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Nice Card Shows and Some Nice Card Shops

7/24/2015

Ahhh, much better. After a less than stellar June show, my July show (July 18, 2015) at the Clarion in Milwaukee, pictured above, was excellent. My sales were tremendous. Turn out was up but I think we can still do better. I ran an ad this month in the Milwaukee Journal in addition to dishing out a few hundred flyers and posting the show all over the internet. I think this website and the flyers are my most effective marketing tool. I don't think the ad brought in anyone, though, quite a few people mentioned that they saw it -- but these are people that would have attended the show anyway. So I am trying to think of alternative methods of getting the word out about the August 22 show. I think I might get a boost by promoting the show at the National next week. I plan on giving out hundreds of flyers to attendees at the National. I am also open to suggestions -- anybody have any tips and/or advice to offer, please do!

Well, I arrived at the Clarion around 6:45 a.m. My first order of business was to arrange the tables. While the folks that work at the Clarion are awesome, they never set up the room quite right. I placed 16 tables around the edge of the room. Then I put five tables in a line across the middle of the room which I used for my set up. I had out the full array of display cases, 10 in all. All the binders were out. I had room for some junk wax. I also used most of one table for my "couch potato" display where I just laid out some low-priced vintage cards on the table. I had a TON of stuff for sale at this show!!

The other dealers included wax/supply dealer Roger Baehr, autograph dealer Bill Nest, Milwaukee-themed dealer Scott Ziegert, who also has a nice inventory of vintage commons; Mike Johnson who has a nice inventory of vintage sports and non-sports, Nelson Rodriguez, who specializes in modern cards, new modern card dealer Joe, who lives in Hawaii but was in town visiting family, and Peter Nordquist who specializes in modern cards. I had one no-show -- Mike Cutis. No call, nothing. Lame! Luckily I did not have to turn away any dealers because of Mike. Though, I took a hit in the pocket book because I had to pay more for the room.

So, while I was loading my gear into the hotel before the show, the sky looked Biblical with fast moving masses of gray clouds motoring about overhead. I was a little worried the weather would effect attendance but the sky cleared up by mid-morning.

The theme for my sales on this day was publications. Abe purchased an early 1960s Sport Magazine with Sandy Koufax on the cover. Thanks Abe! I also appreciate the fact that Abe came up from Illinois to attend the show. Mark about cleared out my stock of publications. Thanks Mark! I thought it was cool that Mark actually had a list of publications that he needed. Most guys show up at my table with a want list of cards but few have lists of publications. A customer I met the previous week at Gonzaga purchased some Sport Magazines from the 1950s.

On the card front, a new customer named Matt purchased some 1970's basketball cards, Jim purchased some 1958 Topps baseball cards, Mark about cleaned out my newly reloaded 1963 Post baseball cards and also picked up some 1962s, my 1953 Milwaukee Braves Tray, and a 1963 Salada Coin Willie Mays. Thanks Mark!! Jeff took his usual large pile. This time around he purchased a bunch of 1951 Bowman football cards.

An autograph hound found a bunch of cards from the 1960s to send out for signatures. Andy purchased my 1960 Topps Roger Maris and some 1971-72 Topps Trios basketball cards. Jason purchased most of the remaining 1963 Post, some 1962s from my newly reloaded binder, a 1961 Topps Hank Aaron, and a 1962 Post Mickey Mantle. Thanks Jason!

A young customer purchased some 1958 Topps football. Bill made my day by purchasing a bunch of stars from the 1960s for sets he is building. Thanks Bill!! Rob brought me some homemade tacos which were delicious. He also purchased a nice pile of cards from the 1970s. Thanks Rob!!

On the buying front I picked up about 400 high grade 1970 Topps baseball that included Nolan Ryan and Johnny Bench cards that were absolutely razor sharp. Cool stuff! I also bought all of Peter's junk wax -- I'm still stocking up on that stuff for the flea market.

I noticed that there seemed to be a lot more action among the modern card dealers at this show than there has been at my past shows. It looked like Peter was having a really good day. I don't know if Joe had a whole lot of sales but he and Peter stayed past 3 p.m. working out all sorts of deals together. I don't think anyone was in the room past noon last month. This month we had customers in the room all day and even had a second wave in the afternoon.

