​Sunday, April 23, 2023, Civic Center, Orland Park, IL
 
A big thank you to everyone for checking in on me. I am feeling much better. I am learning how to manage these new meds. The best news is that my blood pressure is coming down. I should be good to go.

I had a bit of a crazy weekend. My son decided, at the last minute, that this was the weekend he wanted to go check out Michigan State University. So we set out Friday night for East Lansing, Michigan. We drove for about two hours and stopped for the night in St. Joseph, Michigan.

We had kind of a late start Saturday morning and did not arrive in East Lansing until 1 p.m. The Michigan State University campus is difficult to navigate. We drove around for a while before we parked at the football stadium and spent the next several hours walking around.

The university’s website contained a self-guided walking tour which we tried to follow. Whoever drew up the maps for the tour was on some wacky tobacky. The map did not follow the actual layout of the campus. We made do the best we could.

Unfortunately, most of the buildings were locked and we could not view any of the classrooms. However, in a way, it was comforting to see the doors locked after the recent mass shooting on campus. Such a beautiful, tranquil place. It is hard to imagine some lunatic walking around with an automatic weapon shooting innocent kids. It is such a messed up world we live in, I can't even....

So I am concerned about my son attending Michigan State with that history. I did not see any police or security personnel on campus, which was troubling.

Overall, I really liked the campus and wanted to enroll myself. I did feel safe there. Beautiful red brick Victorian buildings with three-lined streets and walking paths. A large river runs through the middle of the campus. There were quite a few folks fishing in the river.

Next to the campus is a ton of housing, shops and restaurants. My son won’t have a car here so it is nice to see that he can walk to anything he needs.

We stopped at the gift shop on campus and purchased a couple of Michigan State sweatshirts. I got a little choked up when my boy put on that sweatshirt. It is going to be awfully hard to let him go in the fall.

We arrived back home late Saturday night. I was up early Sunday morning for the Orland show. I arrived at the Civic Center around 8 a.m. It was nice to see that the Orland Park Little League was back. It was a cold day for a game.

Easy load in and set up. Late arriving crowd. I was a little concerned early on. The place eventually filled up and sales came often.

As usual, Andy was one of my first customers and he found some cards. Mike was back after a few months off. He purchased some cards out of my newly reloaded 1963 Topps binder. Chris was there, fresh off his trip to Dallas and to Arlington to see a Rangers game. Chris has been to a ridiculous number of major league baseball parks. Sounds like he had fun in Dallas.

Will and Joe arrived early with some much-needed grub. Thanks guys! Pat stopped by. I haven’t seen Pat in quite some time. I sold a large pile of 1959 Topps to a customer I met last month. A new customer, who had some assistance from his wife, pulled a large pile of 1977 Topps baseball. My regular hockey guy found some cards. The lady who collects White Sox from the 1970’s founds some cards.

A customer I met years ago at the Fred Copp shows purchased a nice pile of cards. He asked about Fred. I haven't seen Fred in quite a while. Fred, if you are reading this, it is time for you to book a show! 

I sold a 1961 Topps Whitey Ford to a new customer. Then I chatted for a while with Mike S., then with Pat Quinn. I love talking to Pat Quinn who told me about collecting Exhibits when he was a kid. I assumed he grew up on the South Side of Chicago but he told me he grew up on the North Side near Belmont and Western avenues. He said there was a little corner store that had a machine where you could place a penny and receive a single Exhibit card in return.

Pat told me as he tried to put together the complete run of Exhibits as a kid, he convinced the shop owner to show him the box of cards before he placed them into the machine. That way he could pick out the cards he needed. He also said that he purchased quite a few Exhibits at nearby Riverview Amusement Park, now long gone. I’ve talked to quite a few old timers who said they purchased their Exhibits at Riverview. Many of these guys even call the cards “Riverview Cards.”

Pat said, as he got older, he began to get his Exhibits autographed. He said that by the time he sold his collection he had more than 300 different autographed Exhibits. Wow. I would have loved to have seen those!

Quite a few guys purchased cards today. Will was the big winner, purchasing a near set of 1970-71 Topps basketball. Will had quite a few memories associated with those cards. He recalled attending Chicago Zephyrs games at the old International Amphitheater.

