So after the Strongsville show, I was back at Gonzaga on September 18, 2016. I had a nice show. As usual during football season, the room cleared out by noon. 

Next up on Septmeber 25, 2016, was Indian Lakes Resort. I had a great show selling two high-priced Mantles to a new customer from Oswego.

​October started off with a double-bill weekend with my show at the Clarion, pictured above, on October 1, and the Wyndham Garden show in Schaumburg on October 2. I had a packed house of dealers at the Clarion. My sales and purchases were strong. I ended up buying a 1954 Bowman Mantle and a 1955 Bowman Mantle. I had a typical Schaumburg show where I sold some stuff out of my binders and display cases. I purchased some 1966 Philadelphia football.

On Saturday, October 8, 2016, I went to Game 2 of the NLDS at Wrigley Field, pictured above. My pops came through and brought me, my brother and nephew to the game. My brother lives down the road from Wrigley Field and we were able to park at his condo building. I had not been to a game this year and was blown away by the construction at Clark and Addison. I have a lot of memories at the McDonald's that was once located on the northwest corner of Clark and Addison, across from Wrigley, and is now a massive construction site. I spent a lot of time in there during the early 1980s when I was a teenage punk rocker and there were regular punk rock concerts at the Cubby Bear across the street and at the Metro down the road. Then in the 1990s, I lived in two different apartments in the neighborhood and stopped in to eat often. The kind folks that owned the McDonald's allowed me to park my car in their lot during the winter when the snow made parking on the side streets impossible.  There was some great memorabilia on display in that McDonald's, particularly items from the 1945 Cubs team, the last team to get to the World Series prior to 2016. I wonder what happened to all that stuff?

Across from the McDonald's on Clark was a parking lot where Cubs players used to park and it contained a doughnut shop. That area is under construction as well. The police had Clark Street closed off so it was very hard to walk through this area.

​The game was awesome! The Cubs jumped on former Cub Jeff Samardzija early creating a lot of electricity in the stadium. It seemed like we were mostly standing up and high-fiving everyone around us. This was my third Cubs playoff game, having gone in 1984 and 2015. The Cubs won all three playoff games I attended. Though, I have to admit, that I am a pessimistic Cubs fan and did not expect the Cubs to win the series against the Giants. When the Cubs won the series against the Giants, I did not think they would get past the next team up, the Dodgers. Obviously, I was wrong.

I still have more catching up to do going back to October. I hope to have another "Catch Up" blog soon. In the meantime, come see me this Saturday, January 7, 2017, at the Clarion Hotel, 5311 S. Howell, in Milwaukee, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. I have a bunch of new stuff including a reloaded 1973 Topps football binder, a 1980 Topps Baseball binder and a 1963 Topps baseball binder along with new cards for my display cases.

Pictured above is my brother and my dad at Game 2 of the NLDS at Wrigley Field on October 8, 2016.

I am going to try and catch up a little... The day after my anniversary show in September, I had set up at the Wyndham Garden in Schaumburg, Illinois. I had a pretty good show. I believe this is the show where I purchased a 1960 Topps Yaz rookie.

The following week, Sunday, September 11, 2016, I trucked out to the Cleveland area and had two tables at the Strongsville Holiday Inn show. As usual, when I hit a new show, the first person I see is Mark Smith. He had the first tables to the left when you walked into the room. I think there were 20 or 30 dealers and about 40 tables at this show. I recognized some of the dealers from the Canton show. The room was 60-40 vintage to modern. I was really impressed with the vintage inventory. Several guys had pre-War and I couldn't help myself and bought a few T206s.

One of my favorite dealers when I come to Ohio is Paul Korst who probably has the best inventory around. I was able to complete my 1970s Topps Football set at Paul's table.

My sales were excellent -- thanks to Mark Smith. Mark sent all sorts of set builders to my table. Thanks Mark! I sold quite a few cards including all of my 1953 Bowman Black and Whites.

Promoter Jeff Mares does as tremendous job with this show. The room was packed with dealers and customers for most of the day. Jeff also provided free doughnuts and coffee for the dealers which was much appreciated.

The dealer set up to my right, Mark Knezevic, saw my business card and told me that he is a regular reader of this blog. The dealer set up to my left had all sorts of old memorabilia, pictured ​below, and was a pleasure to talk to. I had a lot of fun at this show. I think this show runs quarterly and I hope to make it back sometime in 2017.

