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1952 Pafko, nice sales, good purchases, good show

8/28/2011

I stayed up much too late last night watching "Cop Out" with Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan on HBO. I knew nothing about this movie when I started watching around 11 p.m. When Bruce Willis pulled out a 1952 Topps Andy Pafko and went into a card shop, I was hooked and watched the movie until 12:30 a.m., well aware I had to wake up at 6 a.m. for the Orland Park show. The Pafko used in the movie looked like a reprint as did the other '52 Topps showed in a flashback scene. It was cool seeing a card shop in a movie, even though Bruce Willis got tased and robbed of his Pafko in the card shop. I also liked the fact that the bad guy in the movie had an amazing sports memorabilia collection.

Waking up was tough. Though I loaded my car and had an uneventful drive to Orland Park. There were a lot of cars in the Civic Center parking lot when I got there around 8 a.m. Apparently there was some sort of cycling event there and the cars weren't all for the card show. Load in and set up went smoothly. Dave was the first customer at my table. He was set up today next to Chuck. Normally there are quite a few guys at my table while I'm setting up. Today, I nearly finished set up before my regular group arrived which was a pleasant surprise. I had reloaded my '56, '57, and '58 Topps books. Dave and another customer took quite a few of those. Rick took quite a few '55 Bowmans today. Nothing for Terry today.

When I finished setting up, I got quite busy. Jim brought over some piles of cards for me to purchase, including some '64 Topps Giants, some '58, '59, '60 high numbers, and some football. One customer pulled out most of my White Sox cards from the new binders. Another customer bought some early '70s. I also seemed to sell quite a few '69s today. Chris dropped off a near-set of lower grade '69s for trade. Long-time customer Chuck from the North Side of Chicago made an appearance. I know Chuck purchased some cards, but I was so busy I can't seem to remember what I sold him today. I think he picked up a '65 Topps Willie Stargell amongst a group of others. Another customer picked up some '61 Topps. I sold a '67 Topps Steve Carlton, RBI Leaders and Roberto Clemente to another good customer. I sold a '62 Topps Ernie Banks and a Willie Mays All Star to a customer. Another customer bought some '61 Topps stars including a Nellie Fox, Roberto Clemente, and a World Series Card. Joel bought some cards, I believe some '60 and '61 Topps. I sold some '74 Topps football to another customer. Sales were pretty steady until about noon then the showed died for me. There were still people in the room but none of them seemed to come by my table.

In addition to my early morning purchases from Jim, I picked up a nice group of '70 Topps, some '68s, a few Post, and some early '60s Football from some other guys. I bought some cards from Tom, who regularly sets up at Fred Copp's shows. I also turned down some cards. Chuck Thomas had some cards I wanted but I didn't have the funds. A random guy had a '58 Topps Mantle PSA 4. It was the ugliest PSA 4 I have ever seen with rounded and frayed corners. He wanted $225 which I think is a fair price if the card looked nicer but it was ugly. A few other guys brought some cards by my table and the prices were too high. Junior had a real ugly '58 Topps Mantle/Aaron card that I turned down. I usually buy from Junior but that was the only card he brought by. I actually tried to go into the show with the mindset that I wasn't going to buy, but I just can't pass up good deals. I bought a lot of cards last week which I haven't paid for. I'm going to have to load up on eBay to raise the funds to pay for those cards.

Tom Ward made an appearance today. I haven't seen him in a while. Tom was set up in the side hallway. Also, Lou, who normally sets up at the Allstate Arena flea market was set up today. I was surprised that Mark Smith wasn't set up today.

At 1 p.m., with no customers, I went over to Jim's table and pulled a bunch of '67 Topps football commons out of his cheapie box. I started packing up around 1:30 and was on the road by 2:15 p.m. It took me an hour to get home today.