A huge thank you to all the dealers and customers who attended my show!! You guys rule!!! Please come out again for my August 22nd show!!!

Well, this was a double-bill weekend. The next morning, Sunday, July 20, 2015, I brought my wares out to the Hyatt Place Hotel in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The room at the Hyatt is small and promoter Fred Copp warned me that he had a lot of dealers and it would be a tight squeeze. With only two tables, I decided to just bring out my binders. Set up is soooo easy when I just do the binders. I had plenty of time to get some of that free hotel breakfast. I had sausages, pancakes and three cups of coffee -- I need my coffee.

It was nice to see Mark Smith, who was set up in Hoffman. Other dealers included the usual suspects in Ted, Willie, Don, the Woj, along with Fred. We had nice attendance. I was busy all day. A regular customer purchased some 1969 Topps baseball. A new customer purchased 1974 Topps football cards. A new customer purchased some 1959 Topps baseball. Randy picked up some 1960 Topps. Bill and I did a cash and trade deal where I picked up some 1971, 1976 and 1979 Topps football, along with some Life Magazines from the late 1960s. I also had a nice cash and trade deal with Andy where I picked up a 1966 Topps Willie McCovey among some other goodies.

I had hoped to get out of the show by noon but lost track of time. It was my 18th Wedding Anniversary. My wife was very understanding. Our anniversaries are not as romantic as they were when we were younger. With the kids in tow, we all went to Red Lobster then walked around Gurnee Mills Mall. We all had a nice time.

On Monday, I met up with Andy, gave him a tour of the card bunker, he seemed to like it even though it is quite a mess and very disorganized. We drove to Highland Park for lunch and to visit Bergie's baseball card shop. We had lunch at the Simple Greek, 478 Central Avenue, Highland Park. It seemed to be the Greek version of Roti where you either order a sandwich in a pita or a rice bowl with a large assortment of choices as toppings. Andy went with the gyro sandwich while I went with the rice bowl. My toppings included souvlaki, tomatoes, onions, and hummus. My bowl was awesome! I definitely need to come back to this place!

While we were eating, we saw Bergie load some framed autographs into an SUV outside of Simple Greek. Good thing we saw him because I was not sure where the card shop was located. The signage out front is very small and the shop is located in the basement of what appears to be a small office building -- right next to Simple Greek. Bergie said he opened the shop in 1991. I was immediately impressed with the eight PSA-authenticated Babe Ruth autographs on display. Bergie has a large selection of autographs. Andy and I were happy to see a display case filled with vintage cards. Bergie gave me a nice price on a common 1938 Goudey. Andy picked up a bunch of stuff for his sets including a few Mantles. Bergie gave Andy a really nice deal on the cards. Thanks Bergie!

When we left Bergie's, we decided to walk a few blocks to check out Lake Michigan. Unfortunately, the view of the lake was obstructed by overgrown trees and shrubs. Though, it still was a pleasant walk through beautiful old homes. Once back in the car, we took the scenic route to Jim & Steve's card shop in Waukegan, Illinois. The suburban area along Lake Michigan north of Chicago is absolutely beautiful. I wanted Andy, who grew up in the far Western suburbs and now lives in Florida, to see it.

Before long we were parked in front of Jim & Steve's. This is one of the largest card shops in the Chicago area and it is packed to the hilt with stuff. I always enjoy walking around and looking at all the display cases. Andy started right in on his want lists and started pulling cards. I picked out some supplies. Steve showed Andy a small pile of Goudeys and Diamond Stars. Andy did not need any of them. Steve gave me a nice price on the pile and I ended up going home with them. Thanks Steve!

By the time we left Jim & Steve's, it was 4 p.m. and we both needed to meet our families for dinner. Hopefully, Andy and I go card shop exploring again. It was really fun and we both came home with some nice cards.

Since Monday, I have been feverishly pricing cards for the National. I've got some really good stuff lined up for the show including a complete set of 1938 Our National Game Pins, a complete set of 1961 Topps Stamps, a complete set of 1963 Salada baseball coins, a complete set of 1964 Topps super, and world series ticket stubs from 1971, 1973 and 1964. I have also reloaded 1963 Fleer baseball, 1960 Topps football, and 1974-75 Topps hockey. I began pricing cards for my display cases as well. I will continue the pricing frenzy for the next four days.

