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Wisconsin is Hamburger Heaven

8/25/2015

3 Comments

 
Before I get to my show report from Saturday's show at the Clarion in Milwaukee, I would like to discuss a matter of grave importance -- hamburgers. I freakin' love hamburgers. Hell, if it didn't result in a coronary embolism, I would eat a hamburger for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. Did I say I love hamburgers?

Oddly, I have found that no two hamburgers are the same. A McDonald's burger does not taste like a Burger King burger, nor does a burger from Denny's taste like a burger from the corner pub. All burgers are unique which is why I love exploring burger joints and prefer a classic burger joint to fast food. 

Oh my, I've eaten many, many good burgers in my time. The ones that stand out include the patty melt at Peter's, a defunct diner that formerly stood in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. Another great one was at the now-defunct Hog Head McDunna's on Fullerton and Ashland in Chicago. I also used to like to go to the West Loop Club (WLC) on South State Street in Chicago for their killer burgers. I tried Googling WLC and came up empty, so I am not sure if they are still open. My all-time favorite burger is the one at Hackney's, a family run chain in the Chicago area. Hackney's is still around, though they did close the one closest to my house in Wheeling, Illinois (WHY?!). I have been eating at Hackney's my entire life. Hackney’s began when Bebe Hackney first started serving hamburgers on her back porch in Glenview, Illinois, during Prohibition, according to Hackney's website. Her husband Jack, later opened up a saloon where her burgers were a huge hit then and today.

The Hackney burger is a thick cut of meat served on black rye bread, with raw onions and lettuce. There are cheese options but I prefer my burger sans cheese. The Hackney burger also comes with delicious creamy coleslaw. Two other essentials to accompany the Hackney burger are (1) the onion loaf, which is a large square of breaded and fried onions that are absolutely amazing; and (2) a glass of Green River soda, originally made by the defunct Edelweiss Brewery in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood to keep the brewery afloat during Prohibition. I am not sure who makes Green River now, Edelweiss closed in the early 1970s.

Right up there with all these burgers mentioned above is the one at the Nite Owl, 830 E. Layton, in Milwaukee, about a mile from my card show at the Clarion Hotel. Scotty P. introduced Mark, Willie and I to this place after our first Clarion show last September -- we've been hooked ever since. The Nite Owl burger is a large hunk of meat, with options for cheese, grilled onions and mayo. I go with the grilled onions and mayo and also throw some ketchup on there. Man, this is a damn good burger. You gotta have a thick burger to have the proper flavor which is why I generally prefer a burger from the local tavern where a guy named Rudy, with Popeye arms covered in tats, pulls out a refrigerated gob of flesh, molds it, then tosses it on a grill. Drool. While not a pub, the Nite Owl has captured the perfect pub-style burger.

As much as I love the Nite Owl, I would like to discuss a couple of issues I have with the place. First off, they close up shop in mid-November for the winter. So I have to go four months with no access to a Nite Owl burger. Pain! Heartbreak! Second problem, they run out of meat around 3 or 4 p.m. most days then shut the place down! Can't you guys procure a larger refrigerator and a larger supply of meat? So here is what happens. I'm gearing up for the Clarion card show, salivating at the thought of hitting the Nite Owl after the show, only to find them closed because they ran out of meat! The world is a cruel, cruel place.

This past Saturday was one of those days where we showed up at the Nite Owl and they had closed up around 3 p.m. Well, Scotty Z., not to be confused with Scotty P., has been bragging about another burger place called Solly's, located just north of Milwaukee in the town of Port Washington. I casually mentioned Solly's to my lunchmates Rob and Willie. Rob just happened to have a Solly's menu in his car. Willie took one look at that menu and said we have no choice but to go to Solly's. I plugged the address into my GPS and in 15 minutes we were at Solly's, which is housed in an old brick house. From the outside, I thought Solly's was going to be a big restaurant. I was surprised that it consists merely of an S-shaped counter, no other seating! We had a tough time finding three open stools at the counter.

Once seated, we each ordered three butter burgers from a sweetheart of a waitress. Rob and I went with fries while Willie went with onion rings and spicy dipping sauce. Willie and I are from Chicago where you can't buy a butter burger. Admittedly Willie and I had never eaten butter burgers before and we both were a little concerned. Our burgers literally had a slab of butter on them along with a hunk of chopped grilled onions. Initially, I did not think I would like eating a burger caked in butter but man it was good! I think next time I'm going to order the double butter burger, not double butter but double meat patties. The Solly's patties are kind of thin, you gotta have two of those suckers on there to absorb all that buttery goodness.

I was so taken by this butter burger that I was compelled to research the matter further. I found this great website www.luckypeach.com where it explains the history of the butter burger. According to Amrita Gupta of luckypeach, the hamburger, not the butter burger but the first actual hamburger, originated in 1885 at the fair in Seymour, Wisconsin. The creator of the hamburger was 15 year-old Charles Nagreen. I always assumed the hamburger was a German import but no, it was created in Seymour, Wisconsin.

According to www.homeofthehamburger.org, young Charlie had set up at the fair to sell meatballs. Sales were slow. He learned that fairgoers were not purchasing his meatballs because they could not eat them while walking around the fair. So he figured that if he placed his meatballs in a bun, people could eat them in a sandwich while walking around. He called his creation the hamburger, based on the “hamburg” steak, a ground beef patty that many of the area’s German residents served at home.

