Friday, August 1, 2025, National Sports Collectors Convention, Rosemont, IL

I have been incredibly busy since the National ended and have just not had the time to blog. One day I'll catch up....

So, Friday was the third day of the National but actually my fourth day, since I was there much of the day Tuesday setting up.

The smartest thing I did this year was to find people to help me at my booth each day because I was much busier than usual. On Wednesday I had Al help out. Thursday was Bronko. For Friday, I convinced my daughter Tabitha to help.

Tabitha, like her dad, is not an early riser. We were both tired Friday morning. Tabitha went to find us some caffein while I filled the holes in my display cases.

Tabitha has never helped me at a card show before so I was not sure how she would do -- she was great. Thankfully, she has a lot of retail experience and took to it immediately. The thing I liked most was that she really kept her eye out for thieves -- unfortunately, the National, like most card shows is filled with thieves. You really have to be on your toes.

Turned out that Friday was my busiest day of the show. We were mobbed. I couldn't really check up on Tabitha, we just had our heads down and were selling, selling, selling! Tabitha would check with me when guys wanted discounts.

At one point, she came to get me because she did not want to deal with some customers who were very aggressive and pushy, so we traded customers. I took over and did not mind these customers who were stereotypical New Yorkers. They were a middle-aged couple. The guy told me he runs some kind of auctions and needs inventory. They both went through my display cases with a vacuum. I pulled tons of cards for them including just about all of my pre-War. This turned out to be my largest sale ever, making this my best one day at the National, and making this my best National ever, and it was only Friday! I was ready to pack up and go home at this point but had two more days to go. Oh my!

On the buying front, one of the nearby dealers came by with a box of commons from the 1960's and sold them to me for a song. Woot!

While selling and buying has been great, there was one on-going problem at the show, which was especially bad on Friday, and it was people standing around blocking my booth. They all seemed to come from the Texas guys next door. They would start there and float into my booth, blocking my display cases and blocking entry into my "U" section. I had to repeatedly ask them to move.

​Anyway, my display cases were super empty after Friday. I was going to have a tough time refilling them on Saturday.

Tabitha must have snuck and grabbed my phone for this photo. Looks like Scott and I are having an intense discussion on how to solve the world's problems... one sports card at a time.

I think Mike S. purchased this Mantle at the show and was sharing it with me on Friday. Mike, this is yours, right? Anyway, it is always awesome to see a 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle, the true Mantle rookie.

Of course, I can't remember who showed me this 1958 World Series complete ticket that they purchased at the show on Friday. Very cool, though.

 Thursday, July 31, 2025, Day 2 of the National

I have to admit that it was kind of fun having different helpers each day of the National. Day 2's helper was my pal Bronko, who came down from Wisconsin for the National and stayed with some friends who live conveniently near my house. I picked up Bronko and once again went to Chicago Bagel and Bialy. I went with a kosher salami sandwich this morning. Bronko was not hungry.

We took the back roads to Rosemont and hit a traffic jam on River Road at Higgins. It took us a long while to get into the parking garage. Once at the booth, I sat down and ate my sandwich while Bronko perused the show.

Set up took a little longer this morning as I spent a ton of time replacing all the empty holes in my display cases from Wednesday's sales. Having all those extra cards priced out ahead of time proved necessary and helpful as I was easily able to fill all the holes.

First person at my booth on Thursday was big Tim, who apparently sneaked into the show somewhere near the autograph pavilion.

Much larger crowd on Thursday. I saw lots of people I knew like Jim C., Jeremy S., Chad W., Troy K., Larry N., and many more. Sadly, I had to inform Sandy of Dave's passing.

Andy and Scott stopped by and purchased some hockey. Thanks guys! I sold my 1955 Bowman Mickey Mantle along with a ton of other cards. Sales were frequent once again. Bronko's help was invaluable. He quickly figured out my discounts and we worked really well together. 

I am so lucky to have so many great friends that I have acquired in my sports card hobby journey. I enjoyed hanging out with Al on Wednesday and enjoyed hanging out with Bronko on Thursday.

As much as I love cards (well it is really a serial addiction), I really enjoy hanging out with all my hobby pals. I really had an enjoyable time on Thursday. Too busy once again to the leave the booth. I did have a binder of 1963 Exhibit stat backs walk up and now in my possession. I have always had a tough time acquiring the '63 stat backs and am really excited about this purchase.

It amazes me that in a building with 700 vendor booths, a huge amount of the booths are of the vintage kind, that stuff finds its way to me. I don't have any big "buying" signs like other dealers. I don't have a jazzy booth. Just old school. Seems to work!

I gotta comment about this lady who came around today. She was around last year in Cleveland as well. She comes by to try and sell some really cool pre-War items but they are insanely over-priced. She must be set up in a nearby booth and trying to move some high-end items. Below, I'll post photos of some of the stuff she brought by today. I mean, I loved seeing the autographed Lou Gehrig Butterfinger premium but her $22K asking price is on the nutty side.

