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GREAT SHOW AT INDIAN LAKES IN BLOOMINGDALE, ILLINOIS

5/28/2012

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Sunday, May 27, 2012, Indian Lakes Resort, Bloomingdale, IL -- So I had this really bizarre dream last night. In the dream, my family was living in a large apartment somewhere in the city. On this particular day, I woke up, got ready for work but for some reason, I was unable to make may way to the office. The car wouldn't start so I went to the bus stop but the bus never came. I ran into someone I knew, we went back to my apartment and my wife brewed up some coffee. We sat around. Slowly more and more people started to come over. Eventually, the apartment was wall to wall people. At some point, David Spade (Joe Dirt) joined the party. People started to get rowdy and the apartment suffered a thrashing. So I started kicking people out. The first guy I tossed out was David Spade. Then the throngs of people remaining simply ignored my efforts to get them to leave. I called the police. I woke up and got ready for the card show. I need a psychoanalyst to explain the meaning of this dream.

Anyway, today's baseball card destination is Bloomingdale. I can't remember the last time I was at Bloomingdale. Seems like ages ago. Bloomingdale is not particularly close to my house. It took me about 45 minutes to get there, though I did stop for an Egg McMuffin and some coffee. When I arrived around 8:15 a.m., all the other dealers were already there and most were even set up. There were even some customers already in the room. The show starts at 9 a.m. Didn't anyone else have a weird dream and need to stop off for sustenance and coffee? Seems like I'm always the last to arrive and last to leave.

Anyway, I ran into my friend Larry in the parking lot. I've known Larry for a long time. Like me, he loves vintage cards. He's always coming up with stuff I've never seen before. Years ago, he brought me a 1930's era Wheaties card, which was the first time I had seen one of those. I have been hooked ever since. These cards are oversized and cut from the back of a Wheaties cereal box.  All the greats from the Depression era are in the sets like Lou Gehrig, Mel Ott, and Jimmy Foxx. The best thing about the Wheaties cards is that they're the most affordable cards from the era. You can find a Rogers Hornsby, that wasn't cut very well, for 15 to 20 bucks, unlike his Goudey card, which even creased up is tough to find for under $100.

Larry was kind enough to help me load in, which was much appreciated. Sales began shortly after I began to set up, so I didn't finish setting up until 9:30. Corky bought some 57 and 58 Cubs. Larry and I did a cash and trade deal where I picked up some really cool Mecca Double Folders and a 1956 Topps Jackie Robinson in exchange for a pile of '53 Bowman colors. A new customer pulled some packs out of my 25-cent bin. Another new customer purchased a 1973 All-Time Home Run Leaders card. A gentleman, who I met a few weeks ago at Wolff's, purchased a pile of stuff including some 1973 and 1974 Topps football. A new customer pulled a large pile of cards from my 1968 binder. A regular picked up some '54 Bowman commons and some some '69-70 Topps basketball. Another regular, who I first met at the Easter show in Hoffman Estates and who has quickly become one of my best customers, purchased some 1971s, 1972s, 1952s and 1977 baseball, along with a 1959 Topps Willie Mays. Another regular purchased some 1977 Topps football.  To cap off an excellent day, Willie picked up some 1954 Bowmans to send out for autographs. I tried to write everything down as people were paying for cards but I had a crowd around noon and I'm sure I forgot some things.

On the buying front, I purchased a pile of 1970s Cubs from Ted. I also made a nice buy on some 1955s, 1965s, 1975s, 1960s baseball and some 1981 and 1986 football. Though, my favorite purchase of the day was a large pile of autographs from Willie. Buying autographs is tricky. It's much too easy to buy a fake. Willie is one of the few autograph dealers that I trust.  Willie loves autos as much as I love vintage cards. He does autos 24/7 and is the most knowledgeable person I know when it comes to autos. I picked up some COOL stuff today. Most of the autos are on images cut from old newspapers and sports magazines.  The photos of the ball players are unique. I picked up a variety of guys like Richie Ashburn, Yogi Berra, Bob Feller, Rocky Colavito, Joe Pepitone, Al Kaline, Harmon Killebrew, Whitey Ford, Stan Musial, Orlando Cepeda, Mike Shannon, Herb Score, Jungle Jim Rivera, Early Wynn, Ernie Banks and Fergie Jenkins. I was originally thinking that I'd give them to my wife to put up on eBay but they're just too cool. I don't know if I can part with them. I may sell a few of them, like Yogi Berra because I already have several Yogi autos. But others, like Andy Pafko, who I have multiples of, are on such unique photos that I want to keep them. My autograph collection just got a serious upgrade!!

