Sunday, October 17, 2021, Civic Center, Orland Park, IL

I came home from the Woodstock show on Saturday, ate some food, then passed out for a few hours. These card shows tire me out.

It was really tough to wake up for the Orland show on Sunday. Man, I wanted to stay in bed! I had unloaded my display cases that I used in Woodstock from my car and replaced them with my bins of binders. I like to be on the road to Orland by 7 a.m. I think I left this morning around 7:15 a.m.

I love all the road construction by O'Hare -- NOT! The drive to Orland is so unpleasant, especially when compared to the drive to Woodstock where I wind through forests and farms. The drive to Orland features miles of post-industrial wasteland. Ugh!

Arriving at the Civic Center, I observed the parking lot was full and I could see several pee-wee football games in the distance. Oh, I miss pee-wee football. I played in the 1970's and my first team was the Redskins. We came in third, behind the Cowboys and Oilers. The next season, I was on the Cowboys, we came in last. I think we scored only two touchdowns the whole season. I was the player who set up our second touchdown by catching a five-yard pass then running a good 40 yards before getting tackled on the 5-yard line. I'm still pissed off that the coach sat me for the next few plays. I felt that I had the team's biggest offensive play of the year and should have been given the opportunity to score. But, no! They gave the ball to Ty Laphoon the next three plays and he was able to score on Fourth and Goal. Ty was much larger than me and ran like a fullback. I was a speedster in my youth. I think if they gave me the ball on a sweep, I could have scored on the next play. Fun times! I'd give anything to go back to 1978 and suit up for the Cowboys one more time!!

I really wanted to watch the pee-wee football games in Orland but duty called and I loaded my stuff into the Civic Center. Usually Big Brad is blocking the entranceway making it difficult to load in but today he was behind his table, instead of in front, and I was able to bring my cart in with ease.

As I have stated before, I have been setting up at the Orland show for a good 20 years. The best part of the Orland show is that it is the most consistent show I do. I can almost always count on a good number of vintage collectors among a large crowd.

Thank the cardboard gods because Orland once again came through. We had a really nice crowd. I started to get sales immediately. Mike was my first sale as he continues to work on his 1975 baseball set. My pal Will picked up some 1971 and 1958 baseball. Once again, Will brought his grandson Charlie. It is so fun to have Charlie with us. I love his enthusiasm and feed off his joy for the hobby.  

Mini Rant: I think people have forgotten that this is a kid's hobby. I think companies like Fanatics have no concept of the true meaning of collecting cards and will probably ruin it for us all. Just my thoughts. Others disagree. The guy set up next to me, largely with Pokemon cards, thinks Fanatics will benefit the hobby. I don't see it that way. I find it very dangerous that one company is going to control the manufacturing, distribution, point of sale, and the secondary market. With all that control, seems to me, that Fanatics just wants to fleece the hobby and suck out as much money as it can before leaving the hobby in ruins.

I don't see how guys, like the knucklehead set up next to me at Orland, can make any money when they can no longer obtain wax at wholesale prices, once Fanatics takes over. Also, Fanatics will have a negative effect on card shows when all the wax dealers and modern card dealers disappear. In addition, with billions of dollars at their disposal, what is to stop Fanatics from buying up all the vintage cards? Are my days as a vintage sports card dealer numbered? Just a few thoughts to ponder. 

Anyway, back to Charlie. He had a goal of buying packs today. He said he really enjoys opening packs. Joe took him around the room several times and Charlie came back each time with piles of packs. He set himself up in the corner behind my tables and proceeded to open all the packs. In one pack, he pulled a Fernando Tatis relic card. In a Pokemon pack, that he purchased from my neighbor, he pulled some card that is worth around $500. I don't really understand Pokemon and have no idea what makes a Pokemon card valuable but the dealer next to me was all excited about that card Charlie pulled. 