Next weekend I'm setting up at the Hesston (Indiana) Steam Engine Festival. This is a really cool event across Lake Michigan at the Michigan/Indiana border where there are several working steam train engines giving passengers rides through a nearby forest. There are also food booths and all sorts of old-time industrial steam engines on display. There is also a flea market. Last year I was at the festival with my dad on Labor Day and he asked if I wanted to do the flea market the following year. I said yes, thinking it was just one day. Well the flea market is four days and I'm a little bummed that I'm going to be spending the entire weekend at the festival flea market. My dad has a garage full of junk he is going to bring out. He wants to bring out four carloads of stuff. I'm trying to convince him to bring just one carload. I'm also going to bring out some cards but I'm not sure what to bring. I don't want to bring more than a bin or two of cards. I'm definitely not leaving any cards there overnight. So whatever I bring, it's coming home with me each night. It's going to be a long weekend and I'm not expecting to make much money. Most people go to this event to ride the trains not buy flea market stuff. I'm going to try and convince my dad all this week that this flea market is a bad idea and we should skip it. Unfortunately, my dad is as stubborn as a mule and I know I'm going to be stuck at the festival for four days. I'm not expecting to make much money. Whatever I do make will be spent on food and train rides for my kids. At least, maybe, the kids will have some fun. Though I think they'll be hating life after four days at our flea market booth. It's going to be a long weekend. Today was fun though and I'm looking forward to the next Orland Show in two weeks.

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Charlie Moore, cake, cards, many tables

8/14/2011

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I had an extra three bins of cards with me today because I had an extra table yesterday in Orland and didn't unpack the car. Lo and behold, Keith gave me an extra table today at Gonzaga. Ken, a vintage dealer who normally sets up next to me, didn't make it and Keith had some cancellations. So four tables yesterday and a whopping five tables today. It was tough to cover all those tables. I also had a super moron modern card seller behind me. The guy placed a card table behind his single table and took up most of the space between our tables. I was going to say something to him but I figured as long as I have enough room to walk by, then I'll just deal with the inconvenience of practically no space behind one of my tables. However, at one point, the numbnut pulled up a chair and sat down at the card table, essentially blocking me from three of my tables. So I asked him to place his chair on the side of his card table so I can walk by. He had a partner with him who gave me a look. WTF? I have five tables, pay $100 in fees, you have one table pay $25 (actually split between two guys, so 12 bucks a piece). All I want is a path behind my tables so I can help customers with items on each of my tables. I've never seen this idiot before. He has long hair and a beard. If he had said anything to me, this could have escalated. I have no patience for douchebags.

Numbnuts and douchebags aside, I had a really good show. Former Brewer Charlie Moore walked in while I was setting up. He kind of looks like a truck driver and is much smaller than I had pictured. He looks like a big guy on his baseball cards. I wanted to get his auto but I was too busy to leave my table.

Mark is always the first guy at my table at Gonzaga. He likes oddball cards, inserts and non-sports. I had some '62 Post for him to peruse. I also picked up some non-sports at the National for him. After Mark paid for his cards the room started to fill up. Quite a few folks were bunched near the front stage for the auction. Luckily the auction went quick today because it can be a real distraction. The noise makes it tough to communicate with my customers. One of my best customers at Gonzaga is Gary. Unfortunately, he doesn't always buy from me but when he does, he has no problem throwing down $300 or $400. I sold him a bunch of stuff today including a '53 Topps Campanella, a '56 Topps Aaron, a '59 Topps Koufax, a '60 Topps Aaron and a pile of '58 Topps commons. Jim picked up a 53 Topps Ralph Kiner. Jason picked up a '39 Play Ball Elden Auker and some '62 Post. Another good customer picked up a big pile of '59s, '60s and '61 Topps commons. Tom bought my entire 50-cent box. Larry picked up my graded '52 Topps Chico Carrasquel. There is an uncle and nephew team that regularly stop by my table, both guys bought their amount of cards. I sold quite a bit of '70s basketball. I sold some '70s baseball to one customer and '70s football to another. I also sold some Babe Ruth posters and some unopened packs of 1986 Fleer. I made some sales out of my dime box. One customer was looking for Pittsburgh Pirates cards and he found some. Another guy bought a '58 Topps Johnny Logan. Quite a few guys bought cards out of my binders.

