Blog Archives

A Cobb-errific Day in Milwaukee!!!

12/25/2012

Sunday, December 16, 2012, Gonzaga Hall, Milwaukee, WI -- How'ya Cobb doing? I'm Cobb damn fine, thank you!

I was a bit discom-Cobb-ulated this morning. You see, I have a routine down for the Gonzaga show. I wake up at 6 a.m., hit the road by 7 a.m., arrive at the hall by 8 a.m., set up, open for business by the show's opening bell at 9 a.m. Today, however, the start time for the show was moved up to 8 a.m. to accommodate the Packers-Bears game. Thus, I had to move my entire routine up by one hour. Which meant I had to wake up at 5 a.m.

So the night before, I loaded the car then set my alarm for what I thought was 5 a.m. Turns out I set the alarm for 5 p.m. I would have missed the show if Chuck T. didn't show up at my house at 5:45 a.m. Thanks Chuck!! So I had to hustle to shower, get the dog out, get the kids ready, then everybody and a pile of Chuck's cards into the car. Some how we were on the road by 6:15 a.m. I don't know how I did it but everything worked out fine.

There wasn't much doing at Gonzaga at 8 a.m. I was a little concerned early on. We had a nice crowd last month even though the Packers had a game and the mega Sun-Times show was just an hour and a half away in Rosemont, IL. Today, Johnny Logan was scheduled to sign autographs and a Babe Ruth autograph was slated for the live auction. With Christmas just a week away, I thought we were going to have a big crowd. We ended up with a smaller crowd than usual. However, my sales were good and I picked up a T206 Cobb, pictured above. My first Cobb!!!

The Cobb is one of the coolest cards I have ever owned. The purchase got me thinking. I've owned quite a few cool cards over the years. Here my top 10 favorite cards I've ever owned:

1. T206 Ty Cobb
2. 1933 Goudey Lou Gehrig
3. 1933 Goudey Jimmie Foxx
4. 1933 Goudey Rogers Hornsby
5. 1934-36 Diamond Stars Lefty Grove
6. 1934-36 Diamond Stars Bill Dickey
7. 1934 Goudey Hank Greenberg
8. 1939 Play Ball Joe Dimaggio
9. 1939 Play Ball Ted Williams
10. 1948 Leaf Babe Ruth

Honorable mention: 1948 Leaf Jackie Robinson, 1952 Bowman Mickey Mantle.

Back at the show, prior to the Cobb purchase, a new customer got my day going by purchasing some 1972 Topps baseball. A regular customer picked up some 1967 Topps baseball. A father and son team purchased some 1971 and 1972 Topps Brewers. Mark picked up some 1955 Bowman baseball. Jim also picked up some 1955 Bowmans. Jeff picked up a large pile of 1956, 57 and 1972 Topps baseball.

Mike emailed a list of 1971 Topps football prior to the show. I filled as much of the list as I could. Mike came by early and picked up the cards. Jason picked up some 1955 Topps baseball. A regular customer picked up a 1964 Philadelphia Johnny Unitas and a 1961 Topps Jack Kemp. Another regular picked up some 1960's and 1970's Topps baseball. Gary picked up a 1958 Willie Mays, 1956 Topps Sandy Koufax and a Roberto Clemente along with a large pile of 1964 Philadelphia football. Thanks Gary!

A new customer picked up some 1974 Topps baseball. Another new customer purchased a 1972 Kelloggs Willie Davis PSA 4. A regular customer purchased some 1963 Topps baseball. A new customer bought a 1948 Bowman Ewell Blackwell. Jim rounded out my day by purchasing a 1971 Topps Mike Shannon. I usually write down all the sales but I know I missed some because I was a bit tired and I had a busy period from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. where I was trying to help three or four customers at once.

On the buying front, a stellar day! I picked up the aforementioned Cobb along with a T206 John J. McGraw, a 1968 Topps Johnny Bench rookie, a small pile of 1953 Johnston Cookies, some 1953 Bowman football, some 1970s football stars, and some 1964 Topps Giants.

While I was looking forward to the live auction of the Babe Ruth autograph today, it turned out to be anticlimactic. I didn't now this prior to the show, but they started the auction for the Ruth auto at $3,000 -- which is about $1,500 above the going rate for a Babe Ruth autograph. In fact, there was a dealer today that had a nice framed Babe Ruth auto on his table for $1,500. Needless to say, the Ruth auto did not garner a single bid in the auction.

