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Another Show For The 'Book Guy'

6/23/2013

4 Comments

 
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I was very productive last week. I reloaded my 1957 and 1958 Topps baseball binders along with 1953 Bowman football. I've been watching the Stanley Cup and I figured it would slow me down, but not so. I also watched a bit of the NBA championship. I hate the Heat. I can't believe they won it again. Guys today at the Bloomingdale show were talking fix. Another guy at work mentioned fix. It sure seemed a bit fishy to me. Regardless, I was quite pleased I got so much work done. Reloading these binders is a beast of a job.

I was hoping to have my cheapy boxes reloaded for today's show at Indian Lakes Resort but the '58s took me longer than I anticipated. I was able to reload my 50-cent box and sold quite a few cards out of there today. In general, I had a nice show today. Larry, Randy and Willie and a bunch of other guys bought a nice amount of cards which was much appreciated. I picked up all sorts of stuff. There is one guy I want to mention.  He showed me some T206s that he was looking to sell. He had two raw ones and one graded. All the cards were creased and had common Piedmont backs. The raw ones also looked slightly trimmed. One of the raw ones was White Sox Hall of Famer George Davis. I forgot who the other raw player was.  The graded one was Doc White. The seller wanted $150 for the pair of raw ones. I just saw a comparable George Davis in eBay with a BIN at $53. Commons generally sell for $15 to $25 in creased condition. So in the real world, these cards would retail at $75 for the pair. I tried to tell the seller that I'm buying the cards for resale and can't pay $150 because I can't sell them for $150. Realistically, I could only pay $40 to $50 for the two raw cards and hope to sell the pair for $75. The Doc White was an SGC 2. A "2" SMRs at $32, he wanted $38. Needless to say, he took those cards home. It boggles my mind how many guys regularly try to sell me cards for much more than I can resell them for. All I can do is thank them for showing me their cards and send them on their way.

Next up, is the book guy. I'm not quite sure if I mentioned the book guy in any of my previous blogs.  If I have, ignore this portion of the blog. If not, read on.

I've seen this guy now for a couple of months. He self-published a book which basically consists of a list of all the things that has happened in the world since the Cubs last won the World Series in 1908. I don't know, it doesn't sound like something I would be interested in reading. I don't really like to read lists or statistics. I like anecdotes. If he interviewed Cub fans and got some tales about their take on the Cubs woes, that might be interesting.

So, I've seen this guy set up a few times in Schaumburg, Orland and now Bloomingdale. Up until today, I haven't seen him sell a single book. It was only by chance he sold a book today to an old lady who was at the hotel for a graduation party. While I'm not interested in his book, I do have to give him credit for coming out regularly and at least trying to sell it. It's tough to self-publish a book and sell it. I know first hand. Here's my book. I hustled that thing for a few years then gave up because it didn't really sell. Though, I did at least sell a few every time I set up at a book fair or some other event. This guy today, he rarely sells a book yet keeps on coming. Good for him! Oh, if you want my book, don't buy in on Amazon. I'll give you one for free, just ask.  I also suspect the book guy from today will be giving away his book as well somewhere down the road.  There's a reason there's hardly any book stores any more.  Books don't sell.

Anyway, it's my last week of work before I start my new job. I'm not going to be doing a whole lot of shows this summer. I am in need of a break and I also want to see how the new job goes before I start scheduling my usual array of shows. I may have to work more hours than I've been accustomed to which would cut into my prep time for the shows.  I'm not setting up at shows if I can't bring new stuff out. I don't have the patience to be like the book guy and bring the same old stuff out that nobody wants. I work my tail off getting thousands of new cards out at each and every show and it's very time consuming. So, I've got to know ahead of time that I can set aside portions of my evenings to sort and price cards before I schedule a show.

I'll have a good idea by the end of July how things are going play out. If this turns out to be a normal 40-hour a week job, I'll probably go back to my full schedule of shows in September. Though, I think I may take some more weekends off to give myself some much needed breathers. Don't get me wrong, the shows are generally pretty fun and I still enjoy them. The problem is, I no longer have the energy to work a full-time job, spend all night after work prepping for shows, then spend every weekend at shows without any free time in the mix to relax. I still plan on being around, just not as much.

