The trials and tribulations of a diabetic. There are some days when I just don't feel good... Sunday, September 17, 2017, was one of those days. Well, I actually have not been feeling well for weeks but that Sunday, the day of the Gonzaga card show, was a particularly rough day.

​One of the problems with diabetes is that it makes it tough to sleep at night. So I did not get much sleep the night before the card show and woke up late. I rushed getting ready and loading the car. I was on the road too late to stop for food and coffee, which contributes to my diabetic issues.

​I got to the show, loaded in, set everything up and ate a hot dog from the concession stand, hoping the dog would cure my low blood sugar. I was okay for an hour or so, then felt the weight of gravity the rest of the day.

​So, if I wasn't as talkative at the show, you know why. I was struggling. I found it difficult to stand. Yet, I fought through it and had an okay show. There were way more people in the room than in August and I had some nice sales early on. Chuck found quite a few 1965s. I noticed several other guys working on '65s as well. Jason found some cards in my newly reloaded 1971 binder.

Eric and Noah stopped in before heading south to the Cubs game. Surprisingly, there are quite a few Cubs fans in Milwaukee. Eric and Noah are working on Cubs teams sets as well as trying to complete the entire 1968 Topps set. They found a bunch of cards at my table. I also purchased their doubles.

Jerome purchased some 1971s. Terry purchased some 1964s. He had some 1963 Fleer baseball to sell but the price was just a little too high for me. There is a young guy, in medical school, who purchased a 1952 Bowman Minnie Minoso rookie. I am so bad with names. A few more shows and I'll remember his name! He is quickly becoming one of my favorite customers, especially since he gave me a pre-War card!!

On the buying front, I picked up some football cards from the early 1970s that was mostly made up of stars and hall of famers. I also purchased a group of 1957 Topps baseball high numbers. Lastly, I bought some basketball poster inserts. I am not sure what year Topps put those posters out. My guess is 1970.

A big thank you to Gary George, who saw that I was suffering with my diabetes and ran and got me an orange soda to help raise my blood sugar. I felt a lot better after drinking that soda. 

The following Sunday, September 24, 2017, I was set up at the Orland Park show. I made sure I had food and drink with me to help deal with blood sugar issues. I felt much better in Orland Park.

After months of slow shows, things seem to be picking up in Orland. I had my second decent show in a row. Though, I am only setting up at the second show of the month. I just don't have the time to set up in Orland twice a month.

Back to the September 24th show, things were busy at my tables all day long. A bunch of regulars hit my binders early on. Dan is working on late 1950s and early 1960s and he found a bunch of cards. Chris pulled some cards from my recently reloaded 1971 Topps baseball binder. Paul also found some cards in the 1971 binder. Another customer found the last card he needed to complete his 1969 Topps baseball set.

Will purchased a 1964 Topps Sandy Koufax and Roberto Clemente. Thanks Will!! Rick purchased my 1955 Topps All American Otto Graham. Another customer purchased all of my 1976-77 Topps basketball cards. A new customer purchased a bunch of basketball cards as well. Joe purchased some vintage baseball cards from the mid-1960s. A new customer Jack came in from DeKalb and purchased a bunch of cards.

I broke out a new vintage dime box and it was hit hard. A customer I know from the Fred Copp shows purchased a huge chunk of cards out of the dime box. Then a new customer sat down and spent about an hour pulling cards from the box. I ended up selling about half the box. It is going to take me some time to reload that box. I'm not sure when I'll have it out again.

As usual, I bought a ton of cards, pictured above and below. Some really good stuff came my way. I purchased a nice grouping of 1968 Topps football that included a Joe Namath, Dick Butkus and a Bob Griese rookie. I also picked up a 1960 Topps Mickey Mantle Ken Boyer Rivals card and a 1975 Topps Robin Yount rookie. I purchased 1,500 or so 1970 Topps football. I haven't even looked at them yet. I think they are all commons. I picked up a thousand or so 1975 Topps as well. To top it off, I made a nice trade with Larry B. and came away with some 1947 Homogenized Bond Bread cards. I ended up with quite a haul! 