 By 1895, Wisconsin was one of the largest dairy producing states in the country so it seemed natural for someone in Wisconsin to slab some butter onto a burger when it was so plentiful. The first reported butter burgers were served in 1936. One establishment was located in Green Bay, operated by Harry and Caroline Kroll, which is apparently still there. The other butter burger was served at Solly’s! Kenneth “Solly” Salmon loved the taste of butter on a burger and shared his concoction with customers who have been cramming into his little diner ever since. Solly’s family still runs the place. They were interviewed for the luckypeach article and said that some places brush on some butter, others roll it on, but at Solly’s “we take a knife and put a good glop of butter on the burger.” Indeed they do! Solly’s goes through 125 to 150 pounds of butter per week!! Oh Wisconsin, I love you!

 I will now pause this blog so my dear readers may race out to the nearest burger joint and grab some food. You must be hungry. I know I am. You may continue with the blog upon your return.

Back? Do you have a burger? Okay, good. Now back to the task at hand, my show report. I kind of limped into home on Saturday, August 22, 2015, at the Fat Daddy's Sport Baseball Card Show held at the Clarion Hotel in Milwaukee. This show marked the completion of my first year as a show promoter. I think I threw only two duds all year -- June and the August one this past Saturday. I was disappointed we did not get a better turn out. I aggressively promoted the show with postings all over the internet and I passed out hundreds of flyers. Obviously, I need to do more. I plan on really hustling for the September 19th Show.

In my first year, I learned that promoting a show is a challenge. It is difficult to get customers in the room and when they do come, to make sure they have a good time and want to come back to the show. It is also difficult to make sure all the dealers have good sales and a positive experience. While I did not break even once in terms of the money I received in table fee and the money I spent on promotion and the room, my card sales at the show have been tremendous overall. Except for the National, all my best shows during the past year have been at my Clarion show. So I must be doing something right.

I was very lucky to have Mark Smith's guidance when I started the first show last September. I have also been extremely lucky to have a solid dedicated core of dealers that show up just about every month in Nelson Rodriguez, Scott & Jim Ziegert, Mike Johnson, Bill Nest, Scott Prodzinski and Willie Shabas. You guys are the best! I am also very thankful to each and every dealer that set up during this past year. I hope you all come back as I embark on year number two.

I also can't express enough gratitude to all the great collectors that have visited my show this past year. I have an amazing core group of collectors that come out to see me at both Gonzaga and at my show like Mark, Jim, Jeff, Jason, Robin, Rob, Terry, Jack and many others. Thanks guys!!! 

 One of the biggest surprises from the Clarion show has been the large amount of quality vintage cards that have walked into the room this past year. I have made many tremendous buys on cards at the Clarion, including this past Saturday where I picked up a near set of 1960 Topps baseball along with large piles of 1958 through 1961 Topps football. I hope that customers continue to bring cards in to sell to me and all the other dealers. Other dealers have reported great buys as well throughout the year. 

I would like spice things up for year two at the Clarion. I may bring out an autograph guest here and there. I would like to do some giveaways. I would like to lure in some new dealers that have never set up in Milwaukee before. From doing shows all over the Midwest, I know quite a few dealers from out of town, maybe I can get some of these guys to truck up to Milwaukee and show off their stuff. I am also open to any suggestions anyone may have to improve the show. This past Saturday aside, I think we're off to a good start and I can't wait for year two beginning on Saturday, September 19, 2015. 

Next up on my schedule is the Fishers show in Indianapolis on Saturday, August 29, 2015; and the Chicagoland Sports Cards show in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, on Sunday, August 30th. I started work reloading 1979 Topps football. I also plan on loading up 1966 Topps baseball. I only have two tables at these shows and am trying to decide what to bring out. I am leaning towards just bringing out my display cases to each show. If anyone in Indy or Buffalo Grove would like to see any of my binders, please et me know and I will bring them along. Thanks again to everyone who has supported my show at the Clarion. I am looking forward to trucking to Indy on Saturday and Buffalo Grove on Sunday. See you this weekend! Don’t forget to come out to my show at the Clarion on September 19th. Now finish that burger!!


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Expensive 1949 Bowman Set Walked Into The Room

8/18/2015

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Driving from my house in the far northern suburbs of Chicago to the Indiana border has to be one of the worst drives in the continental United States. Ideally, it is an hour drive but in reality it normally takes two to three hours because traffic is absolutely horrible -- I hate it! I was planning to make this drive from hell on Friday afternoon and spend the night on my way to the Fort Wayne, Indiana, show on Saturday, August 15. However, the more I thought about and calculated the supposed three-hour drive to Fort Wayne, I decided to wake before dawn on Saturday and make the drive in one shot, hence, avoiding the traffic from hell on Friday afternoon. The end result, I got a speeding ticket (total speeders trap on Route 30, I had no idea I was speeding!) and arrived after the show began. Yet, I did have an extremely pleasant drive through the Chicago area with very little traffic at 5 a.m.

Oh my, I was tired when I arrived in Fort Wayne. Craig was kind enough to help me load in. Set up went quickly, I only put out three small display cases and most of my football and baseball binders. A few customers picked at stuff while I was setting up. I advised them to wait until I finished setting up. Once I was up and ready, sales were slow. There were the obligatory eBay sellers looking to buy stuff cheap to flip online. I was not interested in giving away any of my stuff to these guys, so no sales there. I got nothing out of Barber John, who has purchased complete binders in the past.