I had a real nice buying day, purchasing a 1960 Topps Johnny Unitas, a 1957 Topps Warren Spahn, a pile of non-sports cards from the 1950’s and 1960’s, and some 1972 Topps football high numbers.

Will’s grandson Charlie surprised him by attending the show with a buddy. Will is such a proud grandpa, it is so nice to see him and Charlie together.

Me, Will and Joe capped off the day at the sub shop. We all tried the fried shrimp today and it was awesome! Wow! I was not expecting it to be so good!! This may be my new main meal at the sub shop.

After lunch, I had to race home to pick up my daughter from work. Later, my kids went and got us all Portillo’s for dinner. I went with the ribs. I then started to reload my 1979 Topps baseball binder before calling it a night.

Another great weekend in the books. A big thank you to Rich and crew for operating another excellent show. I had to laugh at Rich early in the morning as he tried to direct some new vendors to their tables. Like me, Rich places a name tag on all the tables. He was frustrated with some vendors who ignored the name tags and plopped down wherever they wanted.

The table to my right does not have a regular vendor. I am treated to a new guy each show. The guy this month was one of the ones that plopped down on the other side of the room when his table was clearly labeled next to mine. He was kind of a weird dude, I thought. He was selling Nascar. I don’t think Nascar sells well at card shows. He spent most of the morning on his phone with the speaker blaring. He was gone by noon.

Anyway, I did enjoy the day. Next Orland show is May 21, 2023. I plan on bringing out all of the binders again. I should have that ’79 binder completed by then. I noticed that my football binders are really hurting. I might have to take a month and focus on refilling football. I am starting to make a little headway on the baseball but have a long way to go. I plan on reloading 1977-78 Topps Hockey after I complete the ’79 baseball. Good stuff coming soon!

Next Oak Creek show is coming up fast on May 6. As usual, I am all sold out of dealer tables. It should be another packed house. I am starting to consider getting an autograph guest for one of my summer shows. I will keep you posted.
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In a rare move, I do not have any shows scheduled for this coming weekend. Honestly, I need the break. These new meds are tiring me out. I might set up at the Wilmot Flea Market on Sunday. I was not able to make it out there last year due to the weather. So if the weather is nice, I might just be out there. Have a great week everybody!

Friday through Sunday, April 14-16, 2023, Best Western, Strongsville, OH

It is that time of year again -- Strongsville time. Dave and I set up at the Strongsville vintage show every year. We hit the road on Wednesday and stopped off near New Buffalo, Michigan, so I could water the plants at my parents' place while they were away in Florida. Afterwards, we went over to the Four Winds Casino, a first for us both. I started out on video poker and was able to play for a while but not win any money. I lost $40 before I moved over to the slots. 

There are so many new-fangled slots these days. I just wanted an old-time classic slot machine. Found one and proceeded to win. Woot! I was up and down for a while. When all was said and done, I was up $315. Woot! Dave did not fare as well. 

We spent the night at my folks' place and hit the road around noon Thursday. It was nice starting out from Michigan and being past that crazy Chicago traffic. Smooth sailing most of the way. We did get stuck in some construction traffic just inside Ohio and sat for a while. 

In traffic, I started to feel my blood sugar drop. Once we were back moving, I pulled over and ate some Burger King, hoping to kick up that blood sugar. Dave took over driving and I progressively started to feel very ill. 

I am on some new meds for high blood pressure and they require a lot of water. I tried to hold off drinking water because I did not want to have to stop to pee. Big mistake. I got extremely dehydrated and had Dave take me to a hospital.

At the hospital, a nurse checked my blood sugar and saw that it was extremely high, probably due to the candy bar I ate. The nurse then placed me back out in the waiting room where I suffered greatly. I was surprised they did not give me any fluids or insulin. After an hour or so, I asked Dave to leave. I realized I was not going to receive any treatment at this hospital. Note to self, don't get deathly ill in Cleveland.

We got to the hotel and I passed out. I felt better Friday morning but still a bit under the weather. I decided to hold off taking some of my new blood pressure meds until I returned home. No health issues the rest of the weekend.  

Dave set up his stuff Thursday night while I was passed out in the room. On Friday morning, Dave slept in while I set up my stuff. 