I bought most every card that came my way except for a shoe box of 1977 Topps baseball. I have a pretty large inventory of '77 Topps and I can't justify buying any more unless the price is dirt cheap. I thought the price for this box was quite high.

So I WON'T be at the Oct. 8th Orland show but WILL be at the October 22nd show. I am currently working on reloading 1977 Topps football. Next up, this weekend, Oct. 1, I'll be set up at the Wyndham Garden in Schaumburg. My next Clarion show is October 7th. I have purchased a box of basketball and a box of football cards for my two-pack giveaway to all customers. I plan on picking up a box or two of baseball cards prior to the show as well. This is the Halloween show and I will have free Halloween cupcakes while supplies last.

My three-year anniversary show on September 2 at the Clarion Hotel in Milwaukee was a tremendous success. I had to bump the show into the larger Mitchell Room because I had 17 dealers -- easily the most I have had to date! We had some great stuff in the room like high-end modern autograph cards, wax, supplies, vintage, publications and memorabilia. A huge shout out goes to all the dealers at Saturday's show and to all the dealers that have supported my show these past three years. 

​So now I have a good problem at the Clarion. I need to figure out how to fit more dealers into the Mitchell Room. Right now I have laid out the room with tables along the outer walls and two pods of 7 tables in the middle of the room. I am wondering if I could get more tables in the middle of the room some how. I would like to get 20 tables in the middle of the room, like four rows of five tables. I've got some figurin' to do.

​Attendance at the anniversary show was also amazing. Thank you guys so much! A lot of work goes into putting on the show and to get such a great turn out makes it all worth while. There were customers in the room well before the show officially opened at 9 a.m. up until I was carting my stuff to my car after 3 p.m. Most every dealer reported good sales. Customer comments to me were positive, happy and joyful. Many guys thanked me for putting on the show. I thought it was pretty cool that so many guys came in from out of town and planned their Labor Day weekend around the show. I saw a lot of old faces and a ton of new faces. Quite a few families with young children made their way to the show. I even had one table of teenage dealers which I love to see.

​I gave out four boxes of cards via two packs to everyone who attended. I had boxes of 2012, 2014 and 2015 Topps baseball. Dennis pulled a Madison Bumgarner autograph out of one of the boxes. I also had a box of 2016 Panini football. Guys really seem to like the free packs of cards so I am going to keep the freebies going. I already purchased a couple of boxes of cards for the October 7th show and plan on picking up some more. I'll list all the boxes here before next show.

​A couple of things about the free packs. I will be giving out two free packs to everyone who attends the October 7th show. The packs are for customers, not dealers. I'm giving away the free packs to make this show unique and encourage customers to attend the show -- which directly helps with dealer sales. If any dealers would like to help and provide a box of cards for the giveaway, it would certainly be appreciated.

​Also, the packs are for customers who actually come into the show. I had one guy at the anniversary show ask for two packs for his wife, who he said was out sitting in the car in the parking lot. I also saw one dad take the packs away from his young kids. Come on now, let your kids have the packs!

​I had three boxes of free doughnuts at the anniversary show that went quickly. I also had free coffee. I plan on getting Halloween cupcakes instead of doughnuts for the October 7th show. I'll provide coffee again as well.

​The coup de gras at the show was the pizza. At the 2016 anniversary show, I only ordered three pizzas not realizing there would be such a large turn out. This year, I ordered eight pizzas that were gone in 10 minutes or so. Next year, I think I'll do 15 pizzas. You guys like pizza!!

​It has been a lot of fun for me to do this show these past three years. I am so appreciative of the growing support. I plan on running the show again in 2018 and will have more details soon.

I hope to see everyone again at the Saturday, October 7th show, at the Clarion Hotel, 5311 S. Howell, in Milwaukee.

​Thank you!!! You guys are the best!!!