I was going to set up at the flea market on Sunday but decided to skip it because I need to be in court Monday morning for my real job and did not want to be tired out. I usually need a day to recover from the flea market. It is very draining waking up at 4 a.m. and baking in the sun all day at the flea market. I am going to shoot to get to the flea market sometime in August. I even started to price some of the junk wax I bought the last couple of weeks. All of that is going to be on hold now until after the National.

So fellow baseball card addicts, I will see you next week at the National. I am in booths 309 and 311 with Dave McDonald, Seth Murray and Jim & Scott Ziegert. I am hopeful that I will have a reloaded 1963 Topps baseball binder ready to go along with some 1962 Post baseball and some Exhibits. Let the marathon begin!!

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Technology Tires Out Vintage Card Dealer

7/14/2015

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Technology was severely limited when I was growing up in the 1970s. We did not have a whole lot of electronic devices at my house, unlike today where my family walks around the house with various machines in hand all hooked into the internet via WiFi. It was a big deal when my older brother received a Pong video game for his birthday in 1975. My kids could not have handled Pong and its basic graphics and simple concept. I remember thinking Pong was amazing.

We also have high definition flat screens all over my house today. Back in the 1970's, we had one color television and several black and white TVs -- none had remote controls. If you wanted to change the channel, you had to get up off your keister and physically turn the dial. There also was no cable. We had five channels including the three major networks (no Fox back then) and two UHF channels.

It was a big deal when my dad brought home a Betamax video player around 1977. One of the first things I ever recorded was the Muhammad Ali - Leon Spinks fight in early 1978. We started to purchase movies and soon had a nice collection. I watched "Slapshot" a million times. My dad never learned how to work the Betamax, then the VHS player, OnTV, Cable, cell phone, and home computer. He has a terrible time with any type of technology. I remember trying to show him how to place a movie into the Betamax and press "Play." It was like I was speaking French. He always had to call me into the room to start the movie.

Decades later, I have turned into my dad. I need my 9 year-old son to help me with my iPhone, iPad, iMac, and various gaming systems. I just don't understand how these devices work. It was so much easier when all you had to do was press "Play" on the Betamax. My wife and I have wanted Netflix on all our devices for the longest time. For those old codgers who don't know about Netflix, it is a subscription service that provides unlimited movies and TV shows for $9 a month. In order to get Netflix to play on your television, your televisions must be hooked into the internet. All the gaming systems at my house have WiFi and offer Netflix. The problem was that my wife and I did not know how to set it up. After years of debate between my wife and I, I think it took my son about 20 minutes to set up Netflix throughout the house. Now I just need to learn how to navigate around Netflix.

With Netflix fully operational, I spent the evening of Saturday, July 11, 2015, watching "Heroes." I only caught a few episodes of this show back when it was on TV about 10 years ago. With Netflix, I was able to start on Episode One and work my way forward. I somehow got addicted and watched "Heroes" until 4 a.m. I picked up about two hours of sleep. Ugh!

Needless to say, Sunday, July 12, 2015, was a coffee day. I started chugging coffee first thing and did not stop the whole day. I was a little dazed but did alright. There was a light drizzle when I left my house in Illinois. By the time I made it to the Gonzaga show in Milwaukee, the sky was blue and the sun was shining. Though, the rain left behind some horrible humidity. There also wasn't much air conditioning in the hall. Show promoter Keith tried his hardest to get some air conditioning into the place but he was at the mercy of the folks that run the hall. It was really hot in the room all day. I was more affected by my lack of sleep than the heat. Though, I could not wait for the show to end so I could crank the air conditioning in my car.

The show started off a little slow. I think I had my first customer about 40 minutes into the show, which is unusual. However, once that first customer purchased his 1957 Topps football cards, the floodgates opened and I was busy the rest of the day. A regular customer purchased some 1966 Topps baseball cards. Jim purchased a bunch of cards out of my newly reloaded 1961 Topps binder. I have known Jim for a long time and was unaware that he was working on a 1961 set. I know he has several Topps and Bowman sets from the early 1950s. It was nice to see him work on a different set!

Jason also found a bunch of cards in the 1961 binder. A regular customer purchased some 1979 Topps baseball cards. Another regular picked up some 1965s. My next customer purchased some 1953 Topps baseball cards. Larry purchased some 1964 Topps baseball cards. A new customer purchased some 1973 Topps football cards.