My best customer of the day was one of the few guys at this show working on vintage sets. Another good sale went to a younger guy with a lip ring who purchased a pile of 1976 Topps Minnesota Vikings. The only bummer was that he pulled three or four more cards and put them back in the binder in the wrong order. I had to go back and straighten out the binder. Another regular customer purchased a T206. A few guys made some small purchases and my day was done. I was hoping for better. There was a really nice crowd in the room so I thought my sales would have been stronger. I probably lost some sales by showing up late.

On the buying front, quite a few guys were offering cards to sell. I turned most everything down, prices were too high. I did end up buying a handful of 1954 Red Hearts and a smattering of star cards from the 1950s and 1960s. The room was abuzz with an older gentleman who brought in his 1949 Bowman baseball set that he purchased from packs back in 1949. He had the cards in an old Hershey candy bar box where he crafted six trays or slots to hold the cards. He said he learned the candy box trick from his brother after he did it with his 1948 Bowmans. The cards are pictured below. I looked over the entire set. Most of the cards were pretty nice. Many had typical corner and edge wear. Not a whole lot of creasing. The seller had a Beckett annual and saw that the set booked at $15,000 and he felt a fair price for his cards was $7,000. I, on the other hand, felt I would be lucky to sell the cards for $7,000 and could not pay anything close. I offered $3,000, figuring I could sell the cards from $5,000 to $7,000. He turned down my offer. I gave him my business card in case he changed his mind. Other dealers in the room offered $4,500 and $3,500. I felt the man should have taken the $4,500 because he will be hard pressed to find another offer that high. As I always say, it is very easy to buy cards but quite difficult to sell them. Some folks need to learn this lesson the hard way.

I chugged quite a bit of coffee. Dined on a delicious burger from the sports bar in the hotel and was on my way home by 2 p.m.

I was up bright and early again on Sunday, August 16, 2015, for the Bloomingdale show. I only had two 8-foot tables at the Fort Wayne show, so it was nice to have four 8-footers at the Bloomingdale show. I had a really nice set up in Bloomingdale which sparked some good sales. A bunch of regulars like Randy bought some cards. A father with two sons purchased quite a few cards and really made my day. I was impressed how well the boys knew the players from the 1950s. They purchased both football and baseball cards. A customer who remembered me from the Elgin show purchased quite a few cards as well. I ended up having a decent day. On the buying front, I picked up a '68 and '69 Ernie Banks. Not much else showed up at my table.

Overall assessment of the weekend, slower than expected day in Fort Wayne; better than expected day in Bloomingdale. I'll take it! I can't knock the Fort Wayne show in anyway. Promoter Brian Mayne is a superstar who works his butt off getting people into the room. He did another excellent job filling the place up. I just did a lousy job selling cards. I gotta get there on time and maybe put out more display cases and less binders for my next visit.

Next up is my show on Saturday, August 22, 2015, at the Clarion, 5311 S. Howell, in Milwaukee. I will have my usual array of dealers lined up. Willie Shabas will be back for this one with all sorts of killer autographs for sale. PJ, the promoter of the Serb Hall show and my neighbor at the Gonzaga show, has just reserved some tables. I'll probably get one or two more dealers before the week is out. My new stock for this show includes 1961 Topps football, 1962 Post baseball, 1974-75 Topps basketball and 1965 Topps baseball. I also will have some new star cards for my display cases. I also plan on pricing some more publications. There should be some great stuff in the room! Come on out!!!

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Another Great Gonzaga Show

8/14/2015

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No rest for the weary. After five days at the National, I was back at my real job Monday morning, very tired. It took me a few days to have the energy and will to sort and price cards for the Gonzaga show on August 9, 2015. By Wednesday, I was back at it in full form pricing 1964 Topps baseball for the show on Sunday. I was able to finish the '64s along with 1960 Fleer football.

All went smooth Sunday morning. It was nice to be back at Gonzaga with 24-feet of space to spread my wares after just 12-feet at the National. Added bonus was that the air conditioning at the hall was working perfectly thanks to Gonzaga show promoter Keith Kilps, who took it upon himself to clean the air grates on the back wall, creating tremendous air flow and comfort in the room. Props to Keith! I was also thankful that Keith's mom Candy was feeling better and graced us with her delicious cakes. I dined on a strawberry cake that was amazing!

There are so many things to love about the Gonzaga show but the thing I love the most are the many dedicated regular customers who show up each and every month and purchase mounds of cards from me. You guys rule!! 

As usual, Jeff the superstar purchased a TON of stuff including a 1957 Topps Yogi Berra and a 1957 Topps Whitey Ford along with a stack of 1960 Fleer football. Thank you Jeff! Jason, another superstar, purchased a nice stack of 1964 Topps baseball along with a 1934 Goudey Billy Werber. Thanks Jason! Another regular customer purchased some 1966 Topps baseball and some 1973 Topps baseball.

Jim, who skipped the National to fish up north at his cabin, picked up a nice pile of 1956 Topps baseball commons. Larry told me he just started the 1972 Topps baseball set and found a few he needed at my table. Another regular purchased some 1966 Topps baseball commons. A new customer purchased some 1958 Topps baseball cards.

Another new customer purchased a 1961 Topps Yogi Berra and a 1959 Topps Warren Spahn. Mark, who falls into the superstar category, purchased a bunch of stuff including a 1955 MBL All-Star Game press pin from County Stadium here in Milwaukee, a bunch of publications and some 1960 Fleer football. Thanks Mark!! A new customer then purchased some 1969 Topps baseball. 