The dehydration and blood sugar issues left me a little loopy and I had a tough time concentrating and setting up. Set up took a very long time. 

It was nice to see my neighbors Tim and Susan Payne. I love those guys and look forward to hanging out with them in Strongsville every year. I also have a nice family set up to my right. I forget their names but they are very pleasant and excellent neighbors.

SGC was supposed to be set up across from me but severe weather in Fl0rida forced them to miss the show. Which is just as well because I was worried their customers would block my table. 

In SGC's place was a dealer I know from Minnesota wh0 even once set up in Oak Creek. He is a nice guy with unique stuff and it was great having him there. 

Also while setting up, I got to catch up with Mike, my local pal, who regularly sets up to my left, across the aisle. Mike told me there was a competing show this weekend which may have caused our attendance to be down a bit. Still nice crowds all three days but not as packed as previous shows.

I also saw long-time pal Mark Smith. As I told Mark, everyone in Milwaukee and Chicago still asks about him. You guys will be pleased to know that Mark is doing well but down to one or two shows a month and not traveling our way. Maybe one of these days we can lure Mark back to Milwaukee! Mark was set up with his right-hand man, Hockey Greg. 

When I finally did finish setting up, Dave arrived, and I had a real nice sale to a dealer. Nice way to start out the show! The VIPs entered into the room around 11 a.m. Both Dave and I had steady sales all day.

I was able to take a few walks around the room and was blown away by what I saw. There definitely was an uptick in the quality of material since last year. A lot more big cards like '52 Mantles, '33 Ruths and Gehrigs, and Cobbs galore. 

The dealer down the end of my row, actually attended the show as a customer but was able to obtain the Minnesota dealer's original space when he moved over to the SGC spot. This dealer was from Atlanta and told me he is a huge fan of the Georgia Peach. He borrowed a display case and filled it up with Cobbs, pictured below.

Some other observations from walking around... more modern cards on display than I have ever seen at this show. Paul Fusco is turning over in his grave. Modern cards look so wrong at the Strongsville show. I also saw one display case of Pokémon cards. It is a shame that Leland's, the show's current promoter, will not forbid modern cards from appearing at this show. In my opinion, modern cards should not be allowed. The fact that this is a "vintage" show makes it unique from any other show in the country. I don't have to drive five hours from home to be at a show with modern cards. 

The modern cards looked out of place. I would be amazed if any sold during the show. The vintage was so strong that it was hard to even notice the modern. I hope Leland's does not add any full-on modern dealers for next year. It will be the beginning of the end of this show, if they do.

There also were four auction houses set up including Leland's, Mile High, Memory Lane and Heritage. My recommendation is to move the auction houses out into the hallway and leave the main room for card dealers. It is not a big space and seems like a waste to have the auction houses there.

Rounding out the show was JSA who was busy all weekend authenticating autographs. There were a large number of autograph guests and, thankfully, they were all located in additional rooms out in the hallway.

The real celebrity here and the real reason people come to this show is the massive vintage sports card inventory. This show may have surpassed the National in terms of high dollar vintage cards. There was some fire in the room! 

I observed a new hockey dealer in the room who had three Bobby Orr rookies in his case. This was the first Strongsville show where Uncle Dick was not set up. I know he sold his inventory but he still came out last year to help out the guy who took over his operation.

I saw Wisconsin's very own Jason Galleske walking around. He was set up at the other show which did not start until much later. He seemed to really like the Strongsville show. 

I had an excellent day selling cards on Friday. The show ended at 7 p.m. and I was tired! I ate a hamburger earlier at the concession stand for lunch. For dinner, I went out with Dave, his brother Frank and nephew Shawn. Frank and Shawn live locally and it was nice to meet them.

Shawn recommended a place called Timber Lodge... my kind of place with woodsy decor and steaks and chops on the menu. I dined on some delicious prime rib. I could see the family resemblance between Dave, his brother and nephew. I really enjoyed the dinner conversation.

As you know, I am a music aficionado as well as a vintage sports card addict. I spent my teenage years hanging out in punk rock clubs in Chicago in the early to mid-1980's. Though, I was not old enough to go to the very first one that opened around 1976 and was called La Mere Vipere. I also never met anyone who went to La Mere Vipere. It is the stuff of legend. Frank went there... often. I enjoyed the stories.