I enjoyed having my kids and Chuck T. with me today. As I said earlier, Chuck T. brought some cards to sell. Mark was nice enough to purchase a box of cards from Chuck. Thanks Mark! I think Chuck enjoyed the show. This was his second appearance at a Gonzaga show. Though, I think he too was a bit tired. I think he was up at 4 a.m. or so to make it to my house by 5:45 a.m. from the far southwest suburbs of Chicago.

My kids had a good time as well. The WSCA gave out goodie bags to kids. My kids LOVE goodie bags. The kids also purchased a few things in the room. We all ate cake. The kids had hot dogs. By noon, however, the food stand was out of food! This has never happened before at any Gonzaga show I have attended. The reason was that the kind folks who run the show gave out free food tickets to all the dealers. So by the time I went to claim my free hot dog, they were out.

My kids also participated in the kids' auction at the end of the show -- which is something I think is completely awesome! It was also cool seeing Johnny Logan. I love seeing old time players from yesteryear. Did I tell you I bought a Cobb? Great show today!!

I'm still one blog behind. I have a Bloomingdale blog due. I'm off work most of this week and should have a chance to knock out the Bloomingdale blog.

As I write this, it is Christmas Eve, December 24. Merry Christmas Everybody!!

Next week, I'm back at Orland Park for the December 30th Orland Show. I had a terrific Orland show a few weeks ago and am looking for more of the same. See you next week!!

Pictured below are some photos and a silly video my 10 year-old daughter Tabitha took on her iPod Touch. Enjoy!

0 Comments

Finally -- A Good Orland Show!!!

12/19/2012

8 Comments

Sunday, December 9, 2012, Orland Park, IL -- After a far too long string of lousy Orland shows, I finally had a good show, one of my best Orland shows of the year! This was our largest crowd in months. I saw a lot of people I had not seen in a long time. Where has everyone been? Please come back for the next show on December 30!!

Dan got things going today by picking up some 1970-71 O-Pee-Chee hockey and some 1959 Topps baseball. Dan also gave me a book to read. Thanks Dan! Steve picked up a 1963 Fleer Jimmy Piersall. A new customer purchased some 1966 Topps football. Larry picked up some 1969 Topps baseball high numbers. Paul found some 1976-77 Topps hockey. A regular customer surprised me by purchasing a 1953 Bowman Color Mickey Mantle, a 1958 Topps Mickey Mantle All Star, and a 1964 Topps Roberto Clemente. He told me he buys Mantles and puts them in a safe for an eventual gift to his kids.

Gil picked up some 1973 Topps baseball. A regular purchased some White Sox cards from the 1960s and 1970s. A new customer pulled some cards from my quarter box. Another customer named Larry purchased some 1952 Bowman baseball and football. Chris gave me a list of 1965 Topps football several months ago and I finally filled the list for him. He also picked up a 1967 Philadelphia Dick Butkus. I like filling want lists but I don't always get to them right away because I spend the bulk of my free time reloading my binders.

Rick found some 1972 Topps baseball in my newly reloaded binder. A new customer purchased some 1971 Topps baseball. My main Orland autograph hound purchased some 1960 Topps. He had a 1957 Topps Eddie Mathews that was kind of beat. He offered me the card for $20. I looked it over and figured that I would only sell it for $10 and offered him $5. He did not like my offer. I didn't mean to offend him but I can't purchase a card for $10 more than the amount I would sell it for.

Another regular purchased some 1960 Topps baseball. A new customer purchased a 1954 Bowman Joe Garagiola. A regular customer found some cards in my dime box. A new customer purchased some 1976 Topps baseball. A regular found some 1968 Topps baseball. A new customer, named Tommy, purchased some 1964 Topps White Sox. Another new customer purchased some 1972 Topps football.

Joel found some 1964 and 1972 Topps White Sox cards. A regular dug out some cards from my dime box. Another regular pulled some 1972 Topps baseball. Will picked up some 1957 Topps baseball and a 1952 Topps Billy Pierce. Dennis found some 1957 Topps Braves.