A father and son team purchased some 1956 Topps baseball. A regular customer found some 1964s. Another regular purchased some 1970s hockey and basketball cards. A father and son team purchased a 1971 Topps Steve Garvey Rookie. A new customer purchased some 1976 and 1981 Topps baseball cards. A dealer rounded out my day by purchasing some 1980 Topps baseball cards. 

Overall, these sales added up nicely and I had a really nice day. Thank you everyone!

Well, with a pocket full of cash, I was not shy on the buying front. I picked up a nice stack of 1970-71 Topps basketball cards, some 1959 Topps baseball cards, a pair of 1960 Topps Willie McCovey rookies, a stack of 1962 Topps baseball that included a nice Mickey Mantle, a stack of 1963 Topps baseball, a nice stack of Post cereal that included three Mickey Mantles, and a handful of 1964 Topps baseball. Whew! Did I say I had a pocket full of cash? Well, after buying all these cards, about 1,500 cards or more, I left the show with exactly one dollar. I even had to borrow some cash from another dealer to finance one of these deals. Then I had to race over to an ATM after the show to pay for my table! It was worth it. I LOVE buying cards!!! It was just another tremendous day at the Gonzaga show!!! Looking forward to next month!!!

I have a very busy weekend coming up. I am setting up at the Fort Wayne show on Saturday and the Bloomingdale show on Sunday. I have already priced some 1961 Topps football. I finished up some 1962 Post baseball but I am not sure if I am going to bring those out this weekend. Let me know if you are attending the Fort Wayne or Bloomingdale shows and would like to see the '62 Post. Otherwise, I am going to hold those for my show at the Clarion in Milwaukee on August 22. I am going to start working on some 1974-75 Topps basketball but I am not sure if I will have those done by the weekend. I will definitely have those cards out at my show on Aug. 22. I am looking forward to another great weekend! Come on out!!
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2015 National Wrap Up

8/10/2015

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As with the previous four Nationals that I have been set up as a dealer, by Sunday, I was ready for the show to end. Don't get me wrong, I love the National. It is an amazing experience (see cool stuff above) but five days is way too long. I never make much money on the last day and it always seems like a waste of time.

I had my last doughnut of the week. I observed that the doughnut room was decidedly underpopulated when compared with the previous four days. The reason for lack of fat guys stuffing their faces with chocolately delights was that many dealers had packed up and gone home already. Other dealers opened up for a few hours in the morning and packed up and left.

I also observed that attendance was decidedly down compared to the previous four days. I started to get some sales early on and thought my luck might change. An OBC member purchased a pair of 1953 Bowman Color baseball that I have literally been carrying around for 10 years or so. These cards look like they have been through the wash. I probably would have given the cards away if anybody had asked.

A father and son team, clad in Cardinals gear, purchased a 1955 Bowman Tom Alston. They told me that Alston was the first black player on the Cardinals. I then sold some 1953 Topps baseball cards to a customer wearing a new-wave-looking purple hat from the 1980s. The OBC guy with the dirty hat from the other day came back and offered a better price for my 1949 Bowman Ralph Kiner. I appreciated the more reasonable offer and sold the card. My last customer of the day purchased a 1933 Goudey Milton Gaston.

With time on my hand, I finally walked around the whole show. I saw some cool stuff, pictured below. I did not buy anything other than a Beckett Basketball Annual from the Beckett booth. All Beckett annuals were half-price at the show. I had been using a 2006 basketball guide.

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Some random snarky observations from sitting around people watching: I saw a guy wearing a Guns & Roses T-shirt. I am pretty sure I have not seen anyone wear a Guns & Roses T-shirt since 1988. The National is the only place wear you can still see guys wearing fanny packs. Do they even make those things any more? I also saw guys wearing bandanas. Were they aware that they Grateful Dead were in town weeks ago? The Bloods & Crips bandana-headband thing is quite stylish at a card show, I must say. I also noticed that the OBC guys had three different hats. These guys used to be blue and white color-coordinated head to toe, which is no longer the case.

Overall, my sales were okay. I had a phenomenal day on Wednesday. A good day on Friday and lousy days Thursday, Saturday & Sunday. If I could have done anything on the three down days, I would have had a great show. I did enjoy myself. It is always great talking cards and sports and being in the most amazing environment for card collectors. The National is worth the price of admission, even if you don't purchase anything, just to see all the amazing items for sale and up for auction.

I was very impressed with the attendance for the week. I think this was the best attended National in Chicago in more than 10 years. It was pretty cool to meet collectors from all over the country. Quite a few folks who stopped by my table had flown in from California and Texas. Seems like a tremendous amount of people drove in from Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. I also heard many New York and Boston accents all week long and decided I would really like to have either one of those accents instead of my Chicago accent, which people remind me is very apparent. I also met customers with heavy accents from the deep south, places like Louisiana and Arkansas. Cool stuff!

As a result of the large crowds, I find it apparent that the hobby is very healthy. Folks were shelling out big bucks for Dave's high-grade vintage. It was nice to see that collectors are willing to occasionally leave the comfort of their computer keyboard and come out to a show and purchase cards in person.

I was surprised more stuff did not show up at my table for sale. I have bought way more cards at past Nationals. Also, those that have been following my blog for years know that I was a victim of a serious theft at the 2010 National. Thankfully, nothing walked away at this show. I also did not hear a single report of theft at the show which may be a first.

