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It's Always Sunny In Milwaukee

12/18/2011

4 Comments

 
Scary drive up to Milwaukee this morning with some really thick fog most of the way. Once I got to Milwaukee, the fog cleared and it was nice and sunny. Turned out to be a sunny day in every way, except for those that follow the National Football League in the states of Illinois and Wisconsin. Pack lose to the lowly Chiefs. The Bears, well they just suck. Gawd I hope the McCaskeys finally dump Angelo.

Nice crowd at Gonzaga today!! The show was jam packed from 9 a.m. through noon. While I was setting up, Mike, from the WSCA, was telling me about a collection he helped sell off recently.  Mike told me that the daughter of a former member of the WSCA called him up after her father died and wanted his help to sell her dad's collection of vintage cards. Mike said the women's father bought at least a box of cards every year from from 1948 through the 1970s. The cards were all nice but most of the stars were missing.  Mike brought in a guy who purchased the pre-1970 cards for $2,500.  The 1970s cards went at the auction today at Gonzaga.  I was too busy and didn't see what they went for. Note to Mike -- CALL ME NEXT TIME!! I would have gladly paid $2,500-plus for all those cards.

Sales today were steady. I have two customers named Jason at this show. One Jason bought a '59 Ken Boyer All Star, some '69 commons and a few '52 commons while the other Jason picked up some '34-36 Batter Ups and some '71 Topps football. I sold my '50 Bowman Jackie Robinson and a '49 Leaf Marty Marion to a regular customer.  Jim bought some '53 Topps baseball. An oldtimer picked up some '41 Double Play. The guy had to be in his mid-80s and was telling me how he bought '33 Goudeys out of the pack as a kid -- he still has all his cards and is still going strong adding cards to his collection!! Larry made the trip up to Gonzaga and bought some cards. I promised some ABA cards from the '70s to a customer and, of course, forgot to bring them. Sorry! I will have them next time!! A regular picked up some '57s.  My autograph hound found some cards out of my 50-cent and dollar boxes along with some 78-79 hockey.  Another regular pulled a nice pile of cards from the 1950s. One of my regular set builders pulled quite a few cards from the '60s. I sold my T206 Heinie Zimmerman to a young collector.  A new customer bought my '39 Play Ball Charlie Gehringer. A new customer bought a small stack of '56 Topps. I sold quite a few cards today, I can't recall all that I sold.

On the buying front, an unusually good day at Gonzaga. I'm usually lucky to pick up a card or two at this show.  I had quite a few offers today. At least two different guys offered me large lots of '71 Topps. Problem is, I have in stock close to 5,000 '71 Topps. Seems like I have 8 to 12 copies of most every card. I actually did make some buys and bought two binders of cards filled with '60s commons from a dealer.  I also picked up a nice pile of cards from a customer, including a '60 Clemente, '59 Aaron, Musial, and Snider, two t206 commons and some '55 Topps commons. A dealer offered me some beat-up '55 Bowmans, but the price was a tad too high for the condition. Another dealer offered me some moldy early '50s bowmans.  These cards were just too nasty.  I've had moldy cards in the past and they were very difficult to sell. Overall, I am quite pleased with my haul.

Douchebag report: I was set up across from the guy who I think was accusing me of stealing cards at Serb Hall last month. He didn't say anything to me today so I assume he found his "missing" card. Second douchebag -- early on, a guy who I sometimes buy cards from, pulled an extreme douchebag move. He had a box of cards. I wasn't interested in any. He wanted to trade me some. I again wasn't interested. A customer purchased a bunch of '70s basketball while douchebag was talking to me.  Doucheboy then asks MY customer if he would like to see HIS cards. Then Douchebag lays HIS cards on MY table -- the table I paid $100 for and Douchebag paid nothing. Extremely bad form. Go get your own table!! I will never buy cards from this guy again. Third douchebag -- I noticed the guy from the last Serb show, who wanted book price for his poor condition cards, had a table today. I wonder if he sold anything? Fourth douchebag -- a guy had an interest in a '57 Topps Colavito rookie. I had it priced at $40 and offered it to him at $30. He then tells me he is working on a deal with another dealer -- Jerry, who is a douchebag of a dealer (see past Gonzaga blog where Jerry offered me a group of '62 Topps football but then sold them to somebody else). The guy who wanted the '57 Colavito says he wants to trade and is shocked I am not interested in his 1982 Topps Brewers team card. Really?!!

Extremely nice people report: Keith, who runs the WSCA, passed out coupons for complimentary sandwiches and sodas from the concession stand. I took advantage of the free grub and also bought a piece of cake because I freakin' LOVE the cake!! Dave Horseshack was a no-show today, Dave also loves the cake. If Fred Copp is reading this blog, take note, me and several other dealers would like you to start bringing cake to your shows!

Overall, a really great day. I sold a lot of cards, bought a lot of cards, ate cake, and it was my birthday. Forty-five years old today. I tried to listen to the Bears game on the drive home but the Bears were so pitiful that I switched on the FM for some music. I had some ribs for dinner and more cake when I got home. Life is good!!