Dennis, who now lives in the western suburbs of Chicago, grew up in Milwaukee and became a fan of the Milwaukee Braves as a kid. He showed me a print-out of stats from the first game he attended in 1957. While I regularly meet fans of the old Milwaukee Braves, Dennis is unique in that he never stopped following the Braves, even after they moved to Atlanta. Every other Milwaukee Braves fan I've ever met is now a Milwaukee Brewers fan. Not Dennis, he could care less about the Brewers. So it got me thinking. I wonder if there are any fans of the old Chicago Cardinals football team that remained a fan when the team moved to St. Louis and then to Phoenix. So many teams have moved to different cities over the years, I wonder if there are any other fans that remained fans after the moves.

If one of my teams moved out of Chicago, I could not continue to be a fan. In my opinion, I think it is a real slap in the face when teams move. You support a team for years, spend money going to games, purchase apparel, souvenirs, then they thank you for all that support by leaving your city. I actually have a major dislike for all teams that have moved. I just think the teams owe fans a little something more than abandoning them. In my mind, the Braves should have never left Milwaukee. Though, Dennis is a nice guy and buys lots of cards, so I'll let slide his allegiance to a deserter.

Today at Orland, I really had nothing to complain about. The "Other" Tony rounded out my day by purchasing a bunch of cards including a 1966 Topps Sandy Koufax, some 1963 Fleers, a 1958 Topps Mickey Mantle and a 1956 Topps Ted Williams. Thanks Tony! After the show, Tony took care of our booths for the 2013 National in Rosemont, IL. I'm looking forward to that show and I'll be with the same crew as 2011, which is Tony Schaefer, Dave McDonald and Scott Ziegert. We have a much better spot this time around.

It wouldn't be an Orland show, if I didn't buy a bunch of cards. And buy I did. I picked up some 1960 Fleer football, some 1962 Post football, some Kelloggs cards from assorted years in the 1970s, some 1960 Topps baseball and a binder filled with 1969, 1970 and 1971 Topps baseball. I LOVE buying cards! It's much more fun to buy than to sell. Selling is kind of a necessary evil to come up with the funds to buy cards.

So I'm actually catching up with my blogs. It's December 18 as I write this and I'm only behind one blog now -- Gonzaga from December 16. Hopefully, I can knock out that blog shortly and get back on track.

As I stated in my last blog, next week is Indian Lakes Resort (December 23) in Bloomingdale, IL. I'm currently working on reloading my 1973 Topps baseball binder. Hopefully, I'll get that done by Sunday. Anybody planning to attend the Indian Lakes show, feel free to email over a want list and I'll bring out some cards!

A big THANK YOU to everybody who purchased cards today at Orland! See you Sunday in Bloomingdale!!

Below is an Allman Brothers video per Will's request. Enjoy!

8 Comments

Despite Annoying Music, Schaumburg Show A Success

12/16/2012

2 Comments

Sunday, December 2, 2012, Schaumburg, IL -- Back some years ago, some sort of church rented the adjoining room from the card show in the hotel where this show has been housed for more than a decade. The church group was LOUD! They had a live band and we couldn't hear ourselves think at the card show. Well, the church is back... so to speak. It's a different church. They're Jamaican and they have a band and they are LOUD! I thought Jamaicans were Rastafarians and played reggae -- not these guys. There was someone preaching in there doing what sounded more like an ass-kickin'. It was weird. It was loud. It made the day interesting.

Crazy noise aside, I had a real nice show. A regular picked up some 1970 Topps baseball. A new customer purchased a 1967 Topps Don Kessinger. A regular picked up some 1974-75 Topps basketball. Another regular bought some 1972 Topps baseball. Willie picked up a nice pile of football cards from assorted years in the 1960s.

Then Larry made my day by picking up the remainder of my 1938 Our National Game tabs that included a Joe Dimaggio, Dizzy Dean and Bob Feller. Larry also picked up a 1952 Topps Gil Hodges. Larry is one of my oldest customers. We always do a cash and trade deal. Today, Larry traded me some 1953 Bowman football and PSA certified autographs of Johnny Mize and Hank Greenberg. I'm familiar with the autographs of these Hall of Famers. I wrote to both of them when I was a kid. I still have the Mize auto from childhood. I sold my childhood Greenberg auto during law school. I was happy to get a new Greenberg today. That's the great thing about collecting vintage sports memorabilia. You can always sell it, then down the road, if you so desire, you can always buy it back. My childhood Greenberg auto was on a Hall of Fame postcard. The one I picked up today was a cut signature.