A lot of my customers assume I'm a big Cubs fan because I'm from Chicago. I'm actually more of a White Sox fan but these guys always want to talk about the Cubs. I haven't watched a single Cubs game this whole season. The Cubs are awful, I'm just not into them at all right now. I just didn't have much to say when were asking my opinion about things affecting the Cubs. I'd much rather talk about the White Sox but these guys just want to talk about the Cubs.

Not much doing on the buying front today. A vintage dealer, Jerry, approached me while I was setting up and said he had some cards for me and to come by his table when I had a chance. An hour or so into the show, I went by his table and he told me he sold the cards. I'm just wondering why he bothered to offer them to me. I had thought he was holding them for me. Another regular, whose cards are overpriced, offered me some stuff but I took a pass. No other cards were brought to my table. I looked at Bill's table at the end of the show but nothing jumped out at me. A dealer near the food stand had some strip cards from the 1920s. They were cool but priced a little high. It was actually nice going home with money in my pocket for once.

The hall started to clear out around 11 a.m because the first place Brewers were playing the Pirates. It seemed like most everybody at the show was going to the game. I flipped on the Brewer game on the radio during my drive home. I love listening to Bob Uecker. He is clearly the best announcer in sports. His play-by-play reminds me of the announcers of old. Also, when he is in the mood, he is unbelievably funny. Today he had Robin Yount sit in for three or four innings and I wish I had a copy of the broadcast, it was classic. Yount started telling Uecker how he has been to four cities in the past five days. Uecker responds: "So Robin, tell me, what does your parole officer do while you're gone?" Yount was speechless. Uecker asked Yount about the recent ceremonies in Cooperstown for Bert Blyleven and Robbie Alomar. Yount said Blyleven is a nut and seemed to allude that some heavy drinking was done in Cooperstown. Uecker then says: "So Robin, remember the time when you drove your Corvette around the Milwaukee Motor Speedway when it was closed at 1 a.m. in the morning."

    Yount: It wasn't closed.

    Uecker: Well I suppose it was easy to open the gates when you sped through them.

    They had some serious moments too. Both guys talked about how they were teammates at one time with Robbie Alomar's father Santos. Yount recalled seeing Robbie and his brother Sandy in the locker room when they were tots.

    Yount: When I started to play against them in the late 1980s, I knew it was time to retire.

    When the Brewers' Craig Counsel came to bat, they mentioned how they knew him too when he was a kid. Apparently, Counsel's father worked for the Brewers. Yount recalled hitting ground balls to Counsel when he was a youngster. Yount was in Milwaukee raising funds for youth baseball. I always liked him as a player and after hearing his interview with Uecker, I have all the more respect for him. And for Uecker, he's simply the best. I can't wait to go back up to Milwaukee for the September Gonzaga show. I'm skipping Serb Hall this month. I need to take a break next weekend. So my next show will be Orland in two weeks. I'm hoping to have my '56 and '57 Topps binders reloaded for the Orland show. I'll probably have a blog or two and some random baseball card issues before the Orland show.

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No Thefts, free table, great Orland show!

8/13/2011

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Promoter John Leary called me before the show and offered me a free table because a dealer cancelled on him. I gladly accepted the free table. He also gave some free tables to dealer Mark Smith. It only makes sense to give unused tables to good dealers who will place quality product out for display. I never understand why there are empty tables at this show. Anyway, I was given less than 24 hours notice about my free table and I had to work fast to come up with some extra items. I dug deep into boxes and bins in my basement and came up with some stuff. I brought out my Cubs/Sox box which I haven't brought out in a while because it is a lot of work maintaining cards in there. I actually sold a few cards out of there. I also brought out my dime box and sold a few cards. I brought out some oddball binders and sold nothing out of those. I also brought out some unopened packs and sold none of those. I put out my 25-cent pack bin and sold a few of those. The best part of having an extra table was being able to put out my extra display case. I think it netted me quite a few sales. I need to pick up an additional display case because I didn't have enough room to put out any basketball or hockey.