I am taking next weekend off. This will be my first weekend without a show since the summer. It will be a much needed break. My last show of the year will be Orland on New Year's eve. I should have my '71 and '72 books updated. I may do Fred's Schaumburg show on New Year's Day. I'm still debating.

One final note, my blog received 145 hits last Sunday. I just want to say that I appreciate all the comments I get at the shows about this blog and it is really cool so many people are reading this thing. I also want to let all my customers know how much I appreciate you.  Without you, I wouldn't have this wonderful hobby. There are also a great many dealers who I enjoy seeing regularly and also make this hobby a lot of fun. I want to wish you all a Merry Xmas, Happy Hannukah and Happy New Year!!


4 Comments

Tumbleweeds and morning hot dogs

12/11/2011

1 Comment

 
Wake me up when the show is over. What a snoozer! I don't think I've ever been so bored at an Orland show.  Nothing but tumbleweeds in front of my table for most of the day. A large number of tables were empty early on. Some dealers showed up late while I think John moved some guys from the hallway into the main room in the late morning. There was actually a decent crowd in the room but they weren't buying much from me.  The bulk of my set builders were AWOL and no autograph hounds.  Things were so slow that I went and got my hot dogs at 10:45 a.m. Of course, when I returned with my hot dogs, things picked up a bit.

Rick was the first one at my table today. I have three or four '59 Topps Fox/Aparicio combo cards and Rick bought two of them. Rick is a real good guy who likes White Sox and anything in high grade. I can always count on Rick to purchase cards from me at Orland. One of my regular set builders picked up some '69s and '70s.  Chris was set up across from me today and picked up a bunch of cards for his sets, including a nice pile of '65s. I noticed that several customers were set up today as dealers selling their wares.

Larry picked up my '56 Hodges. I have one regular who collects autographs and buys cards to put with his autos in some sort of display.  He found a few cards at my table today. I had a new customer pick up a bunch of '67, '68 and '69 Cubs. Another new customer picked up some '70 Topps football Bears. A regular picked up my '40 Play Ball Hal Trosky. Another regular bought some football. Another set builder picked up quite a few '74s for his set, including a Winfield rookie. Gil picked up my '67 Schoendeinst and Mazeroski.  Another regular picked up some '60 Topps. I sold a '89-90 Fleer Sticker Michael Jordan to a young collector. Another young collector picked up a '74 Nolan Ryan.  I have a regular customer who collects Montreal Expos cards.  Oddly, today he was buying New York Mets cards. Another regular picked up quite a few old Milwaukee Braves for his collection of Braves including a '64 Spahn and a '62 Spahn All Star. I sold up a couple of autographed '55 Topps cards that I picked up in St. Louis back in October. Not a totally disastrous day, but definitely one of my slower days at Orland. It made me wonder if I made a mistake skipping Serb Hall today. Orland and Serb are on the same day again in February. If sales don't pick up, I think I'll skip the Sunday February show in Orland for Serb.

On the buying front, there were quite a few folks walking around with cards. One guy offered me a pile with '80s, '90s, and '00s with some '60s and '70s mixed in. I wasn't interested. Junior had schwag again. A dealer came around with a large pile of '60s and 70s.  It seemed like the pile was almost half '79 Topps football which has very little value while the guy was asking $500 for the pile. Some new dealers across the way and next to Chris offered me their table at the end of the show but I didn't want to make an offer because I didn't have much money in my pocket today.  I referred them to Jim and I'm guessing they were too high on their price because Jim passed on the cards. I picked up a '62 Billy Williams and a '73 Clemente from one of my regular customers.  I bought a '75-'76 Dr. J from a dealer.  I picked up a small pile of '57s and some 1959 BVG graded cards from another dealer.  I made a trade with Chuck where I gave him a '54 Larry Doby in exchange for a small pile of '72 highs, '71 highs and some '60s.

Not much else doing at this show. I would have left early except one customer spent a lot of time at my table at the end of the show. He made a nice purchase so I can't complain much.  Besides Brad, I was the last to leave.  Even Bill Nest beat me out the door.

I'm stealing a quote from the CU board which I think accurately describes the show today:

"I've been attending shows since 1986. Here is the breakdown of participants:

10% interesting people you'd like to have a conversation with, maybe a drink at the bar after the show (or before).
10% disinterested people, there with someone else, and they just can't believe someone would pay that kind of money for your cards. They'll waste your time when you should be servicing the big fish.
8% savvy collectors who will cherry pick your table for 2 hours and then try and bargain for the next hour. Torture. You would like to slap them in the face with a 100 ct pack of polysleeves.
2% Big fish. The guy with the cash who wants to start a 1955 Topps set because that's what he collected as a kid. He's got $3,000 to get started, and he really likes your Gil Hodges EX-MT for $300 because he's partial to the Dodgers.
1% Hot chicks.
9% Not so hot chicks.
10% Thieves who will rob you blind when you least expect it.
50% absolute turds for human beings. One of them will stink so bad he drives the Big Fish away from your table for good.
"