Turns out Shawn is a 1980's punk rock fan and I enjoyed telling him about all the bands I saw back in the day. What a fun night!

Back at the hotel room, I fell asleep watching "16 Candles," which is a bit more nostalgia for me as half my high school from 1982 is in the movie, filmed in the Chicago area. Dave had never seen it. I think he enjoyed it. He didn't seem to mind me calling out the names of all the extras. 

I woke up first, showered and had some crappy hotel breakfast before opening up for the day. Sales were much slower on Saturday. I spent more time chatting. I saw a few more people from home like Tommy Larson and Steve Wilson. Tommy arrived Saturday morning, shopped around then went to the other show. He came back later in the afternoon. Steve was carrying around a box that looked like it contained a pizza. He showed me the contents, not a pizza, instead, a stack of large autographed photos featuring a boatload of Cubs like Ryne Sandberg and Andre Dawson. Steve drove out to get the autographs authenticated by JSA. He also purchased my 1961 Topps Billy Williams rookie. Thanks Steve!

The show ended at 5 p.m. and Leland's threw a pizza party for the dealers across the street at an ice rink. Dave and I grabbed a few slices and a couple of local brews. Dave and I are admittedly pizza snobs. We have so much amazing pizza at home in the Chicago area. It is hard to eat pizza outside of Chicago. It never tastes good. 

The beer, on the other hand, was excellent. We enjoyed hanging out with Mike, always a highlight of the Strongsville show. After the pizza party, we went back to the hotel bar for more beer and some wings. The wings were excellent.

Again, I was first up on Sunday. I was too late for breakfast. I ended up with a hot dog from the concession stand. Like pizza, I am also a hot dog snob. That was not a good hot dog.

Sales again were slow. I think Dave and I were the only ones in the room with slow sales. Everyone else reported excellent sales. I seem to have a lot of shows where Friday is excellent and Saturday and Sunday are slow. I am not sure what I can do to fix that. I thought I had some nice material in Strongsville. Quite a few folks went through my stacks of cards but did not find the ones they needed.

With just one six-foot table, it is really tough to figure out what to bring out. I am not sure if Dave is going to come back next year. If not, I'll take over his table and place out my graded cards along with some binders.

I had a lot more low-ballers than in years past. I know my prices are reasonable. I could have had a lot more sales if I was willing to give my stuff away. Not!

On the buying front, I tried to negotiate with a sickly old man who had some low-grade post-war stars. He was much too high. I was able to purchase a 1960 Topps Mickey Mantle from another guy, my only purchase of the weekend. 

Overall, sales were better than the Sports Spectacular, so I will take it! This show is always fun. I have such a great appreciation for the dealers here and their amazing cards. There is no other show quite like this one. I think Leland's is really missing the boat by focusing their marketing on their autograph guests. They do not realize what they have here. 

I also think the Cleveland area does not realize what they have in this Strongsville vintage show as I thought attendance should have been much better. Bottom line, this show has an amazing group of vintage dealers with amazing inventories. It is a sight to behold.

Anyway, I will be back next year. In the meantime, I am setting up in Orland Park on Sunday, April 23, 2023. I just finished reloaded my 1963 Topps baseball binder. I started on my 1982 Topps football binder and may have it completed by Sunday. I am bringing out all of my binders Sunday. I will also have two display cases. Hope to see a nice crowd in Orland!

​Next Oak Creek show is coming up fast on May 6. I am way behind responding to messages. I hope to get to them by the end of the week.

​Below are some more photos from the Strongsville show. The first photo is of dealer Tim Payne, right. Tim has an amazing inventory. He operates a show in Des Moines and will also be set up in Rosemont this summer for the National. All the cards pictured below are from Tim's cases. Check him out!

Saturday, April 8, 2023, IBEW Local 364, Rockford, IL

I was set up next to Gary George and behind Dell. My pal Willie was hanging out with Dell. It is always nice being set up next to good friends. 

First off, a shout out to my buddy Skip, who made his return after battling some serious health issues. Great to see you Skip! This could have been a Fred Copp show circa 2002 with me, Skip, Dell and Willie. Those were fun days. I miss those shows. 