A much better Orland show for me than the one two weeks ago. There was a good amount a people there, including some guys I haven't seen in a while. Sales were up while buying was down. Terry started my day off nicely with buying a bunch of cards including a really nice '62 Topps Manager's Dream card with Mantle and Mays. Rick bought a smattering of '55 Bowman baseball. Another customer picked up quite a few '62s. A customer who I haven't seen in a while bought a nice amount of '61 Topps commons and then bought a bunch of '61s from my display case including a Banks, Musial, Santo rookie, Groat, and a Spahn. No pre-war customers. I'm currently out of T206s but I still have some real nice Diamond Stars and Play Balls. I sold quite a few cards from the 70s today including some '72s, '73s and '76s. Chuck picked up a bunch of '72 highs. I sold some '69 Topps football. Will picked up my '65 Topps Mays. I sold a bunch more cards but my memory is failing once again and I'm not sure what they were.

Buying front was a little slow, which is unusual for this show. I owed another dealer some money from some purchases a few weeks ago and it was nice to be able to pay off the debt. I did pick up about 500 cards ranging from 1963 through 1968 baseball, and some '71 and '72 Topps football. I was debating on buying some baseball magazines from the '60s but I'm just not sure how well those would sell for me. I was thinking it would be nice to have something like that on my table, which is a little different from my normal array of vintage cards. In the end, I didn't pull the trigger.

It looked like Jim made a nice buy. I saw him cart out a truck load of cards at the end of the show. I'm sure I'll be purchasing some of those in the future. There were a lot of dealers I didn't recognize today, which is actually typical of Orland. There are always dealers at every show that I have never seen before. Today there were more than usual. It's nice to see modern card dealer John back at the show. John's a real nice guy who I've seen at shows forever. He said he got out of cards for awhile. I don't spend much time with the modern card dealers but a few of them are real good guys and some, not so good. One guy got there early, used the biggest cart that the hall provides, then hid the cart out the door behind his table so nobody else could use the cart to load in. Only a complete jagoff hides the Civic Center's free carts from other dealers.

On a completely different sour note, a regular customer had to be carted out by an ambulance. I'm not sure what happened. He may have fallen or just started feeling ill. He looks to be in his 70s. He occasionally buys '55 and '57 Topps from me. I hope he is okay.

Tomorrow is Gonzaga which has been consistently my best show. Former Brewer Charlie Moore is signing at the show for just five bucks. I'd like to pick up his auto but I probably won't be able to get away from my table. The nice thing about doing the Orland show on the Saturday and Gonzaga on Sunday is that I don't have to load up my car tomorrow morning. It will be a luxury to just jump in the car and start the drive to Milwaukee. I know the first-place Brewers have a game tomorrow, I hope we don't lose too many customers to the game. I had a real nice day in Orland today and hoping for the same tomorrow.

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National Show Report Day Five

8/7/2011

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It was kind of like a funeral today. Not much doing. Smallest turnout of the five-day show. My boothmate Tony bought some cards from me, and for most of the day it looked like my only sale. Some other sales trickled in. My cheapie box got a workout today. Near the end of the show, a guy from Clean Sweep Auctions bought my '53 Bowman Mantle and a T205 Hughie Jennings, to make my day. On the buying front, I picked up a couple of 1935 Goudeys.

Though, the purchase of the day, was made by Tony Schaefer who bought seven sets from another dealer including '60, '61, '62, '63, '68, '69, and '70 Topps. An awesome amount of cards. The '63 Rose was a beauty. We all drooled over those sets. This was about the coolest purchase I have ever seen anyone make.

Other than the theft of my binder, it was a good show. I generally enjoyed myself and bought and sold a pile of cards. I would like to set up at the National next time it is in Chicago in 2013, though this time I'm not going to bring any binders. I'm also going to set up at the Sun-Times show in November and am not sure if I want to bring binders to that show. I think it is best if I leave the binders home at the big shows where thieves prey.

Tomorrow it is back to the grind of the day job. Next week is Orland on Saturday and Gonzaga on Sunday. I'm going to try and price a ton of cards before the Orland show. I appreciate all the sympathy I received from other dealers and collectors. There are too many good people in this hobby to let this theft get me down. Though, if anyone happens to catch the thieving bastards, please hold them down for me so I can bust 'em up a little.