I decided to start packing up around 3 p.m. I was tired and ready to go home. Vacating the premises was very easy since my booth was located by a side door. I parked on Bryn Mawr and quickly shuffled my stuff out the door. Scott soon followed. Dave and Seth, two superstars, were still open for business and making sales. I made it home by 5 p.m..... another National under my belt.

I was up bright and early on Monday, representing a client in criminal court in Chicago. Back to reality. I was in court all week and found it hard to work on cards later in the day. I was a little burnt out after the National. I am setting up at Gonzaga on Sunday and have now rebounded nicely. I loaded up some 1960 Fleer football cards and 1964 Topps baseball cards. I really love the small shows that I do each weekend. They are so much easier to handle than the National. I am looking forward to some fresh baked cake at Gonzaga on Sunday. Hope to see a lot of folks at the show!

A huge thank you to my boothmates Dave, Seth, Scott & Jim. It was a great week with you guys!! Also, a big thank you to everyone who stopped by my booth to buy cards or to chat. I really enjoyed seeing so many familiar faces and obtaining many new customers. So who is going to volunteer to drive me to Atlantic City next year?

Below are some more photos of cool stuff I saw at the 2015 National.
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Day 4 of the National Sports Collectors Convention

8/7/2015

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I parked at the CTA lot on the morning of Saturday, August 1, 2015, the fourth day of the National Sports Collectors Convention. It was a short walk from the CTA lot to the convention center. I skipped the cafeteria and went with the free doughnuts, pictured above, for breakfast.

Like yesterday, light dealer traffic early on and masses by 10 a.m. Only problem was that the huge mountain of humanity was not interested in my cards. I watched Dave sell high-grade post-war vintage all day. Dave had a tremendous show. Seems like collectors that attend the National are most interested in high-grade cards. My mid- to low-grade stuff was largely ignored… which was strange because at past Nationals I have done extremely well with this stuff. Where were my customers?

I probably will not set up at the Atlantic City National next year – too far, too expensive. I will be back for the 2017 National in Rosemont. I think I may change my set up for that one. Less display cases, more binders, more sets.  I hope I can get the same group of dealers back for that one. Dave, Seth, and Scott are all good guys and very easy to work with.

I watched Seth have steady sales all week long. Seth sells modern cards of which I know nothing about. Seth is an excellent dealer and was very busy the whole week. Like me, our other boothmate Scott did not appear to have a whole lot of sales other than on Wednesday.

I did not really talk to any other dealers at the show about sales so I do not know how things went for the other guys. I observed that some dealers did not open up on Saturday including Probstein and the dealer on the other side of P.J. I spent most of the day chatting with Dave’s customer Sandy, who surmised that Probstein, like Sandy Koufax, does not play on the Sabbath, thus, his booth was closed.

My first customer of the day was Abel, the promoter of the Jackson, Michigan. He purchased some 1965 Topps baseball for a set he is building for a buddy. His next show in Jackson is on Halloween. I can’t make that one. I will be trick-or-treating with my kids.

Then Paul, one of my favorites from the Orland show, stopped by my table. I have not seen Paul since I stopped setting up in Orland last year. He said he went to see me at the flea market on July 5 but that was the day I got stuck in Michigan. A few others said they went to the flea market looking for me. Sorry guys! I had planned to be there but just did not want to drive home from Michigan at midnight on July 4th.

Paul seems to be doing well. We both thought that the only thing missing was Will and Joe for the perfect Orland reunion. Will and Joe! Where are you guys? Paul purchased some 1973 Topps football then sold me some 1973-74 Topps hockey cards. Thanks Paul! Paul also mentioned that he is interested in setting up if I ever get a south-suburban card show together. I really gotta get crackin’ on that one.

Last sale of the day went to Tony Schaefer who purchased a bunch of star cards from the 1960s. Thanks Tony!!

One more day!! It has been a long week!! Final report from the National coming soon!



Note -- next time, I may swipe the speakers at the Topps booth -- way too loud!!

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Day 3 of the 2015 National Sports Collectors Convention

8/5/2015

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Would you buy cards from this guy? Like the bald head? A good number of people on Wednesday bought some cards, not so much on Thursday. I had no idea what to expect on Friday, July 31, 2015, the third day of the National Sports Collectors Convention. Lisa dropped me off again around 8 a.m. I hit the cafeteria and dined on eggs and sausage. I attempted to be healthy and planned to skip the complimentary doughnuts for dealers. Well, when I walked into the lobby I saw Tony Schaefer carrying a plate filled with shiny delicious doughnuts. They looked so good. I could not resist and went and got a white-frosting doughnut with sprinkles. To my credit, I was able to limit my intake to just one doughnut per day -- which was really hard to do because I wanted to eat hundreds of them!

After a slow day on Thursday, I decided to change things up a bit. I replaced by football-basketball display case with graded cards. I don't have that great of a graded inventory and was hesitant to bring them out but I felt like I needed something to spark sales.

I was open for business by 8:45 a.m. The first hour of the show seemed to be dealers walking around. By 10 a.m. the place was a mad house, packed to the gills with people. My graded inventory immediately drew interest. A guy wearing a Washington Nationals T-Shirt purchased my 1951 Berk Ross Willie Mays PSA 5 and a raw 1938 Goudey common.

The graded theme continued with my next customer, clad in a St. Louis Cardinals hat, who purchased my 1974-75 Topps Artis Gilmore PSA 8. He said he collects Kentucky Colonels from the ABA and was excited to find the Gilmore. I remember Gilmore more from when he played for the Bulls in the mid-1970s. He was awesome and one of my favorite players back then.