Back in Rockford, kind of a weird day. It started out slow then really picked up. I was mobbed mid-morning then everyone disappeared. Once the afternoon hit, I had a big crowd at my tables again. But then the crowd dissipated and I went a while without a sale. I was going to pack up but ended up chatting with my neighbors when a guy wearing a U of I hat started going through binders and ended spending a good hour at my table pulling all sorts of cards. He ended up being my biggest sale of the day. Woot!

When I finally did start to pack up, a customer asked to see a binder I had just put away. I pulled out the binder and ended up having a nice sale. Woot! Overall, sales were not quite as good as the last time I set up in Rockford in February but still good enough to make it worth my while. The Rockford show is generally pretty good for me.

On the buying front, I purchased a small pile of 1955 Topps All-Americans from Willie. I love those cards and have a decent stock of them right now. All I need to do is get them into the binder... easier said than done!

Speaking of binders, I tried to finish my 1963 Topps baseball binder prior to the show but could not get it done. I should have the '63 binder ready to go by the Orland show on April 23.

Rockford promoters John and Mike are not running another show at the union hall until the fall. In the meantime, they will be having shows nearby in Loves Park and Janesville. I can't make the Janesville show on April 23 as it conflicts with Orland. The mega 200-table Loves Park show is slated for May 12 & 13. I am not sure if I am going to make that one, have some family stuff. I know Gary, Dennis and Mike are setting up so it would be fun to hang out with those guys. I'll let you know soon!

Next up for me is a road trip to Strongsville, Ohio, for the yearly vintage show at the Best Western on Royalton Road. Dave and I set up at the Strongsville show every year. It is one of my favorite shows because it is pretty much ALL VINTAGE!!! The Strongsville show runs from Friday through Sunday, April 14-16. There are also a ton of autograph guests including Rickey Henderson.

The only drawback to the Strongsville show is that I just have one 6-foot table. I am bringing out four display cases that will be jam packed with cards. If you want to see any binders in Strongsville, let me know as soon as possible. 

Next Oak Creek show is May 6. As usual, dealer tables are SOLD OUT and my waiting list just gets larger and larger. Crazy! Willie and I were talking about Oak Creek. Willie was set up at my very first show in September of 2014. We both are amazed at how the show has grown. 

Lots of nice comments about this blog at the Rockford show. Thanks for following along! 

​See you in Strongsville!

Saturday, April 1, 2023, Salvation Army Community Center, Oak Creek, WI

I was hoping to get to Oak Creek by Friday afternoon but my stupid printer at my office caused a delay. I was trying to print out a newsletter I give to all the dealers prior to each show but the printer would not cooperate. I was able to print out about half the ones I needed then gave up and left for Oak Creek around 5 p.m.

Once in Oak Creek, I was greeted by Ken, the amazing chef who cooks up our Sloppy Joe for our concession stand at the show. On Friday, Ken was cooking up some fish for a fish fry. He kindly gave Lisa and I some and, oh, man, was that good! Some of the best fish fry I ever had.

Mark told me later that Ken does a fish fry at the Sal every March for Lent. I am marking my calendar for next year!

While I enjoyed stuffing my face with fish, my main purpose for being at the Sal on Friday night was to set up the show. It is a lot of work. I started moving tables around while Lisa placed dealer name plates on all the tables. The Sal has 80 tables when I need 180. So I have to lay out 100 chairs throughout the building and dealers place their own tables in front of the chairs. Lisa placed name tags on all the chairs.

It took us about four hours, which is a new record. Last month, it took us over five hours. The previous month we were at six hours. So we are getting better and more efficient. We left for our hotel around 10 p.m. We stayed at a Wyndham in Oak Creek this month. Not quite as nice as our usual spot but much more affordable. The room was okay.

We had a tough night because there was a huge rain and wind storm which rattled the windows in our room all night long. We were also closer to the airport and the sound of jet engines rattled the room as well.

Bleary-eyed, we made it to the Sal at 7 a.m. I am always amazed at how many dealers are already there waiting for us. I tell them not to arrive until 8 a.m. Though, this month I told some of the new dealers to be there at 7:30 a.m. I am going to try to open the doors for dealers at 7:30 a.m. for now on. With 130 different dealers, it has been difficult for everyone to arrive at 8 a.m. and load in at once.