In the meantime, I started reloading my 1959 Topps baseball binder tonight. My next show won't be until July 13 at Orland -- about three weeks from now. I should have quite a few binders reloaded by then. The Gonzaga show is also that weekend on July 14. Come on out and say hello. I'll bring FREE books!

4 Comments

A Few Oddballs But Overall Nice Show In Orland Today

6/15/2013

2 Comments

 
Well, things are happening in the world of Fat Daddy. I was offered a new job yesterday and accepted. I put in my two-week notice at my current job. Big changes ahead. I'm not sure how my new job will effect my baseball card efforts. I may have to work more hours including some weekends and some travel. My immediate concern is that I'm not sure if I will be able to set up at the National. Also, I'm changing up my show schedule because I had planned to take a vacation in August but the new job changes everything. The vacation is out and I'm going to set up in Orland at the end of August. I'm also going to have to miss the next Orland show on June 29 but will be there on July 13. I am going to add Bloomingdale next weekend because I'm skipping the July 7 Schaumburg show now. I think it is going to take a few months at the new job to figure out how to fit in card shows and get my show schedule settled. I'll keep you posted.

Today was the Orland show. There wasn't a whole lot of cars in the parking lot when I arrived which is never a good sign. An oddball dealer from Michigan had five tables today. He also took up two prime parking spots with his van. I had to squeeze my car between his van and Bill's jeep. There were a lot of empty tables today. The side room was just about bare.  They didn't even bother to set up a table next to mine. A few people commented on the empty space.  There was a table at the far end that was vacant until the dealer showed up around 10:30 a.m. At 11:30 a.m. he packed up and walked around the show for a few hours and went home.

Attendance was off but my sales were good. I didn't sell much out of my display cases but I sold a ton of commons. My reloaded 1956 Topps book was a hit. Denny picked up a couple hundred 1966 and 1967 Topps. Larry pulled a large pile of 1972 Topps baseball. Rick, Will, Joel, Derek, Willie, Dan, Chuck T., and a host of other guys pulled a great many cards today. Thanks guys!

I almost had a rant ready about guys who walk up to customers at my table and try and sell them cards. That's something that really pisses me off. I spend $100 on the tables and a guy who spends $1 admission tries to pull people away from looking at my stuff and sell them his stuff at MY table! It looked like a guy was pulling that trick. Turns out he was just showing off his cards, which is okay. I love looking at cards. I don't have a problem with anyone who wants to show some items from their collection. He did show me a small group of tattered and beaten pre-war cards that he was trying to sell. I offered him 50 bucks because the cards were in absolute horrible condition and I don't think I could sell them for much more than $50. He didn't even throw out a counter offer and just took the cards away. He also showed me a complete set of 1953 Bowman Colors that he had in RUBBER BANDS! I tried to tell him to go over to one of the dealers selling supplies and buy a box to put them in sans the rubber bands. He really didn't seem to care. Odd!

On the buying front, I paid off some card debts to a couple of dealers and picked up a box with about 1200 commons from 1955 through 1967. I noticed a smattering of high numbers in there. Those cards will be in my binders soon. Speaking of the binders, my project this week is 1957 Topps baseball. I may also work on 1953 Bowman football. I'm also going to set up at the Indian Lakes resort in Bloomingdale next weekend (June 23, 2013). Come on out!!



2 Comments

Great Show At Gonzaga!

6/11/2013

4 Comments

 
Wow. As awful and hellish as the May Gonzaga show was, today's Gonzaga show could not have been more pleasant and nice. First of all, there was more than enough space behind my tables. I didn't have to battle any dealers. I was able to cover all my tables easily, which is a good thing because I was busy all day. Also, I didn't have anyone park themselves in front of my tables to watch the auction. I basically went from my worst Gonzaga show one month to one of my best Gonzaga shows the next month. I can't thank Keith and Mike enough for making it happen because I was really distraught after last month's show. I had all good dealers behind me today. There was a new guy next to me facing the auction. He was pleasant and considerate the whole day. Setting up behind me was Dave, a mother and son duo, John and Jeff. Everybody took a reasonable amount of space and was courteous. Thank you!!