I also started to have a problem with one of the dude's set up in the Texas booth. He had three or four display cases in the booth adjacent to the end of my booth. He seems okay and I watched him do a brisk business selling slabbed complete tickets and ticket stubs. Problem is that he has some regular customers that come every day and they stand in my booth because he only has one table in the Texas booth which seems to always have people in front of it, so his overflow goes into my booth, blocking my display cases and access into my U. I had to shooo a few of his customers away today. I don't mind if they stand there 15 or 20 minutes but they were blocking my booth for more than an hour. Kind of sucked.

Other than these dooshbags blocking my booth, there really were no problems or issues. Overall, an excellent day. 

I don't know about Bronko, but I was pretty tired when the show ended at 6 p.m. and very hungry. 

Much easier time exiting the building on Thursday. I treated Bronko to one of my favorite Chicago-area restaurants -- Hackney's on Lake in beautiful Glenview, Illinois. I've been eating at Hackney's my whole life (58 years!) and still absolutely love the place. We dined on Hackney burgers. Bronko had his first Green River, my favorite Chicago soda from my youth. I can't drink them any more due to diabetes. I tried the diet Green River once and it was horrible. Man I miss Green River!! Stupid diabetes.

Anyway, Day 2 of the National was in the books. Sales were awesome!! I did not want to get too excited but it was looking like my best National ever. Woot!​

Below are some photos of the pre-war items brought by the random lady who I met last year in Cleveland. Cool stuff but she was asking five-times the actual value for these items.

Tuesday & Wednesday, July 29 & 30, 2025, The National Sports Collectors Convention, Rosemont, Illinois

I worked tirelessly for several months pricing cards in preparation for the National. When Dave fell ill in June, I knew I was going to have a lot more space. I priced and priced cards, worried I would not have enough cards to fill the 20-plus display cases I planned to bring to the National.

I gave up pricing cards on Sunday night and just chilled out on Monday. I arrived at the Stephens Center around 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. I was able to drive into the building and get about 30 feet away from my booth. Unloading the car was a breeze.

I wandered around the building to find the booth where I could obtain my badges and parking pass. My initial observation was that this year's show was absolutely huge. I ran into Tony Schaefer in the main room. He had a nice spot. Tony directed me to the proper booth for the badges.

I had two booths this year in the exact same location I was in during the 2023 National in Rosemont. I took 3/4 of the booth and gave 1/4 to my buddy Scott Ziegert, who I needed to help watch the booth.

In the months leading up to the National, tons and tons of people asked to share my space as National booths are extremely difficult to acquire these days. I probably would have given out some space had not a new management group arrived last year and placed some new rules including a ban on sharing space. I don't want to lose my booth, so I am not sharing with anybody but Scott. Turns out I needed all the extra space anyway!

I basically laid out both booths the same way Dave and I had our one booth in Cleveland last year. I had 16 feet of table space along one aisle then I made a U in another aisle allowing for another 23-feet of space. I brought out 20 display cases on Tuesday then saw I had space for more, so I brought out four more cases on Wednesday, for a total of 24 display cases.

I was amazed that I was able to fill all 24 cases with vintage cards. I actually could have filled 27 or 28 cases because I was initially unable to get all of my cards out. I find that it is better to overprepare than underprepare.

I spent most of Tuesday cleaning my display cases and inserting the cards. I was really happy with my set up but knew it was going to be awfully strange to set up without Dave. We have been setting up at the National together since 2008. He was like a security blanket. I was seriously uncomfortable without him there.

I was up bright and early Wednesday morning to meet my pal Al Lavine, who had signed on to help me for the first day of the National. As has become my tradition on the first day of the National, I stopped off at Chicago Bagel & Bialys in Wheeling, Illinois, for some corned beef sandwiches.

We parked in the Stephens Center parking lot and made the long trek to my booth. I essentially have the last booth in the building but it worked out great in 2023 because folks arriving from the parking garage were funneled down an escalator near by booth. 

Unfortunately, no such luck this year and the crowds near my booth were noticeably lighter than last year... which worked out great. It was nice to have breathing space all week as plenty of buyers still found my booth and sales far exceeded expectations.

Upon arrival at the booth Wednesday. I sat down and ate my sandwich while Al took off to roam the show.

We had some down time until the VIPs were allowed entry around 3 p.m. I took my time setting up the booth, as I had locked everything away the night before.

Sharing the other side from my two booths was a large group from Texas. In the aisle across the way was a dealer I recognized from 2023 who had a bunch of sealed wax in tall display cases. Then on another side was a group with a mix of modern and vintage. On the other side was a group with modern. Just past the group from Texas was the autograph pavilion.

Scott texted me around noon and I went out to the front of the building to hand over his badges to his dad Jim. On my way back in, I saw a customer I knew from Boston, who I met at the Strongsville show. I gave him my booth number and he soon arrived ready to buy. He pulled out a bunch of cards and started my show off right! It was nice to have a little cash kitty long before the VIP's entered the show.

