Saturday, October 28, 2023, Sheraton Hotel, Madison, WI

I have been meaning to get back to Madison all year long but it just did not fit into my schedule until this past weekend. Admittedly, Madison is a tough show for me because of the two-hour drive there and the two-and-a-half-hour drive home — it is a long day with a lot of driving.

I woke up at 5 a.m. Saturday morning and it was pitch black outside and a little chilly when I went out to load up the car. I didn’t get on the road until 6:18 a.m. It was a relatively easy drive. Upon arrival around 8:20 a.m., I found Madison show promoter extraordinaire Beau Spencer who directed me toward my tables next to my pal Tom Mularz.

Load in and set up went smoothly. I placed out most of my binders. New for today was 1954 Topps baseball and 1978-79 Topps hockey. By 9 a.m. the room started to fill up with customers. In true Madison form, my first customer was the football collector I met years ago at Daren’s old show. He comes out with his son these days and both purchased some cards.

Next I had a run of new customers dinking through the binders. Things started to cook when one new customer purchased all of my 1961 Golden Press. A husband and wife team purchased a pile of 1965 Philadelphia football cards. Madison sales have been traditionally football heavy.

It was nice to see some of my Madison regulars like Gil who added to his San Francisco Giants collection. After the shock of seeing me in Madison, Ken found some cards. He told me he sold all of his unopened wax to Baseball Card Exchange. I wish I could have seen that collection.

A couple of my other set-building regulars attacked the binders with lists in tow. I know I am going to have a good day when the set builders attend the show. So nice to see everybody! 

A few guys were disappointed that my 1970’s binders are so bare. I hope to get them reloaded soon but I just had them reloaded and am focusing on the 1950’s and 1960’s binders right now. I am amazed at how quickly cards flew out of those 1970’s binders.

Oddly, I did not sell any of the newly reloaded ‘54 Topps. I have a near set in there right now. One guy, who had low-baller written all over his face, threatened to buy them all. I knew he was a low-baller when he told me a tall tale about a dealer recently selling him a near set of 1953 Topps baseball for just $25. Yeah, right.

Overall sales were good, much better than my last few Madison shows. I thought the show was well attended. Surprisingly, I didn’t really know most of the dealers. I know first hand that dealers come and go. 

It was nice to see big Mark who always has one of the best inventories around. I was surprised to learn that he no longer promotes a show in Iowa. He said the building was sold and there are two newer shows in town, so he did not feel the need to find a new venue. We both agreed that it is so much easier and much more pleasant to be a dealer rather than a show promoter. 

It is always great to chat with Tom Mularz, who has great stories to share. Today Tom shared some tales about working as an Andy Frain usher in Wrigley Field during the 1968 and 1969 seasons. He told me about Billy Williams Day in 1969 when the war between the left field and right field bleachers took a frightening turn. So the Cubs handed out buttons with a photo of Billy to fans attending the game. Tom said the bleacher bums pulled the pins so the sharp end was facing out and hurled them at each other. Some fans were wounded in the melee. Tom also gifted me one of the buttons. Thanks Tom!

Tom also told me that the Rutgers University women’s soccer team was staying at the hotel today. I saw them during load in and thought they were a high school team. They looked so young. I guess I am just getting old.

Mark sent one of the Rutgers fans over to my table. The fan lives in New Jersey and follows the team across the country. He told me that he has been a New Jersey Nets season-ticket holder since the 1980’s and is pictured in the background of the 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan card.

There are always interesting tales and tidbits told at card shows - which is one of the reasons I enjoy card shows.

Back to the business at hand, buying and selling cards, I was surprised that so few cards walked up to my tables. In the past, I have purchased quite a few cards at this show. I did end up purchasing a nice grouping of Hostess cards from the 1970’s. Also, the dealer behind me offered to sell me some sets from the 1970’s. He said he is going to bring them to Oak Creek on Saturday.

Overall, an excellent day. I bought and sold some cards, had great conversations, and most importantly stuffed my face with bacon and sausage from the faux Starbucks in the hotel lobby. I even had a pleasant drive home.

I can’t make the November Madison show because it conflicts with Orland but will be back for the December show. A big thank you to Beau for putting on another great show!