Overall, a terrific day!! I couldn't be happier!! My sales far exceeded expectations and I picked up some great stuff. This was one of my best Bloomingdale shows to date. I can't wait until my next show in Bloomingdale on June 24. Oh, and thanks to Corky, who pranked me with some 1960s Philadelphia football cards. He offered to sell me a few cards. I took the cards, looked at them and observed that they were in beyond horrible condition. I gave them back to Corky, who held them up and tore them in half and laughed while he said "I just wanted to see your expression when I tore them up." That was pretty funny.

Next week, I'm driving down to St. Louis for the Two Hearts Show.  Willie Wilson will be signing autos. I haven't been to Two Hearts since November and am looking forward to the show. The Two Hearts Show is excellent. I'd be a regular if it was closer to home. That six-hour drive is killer. Though I get to hang out with my buddy Andy along with Tony Schaefer from Monster Cards. If Sunday's show goes well, I may head back down for the July show. I finished reloading '54 Bowman baseball and '62 Topps football last week. I started on '55 Topps baseball and may also get '55 Bowman baseball done for Sunday's show. I'm looking forward to another excellent show! 

A big thank you to everyone who came out Sunday to Bloomingdale. I really appreciate you!! I always get energized after a good show like that and will have a sorting and pricing frenzy all week long in preparation for my next show. I know I have some regulars reading my blog down in beautiful St. Louis and I hope to see another great crowd at Two Hearts!! Cheers!!!
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Great show ... if you sell bobble heads

5/21/2012

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Sunday May 20, 2012, Serb Hall, Milwaukee, WI -- As I was loading my bins of cards into the hall around 8:15 a.m., I was greeted by my good friend Andy, who is in town visiting his mother.  Andy lives in St. Louis and I stay at his place when I set up at the Two Hearts show down there. Andy grew up on the southeast side of Milwaukee, a beautiful neighborhood on the shores of Lake Michigan. We went to law school together and like to chat about folks we knew back then and our current legal careers. It's always great hanging out with Andy. If he spends any more time with me, I think I'll be able to get him to start on a '56 Topps set before long.

Small crowd today at Serb. There also seemed to be a lot less dealers. The auction wasn't much at all. I did notice a couple of new dealers like Dave Horshack. Dave usually sets up behind me at Gonzaga but I never see him at Serb. He told me he had some extra inventory he wanted to get rid of, so he came out today. Also, the guy next to me was new and had a mix of vintage and modern cards. I really liked the floor lamps he had. The lighting at Serb, like most shows, is awful. This guy had the perfect lamps to light up his tables.

I did have a few sales today. A regular picked up my 1962 Topps Johnny Logan. Another regular pulled some 74s. A regular purchased all my 1956 Topps football cards. Jeff grabbed a large stack of '54 Topps baseball and '73 Topps football. A semi-regular picked up some '77 baseball. A father and son team purchased some '52 Bowmans and a 1956 Phil Rizzuto. Another regular picked up some '72s. A regular picked up some '69 Topps football. A father with his two sons purchased all sorts of baseball, football and basketball cards. They were telling me about a local celebrity golf outing that is going to have quite a few old Packers there like Bart Starr and Lynn Dickey.  They were pulling cards to get signed at the golf outing.

I noticed that the dealer across from me was doing a brisk business with bobble heads. Over the years that I've been setting up in Milwaukee, I've noticed that bobble heads are really popular. This is something that is unique to Milwaukee, at least in my experience, because I haven't really seen a whole lot of bobble heads anywhere else. Which also got me thinking that if you collect bobble heads, you have to have some serious space to display them. I'd love to see some displays!! Send me photos of your displays at abrandongordon@hotmail.com. I'll post the photos here.