Better days ahead. Next week is Gonzaga and it couldn't come at a better time with the last two weeks being slow.  I'm really hoping for a good show at Gonzaga because it's hard to keep my enthusiasm up when I have a string of bad shows.  I'll have my '69-70 basketball for Gonzaga along with '71 football. I'm going to start my '71 baseball but I don't know how far I'll get this week. Please support your friendly neighborhood vintage card dealer and come out to Gonzaga next week and buys some cards!!
1 Comment

Uncle Morty, The Woj, Beanie and a few Larrys

12/5/2011

0 Comments

 
I have been setting up at Fred Copp's shows regularly for the past 10 years. His weekend shows have always had the hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Fred recently changed the hours from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. which is more in line with most other shows around the country.  Though it is going to take me some time to get used to the new hours.

I made it to the Radisson in Schaumburg around 8 a.m., the earliest I've ever been there. I noticed a new large sign in front of the place which reads "Park Inn" in large letters and  "by Radisson" in small letters. So I think I'll start calling this place the Park Inn rather than the Radisson since the Park Inn sign hits you over the head when you drive by the place.

All the other dealers were setting up when I got there while Willie was over at the Rolling Meadows show, checking things out, as he normally does when these two shows are on the same day. By 9:30 a.m., we had people in the room, so the new hours seem appropriate. The Woj, Beanie, Willie, Ted and I were in one room while Fred was in an adjacent room.
In Fred's room, was a nice selection of wax, supplies, price guides, books, old media guides, vintage singles, singles from the 1980s and McFarland figures.  In our room, Beanie had some cool old photos of  Wrigley Field on one of his tables. He also carries the newest cards and a nice selection of vintage. The Woj carries the newest cards, sets going back to 1979, and some books.  Ted carries the newest cards with a smattering of vintage.  Ted always has a nice inventory of current Black Hawks. Willie's case was filled with PSA encased/certified autographed vintage cards. He had a box of cards featuring all the Chicago sports teams, and laid out on a table were various autographed 8X10s, and Wacky Packages. He was also showing off his recent pick-ups from the Sun-Times Show including a couple of autographed Jim Brown rookies, an autographed Yaz rookie, an autographed Johnny Bench rookie, and a 1956 Topps autographed Willie Mays. I was stunned by Mays' autograph because it looks like he did it with his non-writing hand.  At age 80, Mays doesn't see very well and his signature has really suffered.  Willie said the autograph on his card his a better example than most.  I wrote to Mays when I was a kid in 1979 and he signed a Hall of Fame postcard I sent to him.  The auto on my postcard is beautiful. It's large and the "W" on Willie flows and is unique. I wonder if Mays has arthritis because his current signature couldn't be any more different than the one on my old postcard.

Customers seemed to come in by clumps on this day. We had about an hour where there was a crowd in the room then a few clumps after that, along with stragglers at the end.  I didn't recognize too many of the customers. I always like to see new faces. One new customer purchased a large pile of '65 Topps baseball. Several customers purchased cards out of my 50-cent box. There were also some regulars.  My guy who purchases my 25-cent packs was there and found four packs to his liking.  I sold a bunch of packs to Kyle, a sweet kid who always comes to the shows with his dad. Uncle Morty showed up today.  I haven't seen Mort in quite sometime. I sold Mort my 1951 Bowman Lou Boudreau.  I have four regular customers named Larry, two of the Larry's were at this show. I sold one Larry a 1955 Topps Johnny Podres and a 1976-77 Topps basketball checklist.  The other Larry looked but didn't pull the trigger -- which was the theme of the day.  I had quite a few lookers but a small amount of buyers. Thankfully Willie bought some cards at the end to get signed.

On the buying front, I picked up a few hundred 1959 Topps baseball. Pictured below are some of these gems.

Overall, a mellow day. The Bears-Chiefs game may have affected attendance. There was a good group of dealers at this show that I always enjoy seeing so it was a pleasant day. I'm debating on setting up at Fred's December 26th show in Bloomingdale. Anyone working on some vintage sets, who would like to meet me at that December 26th show, let me know. I have a large inventory that I don't bring out to the shows and will have some time to fill some wantlists prior to the show.

Next weekend I'm back at the Orland Park Civic Center. I had a really nice show in Orland on Thanksgiving weekend and am hoping for more of the same. I'm working on reloading my 1970 Topps baseball binder for the show. I'm about halfway done. I'd also like to get some other binders reloaded but I don't know how much time I'll have to work on it this week. I'm also going to bring out a nice pile of new stuff for my display cases including a '54 Bowman Mickey Mantle (this card is cool!). As long as the snow stays away, it should be another nice day in Orland. See you there!! 
0 Comments

    Tony Gordon

    Vintage Sports Cards Addict

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