While I appreciate all of my customers, there is one collector in Milwaukee who is just awesome! Jeff comes to most every show and is working on both modern and vintage sets. He always picks up a large pile of cards. Today, he purchased a larger than usual pile of 1952 Bowman baseball along with a Brady Punch baseball game from the 1930s. Jeff works at Brady and wants to bring it to the office and show it around. Thanks Jeff!!!!

Next up was Robin, who purchased some 1969 Topps football cards. A regular customer purchased two publications -- the only publications I sold on this day. Last month, I sold very few cards and a ton of publications. I restocked the pubs for this show but just did not get much action on them.

After Robin, I was pleasantly surprised to see Andy. I only get to see Andy several times a year. He lives down in Orlando and comes up a few times to visit family. I first met Andy 10 or 15 years ago, we have stayed in touch and I now consider him a good friend. I was happy Andy found a bunch of cards at my table that he needed because he is an advanced collector, he collects tough pre-War sets, post-War and tough post-War inserts. We're going to get together this week and explore some local card shops. Thanks for the purchases Andy!

Next, an older couple purchased some 1973 Topps football cards. A new customer from Racine rounded out my day by purchasing a bunch of 1970s Topps hockey cards.

Some folks said the crowd was down from last month but it seemed pretty crowded to me all day long. There was no cake at the concession stand today. Amazing cake baker Candy Kilps has been a bit under the weather. I'm sending good vibes Candy's way in the hopes she starts to feel healthy soon! I dined on cookies and a hot dog during the show.

On the buying front, another tremendous day! My first purchase was a bunch of cards from the 1980s. A kind customer who is a regular reader of this blog brought me the cards so I could sell them at the flea market. I can't give away cards from the 1980s at the card shows but at the flea market, they are my best seller. I picked up some good stuff like a 1984 Fleer Complete set and a few others. I look forward to bringing them out at my next flea market appearance.

I also picked up a nice pile of 1969-70 and 1970-71 Topps basketball commons. I purchased a large pile of 1963 Topps baseball. My inventory on 1963s is now the largest I have ever had. I must have 3,000-plus '63s right now. Though, I am sure I need some high numbers, as always. To round out my day, I picked up some 1966 high numbers among an assorted group of vintage baseball and football cards.

A few customers stopped by the get an idea on pricing of some of their cards. One guy had a 1954 Topps Hank Aaron rookie. He stood in front of my table but showed the card to my neighbor PJ, who had me look at it. I did not measure it but it looked a little short. PJ made a nice offer on the card but the guy did not take it. Another customer showed me a 1954 Topps Ted Williams that looked really nice. I did match this one up to another 1954 and it looked slightly trimmed. I have learned over the years that nice-looking raw vintage cards are more likely than not to have been trimmed. There is a huge difference in price between a high grade card and a trimmed card. I never purchase a card that has any hint of trimming unless the seller is willing to drop the price way down. The seller of the Williams is looking for a lot of money. I took a pass.

A customer showed me some 1951 Bowmans including a Whitey Ford rookie and a Yogi Berra. I told him what I would retail the cards at and what my "buy" price would be. He wanted a little more money. A modern card dealer in Ken's spot for the day had a large collection of vintage that he was looking to sell. He wanted a lot of money for the cards. I did not look at them all but I did not see a whole lot of cards in nice grade or many star cards. I will throw down 5 to 10 thousand dollars on collections here and there but only if I can make a significant profit on the cards. While, I would like to have this collection, I do not think I could make much of a profit, if at all, on it. The dealer needs to come way down. Mark also looked over the cards. We both had the same conclusion. I gave the dealer my phone number. After he shops the cards around for a while, I'm hopeful he comes back with a more reasonable number.

Overall, a very good day. Sales were good. Buys were good. I LOVE the Gonzaga show!!!

Next up is my show this coming Saturday, July 18, 2015, at the Clarion, 5311 S. Howell, in Milwaukee. I ran an ad in today's Milwaukee Journal, promoting the show. I have a good number of dealers lined up for Saturday. I have room for more dealers, so if anyone is interested, shoot me a message (you can reach me by clicking the "more..." tab up top then the "Contact" tab. Table fee is $25 for one 8-foot table. I just loaded up some 1963 Post baseball that I will break out on Saturday. I am working on 1962 Topps baseball and should have it done before the show. I also plan on pricing more cards for my display cases. We are going to have some tremendous cards, both modern and vintage, at the show. Come on out!!