The last guy at my table today asked me if I was blowing out my cards.  My first thought was, why would I blow out my cards? I know the show today is kind of dead but that doesn't mean I gotta blow out my cards. I told him I'd make some deals if he spent a few hundred bucks. So he started making some low-ball offers. Thanks, but no thanks.

On the buying front -- nada, nothing, zilch.  Nobody offered me any cards today and I didn't see anything on the other dealers' tables that interested me.  While I had customers at my tables all day, attendance was definitely down as were sales. So goes it at Serb Hall, which is one of the shows that you never really know how it is going to go. The promoter PJ has been giving dealers an extra table these past few shows.  He told me today that in order to get the extra table in the future, dealers have to contribute five items to his live auction. It seemed reasonable to me at the time but as I thought about it after the show, I don't know anything about the auction. How does the auction work? I'm guessing a part of the auction proceeds goes to the house. I'm going to have to get some more details before next show. I'm also not sure what to put in the auction. Seems like most of the stuff in the auction is absolute junk, like lots from the '80s and '90s. I don't really have that type of stuff.

This is also the last Serb Hall show until August. Even though sales and attendance were down today, I'd still set up if PJ had shows in June and July. I've got some regulars that make the show worth my while. So now I have to scramble to find shows to replace Serb. I'm also not sure if I want to set up at the August show when there are going to be two months without a show. I think skipping two months puts this show on the backburner for customers. Collectors are just going to forget about it. PJ did the same thing last year and I skipped the August show. I talked to a couple of dealers who went and they told me it was a disaster. So I probably won't go back to Serb until September.

Next week I'm heading to the Indian Lakes Resort in Bloomingdale, Illinois. I'm finishing up some '76-77 hockey for the show and plan to load up some '54 Bowman baseball as well. I've noticed that I've got 100 to 200 people checking out my website each and every day and I'd love to see everybody come out to Bloomingdale next Sunday. If you're a dealer, call up the promoter Fred Copp and reserve some tables. He's the easiest promoter to deal with and his table fee is more than reasonable.  If you're a collector, come on out and check out some great cards!! Let's fill up the Indian Lakes Resort on Sunday!!! 
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FEAR AND LOATHING AT WOLFF'S FLEA MARKET

5/15/2012

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Sunday, May 13, 2012, Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL -- Back at the flea market where my vintage addiction began some 35 years ago.  I love the flea market, whether I'm a vendor or a buyer. I haven't set up as a vendor in three or four years because my sales have been decidedly better at baseball card shows. However, there were no shows today because it's Mother's Day and the only place to go was the flea market. I picked up some flowers, a card and a big old balloon for my wife on Saturday night. Hid the stuff in my car and left it for her early in the a.m. on Sunday as I was leaving for the Allstate Arena/Rosemont Horizon (I prefer to call the place by its original name -- the Horizon).  We also had dinner plans with my mother, so it seems I could do the flea market and still have Mother's Day covered.

In preparation for the flea market, I pulled out a lot of junk I don't normally take to shows like dime boxes of 1980s/1990s football, programs, media guides, 1980s/90s wax, posters, photos and complete sets from the '80s. I also brought along my usual array of vintage stars, binders, dime box, 50-cent boxes and dollar box.

I woke up at 5 a.m. on Sunday and made it to Wolff's flea market at the Allstate Horizon Rosemont Gangster Town at around 6 a.m. The place was jammed!! I forget that I needed to get up at 4 a.m. and get to the flea market by 5 a.m.  The Wolff's people stuck all of us 6 a.m. latecomers along the far railing, just a few dozen yards from Interstate 290.  Crappy spot and set up was ugly. I forgot how to set up my tent. When I finally got the tent up, I wasn't sure how to organize the wax and stuff with my regular items. I probably lost some sales early on because I was discombobulated. I ended up using only two small display cases because I had so much other stuff I wanted to get out. I put the display case just under the tent on the east side of my spot. The sun was shining on the cases but I figured it would rise shortly and the cases would get some shade. I was WRONG! The eastern side never seemed to get any shade from the tent and after a few hours I moved the display cases toward the middle of the tent so they could get some shade. At the end of the day, I noticed that some of my top loaders had melted. Ugh! I pulled the cards from the top loaders so they wouldn't get ruined.  Now I have to re-price several dozen cards. Ugh!!