Packer legend Jerry Kramer was signing autos today and we had a nice crowd. My newly reloaded 1955 Bowman baseball binder was a big hit today. I sold a ton of cards out of that thing. Jim bought a bunch of '55 Bowmans. So did Jason. Tim from Madison was in town and he picked up some '55 Bowmans along with a ton of other cards. Tim also brought me some cards for trade. Thanks Tim! Jeff picked up his usual large pile including some '55 Bowmans. Gary picked up my 1955 Topps Jackie Robinson. I had some autograph hounds buy a bunch of cards to send out for signatures. Jason and Barty picked up a bunch of '60 Topps and '73 Topps baseball. I brought out my cheapy boxes today and they were also a big hit. Larry and Carol, customers I've known for years from the Fred Copp shows in Schaumburg, spent all morning in my dime box. A new customer purchased my entire '75 Topps mini binder. An excellent day at Gonzaga.

I didn't buy much today other than the cards I picked up from Tim. I picked up some '77 Topps football from Scottie. Ryan, who set up today, traded me some '62 Topps football. I'm starting to get a pretty good pile of those. I'll have my '62 Topps football binder reloaded soon.

Last month, I discovered some great Wisconsin back roads which I took home today. Though, once I got to Illinois, everything came to a standstill. There is no quick way through northern Illinois. It took me two hours to get home. It normally only takes an hour. I was trying to avoid road construction on the highway but I think I'll suck it up and take the highway next month.

Up next, is Orland on Saturday. I'll have '56 Topps baseball reloaded and probably 1978 Topps football. See you Saturday and happy Father's Day to the many dads out there!!
4 Comments

Nothing to Rant About Today in Schaumburg

6/2/2013

2 Comments

 
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No rant today from the June 2, 2013, Schaumburg, IL, show. I know, it's a rare blog when I have nothing to rant about. My rant was stymied today by a room filled all day with pleasant dealers and customers.

I've had the pleasure of knowing for years today's dealers Fred, Willie, Ted, Don, Woj, Stark and Bill. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better group of dealers anywhere in the country. We also had a real nice customer turnout today. I think the cold rainy weather helped out. I made some nice sales to Tony, Adam, Larry, and a bunch of other guys. Thanks for the purchases guys!

I know I probably complain a bit too much, but not today because it was one of those days that I just enjoy. For me, the best part of this hobby is buying cards. Good buys equal great fun. Today was fun. Pictured above and below are my pick-ups from today.

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I bought a bunch of these cards from Tom, who regularly sets up at the Schaumburg show. Tom informed me today that he was transferred and is moving soon to north-central Wisconsin. I have really enjoyed getting to know Tom for the past decade or so and he has mightily supported my habit by regularly supplying me with cards. Hopefully, Tom can make the trip occasionally to the Gonzaga and Serb Hall shows so we can reconnect.  Good luck on the move Tom and a big thank you for all the cards over the years!

Speaking of Gonzaga, it's up next on Sunday, June 9. Gonzaga, unfortunately has turned into a "Battle Royale" with the dealers set up on my backside. Though, I generally have terrific customers at this show and I'm going to try and focus on the good and battle my way through the obstacles placed in my way by these numbnut dealers.  Packer legend Jerry Kramer is signing autos, so we should have a nice turnout. I'm working on some 1973-74 Topps hockey. I will have a near set priced and ready to go on Sunday along with a near set of 1955 Bowman baseball. I'm also going to try and price a few more T206s and see what else I can dig up.  Today, I brought out my dime, quarter and dollar boxes. Those boxes always get some nice action at Schaumburg. I think I'm going to bring them up to Gonzaga and I'll probably pull one of my display cases to make room.

Nice show today and I'm hoping for more of the same next week!
2 Comments

    Tony Gordon

    Vintage Sports Cards Addict

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