Pictured below are my purchases from the Gonzaga show. Click on the photos for a larger view.

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Escape From Michigan!!!!!

7/10/2015

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Day trippin' in Jackson, Michigan, on June 27, 2015. It took me 3 1/2 hours to get from the northern suburbs of Chicago to the Indiana border on Friday, June 26, 2015. Ugh! This is normally an hour or so drive. Once across the border of doom, I spent another three hours driving across western Michigan. I stopped in Battle Creek partly because I have never been there and I thought maybe I would find a cheap hotel. All I found were over-priced sketchy motels. I then pulled off in Marshall, Michigan, which looks like the town in "Back To The Future." I was unable to find a cheap hotel. In Albion, Michigan, I found a "Super 9" hotel, not to be confused with "Super 8".

The clerk at the Super 9 was very chatty. He told me he once lived in Wheaton, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. My room was nicer than expected though the bathroom was kind of crusty and had a large spider on the wall. I was a little concerned the spider would bite my behind while I went poo poo on the toilet. Thankfully, I have no insect bites to report.

I had a very difficult night of sleep because the Super 9 is located right on the highway. It felt like trucks were driving into my skull all night. I was pretty drowsy in the morning of Saturday, June 27, 2015. I found a Mickey D's and picked up two large cups of coffee and a sausage McMuffin. I drove about 25 minutes in the rain to the VFW Post in Jackson. I loaded my large array of quality merchandise into the hall. Luckily, my tables were located next to the ever-friendly Seth Murray. Set up across from us was the super-cool Brian Mayne, the promoter of the Fort Wayne show. I knew one more dealer -- Bill O'Connell, who I met at the Holland show last year.

Abel, the promoter of the Jackson show, said he placed a guy named Jason next to me because he is from Illinois and said he knows me. It took me a while to figure out just who this Jason was. I had an epiphany when an hour into the show Jason had not arrived. I remembered that I spoke to "Jason" in May. I believe he said his name was Mark Lasano. He called and requested a table at my Clarion show. I told him I was booked up. So he then called Mark Smith and asked him for a table. Mark also told him that we were booked up. When dealer Scotty cancelled because he had to work, I made the mistake of offering Scotty's tables to "Jason-Mark Lasano." Jason claimed he had all sorts of high-end cards like 1933 Goudey Ruths. I was like, yeah, whatever. I went John Leary, just thinking about the table fee we needed to pay for the room -- a big mistake. Mark sniffed this guy out right away and told me I should not have given him tables. Mark was absolutely correct because "Jason-Mark Lasano" and his 1933 Goudey Ruths never showed up. To make matters worse, I turned down other dealers because I thought we were sold out. It ended up being an extra $50 Mark and I had to shell out to pay for the room.

So, Jason-Mark Lasano has struck again and no-showed Abel's show in Jackson, Michigan. The moral here is that if you promote a baseball card show and some guy name Jason or Mark Lasano calls and tells you he has Babe Ruth cards and wants to reserve some tables -- get the table fee up front! This guy is a serial jerk off!!

Anyway, we had a nice crowd at the Jackson show, pictured below. Much better attendance than my June show at the Clarion. I have yet to set up at a Michigan show that was not well-attended -- the trouble is getting folks to spend some money at my tables. My first customer of the day purchased a 1976 Topps Football rookie card of Brad Van Pelt. This customer collects NFL players that attended Michigan State, such as Van Pelt. Quite a few folks in Michigan have Michigan State and University of Michigan collections.

My next customer pulled out a bunch of cards from my 25-cent box. Bill knew this customer and we all chatted. Bill pointed to a 1952 Bowman football card of John Rapacz that was in one of my display cases. Bill said that Rapacz was his high school football coach in Kalamazoo. He said Rapacz was a huge intimidating guy and did not have any patience for lolly-gaggers. When you played football for John Rapacz you worked your tail off.