Anyway, long before I learned of my bonehead display case placement mistake, I had my first customer, a guy who told me he lived across the street from the flea market and attended it every Sunday. He enjoyed looking through my star cards and pulled out a 1940 Play Ball Dizzy Trout to purchase. It seemed like a long while before I had another paying customer. So I just sat back and enjoyed one of my favorite flea market pasttimes -- people watching.  Over parts of the past four decades, I've seen all sorts of freaks, weirdos, drunks, skunks and monks at the flea market. There used to be all sorts of gnome people in the '70s and '80s.  They seemed deceivingly short in stature because they would wear their pants hiked up to their armpits and their pantcuffs were well above their ankles. These gnome people always seemed to have buck teeth, facial warts and freaky hair. I didn't see any gnome people today.

In the '70s there were the bell bottom freaks. I didn't see any of those people. There was also a lot of tight clothing in the '70s and I noticed this fad is back. It works for some but is really disturbing to view on others. The '80s had the mullets. I actually used to play a game where I would start the day and guess how many mullets I would see and then count them all day. It's been many years since I could count mullets. Didn't see any today. Actually the crowd today was rather boring. What has happened to all the freaks and weirdos. Where did they go?

As I sat there and pondered the meaning of life, enjoying the presence of far more pretty ladies than I normally see at card shows, a paying customer showed up and pulled a bunch of cards out of my 50-cent box. This customer was followed by another lull and it seemed the only people showing up at my tables were folks who wanted to sell me tens of thousands of cards from the '80s and '90s. I had to explain, ad nauseum, that cards from this era were printed in the billions and aren't worth the paper they're printed on.  There were also people who claimed to have treasure troves of vintage cards and wanted to get ideas on pricing. I've heard this story for decades. These folks never have any vintage cards. I started to think that this must be what life is like in a baseball card shop. I've been considering opening a shop but today I absorbed a nice dose of reality and am placing that idea on the backburner.

Soon it was 9:30 a.m., I'd been set up for three hours and made 20 bucks. Dark thoughts arose. Then I observed that the Wolff's people have increased their staff tenfold since I last set up at this thing -- which explains the large bump up in space fee. I also noticed that several Wolff's employees seemed to be scrutinizing my set up. What the hell? I'm not selling anything illegal. Why are they walking around my booth like they're some sort of snot-nosed building inspectors? Finally, a Wolff's guy approaches me and says I need weights on my tent because it will blow away in the wind. I say WHAT?!! I don't need any weights on my tent! I purchased this stupid tent five years ago, solely to protect my cards from the sun when I set up at this forsaken flea market. In that five years I think I actually set up at Wolff's only one time and didn't have any problems with my tent nor did any Wolff's worker hassle me about the tent.  I also wasn't having any problems with the tent for the three freakin' hours I've been people watching this Sunday morning.

Mr. Wolff's building inspector says I gotta take the tent down or I can give him some MONEY and rent weights from HIM. Whoooa! I say. What kind of scam are you trying to pull? He says it is not a scam but a safety issue. Well, on a windy day, he might have something, but on this day, the wind was calm, temperatures were tepid, and the sun was shining. I wasn't going to take down my tent and let the sun ruin my cards.  So I say, I'm not buying your scam, I've already paid much too much money for the spot, you're not getting any more of my money. You give me a refund on the space, I'll take the tent down and leave. He says no refunds, I gotta take the tent down. He says it's in the rule sheet given to me by the Bozo who took my money at the front gate at 6 a.m., when they stuck me in this crappy spot under the expressway. He says I agreed to follow the rules when I paid the fee.

I say, I sell cards as a hobby and this is how I relax, let off some steam, stress from my real job as a LAWYER. As one who spends an inordinate amount of time buried in statutes and case law, I can confidently declare that I did not legally agree to anything, lest of all placing weights on my tent. What occurred here is that I gave Bozo money, he gave me a sheet with rules I didn't read, then his sister directed me to a crappy spot. In my day job, we call this a contract of adhesion and it has about as much legal weight and authority as a dill pickle, frozen and floating down a river. If you want to contractually bind me to your rules, we must comply with the law of the land, under which there has to be an offer based on prior negotiations, acceptance of said offer and performance as outlined in the contract. Here, there was no compliance with the basic legal rules of contract formation.  I say again to the building inspector, refund my money and I'll leave, case closed. He gets on his walky talky, "Hello, boss, this guy's not taking down his tent, he says he's a lawyer." Blip. Squeaky voice comes out of the walky talky, "I'll be right there."