Next up for me is Oak Creek on Saturday, November 4, 2023. Like the numbskull that I am, I overbooked the show. Right now, I have 190 tables when the most I have ever done is 184. I am not sure where I am going to put everybody. Anyway, this Saturday’s show is going to be a little cramped! Hope to see you there!

Sunday, October 15, 2023, Civic Center, Orland Park, IL

Sure has been soggy here in northern Illinois for the past month. If you recall my Orland blog from September, I drove to the show in a torrential downpour and had to deal with a jack-knifed semi-truck on the highway; delaying my arrival.

With that long commute freshly on my mind, I woke up a little earlier this morning and was on the road to Orland at 7 a.m. The sky was still cloudy but the sun was peaking through. However, the closer I came to Orland, the tighter the clouds appeared and I had to deal with some rain. Thankfully, no jack-knifed semi.

I arrived at the Civic Center at 7:40 a.m. — probably my earliest arrival to this show in 2023. Load in was smooth and easy. I was set up by 8:15 a.m. I could see a line forming at the door to get in but I had a good 45 minutes to kill before the gates opened. I started to fall asleep behind my tables. I think I even snored a little bit. Probably drooled some.

When I snapped out of it, I figured I better walk around to keep awake. I realized that I practically never walk this show because I am always busy helping customers. I cannot even remember the last time I walked the show.

Right away Record Store Steve started giving me a hard time for buying Rick’s display cases last month. Sorry, my friend, Rick offered me the cases, I accepted the offer, paid the man and received the cases that I actually need because many of my other cases are falling apart. 

Needless to say, I did not look at Steve’s table but got a nice view of all of the others. I was surprised at the large number of vintage dealers. There were five or six guys there that I don’t know and do not recall ever seeing before who had some really nice vintage. I observed that Terry and I were the only ones with vintage commons. 

Back at my tables, I sat back, tried not to fall asleep again, and worried a bit about whether I would have any sales today with all that great vintage in the room — which was really nonsensical on my part. I rarely have a bad show in Orland. I had a decent show today, not overpowering but definitely not bad.

Really light crowd early on and I dinked out a few sales around 9 a.m. First two guys at my tables today wanted 1975 Topps baseball commons. Unfortunately, my ‘75 Topps binder is about empty. I gotta say that my binders from the 1970’s have been roughed up this year. Seems like everybody and their mother are building sets from the ‘70’s. I can’t keep up!

Actually, my binders from every year are being hit hard. I just finished reloading my 1965 Topps baseball binder and piles of cards were sold from that binder today. Man, oh man! I can’t keep up!

My next project is 1978-79 Topps hockey. I should be able to fill that one up pretty quickly. Then I am going to work on 1954 Topps baseball. My pal Will pulled some ‘54’s today along with some 1976 Topps baseball. Thanks Will!

A few guys pulled cards from my 1964 Topps baseball binder. My guy working on 1961 Topps baseball found some cards. World traveler Chris T. pulled some cards. We did a cash and trade deal where I received a nice group of 1970’s Kellogg’s baseball cards. Thanks Chris! Another regular purchased my 1971 Topps Poster Dick Butkus. So sad that the legendary Dick Butkus is no longer with us. I wrote to him as a kid in the late 1970’s. He signed my card and also sent me a signed photo which I still have. The 1970’s was a glorious time to collect autographs, before it became big business. I wrote to hundreds of athletes back then and many included a signed photo in addition to signing my card.

Back at my tables today, Rick pulled some cards. Thanks Rick! I have a husband and wife team slowly building the 1977 Topps set. They pulled a nice stack today. The lovely Minanette pulled a huge pile out of the ‘65 binder. My one guy who always buys some hockey found some more today. Gil bought some cards. Thanks Gil! I finally remembered to bring my 1961 Baltimore Orioles year book for my Oriole collector.

Lots of new guys today pulling cards. One guy about cleaned out my 1960 Leaf. I also sold a bunch of 1961 Golden Press. After that slow start, things really picked up and I was busy all day. I had customers at my tables up until the show closed at 2 p.m. — which is generally a good thing. However, there is a new guy working the Civic Center and he shut off the lights in the room at 2:05 p.m. I could not see to pack up. I got into it with him a little bit. I foresee this being a big problem down the road. This knucklehead has to realize that the show is advertised and open until 2 p.m. I can’t magically have 50,000 cards packed up and out of the building by 2:05 p.m. when I am selling cards up until the closing bell of 2 p.m.! Gimme a break!

