Dave pick up a 1959 Topps Bob Gibson Rookie SGC 4.5. I thought the card was priced too high. Though, that card seems to be rising in value. The guy offered me some cards as well but I did not feel I could make any money at his prices. He did buy some cards from me. Thank you!

I would like to thank Phil Bucaro for throwing a wad of duct tape at me. I was impressed with the speed and accuracy of Phil's arm. He hit me right in the numbers from across the aisle. Nice throw for old guy! It is always great to see Phil and Skip. Love those guys.

Now for the piece de resistance -- 15th & Chris Burger Food Truck. Oh my! When John, the promoter, told me there was as food truck outside serving burgers, I pictured the run-down crappy food truck that showed up at the warehouse I used to work at in Chicago back in the day. No sir! This was something special.

15th & Chris serves up specialty burgers cooked fresh in the truck. They had seven or eight different burgers to choose from. I went with "The Wrecker," that featured bacon, sauteed mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, onions, mayo, blue cheese, and the house spicey sauce. Delicious! I was covered in goop while eating that thing but did not mind. Also, the parmesan fries were awesome. Made my day!!

I can't say enough about John and Mike and the Rock Church show. These guys do an absolutely phenomenal job. They have scheduled a second show in Janesville, WI. The first one is May 29. See flyer below. I've reserved two tables. The show is the day after the May 28 Madison show so I think I'll just spend the night in either Madison or Janesville. Should be a good time.

Next Rock Church show is May 14. Up next for me is the Woodstock show at the St. John's church on April 16. I'm trying to figure out what to bring out. The binders have not been doing as well as I would like these past few shows. I might shake it up for Woodstock. I am currently working on my 1960 Topps baseball binder. If I can finish the reload by Saturday, I'll bring out the baseball binders. I only have one table at the show. If I do not finish the reload, I think I will bring out cheapy boxes. Hope to see you Saturday in Woodstock!

Don't forget my next Oak Creek show is May 7 and I've got three former Packers signing autos including Dorsey Levens, Craig Newsome and Shannon Clavelle. I am not sure how the Oak Creek show can grow any larger but the May 7th will be my largest to date with 77 dealers and 122 tables. Autograph guests will be in the Chapel.

Below are some photos from the Rock Church show. Enjoy!

Sunday, April 3, 2022, Hyatt Woodfield Hotel, Schaumburg, IL

My Oak Creek show throws off my sleep pattern every month leading to a difficult morning for the Schaumburg show. I do enjoy the easy drive to this show but do not enjoy load in as the show is in the lower lobby and requires a couple of elevator rides with my cart. I hate waiting for elevators!

Nonetheless, Joe, the promoter does an excellent job with this show. He placed me in the same spot as last month in the main room. I observed that he added dealers to the side hallway which helped keep the doors behind my table closed the whole show.

Several guys, who read this blog and follow my Fat Daddy's Facebook page, showed up for me. Thank you guys!

I brought out binders again. Randy purchased some 1955 Topps. Ed purchased a bunch of Cubs photos. Bill purchased a nice stack of 1955 Bowman football. Some younger guys purchased a bunch of stuff and had a lot of questions. I enjoyed explaining the history of vintage cards and they seemed appreciative of the info. Several other new customers purchased some cards. 

Overall, this is a tough show for me as I was the only vintage dealer set up on Sunday. Lack of vintage dealers equals lack of vintage customers. I am going to keep setting up and try and build a following here. However, I am unable to attend the May 8th show because it is Mother's Day and the June 12 show which conflicts with Orland. I'll be back for the July 10th show.

While sales were much slower than the Oak Creek show, I did make some nice buys. One of the young modern dealers sold me a stack of raw vintage largely from the 1960's. He said he looked up the comps and said he was offering them to me below comps at $75. I don't think he matched up the condition on the comps because $75 seemed high for the stack. I offered $50 and he agreed. I think this was my first deal with one of these new-style young dealers and their "comp" system.

I also bought a ton of stuff from Junior, including a 1958 Topps Mickey Mantle, pictured below.

Nice crowd but not as large as last month. Not a whole lot to report. I spent a lot of time sitting around. So, as I previously stated, I won't be back to the Schaumburg show until July 10th.

​In other news, the kind folks at the Wisconsin Sports Collectors Association are back with a new location and a schedule of shows for the rest of the year! See flyer below.