Short while later, a young guy and girl, who both look like they work in a comic book shop, pull up in a little motorized cart. Young guy gives me the same spiel, though in a manner of some sort of administrative pencil pusher. I say again, I'm not buying your scam. Refund my money and I'll leave. We go back and forth and I'm basically calling this guy a crook and accusing him of running a crooked operation. So he says he'll give me the weights for free but warned me not to steal them. I thank him and promise that I will not flee with his cement weights. The building inspector and the comic book girl attach the weights to my tent. They all leave. Though I notice I'm under the watchful eye of the Wolff's squad for the rest of the day. There was something very high school about this episode. Like when the deans would follow me around the school and try to catch me smoking in the boys room. Well I never smoked in the boys room and I didn't violate any sort of contractual obligation today with Wolff's. Thanks Wolff's people for making me feel like a criminal. At my real job this week, I actually made sure a real criminal stayed behind bars for committing a heinous murder, like I do most weeks.  What did you do this week Mr. Wolff? Prepare to aggravate and annoy unsuspecting and harmless vendors? What's your deal? How and when did you convert your pleasant little flea market into some sort of festering covert expression of a faltering quasi-republic?

Back at the farm, the invasion of spuds subsides and I let the nonsensical stress from the Wolff's idiots pass. I resume people watching. I lazily observe that folks wearing White Sox garb outnumber those wearing Cubs gear by 2 to 1. I also observe that the place is crowded, very crowded, but nobody in this crowd wants my cards. A few guys asked me for stamps, another guy asked for Nascar, while another guy asked for nonsports cards. Nope, nope and no. Hey, what's that? A customer!! A guy pulled a bunch of stuff from my dollar box and my 50-cent box. Woo Hoo!! Hey!! A husband and wife team purchased a 1956 Topps Joe Collins -- the only thing I sold all day out of about 50 binders sitting on my tables. Another guy hit the dollar and 50-cent boxes. A pair of lovely ladies pulled a pile of Cubs out of my 50-cent box and purchased an old Ernie Banks poster. Another guy bought my 1977 Topps Steve Largent rookie and my 1975 Topps Dan Fouts rookie. A guy wearing a Cubs hat pulled some stuff from my dime box. With that, the day was done. I packed up the multitudes of sports junk I had out on display. I removed the controversial weights from my tent and placed them along the guard rail, like I was instructed. Taking down the down went much smoother than its set up. I bid adieu to you Wolff's, and plan to NEVER return. I will break down my sentiments in simple English -- WOLFF'S FLEA MARKET SUCKS!!

Having said that, I haven't given up in flea markets, just Wolff's. Something isn't quite right with these people. I can't wait to get to Serb Hall on Sunday and back into my comfort zone. Thankfully, the Serb Hall promoter PJ doesn't pass out a rule sheet when you pay your fee. I LOVE baseball card shows!! Please picture me now raising my middle finger to Wolff's.
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Orland Park Is A Terrific Place For Vintage Baseball Card Addicts!

5/14/2012

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Saturday, May 12, 2012, Orland Park Civic Center, Orland Park, IL -- Mother Nature must really dislike card shows because she has been giving us some lousy weather lately. Though not as bad as last Sunday in Milwaukee, today's weather in Orland was cold and rainy and just unpleasant to load and unload my gear.  I somehow got to Orland early and there were hardly any dealers in the room. I was even there before Jim, which never happens. No Mark Smith today and I didn't notice any new vintage dealers, which is also unusual. One dealer, who I don't particularly care for, was hovering around my table while I was setting up. He wanted to see what I brought out new this week but I told him I save my new stuff to show my good customers -- which is the honest truth. He can look at it, but he's going to have to wait until after the guys who drop cash with me at every show see it first.  You gotta take care of the guys who keep you in business, and I've got quite a few good customers at Orland. I do my best to bring out cards I think they'll need or that they'll like.