I gave the building a once over, to make sure everything was still in place. I also took some time to place some signs around the building. I opened the doors for the dealers around 7:30 a.m.

I forgot to load in my stuff on Friday night and had to load in like everybody else. I brought tables, like most dealers but did not need them as I took Steve Zinn's spot because he cancelled Friday afternoon. To avoid having open tables or spots, I don't give myself a location until the morning of the show. 

I had four or five dealers cancel within three days of the show which is always difficult because, even though I have a large waiting list, those dealer like more time to prepare for the show, few are ready to go with just a day or two notice prior to the show. So it is a bunch of work on my side contacting dealers right before the show. I was able to fill all the spots.

However, on the morning of the show, I had five dealers that did not show up. No calls, texts, Facebook messages... nada. Goodbye to those dealers, they are not welcome back. One dealer who cancelled Thursday around 6 p.m. is pissed off at me because I placed him back on the waiting list for May. 

I have said this many times and I will say it again. Once a dealer reserves a spot, they are responsible for that spot whether they show up or not. Cancelling Thursday night does not leave me enough time to fill the space. Another dealer who cancelled on Friday, totally understands and paid me for his space. He will be welcomed back. The other guy has to go to the end of the wait list.

Speaking of the wait list, it continues to grow. I can't seem to get it down, even though, I was able to add ten or so guys from the wait list for this show. 

Anyway, set up was relatively easy. No issues to report. Sales were brisk at my tables. Robert purchased a pile of publications. Thanks Robert! One of my long-time regulars purchased some 1961 Post baseball.

I brought out all of the baseball and basketball binders. I really wanted to get that 1970-71 Topps basketball binder out. One of my good customers pulled a nice pile of both the 1969-70 and 1970-71 basketball books. I hope to have 1971-72 Topps basketball reloaded in the next month or so.

I wish I could sit at my table, sell cards and chat but I have to spend a large portion of the show collecting table fee. Many dealers are kind and understanding and make an effort to pre-pay or come to my tables to pay me. I am tossing around the idea of bumping up table fee for dealers who fail to pre-pay.

On the buying front, not much found its way to me. I was a little disappointed because I have had some really great buys at recent shows.

On the attendance front, we topped out at 910. I was hoping to break that 1,000 barrier but to no avail. Though, I am really proud that we have topped over 900 people at the last three shows.

The show was abuzz. I observed lots of purchases, trading, negotiating and the like. It seemed like everyone was having a good time. About half of the dealers reported excellent sales while the others reported sluggish sales. My sales were much better than the March show.

I think some of the dealers' prices are just too high. I also think those with sluggish sales could increase sales by simply placing a price tag on their top loaders. Most customers don't want to have to ask for a price, they want to see one on the card.

On the food front, Lisa and I dined on Sloppy Joe as soon as the concession stand opened. Later, we both had some brats. Good stuff!

​Not much else to report. It was a nice smooth show. I thought it was cool that many show promoters were set up including Tim and Lorena from Lake Country Cards and the Oconomowoc show, along with John and Mike who operate shows in Rockford, Loves Park and Janesville. Nick, who operates the show in Bridgeview, Illinois, had a table. Bob, who operates a show in Lake Station, Indiana, had a table and PJ, who operates the South Milwaukee show had a table. I also saw Eddie from the Darien, Illinois, show walking around. Lastly, I ran into Tyler who runs a quarterly bobble head show in Milwaukee. Thanks guys for setting up and attending the show!

I think a lot of folks have been complaining to Mark about the parking situation. There is not much parking at the Salvation Army but there is a huge lot across the street at Target where folks are welcome to park. 

Mark is brainstorming and trying to come up with additional parking. I will keep you posted.

It was another great show in Oak Creek. I really appreciate the support!! Next show is May 6, 2023. A lot of dealers who were absent at the April show will return for May. Also, I should be able to insert five or six new dealers from the wait list. 

Next up for me is the Rockford show on Saturday, April 8. I plan on bringing out all of the baseball and football binders. Quite a few folks in Oak Creek were disappointed I did not bring out the football. Well, come see me in Rockford where I will have all of the football binders.

Thank you everybody. It was a fun day in Oak Creek!