Next up, an older customer purchased some 1959 Topps baseball cards. I remember this customer from my last visit to Jackson. He admired my 1968 Topps Johnny Unitas and assumed it was a reprint. The card is original. I do not sell reprints -- I hate them. My next customer was wearing a baseball all-star game T-shirt and purchased some 1953 Topps baseball cards. A customer wearing a Michigan State shirt purchased a pile of cards from my 25-cent box -- which received a lot of action.

A customer wearing a hat with a U.S. Marines logo purchased a 1978 Topps Eddie Murray rookie. An older customer pulled some stuff from my 50-cent box. Jackson's resident Bear fan purchased a 1954 Bowman George Connor. The customer said he became a fan of the Bears during the 1985 Super Bowl season and still follows them closely. He said he has a huge collection of Bears memorabilia.

My next customer requested I reduce the price of the cards in my 25-cent box to 10 cents a piece. I declined. He then proceeded to pull a large pile of cards from both the 25-cent and 50-cent boxes. Next up was a customer that collects Pittsburgh Steelers cards. I regularly meet guys that became Steelers fans during the "Steel Curtain" days of the 1970s. Back then, it seemed like the Steelers were always on TV either playing a game or in a commercial. You could not help but be a fan of those teams with all those great players and great characters. As a result, I sell quite a few Steelers cards from the 1970s wherever I go.

Former Tiger pitcher Dan Petry was signing autographs at the show. He seemed pretty busy all day, signing and posing for photos. My sales ended up being off. I have another Michigan show slated for September in a mall in Grand Rapids. Hopefully, I fare better at that one.

Back in Jackson, it rained all day long and I had to load in and out in the rain. While, I was packing up, the dealer across the way started going through my binders, saying he was looking for cards to sell on eBay. He pulled out a pile of cards and I gave him a price. He pulled a "Bob" and said he did not want them all. So I had to pull out my binders that I had already packed up and place the cards back in the binders. He proceeded to pull more cards from the binders I had not yet put away. When he finished, he had about $40 worth of cards. I offered him a nice deal on the cards. He pulled out a bill-fold and counted out $120. He said he needed the $120 for rent and stuffed the money into his pocket. He then pulled out six singles and said he needed the $6 for gas. He stuffed the six bucks into his pocket. He then showed me three fives and said that is all he had to spend and wanted my $40 worth of cards for $15. I was ready to punch him. I remember the last time I was in Jackson, when I asked him for a price on a card and he offered me a measly 10% discount. So when I want to buy his cards I only get a 10% discount but when he wants to buy my cards I must give him a 60% discount? I had a few choice words for this guy. What a #$%&*#$!!!! Needless to say, I will not be doing business with this tool again.

Another vintage dealer in the room pissed me off as well. I also tried to buy a card from this other dealer last time I was in Jackson. This guy would not discount his cards at all! He was set up with his brother. The brother came by my table a few times and looked at my 1959s. He stopped me when I was walking around and asked if I buy cards. I told him that I tried to buy from his table last time and his brother would not give me a discount. He started giving me some line on how dealers come to their house to buy cards. I flat out told him truthfully that I only buy cards for resale and I need to purchase them at a price where I can make a little profit on reselling them. A glazed look engulfed his face. He offered me cards from the 1960s at a price higher than I could sell them for. He then said he wanted my 1959s for $1 a piece. Well, I have quite a few $8 cards in my 1959 binder and I am not selling them to this joker for $1 a piece. Then he sent a buddy over who wanted my T206 Johnny Evers for 40% of my sticker price. I declined.

I was a little frustrated when I left the Jackson show. While I have met some really great people in Jackson, including the promoter who is a superstar, my sales are too low and I can't deal with some of the knuckleheads in the room to make it worth my while to attend this show. I will never say never, but right now, I do not plan to return to Jackson. I have found Michigan in general to be a tough place to sell cards.

A short while out of Jackson, the rain finally ceded. The drive home was far easier than the drive out. It was nice to spend Saturday night in my own bed with no truck noise. I was up early for the show at the Indian Lakes resort in Bloomingdale, Illinois, on Sunday, June 28, 2015.

After a disappointing day in Jackson, I had an extremely pleasant day in Bloomingdale. I tried a new set up to change my luck at this show. I only brought out one bin of binders when I normally bring out seven bins. I put out quite a few display cases along with some cheapy boxes and publications. The new set up worked! I had my best Bloomingdale show of the year!!