I spent the bulk of my time today with a customer affectionately known as "Uncle Morty." Like Larry, Morty is a long-time customer. He always wants to trade. Sometimes it's not always cards. He once offered me a Cross pen for some cards. Granted, it was a really nice pen, but I prefer cash. I've done some trades with Mort over the years but I've learned to generally avoid trading with the man because Mort, I say this affectionately, is a pain in the ass. Mort doesn't collect mint cards but he acts like he does. He inspects cards more thoroughly than any customer I've ever had. He points out flaws but then he'll take a lower grade card as long as I give him a good discount.

I know the routine. We've been doing it for years. So after I was done dealing with Larry, I had nothing going on, so I agreed to work out a trade with Mort. It must have gone on for an hour or two. Mort went through every card in every display case. He had all sorts of comments. I like when he gives me anecdotes or some recollection about a player from the early 1950s. I'm not sure how old Mort is. He's anywhere between 75 and 85. He's sharp and shares some good memories about some of the old-time players.

At some point during my dealing with Mort, each and every other dealer in the room came by with some sort of comment or crack. Well, Mort eventually settled on several 1950 Bowman football cards. In return, I got a 1961-62 Fleer Johny "Red" Kerr and a 1955 Bowman Bobby Layne. I'm a sucker for '61-62 Fleer basketball. They're tough to find. All in all, I'm happy and appreciate the deal.

So, I'm still a couple of weeks behind on my blogs. I will catch up one day, I promise.

Quick note: my buddy Chris has a 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan PSA 6 that he is looking to sell. Let me know if you're interested and I'll put you in touch with Chris.

My next show is Sunday, December 23, at the Indian Lakes Resort in Bloomingdale. This past week, I finished reloading 1972 Topps baseball and 1969 Topps football. My project for the week is 1973 Topps baseball. I'm breaking up a complete set. Though, I sold the Schmidt rookie already. I still have all the rest of the stars and the tough high numbers. Hopefully, I'll get it done by Sunday. I've had some real nice shows in Bloomingdale lately and am looking forward to another stellar show. Hope to see you Sunday!!!!

Pictured above are the Greenberg and Mize autos I picked up today.

2 Comments

Gotta Love Mantle Cards!!!

12/9/2012

0 Comments

Sunday, November 25, 2012, Bloomingdale, IL -- Today's show is the second of a back to back. While it is sort of tough for me to do two shows in a weekend, because I work all week at my day job, the nice thing about the back to back is I don't have to load the car in the morning. I desperately need a roady!!

Thanks to Fritz, I had a real nice show and a very profitable weekend. Fritz was upgrading a 1961 Topps set and picked up my Mickey Mantle today along with some commons. I had some other nice sales today. A regular purchased some 1970 Topps along with cards out of my dime, quarter and dollar boxes. I had a real nice cash and trade deal with Larry where he got my 1938 Our National Game Lou Gehrig and I took home a bunch of 1960 Leaf baseball.

A new customer purchased some 1970-71 and 1973-74 Topps basketball. Frank picked up some 1971s. Kyle pulled some cards from my dollar box. Randy picked up some 1954 Topps baseball. A new customer picked up my 1975 Topps Minis Johnny Bench along with some 1977s. A new customer named Mike picked up some 1977s and 1978 Topps baseball.

On the buying front, I picked up a large amount of autographs for my ever-growing autograph collection. I also purchased some 1953 Bowman Color baseball.

A like when customers play show and tell. The Sun-Times show was a week before Bloomingdale and one of my customers brought by his Sun-Times pick-ups. He had a really cool Joe Louis pin and a bunch of other pins. I took some photos and they're posted below.

The Bears and Vikings were playing at noon on this unusually warm November day. Because of the game, the room cleared out by noon.

I will be back in Bloomingdale on December 23, 2012.

As I write this, November 25 is ancient history and I'm getting ready for the December 16 Gonzaga show in Milwaukee. I just finished updating some 1971-72 Topps hockey. I'll also have the second of my 1972 baseball binders reloaded. I'm hoping to reload some 1969 Topps football but I'm not sure if I'll get it done by Sunday.

A few notes on Gonzaga. The start time of the show has been bumped to 8 a.m. for the Packers-Bears game. Also, Johnny Logan will be signing autographs and the folks that run the live auction plan to auction off a certified Babe Ruth auto. This should be a tremendous show. See you there!!