Next up I made a real nice sale to a father and son team that came in from San Francisco. They purchased my 1933 Goudeys Rabbit Marranville and Pie Traynor. Ahhh, I much better day already! Next up, a father and son team from New York brought over a small stack of low grade cards to sell, consisting largely of battered cards from the 1970s. There was a beat up 1967 Killebrew, a '79 Pete Rose All Star, a '78 Eddie Murray rookie, lots of low grade junk. They wanted $50 for the stack. I figured I would be lucky to sell the stack for $30 and offered $20. They declined and walked away. I just won't offer much for low grade cards because I can't sell them for much. The only card in the stack I wanted was the Killebrew. They would not sell it to me individually. They wanted to move the whole crappy stack.

I then had some annoying folks at my table. First annoying guy looked at my T205 Johnny Kling. The Kling has a Piedmont back which is a little more difficult of a back to obtain in the T205 set. The card is in Good condition with corner and edge wear. I have the card priced at $80. Annoying guy offered me $30. Sorry, I am not that hard up for cash where I have to give my cards away. Next annoying guy was one of those OBC guys who was wearing one of the old OBC hats that are white with blue lettering. Only this guy's hat was brown... I don't know what turned the white to brown, I can only speculate. He made ridiculously low offers on a bunch of cards. I did not sell him a single card. I don't mind discounting cards and I even expect buyers to ask for a discount but that discount MUST be reasonable. Asking for less than half of my sticker price is NOT reasonable. I will not sell cards to unreasonable customers and prefer they skip my table. It is very expensive to set up at this show plus I have spent money to purchase each and every card on my table. If I was to sell cards to these two jokers, I would be losing money. I am set up to make money, not lose money. I don't expect to get rich but to keep the party train rolling, I must make more than I paid for each and every card. I refuse to sell cards for less than I paid for them.

My day improved quickly after the lowballers vacated the area. A dentist from the Edison Park neighborhood in Chicago purchased my Hawthorn Melody Club of Champions beanie. I was sorry to see that thing go because it is so cool but I observed that the dentist really appreciated the item. At this point, I was officially having a good day. Woot!

Next up, was a White Sox fan who purchased several publications. Andy made one last trip to my table and picked up my graded 1968 Topps Willie Mays, a T206 Hal Chase and a 1968 Ernie Banks. Thanks Andy! I look forward to seeing you this fall!!

Dave started to organize a few things in his case that he wanted to consign to some of the auction houses. He had a box of several hundred high grade 1953 Topps baseball cards that he was going to consign. He never made it to the auction house. He started to tell two Boston dealers set up across the way about the cards and they purchased them. They purchased a lot of stuff from Dave during the show. We were across from these guys two years ago and they also purchased a ton of stuff from Dave at that show.

Another item Dave was considering to consign was a strip of 1955 Johnston Cookies that included Pafko and Logan. Luckily for me, Dave offered the cards to me first. I purchased them then placed them in the display case with the publications. A short while later the cards sold at a nice profit. Thanks Dave!

Next up was a customer wearing a Texas Longhorns T-shirt who purchased a pile of exhibits and publications. Matt from Wisconsin had sent me an email reminding me to bring 1964 Topps Coins and Exhibits. I should have held the Exhibits for Matt. He arrived shortly after Mr. Texas Longhorn. Matt was able to find a few coins and also purchased a 1933 Goudey Lon Warneke. Thanks Matt!

Matt was my last customer capping off a really good day. On the buying front, I picked up a stack of non-sports cards and a pair of 1907 George Hull White Sox postcards.  George Hull was a clothing company and the postcards feature players for the 1906 World Series champion White Sox. I purchased them from a young guy who said they came from the estate of his great-grandmother -- kind of cool. I have never seen these postcards before. Now I am interested in them and would like to find some more!

I was getting a little stir-crazy after sitting at my booth for three days and decided to wander around the show a bit. I met a really nice older collector-dealer from Philadelphia who sold me some T206s at really nice prices. I should have purchased more! I was only able to walk one aisle. This show is huge and there was a lot to look at! Below is a photo of some of the cool old pictures I saw on my little walk around the show and a random photo of some of the booths.

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Back at booth 309, my booth, I picked up a new consignor who brought me complete baseball and football sets from the late 1960s and early 1970s. Lisa picked me up after the show and we met the consignor at the CTA lot where we loaded the sets into my car. I will be posting those sets shortly to eBay, so keep tabs on my eBay auctions!

I finally received my cards back from PSA. I was not happy with the grades. The 55 Bowman Mantle got a 6, the 1962 Topps Mantle also got a 6 while the 1962 Topps Maris got a 5 and the 1963 Topps Mantle got a 5. I may resubmit the '62 Maris and the '63 Mantle. The 55 Bowman Mantle and the '62 Mantle are up for sale on eBay -- click HERE.

After three days at the National, I was pretty tired. Once home, I ate some food and passed out. The blog for Day 4 will be up shortly.
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Day One of the National Sports Collectors Convention

8/2/2015

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I have essentially been preparing for the National Sports Collectors Convention for the past year. Though, I ended up selling quite a few items months earlier. I have so much stuff, however, so it ended up being a marathon to see just how much stuff I could price before the show. Crunch time came during the past month when I kicked it into high gear to price items for the big show.