A new customer got things going by purchasing a 1970-71 Topps Bill Bradley. A long-time customer purchased my 1961 Milwaukee Braves program and my 1964 Chicago White Sox scorecard. A young couple purchased my 1962 Topps Ernie Banks and pulled some cards from my 50-cent box.

Randy purchased some 1960 Topps baseball cards. Another customer purchased some 1970's basketball cards. Mike also purchased some 1970's basketball cards. A young customer purchased some cards out of my Cubs/WhiteSox box. A new customer purchased a 1975 Topps Hank Aaron. Not a whole lot of sales in terms of volume but the dollars added up. I was really happy with the show.

I did not purchase anything at the Jackson show. I was able to pick up a nice grouping of 1969, 1971 and 1972 Topps football cards in Bloomingdale. Willie and I went over to Portillo's after the show to top off a perfect day.

So, I was supposed to set up on the following Sunday (July 5, 2015) at the Wilmot Flea Market. I am so sorry to anyone that showed up to meet me there. I was stuck in New Buffalo, Michigan. I went out to Michigan on Thursday, July 2, 2015, to help my dad with his annual garage sale. The plan was to head home on the 4th. Well, my pop is extremely difficult to deal with and I was stuck there until the 5th. You see, he has four garage-size storage lockers filled with junk. At age 78, he still collects junk and stuffs it into these lockers. Pop is a throw-back to old-time Chicago. While he was in high school in the 1950s, he was a regular Sunday vendor at the famed Maxwell Street Market. For the past 60-something years, he's never given up that Maxwell Street mindset. He does not care if he sells anything. He does not need the money. He just enjoys negotiating and bartering over junk with customers.

He somehow pulled out a ton of stuff from his storage lockers on Thursday and started his sale. My brother and I arrived in time to help him close up shop for the night. We put most of the stuff back into the lockers. The rest we covered with tarps. He got us up at the crack of dawn and Friday and Saturday. We pulled out a ton of stuff from the lockers but there was just too much of it. We allowed customers to rummage through the lockers and pull stuff out. Pictured below is a selfie taken inside one of the lockers.

Some interesting items I discovered over the weekend include a box of my underwear and socks from 1978, pictured below, some hotel soap from 1974, some bath oil from 1972, my park district football pads from 1980, and my sister's speedskating helmet from 1975. I posted pictures of this stuff on Facebook and lured out an old friend to visit the sale.

Here is the problem with pop's sale (no it isn't the sheer amount of junk and toxic bath oil) -- pop won't let my brother and I put anything away! He has a certain spot in the lockers where he wants each item placed. So taking down the sale is a nightmare from hell!! We started at 3 p.m. on the 4th and gave up for the night around 11 p.m. If it was up to me and my brother, we could have had everything put away by 5 p.m. and I would have been home in time to get to the flea market on the 5th. But nooooo.... we had to come back to the storage lockers on the 5th and slowly place the junk in the storage lockers from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Then on the way home, we hit horrible toe-to-toe traffic and did not make it home till 9 p.m. Ugh! Oh well, this was one of those times where we had to just suck it up to keep the old man happy.

I have been working feverishly this week to get cards priced for the Gonzaga show this weekend (Sunday, July 12, 2015). I have reloaded by 1960 and 1961 baseball binders along with 1973-74 Topps basketball. I have a nice stack of newly priced cards for my display cases. I am also working on pricing some publications. I should have a lot of new stuff ready to go on Sunday. Also, don't forget that my show at the Clarion in Milwaukee is the following Saturday, July 18, 2015. I have so much new material right now and will have a lot of new stuff ready and priced to go at the Clarion. I also am running an ad in the Milwaukee Journal for the Clarion show and am hoping for a real nice turn out. Hope to see you in Milwaukee!!!

Check out my eBay store HERE. I have some great items up right now like a 1971 Topps baseball complete set and 1974 Topps stamps and albums complete set -- a tough test issue to find.

Below are more photos from pop's sale.

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New Blog Coming Soon....

7/8/2015

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Sorry, I've been real busy lately. I'll try and get a blog together in the next coupla days. In the meantime, enjoy this Nellie Fox advertisement from 1953, below.

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Nice Card Shows and Some Nice Card Shops

Technology Tires Out Vintage Card Dealer

Escape From Michigan!!!!!

New Blog Coming Soon....

Tony Gordon

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