0 Comments

Thanksgiving Orland Show Was A Bit Psychedelic

12/7/2012

0 Comments

Saturday, November 24, 2012, Orland Park, IL -- Today I am going to talk about a lot of things I like. First of all, I like getting comments on my blog. Shortly before the Thanksgiving Orland Show, I posted my November 10 Orland blog where I was feeling a little "groovy." Quite a few people at today's show asked if I was feeling groovy. Yes!

Another thing I like is music. I like all kinds of music but classic rock is my favorite. While I'm prepping for card shows, I regularly listen to my cassette tape collection that I began in the 1970s. I also have several hundred vinyl records but I need to set up my turntable. I have several hundred CDs along with hundreds of songs in my iPod. There was a time when I essentially listened to music 24 hours a day. Now I probably listen to music a good five or six hours a day either while commuting to and from work, at work, or at home working in my baseball card laboratory.

I don't listen to music at card shows but I get to listen to all sorts of great stories. I really like to hear stories. I've found that everyone I meet has a great story or two to tell, which is one of the reasons I decided to study journalism 25 years ago. I've discovered that the two best places to hear good stories are cards shows and corner taverns. I don't spend much time in taverns any more since I gave up drinking. Though, card shows are a lot like corner taverns. There are regulars that line your table, just like taverns where regulars line the bar. The baseball card dealer is like the bartender and there are discussions on just about every subject. I've had some great discussions in the past about music with Will and Dave at the Orland show. Will has seen some great concerts, especially when he was in the army in the 1970s. Will gave me John Densmore's book about the Doors that I still need to read. Dave has also seen great concerts and once lent me a fantastic blues CD that had a video documentary on the 1960s and 1970s Chicago Blues scene.

Thanks to a discussion on my "Simon and Garfunkel" blog, I learned today that in addition to collecting a wide variety of vintage baseball, football and basketball cards, Northwest Side Chuck is a big music fan and saw some great bands in the 1970s like ELO at the long-shuttered Uptown Theater. The Uptown Theater is located next to the famous Green Mill tavern at Lawrence and Broadway on the far North Side of Chicago. I've always wanted to go to the Uptown Theater but it has been closed since 1980.

Another thing I like is Chicago history and I have read just about every book I can find about the city's history. I've also explored every nook and cranny of Chicago at one time or another (I have a few stories to tell myself). The Uptown Theater is a great piece of Chicago history and when I hear people talk about the concerts they attended at the Uptown it gives me a little glance into that piece of history I never got to experience.

Another important spot for Chicago culture and music history is located just west of the Uptown Theater at Clark and Lawrence. At this spot, for about 83 years sat the Rainbo Gardens. Slime ball developers tore down this amazing place and replaced it with condos in 2002. Developers are the bane of any history buff. They consume history and rob generations of important landmarks and links to our past. Though, I'll save my full-on developer rant for another time.

In the Chicago history books I've read, the Rainbo Gardens plays host to numerous important events. When it opened in 1921, the Rainbo Gardens was the largest nightclub in America. Chicagoans saw the greatest Vaudeville acts of the era at the Rainbo Gardens. One of the greatest Vaudeville Acts was created there when after a performance by Larry Fine, Moe Howard asked him to join the Three Stooges. Over the years, the Rainbo Gardens played host to all sorts of sporting events and musical performances, many broadcast live over the radio.

In the 1950s, the Rainbo Gardens was converted into an ice rink where the Chicago Blackhawks practiced during their Championship season of 1961.

In the late 1960s, local rock and roll promoters started to book bands there and called the venue the Kinetic Playground. It was known for an amazing light show and to have the most amazing rock and roll bands of the time. For just five bucks, concert goers got to see triple bills with the likes of Frank Zappa and the Mothers, Fleetwood Mac and The Small Faces. Other bands that played there include Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company, The Grateful Dead, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Joe Cocker, The Byrds and Vanilla Fudge. I've only read about the Kinetic Playground and I have seen some of the psychedelic concert posters from the era. I was just a toddler when it was happening.

When I reached high school in the early 1980s, the place was called the Rainbo Roller Rink. I spent a lot of time there and even saw a few punk rock bands there. I remember some of the bands tried to recreate the Kinetic Playground light show. I appreciated the effort but the real The Kinetic Playground is the stuff of legend. I've never met anyone who went there until today at the Orland baseball card show when Rick started to nonchalantly talk about seeing Led Zeppelin there.