Knucklehead aside, I had a really nice day. My main man Paul P. was there. So was Milan, Chris and many of the Orland regulars. Dennis stopped by. Jim C. was there. We all wish he would set up again! I talked some guitar with Phil. Then I saw Dave who I met years ago at the Fred Copp shows and have not seen in the longest time. I was recently wondering about him. He played minor league baseball in the 1960’s and always has some great stories to share from his experiences playing for Eddie Stanky.

On the buying front, I went into the show with the mindset that I was not going to buy any cards because I currently have a few card debts that I need to pay off. I expected one of my creditors to show up today. I brought cash for him but he never arrived. I’m guessing he was set up at the three-day Nashville show this weekend. 

I am glad he did not show because I had a real nice deal come my way and I was thankful I had the cash in my pocket. A guy who I have been selling cards to for years brought me a box of some non-sports along with some Exhibits, including a Jackie Robinson. We were able to work out a cash and trade deal.

I had to skip the sub shop after the show this time around because I had to pick up my daughter from work. Hopefully, next month I can hang after the show with my pals Will and Joe. Lunch is on me guys!

Before the show ended, I had a chance to talk to Karen, who runs the show with Rich. I learned that Karen has a journalism degree and a masters degree in media. She has also written a number of children’s books. How cool is that! 

A big thank you to Karen and Rich for another great show! I just love the Orland show, despite that knucklehead who shut off the lights on me while I was trying to pack up! I wonder what ever happened to the other guy who managed the building for years. He sure was nice. Wish he would come back!

Anyway, I will be back in Orland for the next show slated for the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I hope to have a few more binders reloaded!!

I am taking next weekend off to hang out with my son who has a semester break and wants to come home. Poor guy is a little homesick. So the wife and I are going to bring him home for a few days.

There are a bunch of good shows next weekend that I recommend attending. Saturday is the show at Woodstock North High School in Woodstock, Illinois, along with the Oconomowoc show located just northwest of Milwaukee. Then there are two Wisconsin shows on Sunday including the Roma Lodge show in Racine and the Holiday Inn show in Janesville. I hate to miss these shows but I am looking forward to spending some time with the boy.

I will be back at it on Saturday, October 28, 2023, for the Madison show at the Sheridan on John Nolan Drive. I have been meaning to get back to Madison for the longest time but just have not been able to do it. This will be my first Madison show of the year and am looking forward to it!

The next Oak Creek show is on November 4. I am already fielding calls from dealers that want to set up. If everybody comes back from last month, I might have to put some dealers in the rafters! This next Oak Creek show is going to be a monster show! Mark your calendars!!

I appreciate all the kind comments I received today about the blog. It is really fun for me to do and I appreciate everybody for following along. I hope to see you at a card show soon! 

Pictured below is a spooky van I saw in the Civic Center parking lot. Scary! Happy Halloween!!

Saturday, October 7, 2023, Salvation Army Community Center, Oak Creek, WI

Prior to the show, I knew that we would be up against a host of other events, so I put the pedal to the metal and increased my promotional and advertising efforts as soon as the September show ended.

The increased efforts did not seem to bring in more customers, though I saw a lot of new ones, they definitely increased dealer interest. I had a bunch of new dealers for this show. I love when dealers, new and old, help promote the show on their own social media — it is super helpful. We all did a tremendous job getting the word out. Thank you everybody!

I am not totally sure on the attendance numbers because we had a different Salvation Army volunteer working the door. I am not sure where our usual volunteer was on Saturday — please come back! The new volunteer did not keep an accurate attendance record. My security saw her fail to jot down people entering the show on numerous occasions. She recorded just 350 people. I think we had more like 450 to 500. The building was really crowded early on with a line out the door. The crowd seemed to dissipate around noon but a trickle of folks kept coming in until 3:30 p.m., when most dealers had already packed up and gone home.