Then one of the modern card dealers from Texas gave me a nice deal on a 1957 Topps Frank Robinson rookie and a Rocky Colavito rookie. Boston guy was still at my booth and drooling over my purchases. Down dog, down!

I had a steady group of customers up until the VIP's arrived and sales were strong up until 8 p.m. Al came back at 3 p.m. when things were light. I told him I did not need him until 4 p.m. Turned out that I really needed him at 4 p.m. as I was much busier than expected.

Last year in Cleveland, sales were really light on the first day. What a difference a year makes. I was extremely busy and had excellent sales. Also, I observed that the air conditioning worked splendidly unlike 2023 when the place was a smelly sweat box.

I saw lots of folks I knew and it was fun to chat. Tim Payne was set up near by. I saw former ESPN reporter Bill Simmons walk by. Maybe if I wore a Celtics jersey he would have stopped at my booth.

Al and I were exhausted at 8 p.m. when the show closed for the night. I locked everything up and we made our way to the parking garage, walking with a huge crowd. When we finally made it to my car, I was barely able to pull into the crazy long line to exit the building. We sat in my car a good 40 minutes and only moved about five feet. We decided to park and go get something to eat in the square behind the parking garage that is filled with restaurants.

I parked a few feet away from where I initially parked that morning and we walked in the heat and humidity to the square. Once in the square it started to rain. We went from restaurant to restaurant and none had any tables available. Ugh!

We went back to the parking garage and observed the line to exit had reduced considerably. We hopped back into my car and were on the road to my house in about 20 minutes. 

We were exhausted!

I was hungry. Al didn't want to stop for food. So we just went to my house and he drove off back to Milwaukee. I munched on some leftovers and passed out.

Day 1 complete!

Pictured above is my booth on Tuesday afternoon during set up. I was able to park my car next to that white van on the right to unload. The guys from Texas, who would later set up to the right, had not yet arrived.

Pictured above is my booth on Wednesday afternoon, waiting for the VIPs to arrive. That is Scott in the middle of the picture wearing the red shirt.

The show began to heat up shortly after general admission folks were allowed in after 4 p.m. I was much busier this year than last and unable to walk the show. I only left my booth for a few bathroom breaks. I had a really nice first day of the National.

Sunday, July 27, 2025, Countryside Banquets, Countryside, IL

I know, I know. I've fallen behind once again! I've just been too busy with prepping for the National, the National, working on Oak Creek, my vintage show and the MegaShow along with a new show in Kenosha. Things are crazy busy in the world of Fat Daddy's Vintage Sports Cards!

Anyway, as you know, I regularly purchase a tremendous amount of vintage sports cards and have an ongoing crazy large inventory of cards. I set aside the commons and the stars. My prep routine for my regular weekend shows is to sort and price the commons for my binders. My prep for the bigger shows, like the National, is to price all the star cards. I was actually doing both leading up to the National because I had booked smaller shows all the way up to the weekend before the National.

So I was set up in Naperville, Illinois, on the Saturday before the National, then in Countryside on the Sunday before the National. It was my first time at both these shows.

Easy drive Sunday morning to Countryside. A much shorter drive from my house than the drive to Naperville. I immediately recognized the hall in Countryside, as I have driven by it many times. It is hard to forget the old-time steam shovel parked out front.

I used to regularly drive by this place on my way home from Orland when I lived on the Northwest Side of Chicago. Back then, I could take Lagrange Road all the way home. Lagrange Road turns into Cumberland Avenue near my old house. It was a nice alternative to the highway.

Load in was relatively easy in Countryside. I was situated next to Tom Kummer on my left and some Pokémon dealers on my right. I found it funny that I was next to Tom as he was supposed to be my neighbor the day before at the Naperville show but he skipped out to work on pricing wax boxes for the National. 

I spent all day talking to Tom, as sales were light. I learned that he is into heavy metal, hard rock. We talked about concerts that we had been to. I also talked with the Pokemon guys, who set up at a lot of shows. Nice guys.

There was a much larger crowd at this show than in Naperville the day before. I had a lot of sales but they were all relatively small. Though, I appreciated the interest in my cards. There were several other vintage dealers at this show as well along with some autograph guests.

I really like this venue and the location of this show. Promoter Nick Parsons is top-notch.

I'm writing this blog three-weeks after the show occurred and I can't remember if I purchased anything. I sort of think I did but just can't remember.

Overall, I really like this show and hope to be back again. A few of my Orland regulars were in attendance and purchased cards. Thanks guys!

More blogs coming soon!

Up next for me is the Oak Creek Vintage-Only show set for Saturday, August 23, 2025. Tables are available for just 35 bucks each. Send me an email at [email protected] to reserve your table.

Then on Sunday, August 24, 2025, I am setting up in Rockford. Looks like my pals John and Mike moved the show to a new location. Looking forward to checking it out!

See you soon!