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National Show Report Day Four

8/6/2011

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Well, I didn't sleep very well last night after losing my binder. I thought it over and I believe the theft might have occurred right when I got to the show around 12:15 p.m. There was a large guy, about 6-4, 350, hovering over my binders. He had a pile of stuff, including a small binder, on top of my binders. I think he placed his pile on top of my binder and slipped the whole group into a bag and took off.

I went into the day with the mindset that the cards are gone, there is nothing I can do about it and might as well enjoy the rest of the show. I actually had a good time today. Sales were slow in the morning. I sold a smattering of '33 Goudey commons, some '56 Topps football, a '56 Topps Jackie Robinson, and 34 Goudey Jimmie Foxx PSA 1, and a assortment of stuff from my cheapie box. In the afternoon, when Steve, who I can only describe as a groupie, brought some Subway sandwiches, things really picked up. Tim from Madison came by and bought a nice pile of cards including some T206 commons. Tim's friend Sean from Wassau, Wisc., purchased some '78-'79 Topps basketball. TJ was back for some '56 Topps football. I sold some '70 Topps baseball, some '70-71 Topps basketball, some '64 Topps Philadelphia football, a Diamond Stars Mickey Cochrane, and a '55 Topps Phil Rizzuto. I sold a bunch more stuff but sleep deprivation has hampered my memory.

On the buying front, I picked up a ton of stuff, including some '57 Topps, a nice group of '63 Topps including some high numbers, some '62s with at least three Frank Robinsons, a binder of '64s, some '58 Topps, some '34 Goudeys, Mantles and a '58 Topps Killebrew.

I also met Rich Mueller from www.sportscollectorsdaily.com. I have written some stuff for Rich in the past but never met him in person. Rich purchased a card from my boothmate Dave. I saw Chuck and a few of the other regulars from the Orland shows today. I also saw a few guys from the Gonzaga show. Then I met one odd-ball character who claims he "restores" vintage cards. He had photos of cards he restored. There was a '33 Goudey Gehrig that was missing a chunk on the top edge. He was able to replace the chunk, sharpen the corners and paint the card so it looked nearly new. He showed me dozens of cards where he performed his "magic." It was really unbelievable. He can fix the centering of a card. Repair anything, holes, scratches, tears, wrinkles and creases. He claims he performs a service and I was nice and listened to him. However, I'm sure the results of his "restorations" have bilked collectors out of thousands of dollars.

After the show, I received a call from another dealer who had a binder stolen today. I really feel for the guy. It is absolutely brutal to get your stuff ripped off. We work hard to earn money to purchase these cards then spend a tremendous amount of time pricing and organizing them. When you get ripped off, it takes the wind out of your sails. I'm trying to make the best out of a bad situation and hope to have a good time tomorrow on the final day of the show. I took a bunch of photos today, posted below.

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National Show Report Day Three

8/5/2011

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"Devastation" is the word for today. I had to work my real job in the morning. When I got to the show around 12:30 p.m. I saw that my baseball binder of early Bowman and '52 Topps was gone. I was a victim of a $3,000 to $5,000 theft. I was hit by some pros. I don't know if they came by while I was gone or in the 20 minutes I was there. It must have been a group of guys who distracted the other guys in my booth and slipped the binder into a bag. They moved my binders around so we wouldn't notice a blank spot on the table.

I immediately raced to the parking lot to see if I could find any suspicious characters. I saw a group of five guys, early teens or in their early 20s, standing outside a white SUV with all the doors open and the hatch open. A couple of guys were in the car on their stomachs. It looked like they were stuffing things under the seats. I ran and got a Rosemont cop and asked him to check it out. The Rosemont police never checked it out. I went back about an hour later to see if I could get a license plate number but the car was gone.