So I sold a bunch of cards early on. I brought out one display case and filled it up with my oldest football cards. I was hesitant to place the football out after poor sales at Woodstock but was pleasantly surprised as I sold some 1948 Leafs and some 1952 Bowmans. Like I said, Orland is always consistent and is truly a tremendous show.

Unfortunately, I have to miss the November Orland show but will be back for the two December shows.

On the buying front, I had a great day as well. I purchased a pile of graded 1955 Bowman football -- I'm a glutton for punishment. I also purchased some Post Cereal baseball from the early 1960's along with a few Mantle cards. My purchases really piled up and I had to scramble at the end of the show to find a box to take all my purchases home.

As expected, the show cleared out by noon, as everyone wanted to watch the Bears lose to the Packers. Will, Joe, Charlie and I caught the end of the game at the sub shop. Another excellent Orland show is in the books.

There is no rest for the weary as I have another double-bill weekend planned. ​I'll be at the Sheraton Madison Hotel, 706 John Nolan Drive, Madison, on Saturday, October 23; then I'll be at the Buenavista Banquets, 7507 W. Oklahoma, Milwaukee, on Sunday, October 24. I'll have some great vintage football cards! Come see me this weekend!!!

Saturday, October 16, 2021, St. John's Lutheran Church, Woodstock, IL

Well before the Pandemic card boom, I observed that my vintage football cards were not selling nearly as well as they had in the past. There was a time when vintage football cards sold well 12 months out of the year but especially well during football season.

Unfortunately, I can no longer sell vintage football cards 12 months out of the year. Surprisingly, they don't even sell much during football season. I do not understand why the card collecting world has lost interest in vintage football. I really have no explanation.

The big rookies still sell but the rest of the stuff just sits. If I was smart and more of an investor rather than someone who just loves vintage cards, I would stop buying vintage football cards. But I just can't help myself, I keep buying them and buying them. I have a silly amount of vintage football cards. So the last two weekends, I have brought out a display-case set up filled with vintage football cards. I sold a handful of vintage football cards at the Rockford show last weekend but did not sell one card today at the Woodstock show! I am just dumbfounded.

I have some really great stuff like 1948 Leaf Sid Luckman, Bulldog Turner, Johnny Lujack, George Conner, and Charlie Trippi -- a really great selection of Hall of Famers from 1948 through 1980. I just love this stuff! I am going to keep buying it and I guess I will just end up stockpiling it because it is not selling.

Rather than complain about lack of sales, I would rather talk about the great players depicted in these wonderful pieces of history. Below are pictures of some of my vintage football cards that are for sale along with a little write up about these heroes of yesteryear.

1950 Bowman Sammy Baugh

Hall-of-Famer Sammy Baugh was the quarterback for the Washington Redskins during their championship years of 1937 and 1942. He regularly lead the league in passing. He threw for six touchdowns against the Lions in a game in 1947. He was pretty much the first modern-day quarterback who passed first instead of handing the ball off to a running back. When he retired in 1952, after 16 seasons with Washington, he held ALL of the NFL passing records.

Back in Baugh's day, players played both offense and defense. Baugh was an excellent defensive back and was the first NFL player to intercept four passes in one game. He also was probably the greatest punter of all time. He still holds the record for highest average in a career -- 45.1 yards per punt.

1956 Topps Norm Van Brocklin

​Chicago Bears founder George Halas created the T formation with Sid Luckman in mind but first he had to lure Luckman to the Bears. After graduating from Columbia University, Luckman had no interest in the NFL. Halas offered Luckman a large sum of money and Luckman agreed to join the Bears in 1939.

In 1940, Luckman lead the Bears to the NFL championship by demolishing the Washington Redskins 73-0. From 1940 to 1946, Luckman lead the Bears to the NFL championship game five times, winning four. In 1942, Luckman's Bears posted a perfect 11-0 record.

Luckman is still the greatest Bears quarterback of all time and remains one of the NFL's greatest quarterbacks of all time.