One of the dealers that stuck around reported that he had an additional $2,000.00 in sales after 3 p.m. He said those that arrive late still want to buy some cards so he finds that he benefits greatly by staying open until 4 p.m. I agree.

Another dealer that stuck around late suggested I end the show at 3 p.m. I don’t know. When the morning started we had a good 170 tables filled with cards. I should have had more tables but there were a few no shows as usual. A couple guys called in and said they were not feeling well. With so many tables, I want customers to have the time to visit the whole show. I think for now I will keep it open until 4 p.m.

Again, I worked most of the day Friday before the show then drove up with Lisa late Friday afternoon. We went to work right away rearranging tables and chairs and placing out dealer name tags. Not before long, our friends George and Kristy showed up to help out. THANK YOU! 

We finished up in record time thanks to George and Kristy. I think we have developed a routine for setting up on Friday night then heading over to the Water Street Brewery for a late dinner and some fresh brewed beer. Love that place!

Lisa and I stayed at the Super 8 across from Mitchell Airport. I observed that hotel prices have come down drastically since the summer. We were able to get our room at Super 8 through Priceline for just $55. Trouble is that every hotel in the Milwaukee area charges an extra $20 for taxes and service fees. So we ended up paying $75, still not bad. 

The room at the Super 8 was much nicer than the one at the Econolodge, where we stayed last month. The bed at the Super 8 was so much nicer than Econolodge. Only problem with Super 8 was the noise from other guests staying at the hotel. Seemed like doors were slamming all night long. We are definitely not staying at the Econolodge again because of the beds and we may write off the Super 8 because of the noise.

Our biggest problem, however, was my failure to properly set the alarm. I accidentally set it for 5:30 p.m. instead of 5:30 a.m. Lisa awoke at 6:35 a.m. and got me up. That sucked! We had to hustle to shower and get over to the Sal.

We made it to the Sal around 7:20 a.m. Luckily, everything was set and ready to go and we did not really have to be there while the dealers loaded in. I think we really needed that extra hour of sleep, so it worked out just fine.

I had one of my regular dealers in the gym cancel late so we took his spot. We haven’t set up in the gym in a while. I love setting up in different locations throughout the building each month. With five different rooms it feels like five unique shows occurring at once. I am going to try and get us into Fellowship Hall next month.

I brought out all of the baseball binders and half of the football along with a smattering of basketball and hockey. New for this week was 1962 Post Cereal baseball. I am still working on the 1965 Topps baseball and should have it ready to go for Orland on October 15.

As the regular dealers have told me, it takes a while for the gym to fill up with customers. By 9:30 or 10 a.m., it seemed like we had a good crowd in there. A new customer started things off with a nice purchase of 1951 Bowman baseball. My football collector from Janesville drove in and pulled some cards. Thank you!

Big Barry started working on the 1964 Topps baseball set and pulled a nice pile. Thanks Barry! Grant also pulled some 1964 Topps. Thanks Grant! My main man Jeff found my newly reloaded 1959 Fleer and 1960 Leaf. Thanks Jeff! Dean was back after missing last month and pulled a nice stack of 1962 Topps baseball.

My regular guy working on the Post cereal sets was pleased with the newly reloaded 1962’s. Big Mike pulled some cards. He was at the table at the same time as Barry, making me realize they are the two tallest guys I know. Barry even belongs to a “Tall” social club which I find interesting.

I have one collector that regularly drives up from Chicago and he found a variety of stuff. Kevin found the 1959 Fleers and pulled some cards. Thanks guys! Dave was there with his nephews Cyrus and Grayson. I also saw Johnny Adams who regularly flies in from Minnesota to buy at the show. He bragged that he spent $8,000.00 with vendors at the show. Thanks Johnny! I also saw George from my hometown of Northbrook, Illinois. I graduated high school with George’s sister. I saw Nick from Stak ‘n Sell make his rounds early in the morning.

I saw Derrick Luke walking around with his baby boy. Mohawk Chris was there. Kevin Clubb was there. Kevin’s father recently died. I had met his father a year or so ago at P.J.’s show, he was a very nice guy and I enjoyed talking to him. My condolences to Kevin and his family. Thanks for coming everyone! 