There is an excitement for the National like no other show. For months it seems like the National was the main topic of conversation at the Midwest card shows I regularly attend. I have to admit that I was pumped up for the show. Unfortunately, I had to put in some work at my real job during the weeks leading up to the show and was unable to prepare for the show as I had hoped. Yet, on Wednesday morning, July 29, 2015, I was ready to go. I was up early, loaded up my car and set out for the Donald Stephens Center in Rosemont, Illinois.

Load in went fairly easy since my booths were located near a large garage door on the side of the convention center. I was all loaded in by 8:30 a.m. I was amazed to see that most of the room was already set up and open for business. There were very few of us loading in on Wednesday morning. I had wanted to load in Tuesday night but was deterred by the $75 early load-in fee. I may have missed some sales by not loading in early.

Set up went quickly because I did not have a whole lot of space. I reserved two booth spaces and split them with three other dealers -- Dave McDonald, Seth Murray and Scott Ziegert. We each had about 12-feet of space. I was able to put out five display cases and 15 binders. I placed a ton of stuff under my tables in case customers were looking for other items. I had one display case, pictured below, filled with completely new items like a 1938 Our National Game Pins complete set, a 1963 Salada Baseball Coins complete set, a 1964 Topps Giants complete set, a 1961 Topps Stamps complete set, World Series ticket stubs from 1971, 1973 and 1963; and several press pins including one from the 1972 baseball All-Star Game in Atlanta, the 1955 baseball All-Star Game in Milwaukee, and the 1979 World Series in Pittsburgh. I also had room to place a 1947 Yankees scorecard and a 1961 World Series program in the case. This case looked cool! Next up, I had a case filled up with pre-war baseball cards. There was another case with 1950s baseball cards. A fourth case with 1960s baseball cards and a 1952 Hawthorn Melody Club of Champs 12-pin set attached to a Hawthorn Melody beanie -- a really cool item, pictured below. In my last case, I placed vintage football and basketball cards. I had priced quite a few cards for the cases before the show, so there was a lot of new stuff in those cases.

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I was open for business around 10 a.m. Unfortunately, I did not get ANY business until the show actually opened at 4 p.m. There is as picture below of my booth all set up and ready to go around noon. I spent the time catching up with Dave, who I haven't seen since the Sun-Times show in March. As is tradition, Dave made some sandwiches for all the boothmates. This year he put together a salami-ham combo topped with pepperoncini and mayo. I ate my sandwich around 3 p.m. and it was delicious!! Thanks Dave!!

I also took some time to bring some cards over to PSA for grading. I had a really hard time finding the PSA booth. This was the largest National I have attended in years. I walked the whole giant room before I found the PSA booth in a large side room that had all the autograph guests, a large stage sponsored by Amazon.com, and dozens of booths for "case-breaking." As a vintage dealer, case-breaking is not something I am interested in. It seems like this activity is for modern collectors and is a relatively new concept. There are all sorts of companies and websites that broadcast live case-breaking. I am not really sure what case-breaking entails other than folks open up packs of cards and get really loud while doing it.

So sitting at the back of all this case-breaking, was the PSA booth. I sat down and joined the collector's club for the first time in years. I rarely bother to get cards graded. I hate grading. I hate the whole concept. It just seems like a big scam to me. I am always amazed the prices that certain graded cards receive at auction. Third-party grading has sent the price of some cards into the stratosphere. It is ridiculous in my book.

As much as I hate grading, I have to join the fray here and there because I know I can sell certain cards for much more money once they get slabbed. I recently picked up three really nice Mickey Mantles (1955 Bowman, 1962 Topps and 1963 Topps) and a really nice 1962 Topps Roger Maris. Nice Mantle cards pretty much need to be graded.

When a customer joins the PSA Collector's Club at the National, the subscription comes with four free grades that are completed during the show. So I dropped off the cards hoping I would receive them sometime on Thursday. I also got a free PSA T-shirt. I love swag! I swiped a few PSA pens to boot.

Back at my booth, there were folks already purchasing cards from Dave, as usual. My first customers of the day were a father and son team that picked up some 1957 Topps baseball cards. My next customer was a Detroit Tigers fan who told me he is stockpiling 1968 Topps Tigers. I did not have any '68s for him. He ended up purchasing a 1956 Topps Frank House, a pitcher for the Tigers.

My next customer casually looked at the Salada and the Giants sets. I thought I was just showing them off but he made a pretty good offer and I took it. They gone! Just like that there was a large infusion of cash into my pocket. Unfortunately, the removal of the sets left a very large gaping hole in one of my display cases just an hour into the show. I replaced the sets with two really cool Sport Magazines from the 1950s. One had a great picture of Jackie Robinson on the cover. The other had an awesome portrait of Mickey Mantle. Those two magazines were real eye-catchers.

Next up was Jason, one of my good customers from Milwaukee. Jason picked up all sorts of stuff including a large pile of cards out of my newly reloaded 1963 Topps baseball binder and some 1934 Diamond Stars including Lefty Grove. My next customer purchased some 1961 Topps baseball cards.

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The Wednesday show went until 8 p.m. There was a nice crowd in the room. I did not have a large volume of sales, but I certainly had some quality sales. I spent most of the evening chatting with customers, most were from out of town. I observed quite a few folks wearing Minnesota Twins gear. My night was capped off when a dealer purchased my 1961 Topps stamps set. With the sale of the three sets, I had an absolutely awesome day!