My jaw dropped. You think you know a guy after seeing him a few times every month for eight to 10 years. I had no idea!!! Rick is my new hero. Rick was 16 years old in 1969 and saw dozens of bands at the Kinetic Playground. Rick was also at every concert venue in Chicago at one time or another, not just the Kinetic Playground. He said he saw all the bands of the era except for the Beatles. He said big weekend festivals like Woodstock were common place during that time. He said he went up to Stevens Point, WI, in the summer of 1969 for a festival where admission was just $3 and some of the bands that played included Led Zeppelin, Taj Mahal and Santana. He said it was amazing. In one area there were booths selling acid, pot, and pills. In another area there was a pond where everyone stripped naked and bathed by the third day of the festival.

"I didn't ever want to go home, I wanted to live there!" Rick said.

Rick said he saw the Rolling Stones in 1972. The Stones video above is for Rick. Thanks for the stories Rick!!!

Like the Kinetic Playground, the Thanksgiving show at Orland used to be special. Not so, any more. While I had a better show than a few weeks ago, I didn't do nearly as well as the previous several years at the Thanksgiving show. We used to get a lot folks from out of town who were visiting family. I don't think we had any out of town customers today. This show really needs some sort of spark. I'm not sure what, but it needs something to infuse a little energy.

Though, I did sell a few cards. A regular got things going by purchasing a group of 1971 Topps baseball, including a Harmon Killebrew. Dan picked up a 1963 Topps Warren Spahn, a '63 Topps Yankees team card and some 1971s. I'm bringing some 1971-72 hockey for Dan at the December 9 Orland Show. A regular purchased some 1982 Topps baseball, including a Ricky Henderson and a Mike Schmidt.

Another regular purchased my 1961 Topps Mickey Mantle MVP card along with a 1962 Post Mickey Mantle, and 1972 and 1973 Joe Namath cards. My main Orland autograph hound purchased some 1964s to send out for signatures. Chris picked up a 1968 Topps Johnny Unitas and some 1961s. Larry picked up some 1969s. Northwest Side Chuck picked up some 1962 Post. A very nice lady, who is a new customer, purchased some 1975 Topps and a 1958 Topps Willie Mays All Star.

Bill, who has become one of my best customers at Orland, purchased a 1953 Topps Yogi Berra and an Early Wynn along with a 1958 Topps Roberto Clemente. Rick, after telling his amazing stories from the 1960's, picked up a 1969-70 Topps Wes Unseld, a 1958 Topps Vada Pinson rookie, and some 1971 high numbers. A new customer purchased a 1982 Topps Bill Buckner. One of his sons purchased some 1977 Topps baseball while his other son purchased some 1970 Topps Cubs. Another father and son team rounded out my day by picking up some 1960 Fleer football.

On the buying front, I picked up a large group of 1968 Topps baseball. I also picked up a large box of 1970's basketball cards. A few other guys came to the table with cards to sell but I just didn't have the funds today.

So it is December 7, as I write this blog. One day I'll catch up. Thanksgiving was a double-bill weekend with Bloomingdale on Sunday. I hope to have the Bloomingdale blog shortly. This weekend is the December 9 Orland show. I just finished the first of two 1972 Topps baseball binders. I started some 1970-71 O-Pee-Chee hockey. All in all, I should have a bunch of new inventory for the Orland show. Now that everyone is done with their Thanksgiving festivities, I'm hoping for a nice big crowd on Sunday. Speaking of Sunday, no Saturday show in Orland this month. Both shows are on Sundays. See you there!!

0 Comments

Who Needs The Sun-Times Show?

12/2/2012

0 Comments

Sunday, November 18, 2012, Gonzaga Hall, Milwaukee, WI -- I start my Monday mornings going over the "show calendar" on www.beckett.com. Beckett's show calendar is the most comprehensive sports card show calendar around. For me, it is an invaluable tool. Beckett will list about two months worth of shows. As a result, I'll plan for the next two months.

Even though I've never done a show outside of the Midwest, I still look at the schedule of shows throughout the whole country, plotting for an eventual adventure to some far off card show. I've noticed that Ohio seems to have the most shows in the country, followed closely by Illinois. Other states with a great many regular shows include New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. I'm always surprised that California and Texas don't have more shows based on the large populations of those states.