I had a bunch of young guys purchase cards today. They were so happy to buy vintage cards and thanked me profusely. Thank you guys! Joe drove up from Chicago and found some cards for his sets from the 1970’s. Larry, who sold me the near complete ‘75 sets in Orland last month, also drove up from Chicago. Seemed like quite a few folks drove up from Chicago and ignored the three-day autograph show that was there this weekend. I think that says something about the Oak Creek show.

As I mentioned before, I had a bunch of new dealers today. Some were old faces like the return of the famous Jeremy. Also, vintage dealer Scott Cleveland was back in his usual spot by the front door. Another returning dealer was Bart Taylor who reminded me that the last time he set up was at our last show right before the Pandemic shut everything down. Wisconsin’s own version of Bob Ross, Kevin Wolfe, returned and was selling some new paintings featuring Brewers and Packers logos. We lose Kevin in the summer as he works his landscaping business.

Another new dealer that I was happy to see at the show was Anthony Georgetta, whose pops Lou was a popular dealer in Chicago and Milwaukee for decades. Sweet Lou recently died and we all miss him terribly. So thankful Anthony is around. Thanks for setting up Anthony!

Along with many returning dealers, the great Sloppy Joe chef Ken returned along with the crew for the concession stand. I caught my pal Stan chowing down. Lisa and I each had one — an excellent batch!

Most dealers reported good sales while a few made a “meh” face when I asked about their sales. My sales were down from last month which was my best month of the year. Sales were still okay. Only problem was that I went out and spent every penny I made. Quite a few guys came to my table selling cards and I just could not help myself.

I picked up a stack of 1977 Topps baseball stars. I purchased some 1960’s era insert cards. One of my newer and younger dealers brought me a stack of cards he said were his grandpa’s. He had them priced very high. I was able to negotiate the price down. The coolest thing in there was a 1969 Topps autographed Ray Nitschke which is going into my personal collection. There was also a Bill Walton rookie in there.

Mark brought me several stacks of Post and Jello baseball. He was kind of high. I ended up taking the Post but had to pass on the Jello. Mark spends his winters in Florida, so it will be a while before I see him again.

I ended up buying a 1975 Topps Robin Yount from dealer Tom Dosetell to complete one of the near Topps sets I purchased at Orland last month. Surprise, quite a few Yount rookies in the room. I probably should have purchased a second Yount rookie for my second set from Orland. Larry Larsen has a couple of them and I’ll be sure to buy one from him next month. I know I bought a bunch of other stuff as well but my memory is failing me. 

There were quite a few people walking the room selling vintage cards. I saw my pal Gary George pick up a 1966 Philadelphia Gale Sayers rookie and a 1965 Philadelphia Jim Brown. Dennis the Menace purchased a 1975 Topps Minis baseball complete set and a 1972 Topps baseball complete set. Cool stuff!

I enjoyed being set up next to old friend Mike Johnson. It is always great to catch up with Mike. He has many great stories to share. He keeps showing me a photo of his new car. I am waiting for a ride!

I started to pack up around 3:30 p.m. I wanted to stick around longer but Lisa was itching to get home. After I packed up, I had a chance to chat with dealer John Seacrist — I learned we have similar histories. 

So years ago, before I went to law school, I had my own newspaper in Chicago. It was called “Barfly” and was a bi-weekly guide to Chicago bars distributed free to about 250 different bars and restaurants in Chicago.

Turns out John is currently a newspaper owner. He owns an ad paper in Rockford. He had the greatest story about working at a different ad paper for 10 years then having the new owner fire him. John then went and started his own paper which kicked his old one’s ass. Turns out the old one was a chain and the owners of the chain appointed John as interim president and he was able to fire that a-hole who had earlier fired him. What a great story!

So John’s current paper has been so successful that he was able to purchase a building to house the paper and is currently building a card shop in there with both sports and Pokémon. Congrats John!
 
I also chatted with dealer Tom Mularz late in the show who had a nice addition to my blog from last week describing how to spot fake vintage cards. Tom advised that the paper stock between the post war cards and the fakes is different. The real cards are on a softer, almost flexible cardboard, while the fakes are on a a rigid stock with no flexibility. Thanks Tom!

Lisa and I were on our way home around 4:30 p.m. We were tired. Once home, I ate dinner then passed out. Another Oak Creek show in the books! 