Unfortunately, I have conflicts for a bunch of the WSCA shows. I can't make that first one on April 24th because I'll be in Orland. I will be at their June 26th show and am looking forward to the new venue! My friend John Gehring has been talking about this Roma Lodge in Racine for years. I am looking forward to finally getting there. Plus, auctioneer Paul Costanzo said the Lodge will be providing meatball sandwiches for sale. I'm in! I am a huge fan of meatball sandwiches -- just had one for lunch!

​In the meantime, I'm setting up this coming Saturday, April 9, 2022, at the Rock Church show in Rockford, IL. I'm bringing out binders and will include my hockey binders. I'm finishing up reloading my 1973-74 Topps hockey binder and should have it ready to go by Saturday.

Then on Sunday, I'm setting up at the Lake Station VFW, in Lake Station, Indiana. Now this show is very confusing. There used to be one show a month at the Lake Station VFW, operated by Bob and Darren. Unfortunately, the guys had a falling out and now each runs there own show at the same location. I don't think Bob scheduled an April show yet but Darren has one on Sunday, April 10, 2022, and I am slated to set up. I have done a few of Bob's shows but this will be my first Darren show. I do not know if there is any difference between the shows. I'll find out Sunday. I plan on bringing binders to Lake Station as well. Hope to see you this weekend!

Reminder, my next Oak Creek show is Saturday, May 7, 2022. Take care everybody!

Saturday, April 2, 2022, Salvation Army Community Center, Oak Creek, WI

This may have been my smoothest show to date. Really no issues to report. I was up at 4 a.m. and made it to Oak Creek before 6 a.m. I had to rearrange quite a few tables which was hard to do, I broke a sweat. I am much too old and out of shape to be moving tables around.

Once I had everything figured out, I opened the doors to the dealers around 7:30 a.m. I placed myself in Fellowship Hall again. I kind of like that spot. I was able to add a bunch of new dealers who had to bring their own tables. I noticed I had a few spots open in the front hallway and will add a couple more dealers there next month.

Huge crowd! You guys are awesome!! We had more than 660 people through the door. Many folks kindly gave more than $1 to the Salvation Army. Thank you! We raised more than $800 for the Salvation Army in addition to the proceeds from the concession stand. Thank you everybody! Those funds will help a lot of people in need! 

Speaking of the concession stand, Mark reported that he brought more food this month because everything sold out last month. Everything sold out again! I was able to grab a Sloppy Joe in the morning then a brat in the afternoon. Good stuff.

I am amazed that folks notice when the Sloppy Joes are cooked differently. A bunch of people told me they tasted a difference in the Sloppy Joes last month. I was unable to taste any difference at all. This month, the Sloppies were back to the original recipe and everybody was pleased.

A big thank you to the Salvation Army's Mark Lewis who keeps the show running smoothly. His wonderful wife Debbie volunteered to work the front door. Then there were three more volunteers in the concession stand. We appreciate you guys!!

I noticed a lot more people browsing in Fellowship Hall this month. The gym, Fellowship Hall and the Game Room were crowded all day long, even when it started to snow outside. It was nice to have the front hallway open again. I was real happy to have Troy Kinunan from MEARS Auctions along with his son Troy Jr. set up in the hallway.

This was my largest show to date with 71 dealers and 111 tables. I limit all dealers to two tables each, many don't like it, but it enables me to get more dealers into the show. My waiting list is still at 60-plus.

​There was so much cool stuff at the show! See below.

At my tables, sales were solid. I was there for about an hour and a half in the morning before I had to take off and collect table fee from the dealers. I really appreciate the dealers that came by my table early to pay me. Saves me a ton of time.

I'm trying to remember who was at my tables buying cards. There was Robert, Jeff, Jim, Jerome, and many regular customers, whose names I can't seem to remember. One regular customer showed me a photo of his mancave. Oh my! He had shelves upon shelves of autographs, cards and memorabilia on display. May be the coolest display I have ever seen!

On the buying front, I bought a stack of cards from Jim. I also purchased a stack of late-1970's basketball from Jeff. Then a guy came by who was looking for some help on how to sell his collection. He pulled out a baseball signed by the 1931 New York Giants. I directed him to Troy from MEARS for the ball. Then he told me he had a large amount of cards from the 1980s. I sent him over to Jeff Talamantez. 