Up next for me is my Clarion Show set for Saturday January 7 at 5311 S. Howell, in 
​Milwaukee. I have been feverishly loading my 1963 Topps baseball binder.

​Happy New Year! 

Thanks for all the kind words about my blog. I know many folks miss it and I apologize for the hiatus. Unfortunately, I will not be able to blog consistently for the foreseeable future. My day job has turned into a day and night and weekend job and my free time is at a premium right now. So I will blog when I can.

I have been setting up at shows most weekends but have not been able to blog about them. Ebay has also gone by the wayside. I just don't have the time right now to post cards on eBay. Though, I recommend you continue to check my eBay store because I am sure I will post cards sporadically, just not daily has I have done in the past.

So, I owe you blogs on shows going back to September. I will try to write about all that I can remember. Luckily, I wrote a blog about my two-year anniversary show at the Clarion in Milwaukee shortly after the event. Here is the blog about the anniversary show....

My, how time flies. I can't believe I've put on 24 card shows at the Clarion Hotel in Milwaukee. Saturday, September 3, 2016, marked my two-year anniversary at the Clarion. I had tremendous support with a full house of dealers and a nice crowd of customers. I purchased some very expensive doughnuts, coffee and pizza from the hotel which went over extremely well. Next year, I need to get more pizzas because they went so fast that I didn't get a piece. I also gave out packs of 2016 Topps Baseball Cards.

There was a festive mood in the air and everyone seemed pleased. I think the food and the giveways brought out a larger than normal crowd. I was amazed when a cameraman from CBS 58 Milwaukee walked in mid-morning. He took footage of the show and interviewed me on camera. I don't know if the interview aired because I live outside the range of CBS 58 Milwaukee. I have been checking online but have not found anything. Did anybody see the footage on the news?

With a good crowd came some good sales. I sold my 1962 Topps Bart Starr and Jim Taylor cards. This show saw the return of a couple of superstar customers in Mark S. and Jeff W., who both pulled large piles of cards from my binders. Jim K. was there. I'm pretty sure Jim has attended most, if not all, of my Clarion shows. Jack purchased a bunch of football cards. Jerome is always the first customer in the room and always purchases cards from me. Barry has been steadily purchasing 1964 Topps Coins. Quite a few guys dinked through my binders and pulled cards. Thanks guys!!

I had a very nice day on the buying front. I did not get any walk ins but I found lots of cards at the dealer tables. I purchased a large pile of 1970 Topps football from Larry. I also found some 1970 Topps football for the set I am building on Gary's table and new dealer Rick M.'s table. This was Rick's first show with me as a dealer. He had some really great stuff. I purchased a binder of 1950 Cleveland Indians Team Issue photos along with a smattering of cards. I ended up with a nice haul for the day.

So my first card show as a promoter was in September 2014. I now have new respect for just about all show promoters. It is a ton of work putting on a card show. First off, you gotta get people in the door. Most of my shows have been well attended but, admittedly, there have been some duds. I have been hustling my tail off to get the word out from flyers, internet posts to paid advertising in print and online. I try to do something each and every day to promote the show.

I have been pretty lucky in that I have been able to fill the room with dealers each and every month. Some guys have been really steady like Gary G., Jerry K., Larry, PJ, Bill N., and Mike J. Overall, quite a few guys have set up these past two years with dealers coming from Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana. Overall, the inventory in the room, especially vintage cards, has been tremendous. I can't thank all the dealers enough for their support. A big shout out to Mark Smith who helped me get the show off the ground.

While just about all of the dealers have been great, I have had some minor issues with a few guys that I did not anticipate like no shows, complaints about this or that, to a few potential fights. I have learned that as a show promoter sometimes you have to act like a parent and a referee. 

I have been lucky in that I have not really had any issues with customers. No thefts have been reported. No customers have gotten out of line with the dealers. In all, the customers have been great. They have been spending money with me and the rest of the dealers and have brought in some great stuff to sell to us. This has become one of my best shows for both buying and selling cards.

The folks at the Clarion Hotel, like Jeff and Betsy, have been awesome. They are so easy to work with. I hear horror stories from other promoters about poor treatment from their venues --- not the Clarion, they could not have been more gracious and helpful.

A big thank you to everyone who has supported my show these past two years. I hope for your continued support! 

Next show is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, December 3, at the Clarion Hotel, 5311 S. Howell, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

More blogs coming soon!!!