Rick purchased a number of Post Cereal cards from the 1960s. Chris purchased some Hostess Twinkie cards. A bunch of other guys dinked around my binders and purchased some cards.
Then I am pretty sure a guy stole some cards out of my 1961 Topps football binder. He pulled out five cards and brought them over to me. He did not take the sleeve that has my price tag on two of the cards. So I went back into the binder to pull the sleeves and observed that a third sleeve, one marked $9, no longer had a card in it. I did not see the guy take the $9 card but I'm pretty sure he took it and placed it in his pocket or bag.
Later, I told another dealer that I thought this guy stole from me. Without me describing the guy, the other dealer was able to give me a description and say that he goes after football cards. Now, I've seen this guy at the show before. Next month, if he comes by my table, I am going to watch him like a hawk. I hate thieves!
Speaking of thieves, there is another guy that steals vintage cards that is known among the vintage dealers. I saw him in the room today. He was at Mike's table across from me when I needed a bathroom break. I had to hold it in until he left before I was going to vacate my table.
The Orland show has had a history of thievery. If you ever set up at the Orland show, you really need to watch your stuff. Hopefully next month, I catch that prick with the football cards and there will be one less thief around.
The sharks were also around at the Orland show. When I was loading in, there was a guy set up across from me with assorted vintage memorabilia and cards. He was crushed by the sharks. By the time I finished setting up, he had already sold out and gone home. I didn't even get a chance to see what he had.
Though, there was no shortage of cards for me to purchase. I bought a bunch of stuff from Junior like 1972 Topps baseball high numbers, a 1959 Topps Rocky Colavito amongst other goodies. Another dealer gave me a great group of cards, pictured above, only problem was the condition was off the charts in the negative. The cards included a 1950 Bowman Jackie Robinson, a 1949 Bowman Stan Musial, a 1955 Duke Snider, a 1958 Topps Mickey Mantle All Star, and a 1962 Topps Sandy Koufax. There was also a group of 1944 Yankees stamps, which I had never seen before. The stamps, unlike the cards, are in really nice shape.
Dealers started to pack at around 11:30 a.m. I followed suit around noon. I didn't get out of there till 2 p.m., which is still early. I'm skipping the next Orland show on September 10 but I'll be at the one on September 24. Even though my sales were up, they still weren't good enough for me to come back on the 10th. The Orland show is not what it used to be and is really a tough place to make a buck.
A much better show, is my show at the Clarion Hotel, 5311 S. Howell, in Milwaukee. My sales at the Clarion are consistently good as well as my buys. The next Clarion show, Saturday, September 2, marks my three-year anniversary of promoting the show. Last year, I decided to throw an anniversary party and it was well received and well attended. So once again I will have an anniversary party where I am giving away free donuts, coffee, pizza, soda and packs of cards. As always, admission is free. I also have a full house of dealers so this should be another great show. Come on out!!
Pictured below are the boxes where you may choose your two free packs at Saturday's Clarion show. I may purchase some more boxes before Saturday. I'll post the new boxes on my facebook page.