​1948 Bowman Bulldog Turner

From the Pro Football Hall of Fame:

For the Bears, acquiring Turner in the first round of the 1940 draft proved to be a masterstroke. For both, the 1940 season marked the beginning of a period of dominance of their particular specialties, the Bears in winning championships and Turner in becoming the best all-around center in pro football. As a linebacker who was blessed with halfback speed, Turner in 1942, lead the league in interceptions with eight.

On offense, he was a flawless snapper and an exceptional blocker who could also play guard or tackle. Never was his versatility more evident than in 1944 when he was asked to fill in as a ball carrier in an emergency situation. He consistently grinded out long gains, including a 48-yard touchdown romp. Three years later against Washington, Turner came up with what he called the favorite play of his career, a 96-yard interception for a touchdown.

1951 Bowman Charley Conerly

Clink the link below:

Giants Chronicles: The incredible story of Charlie Conerly

This is just a smattering of the amazingly cool vintage football cards I have been bringing out to shows. I have a seemingly endless amount of these types of cards depicting Hall-of-Famers from yesteryear, each with a great story. I recommend learning about the remarkable history of the NFL and all of its stars from the past.

While my sales at the October Woodstock show were negative, there were plenty of people at the show... they just don't realize yet that they need to start focusing on vintage football cards!

One of the young whippersnappers at the show came over to my table to show me a 1969 Topps Ernie Banks that he bought from me several months ago raw and just received it back from SGC in a 7 holder. He was set up across from me and had some sort of high-definition electronic video microscope that he uses to analyze cards and determine a grade. He said he charges $5 per card for the service.

"I have an eye for these things," he told me.

I politely passed, thinking I have toe jam older than him and am not going to pay $5 so so he can guess the grades of my raw cards. He can keep buying them and send them in, if he likes.

As I have said before, I really like the Woodstock show and will continue to set up whether or not I have any sales. I am just stubborn that way. Though, I probably won't be back until February as I have other things going on. So look for me at the February Woodstock show. I might be at the January show but I am thinking it is probably the same day as my Oak Creek show. If not, I'll be at the Woodstock show.

In the meantime, I am working on my Orland Park blog and should have it done soon. Next weekend, I am setting up at two shows again. I'll be at the Sheraton Madison Hotel, 706 John Nolan Drive, Madison, on Saturday, October 23; then I'll be at the Buenavista Banquets, 7507 W. Oklahoma, Milwaukee, on Sunday, October 24. I'll have some great vintage football cards! Come see me this weekend!!!

Saturday, October 9, 2021, Rock Church, Rockford, IL

Man, it was dark on this unusually warm and muggy October morning. I woke up around 5:15 a.m., loaded the car, and was on the road to Rockford by 6:13 a.m. The sun finally started to rise around 7 a.m. while I was plugging along I90 West to Rockford.

I have been to Rockford many times but have never done a show there and have never been to the Rock Church. So I asked Siri for directions. Unfortunately, Siri took me about 15 miles west of the Rock Church to Harrison Road. Rock Church is on Harrison Avenue, not Harrison Road.

I will say this -- the country-side west of Rockford is absolutely beautiful. Still very green for October, hilly, rivers and some beautiful farms. Harrison Road is a tiny carriageway dotted with big red barns and shiny corn silos -- not an ideal place for a card show. 

I was able to convince Siri to give me directions to Harrison Avenue and made it to the Rock Church by 8 a.m. Man, that was a long ride! So the Rock Church is actually really easy to get to. Harrison Avenue is the first Rockford exit from I90. It will be a much smoother ride next month!

Once on Harrison Avenue, I was guided to the church by many signs along the side of the road declaring "Card Show" with an arrow. I really appreciated those signs. It was nice to know I was no longer lost.

Promoter John Craig greeted me as I pulled into the lot, directing me to double park by the front door for load in. I met John at the Woodstock show a few months back and he invited me to set up at his show. I finally took him up on that invite.

John allowed me to pick out my tables. I chose two in the back row. This is an excellent space for a card show. It is a large gym with nice wide aisles and plenty of space between dealer tables on the sides and the back.