Shortly afterwards, Jeff sent him back to me because he pulled out a pile of vintage rookie cards including a Stan Musial Rookie and a Bob Gibson Rookie. I asked him for a price on the cards and he would not give me one. He said they were very valuable. Jeff and I think he looked up the prices for PSA 9s, not the off-grade raw he showed us. I think he is gravely mistaken -- which happens, oh, so often. People see the graded listings and don't look at the sold raw listings on eBay. They also often fail to match the listings to the condition of their cards, so they think they have much more value than they actually do. I'd be surprised if I do any business with this guy down the road.

Anyway, my helper for the day was Jason, who was unable to attend the past few shows. I was happy to see him and really needed his help because Rachel had to work at her real job. Congratulations on the promotion Rachel!

I owe Rachel's dad an assist on helping me make one of my best card purchases ever at this show. A guy walked in with a binder containing a near-set of 1951 Bowman baseball. He said he inherited the cards from his grandfather. He had the Mantle and Mays slabbed and sold them at the recent Sports Spectacular in Rosemont, IL -- damn! But the remaining cards were pretty good like a Whitey Ford Rookie, Nellie Fox rookie, Ted Williams, Yogi Berra, Duke Snider, Bob Feller, Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella and more. See below.

I could not pay him fast enough for the cards. Only problem was, I did not go home with any money but I can't really complain because I can't stop flipping through this binder of cards. Initially, I was thinking about trying to finish off the set but in reality, I'll never get the Mantle and Mays. I did a quick search for the Mantle in the eBay sold listings and the cheapest one was $14K.

I was in a pretty great mood on Saturday because we had such a great turn out, all of the dealers showed up and they were all fantastic. I sold a lot of cards and bought those '51 Bowmans. Woot!

But, man, was I tired!! No rest for the weary because after the show I went to look at long-time customer Wally's collection. He told me he is turning 80 and figures it is time to sell. I don't know. If you enjoy collecting, why stop? I think a better way to go is to keep on collecting and leave some instructions for your family on how to properly sell off the collection when your time is up.

I just can't see myself ever stopping -- I enjoy it too much! I really need to take my own advice and write down some instructions for my wife and kids just in case my time comes up sooner than later.

I would really like to see my wife and kids sell my cards on eBay because I think that way they will make the greatest profit. Though, I don't think they will spend the time needed to sell the cards on eBay. I'm thinking, I'll give them a second option and leave them with a list of auction houses like Wisconsin's own MEARS and Just Collect. There are so many auction houses out there but the others kind of pick and choose from collections as to what they will sell. I think MEARS and Just Collect will take collections as a whole and sell them off.

Plus, I just do not trust many of the other auction houses like PWCC and Heritage. The troubles with PWCC are well documented. I am probably one of the few that doesn't like Heritage. My issues with Heritage stem from the fact that they allow their employees to bid which I think is a huge conflict of interest. Heritage will also loan funds to certain bidders so you are essentially bidding against the house. I also have had a terrible time with Heritage shipping items I have won at auction in a reasonable time.

It would be great to start a discussion on how to help families liquidate collections. There are many options out there. What do you guys think?

Anyway, it was really nice to go over to Wally's house, see his collection and to chat. He has an interesting collection. He has binders upon binders of NFL quarterbacks, dating from the 1950's to now. Much of the collection features modern cards. As a vintage dealer, I don't have buyers for this stuff. He also had some binders of old Braves and modern Brewers. He wants to sell everything at once for about $2,000. There are about 20 binders. If anybody, is interested, let me know and I'll pass your information on to Wally.

What a great day! Thank you everybody for making my card show one of the best around! You guys are awesome!

Well, I don't think we are going to be able to fit any more people into the building but things will be tight next month, May 7, when Nick from Midwest Sports Buffet is bringing in former Packers Dorsey Levens, Craig Newsome and Shannon Clavelle to sign autographs.

Originally, we were thinking of placing the autograph guests on the stage in the Game Room but after seeing the crowds in there on Saturday, I may place them in the Chapel, next to the hallway.

The May 7th show should be another chart topper. Hope you can make it! Pictured below are more photos from the April 2nd show.

Stan the Man! Love this guy!!

​Thanks again everybody! See you at the next Oak Creek show on May 7th!!