One of my autograph hounds started things off by purchasing some '57 Topps baseball commons to send out for signatures.  Aaron picked up some 1960s Topps baseball.  A regular customer purchased some '75 Topps baseball.  A new customer bought some 1965 and 1980 Topps baseball.  Another new customer bought some 1981 Topps baseball. A regular customer picked up some 1960 Topps.  Chris dug into my 50-cent box and my dollar box.  Dave picked up a pile of cards including my 1958 Topps Roberto Clemente that is really nice except for what looks like a light, inadvertent pen or pencil mark. Dave also bought my '59 Topps Rocky Colavito that is Near Mint.

A new customer pulled some cards out of my 50-cent box. It's been months since I've seen Dennis. He picked up some '65s today. A new customer purchased some cards out of my dollar box.  Joel picked up a really nice 1953 Topps Minnie Minoso.  Rick grabbed a large pile of 1971-72 Topps basketball and my 1957 Topps Frank Robinson rookie. A regular picked up some 1965 Topps New York Mets cards. A father and son team purchased some 1971-72 Topps Trios basketball stickers.  Another father and son team bought some 1978s and some 1976s. Derek picked up some 1970s basketball. Will capped things off with some 1957 Topps baseball.

On the buying front, I picked up a large pile of 1970s baseball high numbers, a pile of 1970-71 Topps basketball and another pile of 1976-77 Topps basketball. I bought a 1959 Topps Sandy Koufax and 1973 and 1974 Topps baseball complete sets. I ran out of money and had to turn down some Mantles that I would have normally bought if I had the cash.  I'm breaking up the sets and posting the '73 stars on eBay this week. I'll eventually place the commons in my binders. I know I told Will that I'd save him the Schmidt rookie but I really need to get some cash flow going. I unfortunately owe a bunch of guys money for cards I purchased recently. So Will, I'll definitely find you another Schmidt sometime in the near future (Sorry!). As usual, I bought more than I sold, even though I sold a lot of stuff today.

The ride home was hell today with road construction on LaGrange Road and the tollway. Ugh. I tried to find some shortcuts but ended up getting lost. On the bright side, this was my first time really driving around the Orland area and I noticed that it is really, really nice. Some huge houses along with some mega-wooded areas. I also saw some mega-mansions in the Palos area. Isn't that where Eddy Curry was victimized in a home invasion? Anyway, a beautiful area. I wouldn't mind getting lost around there again. Though I won't be back in Orland until the end of June because there is no second show this month and John scheduled the first June show on the same day as Gonzaga -- I'll be at Gonzaga.  John actually got a little snippy with me today claiming I should have told him about the Gonzaga show sooner. I thought he was aware of the Gonzaga schedule and he also has more than a month to find someone to take my tables, so I don't feel so bad. I also don't get as easily offended by John as I have in the past because I know he is in his early 80s and running the show is tough for him. I gotta give him credit, I don't think I'll be able to do anything like that when I'm in my 80s, if I even live that long. 

Next week is Serb Hall in Milwaukee. I had a real nice show there last month and am looking for more of the same next Sunday. I think this is the last Serb show until August. I'm bummed that PJ shuts the show down for June and July. I'm not taking those months off, so I gotta come up with some other shows to replace Serb. I'm still debating on doing the Sun-Times show at the end of June. I'd also really like to get out to the National at the end of July-early August in Baltimore, but I don't see how that's going to happen with my day job and all.

Anyway, a great day in Orland. A big thank you to everyone who bought and sold me cards today. Thanks for feeding my addiction! I'm getting ready to price some '54 Topps. I also may do another blog about the flea market I attended on Sunday. I actually dragged my ass out of bed at the crack of dawn on Sunday to set up at Wolff's Flea Market at the Allstate Arena (or Rosemont Horizon for you oldtimers). There's not much to write about since I didn't sell a whole lot but I think I may have enough to put something together later this week. Stay tuned! Also, everyone reading this blog should go to Serb Hall on Sunday!! 
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Waiting Out The Rain Turned Out To Be A Smart Move!