So I reserved the Salvation Army for 12 monthly shows in 2024. Once again we will be on the first Saturday of every month in 2024. At the show Saturday, some knucklehead was walking around telling people there is no show in November and December because of the holidays. NONSENSE! This show occurs on the first Saturday of the month on every single month, regardless of any holidays! Next show is November 4 and the December show is slated for December 2. Hope to see you there!

In the meantime, my next show as a dealer is coming up on Sunday at the Orland Park Civic Center in Orland Park, Illinois. I plan on bringing all of my binders. I might bring a couple of display cases as well. See you in Orland on Sunday!!

Below are some photos that Lisa and I took on Saturday. Enjoy!

Saturday, September 30, 2023, St. Joseph County Fairgrounds, South Bend, IN

I figured South Bend was about an hour drive from my folks’ place in New Buffalo, MI, so I drove out to New Buffalo on Friday night for the Saturday show. As usual when traveling southeast through the Chicago area, highway traffic was terrible.

Traffic on the Edens Expressway came to screeching halt around Cicero Avenue, so I decided to exit and work my way east to Lake Shore Drive. I forgot what street I was on but flashes went off as I passed a random light pole, so I am pretty sure a camera caught me speeding and a ticket will be in the mail shortly. I forgot about those stupid Chicago speed cameras, courtesy of former mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Needless to say, I was a little frustrated driving through far North Side neighborhoods. Before long, I found myself in the Bowmanville neighborhood where my wife and I lived in the mid-1990’s. My frustration increased as I learned the hard way that the city has installed speed bumps on all the side streets since I was last there.

While driving slowly through the neighborhood to avoid the speed bumps, I was reminded that this is a hidden gem of a neighborhood with artsy shops, wonderful restaurants, beautiful old bungalows, an expansive park, and the enormous Rosehill Cemetery. The wife and I used to regularly walk these streets, especially along the gates of the cemetery.  

I always thought the neighborhood was named after the old Bowman dairy, located nearby on Ravenswood Avenue for close to 100 years, from about 1871 to 1966. However, multiple web pages claim the neighborhood was named after an 1850’s Innkeeper named Bowman, who fraudulently sold the land which he did not own.

Either way, it is currently a tremendous neighborhood, very safe, despite what they say about Chicago on Fox News.

As I was traversing over the speed bumps on Balmoral Avenue, I stopped when I saw the Spiteful Brewing Tap Room, located in an old warehouse, about a block away from my old apartment. The tap room has a huge beer garden along Balmoral that looked so cool. I told my wife about it when I got home and we are planning a visit. 

Before long, I entered Lake Shore Drive from Foster Avenue, and felt my blood pressure ease as I enjoyed the view of Lake Michigan on my left and an endless stream of parks and lagoons on my right. I don’t get to the city as much as I used to and forgot how beautiful it is. 

I saw the beacon from the old Palmolive Building for the first time. For most of my life, the beacon has been dormant and I had only seen the light in pictures. The light stream from the beacon is hauntingly cool. It was so awesome to see it in person!

Traffic, however, was not awesome as it jammed up in front of the Drake Hotel, located on the northern edge of Chicago’s famous Michigan Avenue, and was slow moving until the Field Museum, located on the southern edge of Grant Park, and onto the Dan Ryan Expressway.

I had a much easier time on the Dan Ryan than last week and cruised to the Skyway and to my final destination in Michigan.

I lost an hour due to the time change from the Central to Eastern time zone and woke up at 7 a.m. Eastern. I hit the snooze a couple of times and finally managed to get showered and ready by 8 a.m.

Problem was my pops, who was supposed to set up with me, was not nearly ready. He has some terrible back problems and it took a while for his meds to kick in and provide some relief. I had wanted to be on the road to South Bend by 8 but we did not leave until 9.

I plugged the address into the GPS and we drove along some beautiful country roads weaving through farmland. Pops was critical of the GPS, claiming it was taking us the long way. I was more comfortable with taking directions from SIRI rather than pops.

We arrived around 9:40 a.m. The show was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. I found Ben, who operates the show with his lovely wife Haley. Ben directed me to my tables. We were one of the last dealers to arrive. Seemed like everybody else was set up and conducting business already.