I am not sure how many dealers were there but it was just about a full house. There were quite a few dealers. I was happy to see a whole bunch of friendly faces like Jason Galleske, Reed Pentek, Dave Kania, John Dobiecki, Tom Mularz, Curtis Payne and Phil Bucaro. It is always nice when setting up at a show for the first time and seeing all sorts of familiar faces. I felt right at home.

It was great to see Phil, who I have not seen in a couple of years. He was set up with two buddies and they seemed to be having a great time.

Then I saw a couple other dealers I knew, who came to the show to buy, namely my pals Gary George, Jeff Talamantez and Lloyd Ramsby.

Dealer John Dobiecki reported great sales.

For my set up, I decided to bring nine display cases and filled four of them up with vintage football, one with vintage basketball, one with vintage hockey, and three with pre-War baseball and some early post-War baseball.

After set up was completed, I took advantage of some of the snacks John brought in for the dealers and munched on a couple of doughnuts.

Not a whole lot of vintage in the room other than me, Tom and Reed. The rest of the dealers were modern. One guy had a bunch of signed jerseys. A lot of young guys setting up. One of the young dealers purchased my 1971-72 Topps Bobby Hull. I loved talking to this kid. He is a huge Hawks fan and schooled me on all the wrong moves the Hawks have made the past several years.

There were also a lot of kids in the room as customers. They were not much interested in my vintage cards but it was cool to see so many kids at the show. John, the promoter, does an excellent job with this show. At one point, he had all the kids surround his table for some live breaks.

It is nice to see some younger promoters like John. I also met another young promoter, Beau, who runs the show in Madison, WI, another real nice guy. I hope to eventually get up there and set up. Gone are the days when all the promoters were angry old codgers. I think the hobby is in good hands!

Most of the folks attending the show were into modern cards, though, many stopped and marveled at some of my old stuff. I sold a few cards. A young guy picked up my 1960 Topps Bart Starr and Paul Hornung. A customer wearing a Frank Thomas jersey, who told me he attended Palatine High School, purchased my 1978 Topps Walter Payton. He was interested in my Gale Sayers rookie but I would not discount it enough to his liking. I'm happy to keep that card rather than sell it too cheap.

Another young guy purchased my 1971-72 Topps Jerry West and Gail Goodrich. I sold a few more hockey cards and handful of football cards. One guy, building vintage Cubs sets, found some 1950 Bowman Cubs at my table. Overall, sales were a little disappointing but I never expect much when I first set up at a show. My experience has been that I need to do the show for a while and build up a following before I can expect a good amount of sales. So I booked the next show on November 13. Gary said he is setting at that show, so if Reed and Tom come back (I think Tom said he will be out of town), that will make four of us with a pretty great selection of vintage cards. Dave also always has some vintage on his table. Vintage collectors, mark your calendars and come see us at the Rock Church on November 13.

Quite a few guys mentioned this blog. It is always great to set up at a new show and be met with compliments for my blog. I always appreciate the kind words. Thank you guys for regularly reading my sports card misadventures.

Speaking of the blog.... I kind of let all the no-show-late-canceling dealers have it with my last blog. I am happy to report that one of the no-shows did show in Rockford and paid me for his table from the last Oak Creek show. So that is one guy to delete from my shit list. I told him he must give me at least a week's notice if he is not going to make it. I need time to contact folks on the waiting list and they need time to prepare for the show.

Back at the Rock Church, I think the show goes until 3 p.m. but I took off around 2 p.m. I was really hungry and tired and wanted to get to the Burger King up the street in the worst way. I had a really long drive home. I made the mistake of exiting I90 at Roselle Road which had a ton of traffic. I wanted to avoid the I90 and Route 53 interchange which is kind of suicidal. One of the worst designed interchanges in the Chicago area. So it ended up taking me two hours to get home where I fell into bed with my fluffy Golden Retriever and slept for hours.