5/7/2012

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Gonzaga Hall, Milwaukee, WI, Sunday May 6, 2012 -- There were some ugly clouds overhead when I entered Wisconsin around 7:30 a.m.  Load in went well. Though shortly after set up, I could see that customers were coming in soaking wet from rain.  I also observed out the windows of the hall that the sky was real dark and sparking up from lightening.  I think the storm spooked both customers and dealers alike because customer turn-out was down and it seemed that most dealers were gone by noon.  Those of us that waited out the storm had a real nice time and got to leave the show dry, with the sun peaking out behind the clouds.

With the low turn-out, my tables were free of customers early on. By 10 a.m., I was worried that I wouldn't make enough money to cover my table fee. But then, lo and behold, I got busy and it continued all afternoon.  I think a lot of customers appreciated the fact that I didn't shut down and leave at noon like many other dealers. I ended up having a real nice day.

A regular customer got things going with some '75s. Another regular purchased some '75 minis. A regular picked up some '60 Topps, including Eddie Mathews. Jeff picked up a big pile of 1960 Topps and 1957 Topps baseball along with some 1973 Topps football.  A customer wearing a Cleveland Indians sweatshirt picked up some '77 Topps baseball.  Jason picked up my 1941 Double Play Ben Chapman, along with some commons from the 1970s.  A regular picked up some '74s.  A new customer purchased some '77 Topps football.  My buddy Mike picked up some '69 Topps football and some '69-70 Topps basketball, including a Bill Bradley rookie that is MINT!! Mike is just starting that '69-70 set and he got some good ones today.

A new customer purchased some '58s and '74s. Tim, in from Madison, picked up some '52 Bowman baseball, some '53 Bowman Color, some '54 Topps and some '60s Topps. Thanks Tim!! A new customer purchased a pile of cards out of my 50-cent box.  Another new customer picked up my '65 Topps Gaylord Perry. A dealer bought a bunch of cards out of my 50-cent box.  A regular picked up some '78 Topps baseball.  Another regular picked up some '69-70 Topps basketball.  A new customer, wearing a Northwestern University hat, bought some '59 Topps football.  My regular guy who picks up Italian ball players, found a bunch in my 1956 Topps binder.  A regular purchased a bunch of 1960 Topps. One of my autograph hounds picked up a nice pile of cards from the 1970s. Though, unlike my other autograph hounds, this guy gets all the cards signed in person. Lastly, a pair of brothers, that may be twins, picked up some cards out my 50-cent box and some 1956 Topps baseball.

On the buying front, I picked up a pile of '63 and '68 high numbers. A dealer offered me some '53 Bowmans but I had just reloaded my binder and don't need them for a while.  Another dealer sold me a small group of cards as I was leaving, including two '78 Eddie Murray rookies, a '65 Yaz, and a '75 Hostess Pete Rose.  He had the Rose priced at $80. I paid $20 for the group and checked out the high book price of the Rose when I got home -- it was just $8, NOT $80!!

I had a real nice time today, as is usually the case at Gonzaga. I always like chatting with the other dealers set up near me, like Dave and Rolf.  Dave sold a real cool Hank Aaron Braves jersey in the live auction. Rolf had some signed cards on his table but I got too busy to check them out. PJ seemed to have some good sales today. It was also good to see Ken back today. There is another dealer that sets up behind me, an older guy who has some vintage.  He and Rolf got to talking about card shows in the early 1970s. I enjoyed listening to that conversation. I also enjoyed talking with the great group of guys buying cards from me today, like Tim and Jim.

Next week, I'm back at Orland Park on Saturday. I've been at Orland a lot lately.  However, after this show, I won't be back at Orland until the end of June, due to the cancelling of the second May show and the fact that the first June show is scheduled the same day as Gonzaga. I don't skip Gonzaga, if I can help it, and will be setting up there in June. I started working on loading some binders for this week's Orland show. I just completed a nice grouping of 1961 Fleer football. I have a smattering of '53 Bowman black and whites that are up next. I'm probably also going to reload '72-73 Topps basketball. I will have my usual, new pile of star cards for my display cases as well. I'm looking forward to seeing my regular Orland crew on Saturday. If anybody is looking for anything special, let me know and I'll bring it along.  See you Saturday, rain or shine!! 
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    Tony Gordon

    Vintage Sports Cards Addict

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