I was kind of manic. I lost interest in selling or buying cards. I made a crude flier and printed a few hundred copies in the "Exhibitor Services" office. I passed out the fliers to all the vintage dealers at the show, letting them know about the theft. Talking to all the vintage dealers was some good therapy. Most of them had been victimized at some point in their card selling careers. I learned that the dealer behind me had a complete set of '63 Topps baseball stolen around the same time as my binder. He estimated the value of the set at $9,000. Another dealer on the opposite end of the room had a '53 Bowman Color set stolen today. Another dealer, near the front entrance, had a '65 Topps Joe Namath PSA 9 rookie stolen -- estimated value $15,000. One dealer told me her hotel room was burglarized on Thursday night. Another dealer told me how he had a bunch of Goudey Babe Ruths stolen at a show about 15 years ago. Another dealer said he lost about $25,000 worth of cards at a show a few years ago. A dealer from Missouri told me that his brand new Ford pick-up truck was stolen from the parking lot at the '08 National. He had no way to get home or to get his cards out of the show. Most every dealer had some sort of theft story.

I purposely placed the binder in a spot where I thought it would be difficult to steal. I have a walk-in booth and placed the binders in the back. The thieves walked all the way into my booth and slipped the binder in a bag and walked out. I now realize that I have to come up with a better way to protect my cards. I may set up security cameras the next time I do the National. I also think the promoters have to help with security. There needs to be "spotters" in the room looking for thieves. At the extreme end, I would like to see every bag searched before people are allowed to leave the show. Take a photo of the customer, the items in their bag, and a copy of their ID. Theft is rampant at this show and I think it is time to take some extreme measures.

I'm very depressed at the moment. It really sucks!!! I spent a lot of money on those cards. I also spent a ton of time grading and pricing the cards, and placing them in numerical order in the book. @#$%^&*!!!! Though my daughter gave me a hug when I got home from the show and she never gives hugs. So I can't feel too bad. Tomorrow is another day and it is bound to be better than today.

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National Show Report Day Two

8/4/2011

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The show was good today. The room seemed filled most of the day. There were many places in the room that were downright crowded. I figured out today that the morons set up across the way who decided to keep the glass for their display case on my table are Grey Flannel Auctions. I don't ever buy from these guys because I'm not into autographs or jerseys. Now that I know they are dickheads, I certainly won't ever buy from them. All the auction houses are at the show, both new and old. I think it was Mile High that had some beautiful 1915 Cracker Jack on display. Another auction house that I like, I won't name names, was staffed by a bunch of guys that looked real creepy.

There was a nice flow of customers at my booth today. Dave was extremely busy all day. Scott seemed to be busy most of the day, as was I. Tony S. seemed to have his moments where he was busy. He has an amazing inventory, I don't quite understand why he isn't mobbed with customers. There are some cards in his display case that I have been drooling over like a Turkey Red Ty Cobb, a '54 Red Heart Stan Musial, '33 Goudey Tris Speaker, along with some great T206s and T205s.

My brain is a little foggy after nearly 48 hours at the show and I'm trying to remember exactly what I sold today. The morning was slow for me and I made very few sales. I sold some '62 Post baseball to Andy from Orlando. Then I took off to my favorite sandwich shop in the world -- Notolli and Sons on Belmont Avenue. I picked up some footlong Italian subs for my boothmates. When I got back to the show, Dave handed me a nice little pile of cash. Apparently, Dave sold a bunch of my cards for me. I immediately flipped the cash over to another dealer for some card debts. Then I got a big rush of customers and had a tough time finishing my sandwich. A father and son duo from Connecticut purchased quite a few mid-1960's stars, including a '66 Topps Jim Palmer rookie. I sold a '78-'79 Topps Pete Maravich and a 1970-71 Topps Trio card #1. I sold a 68-70 Topps Bobby Orr to a customer from Phoenix, Arizona. A customer from Ohio bought quite a few commons from the 1960s. I sold a card to the publisher of the American Bar Association Journal. Long-time customer TJ came by and bought some Play Balls and early Bowman baseball. I sold some '66 Philadelphia football. I sold a '34-36 Diamond Star Al Simmons. Brian picked up a '68 Topps Roberto Clemente. I had quite a few more sales, they were quick, and I can't seem to remember what I sold.

I actually didn't buy anything today. Nobody brought me any deals. I did start to walk around, covering only 20 percent of the room. I saw some nice cards but prices were just a little too high for me to pull the trigger. Steve, from Jim & Steve's Card Shop in Waukegan, IL, had some '64 Stand Ups at reasonable prices. I may pick up some of those before the show ends.