There are so many shows right now! Seems like a new one is popping up in Wisconsin and Indiana every week. Illinois, on the other hand, is lacking. I'd love to see a new show in the northern suburbs. With all these new shows, I'm a busy beaver and will be setting up at two shows next weekend. These are actually older established shows next week with Woodstock on Saturday, October 16, and Orland on Sunday, October 17.

I've got just one table for the Woodstock show at St. John's Lutheran Church, 401 St. John's Road. I'm leaning towards bringing out four display cases and one dime box. I'm going to bring football cards for the display cases. If you plan on attending the Woodstock show and want me to bring out any binders, let me know. Newly reloaded binders are 1972 Topps baseball and 1972-73 Topps Hockey.

On Sunday in Orland, I plan on bringing out all the binders and maybe two display cases filled with vintage baseball from the 1960's -- though, that could change. With the Bears-Packers at noon, I'd like to be able to exit the show quickly and catch the game. Sometimes I get guys who are not football fans camping out and going through all my baseball binders when I am itching to leave to watch some football. I might just bring out display cases. I can fit 10 cases on my tables in Orland.

​Anyway, I am rambling. Have a great week everybody and hope to see you next weekend!

Pictured below are some of the football cards I brought out to Rockford. I'll probably bring these to Woodstock next weekend.

Saturday, October 2, 2021, Salvation Army Community Center, Oak Creek, WI

I would like to start off this blog with a rant.... A week before the show, I was overbooked with dealers and was scrambling trying to figure out how to fit everyone in. Then slowly, day by day, dealers started to drop out. By midweek, I was no longer overbooked and started to add some folks off the waiting list.

On Thursday morning, I received a Facebook text from a potential dealer. I told him I was all booked up and added him to the waiting list. Then by 6 p.m. that night, the flood gates opened as four our five more dealers dropped out. I should have let that one guy come and set up!

On Friday, the day before the show, I was out to lunch and received another call from a dealer who cancelled. By the end of the day four or five more dealers dropped out. I thought about contacting the guys on the waiting list but in the past they have never been able to set up on such short notice. So I decided to place a post on Facebook stating that whoever responded could set up the next day. Only four guys responded and only two of them actually showed up.

Ugh! It is next to impossible to operate this show when 10 or 15 guys cancel a day or two before the show, not to mention the several guys that didn't bother to show up, didn't bother to contact me.

I am really pissed off. I really don't want any of these guys who cancelled to ever set up again! I certainly am not going to allow the no-shows to ever set up again.

My waiting list continues to grow but I can't get those folks into the show when dealers cancel at the last minute. A couple of the last-minute cancellations were legit, the rest, I'm not so sure about. So I've decided to create a one strike policy. All those guys that cancelled at the last minute get just one more opportunity. If they ever cancel again at the last minute, they will be banned. How hard is it to give me a week or so notice before cancelling? They are all on my shit list. 

Did I say I have a large waiting list (and a growing shit list)? Potential dealers continue and continue to contact me for tables. Some of the new dealers that cancelled are going back on the waiting list. I honestly have no confidence that any of these folks will ever actually show up. If you book the space, you have a responsibility to show up!! These are mostly grown men, what the hell is a matter with you? 

​Next up in the rant are all the cry baby dealers... stop your crying! I'm not your mother and I don't want to hear it! If you are a dealer in the gym, you have no reason to bitch. The gym continuously has the largest crowd out of the four rooms in the show. I can at least understand the guys in the Game Room bitching. For some reason, the crowds seemed to skip the Game Room this month. One of the contributing factors was all the dealer cancellations which left me with only half of my normal number of Game Room dealers.

Next month, to get more folks to visit the Game Room, I will be giving away free packs at my tables in the Game Room. So visit me in the Game Room at the November 6th show for a free pack of cards!

Is there another promoter in the country who works as hard as I do at promoting their show? I doubt it. Dealers, cut me some slack and stop bitching!

I must add that the majority of dealers that set up at my show are top notch and I could not ask for a better group of dealers. There are always a handful of whiners, I think these folks might be better off setting up elsewhere and not at my show.