On the buying front, not a whole lot of folks brought stuff over to sell. I was able to purchase a large box of cards filled with 1970, 1971 and 1972 Topps baseball. The cards are mostly commons and low numbers but the condition is really nice.

When that 8 o'clock bell tolled, I was tired. 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. made for a very long day. My wife picked me up and brought the tarps I forgot in the morning. I like to cover my table with tarps at the end of the day. Lisa also brought some tarps to lend to Seth. Lisa parked across the street in the $13 lot. It was slow-moving as usual getting out of that parking lot. Thankfully, I live only a half-hour away from Rosemont. It is really nice when the largest show in the country sets up in my own backyard. I was kind of wired after that long day and did not sleep very well. Though, sales were good so I was in a very good mood. More of my National show report to come soon! In the meantime, enjoy the picture below of one of Dave's display cases.

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Day 2 of the 2015 National Sports Collectors Show

8/2/2015

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I was up bright and early on the morning of Thursday, July 30, 2015. Lisa dropped me off at the Stephens Center around 8 a.m. I went straight for the cafeteria and dined on eggs, bacon and some surprisingly good coffee. I also took advantage of the dealer hospitality room where they had free doughnuts and coffee. The doughnuts were picked over when I arrived but I was able to land a vanilla long john and some coffee.

It is real nice to arrive at a show where my stuff is already set up and ready to go. I simply have to remove the tarps and welcome customers each morning.

I saw a lot of folks from the Orland show all week long. It has been about a year since I have last set up at Orland. A lot of folks like Jim Colias would like me to return to the show. I certainly miss Jim and everyone else at the show but I was treated so poorly by the promoter that I am in no hurry to return. I have also scheduled quite a few replacement shows so finding an open date would be tough. Though, I still would like to promote my own show in the south suburbs. Quite a few guys mentioned that they would be interested in setting up if I promote a south-suburban show. I think I need to get my act together and settle on a venue and pick a date. I will keep you informed on that one!

My first customers of the day were an older couple from Green Bay. They purchased my Jackie Robinson Sport Magazine which I replaced in the case with a Joe DiMaggio Sport Magazine. My next customer purchased some 1956 Topps baseball card. In keeping the Orland theme, Chris, who I know from the Orland show came by and purchased a bunch of cards including some 1970's hockey, 1950's and 1960's football and 1956 Topps baseball. Thanks Chris! It was pretty cool to see Jim and Chris, two of my many favorites from the Orland show. Then I had the pleasure of hanging out with Larry from Berwyn, another great guy I know from the Orland show.

Larry and I always do a cash and trade deal. I like that he comes prepared. Today he brought me some T206s and some Ernie Banks cards. He picked out some of my Play Balls in return. I think I ended up giving him an additional $20 for the cards. I got some cool stuff. Thanks Larry!

Then a guy who was wearing military type gear showed me a box of absolutely beat, creased and torn 1960s baseball cards. He wanted $300 for that box of garbage. I passed. I probably would have paid $50. It was some horrible stuff.

Next up was a customer I have known for a long time from the Fred Copp shows who purchased my 1960 Topps Eddie Mathews All Star card. My next customer was someone I had met recently at the Fishers show in Indianapolis. He purchased some 1971-72 Topps Basketball Trios. Since I have been doing shows regularly all over the Midwest, I recognized quite a few folks this week. I saw lots of guys I know from Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Missouri. Thanks for stopping by and saying hello!!

My next customer was a father and son team from Texas. They spent a lot of time at my 1959 Topps baseball binder. They asked for a price for the whole binder. I offered a really nice deal. They hemmed and hawed and said they had to think about it. They left for a short while, returned and said the needed a better price. I could not do any better without losing money. They ended up purchasing just a few cards. I was pretty amazed that they did not take the deal. Andy rounded out my day by purchasing my 1962 Topps Whitey Ford.

Sales on this day were only a fraction of my sales on Wednesday. I was surprised I did not sell more cards, especially since there was a really large crowd at the show. I thought the beanie would sell for sure. I did not sell any cards out of my football-basketball display case. I watched Dave sell cards most of the day, as often occurs at the large shows. Dave sells high grade post-war and has a steady following.

Seth, pictured above, seemed to have quite a bit of business as well. I was a little bummed that Mr. Cigar was taking up the space between my set up and Seth's for most of the day. It is tough for customers to get at my binders when the cigar man is sitting in front of them. I was also disappointed that PSA did not finish grading my Mantles.

For lunch, I returned to the cafeteria. The food at the concession stands is absolutely horrible. The cafeteria food is not too bad. I ended up getting a stir fry which was pretty good.

After the show, Lisa was stuck at the library with our son Kolby. Scott and Jim were kind enough to give me a ride home. We stopped off for dinner at Josh's Hot Dogs in my hometown of Northbrook, Illinois. I have been going to this place since I was a toddler in the late 1960s. It has had several incarnations over the years but has remained largely a hot dog and hamburger place. I went with Josh's "Junkwich" which consists of grilled chicken on French bread covered in soy sauce, mayo, grilled onions and hot peppers. That sandwich was awesome! Scott and Jim seemed to enjoy their meals as well.

That nice meal numbed the hurt for a lousy day at the National. I was expecting far more sales after such a great day on Wednesday. Once home, I passed out quickly and slept well. Yes!

Below is a short 52-second video I took while walking around near my booth. I'll have the Day 3 blog up shortly.

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    Tony Gordon

    Vintage Sports Cards Addict

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