After I finished loading in, Haley came over and offered me another table for free, since the dealer that reserved it cancelled. I was grateful and took the extra table. My dad spread out his stuff on two tables and I placed eight display cases on my two tables.

Over the years, I have set up at card shows located in every type of structure you can imagine, including many fairgrounds. This may have been the most rustic fairground building of them all — which is the way I like it. I love when a show is located inside an old building, it just seems so right for a card show, especially since I am a vintage dealer and like all that is old. 

This building in South Bend is huge. I believe there were 150 tables. I think you could probably fit 250 to 300 tables in there. The building does not have any air conditioning or heat but we lucked out with a beautiful fall day and the temperature in the building was perfect all day long, even as it really warmed up outside in the afternoon.

I thought I would know more dealers here but the only one I knew was Tom Kummer, who was set up nearby selling wax. I think a lot of these dealers regularly set up at the Fort Wayne show, also located at a county fairgrounds. I heard lots of discussions about Fort Wayne, a show I occasionally set up at.

As usual, as soon as I started loading up my display cases with cards, folks were hovering over me watching and observing my every move. After I loaded up three of the eight cases, a guy wearing a White Sox cap and shirt, asked to see my 1955 Topps Jackie Robinson. I continued to load while he checked out the card, keeping one eye on him.

I loaded up a few more cases and he asked to see a few more cards including my 1955 Topps Ernie Banks and a few others. I loaded up another case when, surprisingly, the White Sox guy purchased the stack of cards. Woot! Nice sale to start the day. 

I bragged to my dad, who had some business of his own. He sold a couple of autographed post cards.

When I finally finished loading up all the cases, a young guy asked to see a bunch of my pre-War cards. He ended up purchasing my T207 Rube Marquard along with several others. Woot!

Wow, I never expected to have these kinds of sales out here in the sticks of South Bend, Indiana. I was cooking!

Then an older gentleman approached and asked if I buy cards. Ha! Do I buy cards? I live to buy cards! He handed me a small binder. When I opened it, I swear angels appeared and I heard heavenly music as the first page contained 18 T206 cards, mostly Tigers. 

When someone hands me T206 cards, the first thing I have to do is make a determination as to whether the cards are real or fake. Unfortunately, there are a lot of fakes out there and even cards slabbed by the graders are not guaranteed legit. It has been well documented how fake cards or altered cards slip by the graders. You gotta give every vintage card you purchase a real good look over.

For T206s, I look to see if the name and team name on the bottom of the card are in light brown print and in all caps — check. I then look for centering, as with most vintage cards, real ones are usually poorly centered. Most of these cards were poorly centered — check. Next, I review the backs. Often, T206 reprints will have the word “reprint” stamped on the back. Cheaters will scrape the “reprint” word off. No “reprint” word or evidence of it ever being on the backs — check.

Several of the backs had paper loss, clearly from being pasted into a scrapbook at one time and poorly removed, a regular occurrence with T206 cards — check. One card had a pin hole. Usually fakes will not contain a pin hole — check. Next, I took some cards out of the plastic sleeve and ran my fingers over them to feel for gloss or lack thereof. The fake ones have a heavy gloss, including gloss on the back while the real ones may have a light gloss on the front but never a gloss on the back. These cards did not have gloss on the back — check. Next, I look over the images of the players. The real cards will have a clear image, with sharp coloring, while the fakes have a smudged look from scanning and often contain an odd coloring, often overly bright.

Lastly, the 18-pocket plastic sleeve was evidence that the cards were real because it was an old-time sleeve, probably manufactured in late 1970’s or early 1980’s, made of thicker plastic and smaller in height than the current-made sleeves, evidence that the seller has had these cards in his possession for decades before the current batch of fakes were manufactured. I felt the cards were legit. I wanted them!

Next four pages in the binder contained old-time, small, 9-pocked sleeves filled with 1933 Goudeys. All of the Goudeys were in tremendous shape. Like the T206’s, there were two Hall-of-Famers. One was Rogers Hornsby. I took out the Hornsby. 