One final rant... I hired a security guard --- who did not bother to show up! Unbelievable!! Thankfully, I did not receive a single report of theft. I am going to start looking for a new security guard.

​Despite the overabundance of last minute dealer cancellations, despite the cry babies, and despite the security guard blowing off the show, it was really a tremendous day.

Former Brewers Pitcher Don August showed up around 8:30 a.m. and enjoyed walking around checking out the dealer tables. Then he and I sat down at a table in Fellowship Hall and invited folks over for an autograph.

Admittedly, I was a little nervous at first because I am a huge baseball fan and get star struck when I am around a former major leaguer. As I was driving to the show, I was thinking about all the great players Don pitched against like George Brett, Don Mattingly, Ricky Henderson, Wade Boggs, Kirby Puckett and on and on. So for my first question I asked what it was like to pitch to George Brett. Don said it was impossible. He hit everything. Don said he was able to get Don Mattingly out with regularity and he could hear Mattingly cuss as he trotted to first on a pop out.

It wasn't before long where I felt like I was talking to an old friend. Don August is an amazing guy! A super nice guy and a joy to be around. He rewarded me with tons of awesome stories. I did not know he played in Taiwan where he learned how to write his name in Chinese. See picture below. He also played in Mexico and Italy. He has so many stories and plans to publish a book. I can't wait to read it! I am going to have him back at the show for a book signing next year.

​Don was scheduled to sign autographs from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. but stayed until noon! A huge THANK YOU to Don August for attending the show, signing autographs and chatting with everybody who came by!

So I normally get a chance to walk all four rooms in the morning but obviously could not walk around at this show. We had a nice crowd in Fellowship Hall. My buddy Andy watched my tables from 9 to 11 a.m. then Rachel watched my tables from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thank you Andy and Rachel!!

Those two really worked it because my tables were crowded all day long. I had customers from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Needless to say, my sales were excellent. Much better than last month.

When I finally made my way into the gym around noon, there was still a good crowd in there. Most every dealer in the gym reported good sales. The hallway and the Game Room seemed a little light on attendance. I wish folks would visit the dealers in the Hallway and the Game Room. There is some great stuff there and you are missing out!!

Hallway dealers, though, reported good sales. Most of the Game Room dealers were unhappy. I plan on setting up in the Game Room next month and hope to lure more customers into that room. Again, I will be giving away free packs of cards.

I did end up buying some cards but it was really difficult to do since I was crazy busy with Don August then collecting table fee from the dealers. I was at my tables for about an hour. Dave brought me a box cards including some cool 1955 Topps Double Headers. See picture below. Robin brought me a box of 1960 Topps football. Some other guys brought me cards but I was unable to look at them, I just did not have the time.

​Overall, I thought this was a pretty good show. Seemed like we had a nice crowd. Seemed like most dealers had excellent sales. If I could just get dealers to show up and get a few of the babies to stop their whining, this show would be Nirvana!

I had quite a few texts, calls and Facebook messages relating to the show over the weekend, please be patient, I will answer everyone but it may take me a few days. I hope to eliminate some of the lame dealers for the November show and introduce some new dealers off the waiting list.

Looks like I am going to have former Packer Bob Long signing soon. I'll let you know when I get more details.

Up next for me is the show at Rock Church in Rockford, Illinois, next Saturday. I have never set up at this show or at a show in Rockford. I am looking forward to the new experience. I plan on bringing out display cases and filling them up with football cards. If anyone planning to attend the Rock Church show wants me to bring something special, let me know.

I really have to thank everyone who attended the Oak Creek show this past Saturday. It is this consistent and excellent attendance that allows me to be a little more flippant with my rogue dealers than I normally would be. Thank you guys so much! Thanks for reading through my rants! Thanks for spending your hard-earned money at my show! Next show at the Sal is on November 6. I have already started to add new dealers for the Game Room. It should be another great show!

I hope to see everyone in Rockford next week! Cheers!!