Fat Daddy's Sports Two-Year Anniversary Sports Card Show is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, September 3, 2016, at the Clarion Hotel, 5311 S. Howell, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Fat Daddy, aka Tony Gordon, who is well known on the Midwest sports card circuit, felt there was a card show void on Saturdays in Milwaukee and decided to create a monthly Saturday show back in the fall of 2014.

"I am a sports card addict and need to be at a show every weekend," said a jittery Tony Gordon. "I was having trouble finding shows to set up at on Saturdays so I decided to create my own show."

Originally, Tony partnered with veteran dealer Mark Smith to create the show. Tony and Mark put on nine shows together before Mark decided the trip from his home in Michigan to Wisconsin every month was too taxing. Mark recently returned to the show in July and plans to visit the show again soon.

Over the course of time, the show has had its ups and downs. Summer seems to be a down time while winter, fall and spring bring out more dealers and customers. Though, no matter what time of year, the show always has a strong selection of sports cards and sports memorabilia for sale at reasonable prices.

This large selection of cards has come from some tremendous dealers such as the aforementioned Mark Smith from Michigan, Jerry Nelson from Iowa, Seth Murray from Indiana, Gary George, Patrick Lawrence, and Willie Shabas from Illinois, and PJ, Larry, Jerry K., Bill Nest, Alex Rauter, Mike Johnson and a host of others from Wisconsin.

"These dealers are superstars," Tony said. "Each one has a special ability to come up with quality items at each and every show."

Tony said that in addition to selling cards at the show, he really enjoys purchasing cards.

"The best part of my show at the Clarion  has been the quality material that walks in the door and is offered to dealers at most every show," Tony said. "The bulk of my current inventory was purchased at my show from random customers over the past two years."

Another great aspect of the show, Tony points out, is the camaraderie between the customers and dealers that attend the show. 

"There is a real friendly atmosphere at the show and everyone jokes around with each other," Tony said.

Much has been made about the title "Fat Daddy" since Tony is not fat at all. The name "Fat Daddy" came from Tony's son Kolby. There was a time when Tony was chubby and the young Kolby chided his father about his weight at every given opportunity -- finding Tony's former fat belly extremely funny. A change in diet melted the fat belly away leaving Tony with a closet full of oversized clothing. As a result, Kolby has ceased making fun of his father's weight and has begun to focus his attention on harassing the family dog.

As far as the future of the show is concerned, Tony is very optimistic. 

"For the most part, it has been an excellent show," Tony said. "From a dealer's standpoint, my sales are usually strong and I see lots of faces at my Saturday Clarion show that I don't see at any other show in Milwaukee."

For the two-year anniversary show on September 3, Tony is planning on providing free doughnuts in the morning, free pizza in the afternoon along with a gift for each customer attending the show.

Dealer space is still available for the anniversary show. Eight-foot tables cost $25 each. For more information, contact Tony at 773-616-3705 or by email at [email protected].

"I would like to thank all the dealers and customers that have attended my show over the past two years," Tony said. "I can't say just how much I appreciate each and every one of you!"

Sunday, July 31, 2016, was my first show at the Indian Lakes Resort in Bloomingdale, Illinois, without dealer Ted Lee, who died a few weeks ago. There was a lot of discussion on how we are all going to miss Ted. It is going to be strange going forward without Ted at the shows. Well, as they say, the show must go on...

I ended up having a tremendous show. One customer made my day by purchasing some 1933 Goudeys and 1934-36 Diamond Stars. Randy purchased a bunch of 1963 Topps cards from a group I am selling for my buddy Dave McDonald. Anyone who has visited my booth at the big shows knows Dave as the gentleman with the high-grade vintage who shares the booth with me. 

At the Pittsburgh show in May, Dave and I decided I would sell some of his cards since he does not make it out to the small shows. I am not earning much on commission on these cards but they are so nice that I just like having them on my table. 

Though, I sold plenty of my own inventory this past Sunday. Another collector named Dave purchased a bunch of stuff. Paul found some cards for his sets. A regular picked up some 1970 Topps baseball. A bunch of guys dinked around my binders and I sold some additional cards out of the display cases.

With a pocket full of money, I purchased a few items as well including some 1954 Bowman baseball, 1970-71 Topps basketball, and 1971-72 Topps hockey. I am having an excellent string of Fred Copp shows of late. I'm setting up again with Fred this Sunday, August 7th, 2016, at the Wyndham Garden Hotel, 1725 W. Algonquin Road in Schaumburg, Illinois.

Also, please come out to my show this Saturday, August 6th, 2016, at the Clarion Hotel, 5311 S. Howell, in Milwaukee. My Clarion show has morphed into a vintage show. I have some excellent dealers lined up for Saturday with a tremendous selection of vintage cards. I just finished up reloading 1956 Topps baseball. I'm probably going to add some cards to my 1970 Topps football binder, even though I just reloaded it last week. I sold quite a few cards out there in Bloomingdale and I know there are some guys at the Clarion looking for the old football cards. I am also going to reload 1978-79 Topps basketball.

Speaking of 1970 Topps football, when I was reloading last week, I realized that I have a large inventory of these cards so I decided to start building a set. If anybody has 1970 Topps football, I am looking for high numbers and stars to complete my set. Bring some out this weekend!