I priced some more cards tonight to bring out to the show tomorrow. I have to go to my real job in the a.m. and Dave will be watching my stuff. He made great sales for me today and I hope his luck continues tomorrow. I should be at the show around 12:30 p.m. Check out the photos below.

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National Show Report Day One

8/3/2011

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I arrived at the Rosemont Convention Center around 10 a.m. this morning. I thought I could quickly set up and then head Downtown to work the afternoon at my real job. Big mistake. When I got to my booth I found that my tables and chairs had been raided. Only two of my four tables were in the booth. A third table was up the aisle and I grabbed it and put it back in the booth. I am fairly certain the scumbag dealers across from me stole my fourth table and two of my chairs. So I had to comb the convention center to figure out how to get another table and more chairs. I eventually procured another table and two more chairs. I wanted even more chairs but the folks at "Exhibitor Services" said I can only have four.

Prior to the show, I had an idea of how to configure the tables, but my plan went out the door when I observed some other booths with a far better design. So I put the the four 8-foot tables in rows and connected the rows with card tables and ended up with this sort of squiggly design that gives my group of four dealers a nice amount of display space -- much more than I had in 2008, the last time I set up at the National.

One of my boothmates, Dave showed up and we began to set up. Shortly after I began to fill my display cases, I noticed that a dealer located behind the scumbags that stole my table and chairs, laid out on one of my tables some glass plates for his store-type display shelf system. I also notice that his tables were bare and wondered why he walked all the way over to my table and placed the glass plates there? I was already pissed off at the scumbags across the way but was able to refrain from busting this guy's knee caps because I wasn't using the table at the moment. When Scott showed up, another boothmate, I picked up the glass plates and brought them over to the moron's table.

The worst aspect of the sports card hobby is the select few dealers that are unbelievable idiots. There are some at most every show. I have four more days of sitting across the way from some serious pieces of shit. Luckily, I am sharing my booth with a great group of guys and can ignore the idiots.

Anyway, it took me all day to set up. I finished around 2 p.m. then went over to Frannie's in Schiller Park for a beef sandwich.

Dealers and VIPS started coming by the booth the minute we started to display cards in the morning and continued until 8 p.m. I made a few sales. The dealer behind me, who is actually a nice guy and from Buffalo, NY, purchased a 1951 Bowman Larry Doby. A customer picked up a 1939 Play Ball Charley Keller and said that he works with Keller's nephew. I sold a '64 Philadelphia Merlin Olsen rookie to another customer. Long-time customer Larry picked up a 1954 Johnston Cookie Warren Spahn. Other than these guys, I had a lot of lookers but no takers. An extremely slow sales day.

On the buying front, great success. I picked up about 200 1957 Topps baseball in VG - EX. I also got a nice deal on a '55 Topps Warren Spahn and '56 Topps Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente and Ted Williams.

I didn't walk around the show today. I was too tired from set up and a little disappointed in my sales to explore. All my purchases were made from people bringing cards to my booth. I even turned some stuff down because I didn't have the funds for the purchase.

I did enjoy talking with Dave. I haven't seen him since the Sun-Times show last November. I saw my old junior high buddy Ross Forman along with a great many of the regular Chicago dealers like Willie, Steve, Don, and Jeff. Jim Goodfriend made an appearance. I haven't seen Jim much since he suffered a stroke last year. He looks fine but said he can't drive and he won't set up at shows again until he can drive. He was pushing a set of '75 Topps.

A few observations, there are not as many dealers as there was in 2008. Dave and I had set up in a side/back room that year. There were no dealers set up in the side/back room today. There was also an Olympic memorabilia section in the small side room leading to the empty side/back room. I'm not sure what this Olympic deal is about and it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. I don't think customers come to this show looking for Olympic memorabilia.

Also, long-time Chicago sportscaster Chet Coppock walked by my table wearing a glittery wrestling cape belong to Randy "The Macho Man" Savage. I don't really know what that was about.

For tomorrow, I'm hoping for better sales and more purchases. I'll probably walk around. I took some photos today, I'll take some more tomorrow and post them tomorrow night.

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Tony Gordon

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