When I'm planning my show schedule, I generally look for shows close to home and the show where I know I'll make the most money. Sometimes I'll consider other factors such as how many tables are in the room, how many vintage dealers will be setting up or local events that would take customers away. The weekend of November 16-18 took some serious analysis on my part before I decided where I would set up. The Sun-Times show was slated for Rosemont, IL, that weekend -- a mere 20-minute drive from my house. There was also the Gonzaga show on November 18, which is currently my most consistent show as far as sales go. I've been setting up at the Sun-Times show for years but my sales have been down dramatically the last three years I attended. So I've been skipping the Sun-Times show for the last few years in favor of other shows and have been happy with the results. Last March, I skipped the Sun-Times in favor of Dayton and Canton, Ohio, and had great success. Last November, I skipped the Sun-Times in favor of Gonzaga and had a terrific show.

My initial thought was to skip the Sun-Times and set up at Gonzaga again. However, the Packers had a noon game scheduled and I thought the game would effect the show. After weighing all the pros and cons, I finally decided on Gonzaga. My decision was based largely on the time involved. For the Sun-Times, I would have to skip work on Friday and I'd be stuck in Rosemont for three days. For Gonzaga, it's just one day, I don't have to miss work and I have my Saturday free to spend with my family.

As luck or fate would have it, I had a terrific show and I was home by 2:30 p.m. after Gonzaga on Sunday. My success is even more astounding after I learned that yesterday (November 17) was the first day of deer hunting season in Wisconsin, so we lost some regular customers there. I'm a city kid, so hunting is foreign to me. Though, I know hunting and fishing are a big deal in Wisconsin. I even had friends on Facebook posting their kills.

Just a terrific turn out for Gonzaga today considering all the distractions. Around noon, the place cleared out. I was out the door by 1:30 p.m. with money in my pocket and a smile on my face. I'm not sure if I'll ever set up at the Sun-Times show again.

A regular got things going for me by purchasing some 1964 Topps baseball commons. Another regular customer picked up some 1973-74 Topps basketball. A new customer purchased my 1966 Topps Pete Rose. A regular picked up some 1963s and 1964s. Jim purchased some 1954 Topps commons. Jeff picked up a large pile of cards including 1968 Topps football, 1953, '54, and 1956 baseball.

A father and son team picked up some 1962 Topps baseball, along with Lou Alcindor cards from 1970-71 and 1971-72. A regular picked up some 1975 minis. Another regular purchased some 1970 Topps. A new customer purchased a bunch of 1933 Goudeys along with 1953, '54 and '55 Bowman football. A regular picked up some 1970s football. Bob picked up some 1969 Topps baseball. A new customer purchased a 1969 Topps Willie Davis. PJ finished my day by picking up a small binder of 1990s all-time greats.

On the buying front, I didn't pick up anything. I was too busy to walk around to see what the other dealers had out today. Only one guy brought cards to my table. He had a binder of old Braves and Brewers cards and his price was crazy high. He had a 1971 Topps Hank Aaron in there that was creased up and priced at $20. I'd price the same card at $5. Unfortunately, I watched another dealer buy the binder. Some dealers at Gonzaga focus on Braves and Brewers and probably overpay sometimes to keep up their inventory. This was just a bad deal.

The live auction was really busy today. I was too focused on the action at my table to observe much of what was happening at the auction. However, I did hear an announcement that at the December 16 show they will be auctioning a Babe Ruth autograph. That should be interesting. I also just learned that Johnny Logan will be signing autographs at the December 16 show.

I'm still behind on my blogs. I hope to get the November 24 Orland blog posted soon. Next week, I'm back at Orland on December 9. I just finished reloading some 1974-75 Topps basketball and am working on 1972 baseball. I'll also have a nice new grouping of star cards for my display cases. Stop in and pick up the perfect Christmas gift for the vintage sports card collector in your family. Have a great week everybody!!

0 Comments

A Cobb-errific Day in Milwaukee!!!

Finally -- A Good Orland Show!!!

Despite Annoying Music, Schaumburg Show A Success

Gotta Love Mantle Cards!!!

Thanksgiving Orland Show Was A Bit Psychedelic

Who Needs The Sun-Times Show?

Tony Gordon

Archives