First step in authenticating a 1933 Goudey, is to look at the red box located on the bottom of most of the cards which reads “Big League Chewing Gum.” That box is never asymmetrical with the image box located above. Here the box was off — check. I like my raw Goudeys to be slightly off center as the fakes are always perfectly centered. The Hornsby is a tad off center, top to bottom — check.

On the back I look for the color of the print to be green — check. I also look for that “reprint” word or evidence of it having been scraped off. No evidence of “reprint” — check. Next, I look at the thickness of the card. The real 1933 Goudeys are very thick, manufactured with layers of paper. Here the proper thickness was evident — check. I then matched up the Hornsby with the 1933 Goudeys in my display case to make sure the size was accurate — check. Lastly, I reviewed the color for the same issues as with the T206s. In the last 10 to 15 years, I observed that a lot of fake vintage cards will have a yellow tint, especially on the back. No yellow tint here — check. I wanted the Hornsby!

I am not quite sure how the seller priced his cards, but he did have a price which is so appreciated. It is so hard to work a deal when the seller refuses to offer a price. I was able to work the price down to where I was comfortable purchasing the cards with enough meat on the bone to make some cash on resale.

There went that nice pile of cash from my early morning sales but I was ecstatic with the purchase. It is so rare that I am able to purchase more than a few T206 cards at a card show. Here I took home 18 cards! Woot! Also, the Hornsby has great eye appeal, you can’t see the tiny wrinkle along the upper left edge.

I had really low expectations for this show, I would have never imaged that I would have had such good sales and a tremendous pre-War purchase. Woot! I was riding high!

The seller had more cards in the binder like some beater 1952 Topps, no high numbers. Some nice 1952 Bowman football cards amongst a smattering of other post-War cards. I asked him to come back later in the show to see if I earned more cash for more purchases. He agreed to come back.

Next item on the agenda was food. There was a food truck outside selling Mexican food. Yum! I went out there and grabbed some steak tacos. I thought the tacos were delicious, albeit a little greasy. Dad did not like the tacos.

Later the room was abuzz with word that a thief was caught and kicked out of the show. Not just any thief, this guy has been caught at several shows and his picture from the Oconomowoc show has been circulating for a year or so online.

As I always say, criminals are some of the dumbest people around. None are like Professor Moriarity from Sherlock Holmes. Real criminals are always dumb as hell. This guy is dumb as hell because he was wearing the exact same outfit he wore when he was caught and photographed at the Oconomowoc show. See photo below. Literally, the picture of the thief that had been circulating for a year was alive and walking the South Bend show, stealing cards. What a douche bag!! 

After the buzz died down, the guy who sold me the T206s and the Hornsby came back but I had hardly made any more sales so I did not have any cash. I asked what he wanted for the rest of his cards and he was crazy high, I am not sure why. So I would not have purchased them even if I had the cash. Regardless, I was pretty happy with the cards I did obtain.

I enjoyed chatting with all the folks that stopped by my tables and the dealers set up around me. Everyone was so nice and pleasant, thus, I had a really nice and pleasant day. Kudos to Ben and Haley for putting on such a great show!

Ben said that they can’t do any shows at the Fairgrounds during the winter because of the lack of heat. He did say that they will do some more next year. Ben and Haley also operate a small monthly show at a VFW Post in South Bend. Unfortunately, their monthly occurs the same time as my Oak Creek show, otherwise, I would attend.

So I am not sure when I will get back to South Bend, but I really want to after today. I forgot to mention that I had another really large sale at the end of the day from a father and son team that drove in from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Thank you!

​Man, what a great day!!

After the show, dad and I went to eat at a country club in Porter, Indiana, that he really likes. The restaurant is called Portofino’s. I had a chicken Marsala that was delicious. Dad had a huge steak that looked tasty.

We then went back to his place and napped. I woke up, drove home that night. Traffic was not bad at all but it is still scary driving through all that road construction at night.

Next up is the Oak Creek show. I will have a full house of dealers on 180 tables on October 7 at the Salvation Army Community Center, 8853 S. Howell, in beautiful Oak Creek, Wisconsin. There is a lot of interest in this show. My phone has been ringing off the hook. Should be a great one! Hope to see you in Oak Creek!!

​Below are a couple more photos from the South Bend show including my purchases.