Sunday, November 19, 2023, Sports Spectacular, Rosemont, IL
The theme of the November Sports Spectacular was late arrival by yours truly. For the life of me, I could not get out of bed all weekend. Like Friday and Saturday, I had to really hustle to open up shop and get ready for customers because I was so late.
I felt real good going into Sunday with some really nice sales the previous two days. Unfortunately, sales came to a screeching halt on Sunday. I had one sale shortly after opening up and that was it. No more sales. Nothing. Nada.
If attendance was poor on Friday, well, Sunday was a disaster. It was a ghost town. Where was everybody? Sunday was a huge waste of time. All I did Sunday was eat a few overpriced hot dogs and drink a few overpriced diet Cokes. Man, oh, man. Good thing I had decent sales on Friday and Saturday!
Overall, I think this may have been the least attended Sports Spectacular to date. Maybe folks were lined up for autographs. I was on the opposite end of the building from the autographs so I don’t know if anyone was there. My pal Mark got Peyton Manning’s auto on a Broncos helmet. It was nice to see Mark, along with his wife Deb and sister Heather.
I chatted with my pal Eddie who said Peyton Manning’s kids spent some time at his booth dropping some serious coin — I thought that was cool. Other than people stopping to chat, there was not much happening at my booth. I walked around a little bit and observed that vintage prices were sky high on the other tables nearby.
I spent most of the day Sunday just trying to stay awake. It had been a long three days and I was tired.
As with all the shows at the Stephens Center, I worked on planning an exit strategy as this is the worst venue in the country for load in and load out. Making matters worse this time around is that the knuckleheads in charge of the Sports Spectacular cut dealer parking access by half. It was a serious cluste$#&@ to load in and out. That is a lawsuit waiting to happen. I am amazed no one got hurt.
As a result, my strategy was to wait it out. I did not want to enter the loading dock chaos at the height of loadout insanity. I just chilled out by my booth and took my sweet time packing up. Normally, I’d be on the road home by 5 p.m. but this time, I was on the road at 6 p.m. Better to be safe than sorry, I figured.
Even with the piss-poor showing on Sunday, my sales were up so I’ll be back in March. A couple conmen-sense things I would like to see for March is increased space on the loading dock/parking lot. Somebody is just going to get hurt. That is a tragedy waiting to happen.
Next, these folks have to up their promotion game. They need to stop relying on their emails. It is 2023 where social media is all the rage. How about making a presence on social media?
Unless they fix some things, I think this show is heading into the dumps. I am just one bad show away from quitting. If they raise table fee again, I am definitely out. Table fee was $375 for years. Now they have bumped it up to $495. It is just not worth it with such a small crowd. We get a bigger crowd in Oak Creek than the Spectacular gets on Friday and Sunday. These folks need to step up their game!
Regardless, I did have some fun and I appreciate everyone who bought some cards and who stopped by to say hello.
I normally need some time to chill out and recover after the Sports Spectacular but I had too much going on in my world and was unable to rest. As a result, I got sick as hell, culminating with a hospital stay. I am still recovering, still feeling lousy. I have many doctor visits in my immediate future and hope to right the ship.
Somehow, I have still been attending card shows but it has been a real struggle. I am really in for it with a double-bill weekend coming up with St. Charles on Saturday, December 16, and Orland on Sunday, December 17, 2023. I may pack up early if I do not feel well.
Next Oak Creek show is scheduled for January 6. Dealer tables are sold out. I have not been able to return calls, texts and messages lately. I hope to start getting back to everyone this week. Please be patient with me!
Stay safe and healthy!
See you soon!
The theme of the November Sports Spectacular was late arrival by yours truly. For the life of me, I could not get out of bed all weekend. Like Friday and Saturday, I had to really hustle to open up shop and get ready for customers because I was so late.
I felt real good going into Sunday with some really nice sales the previous two days. Unfortunately, sales came to a screeching halt on Sunday. I had one sale shortly after opening up and that was it. No more sales. Nothing. Nada.
If attendance was poor on Friday, well, Sunday was a disaster. It was a ghost town. Where was everybody? Sunday was a huge waste of time. All I did Sunday was eat a few overpriced hot dogs and drink a few overpriced diet Cokes. Man, oh, man. Good thing I had decent sales on Friday and Saturday!
Overall, I think this may have been the least attended Sports Spectacular to date. Maybe folks were lined up for autographs. I was on the opposite end of the building from the autographs so I don’t know if anyone was there. My pal Mark got Peyton Manning’s auto on a Broncos helmet. It was nice to see Mark, along with his wife Deb and sister Heather.
I chatted with my pal Eddie who said Peyton Manning’s kids spent some time at his booth dropping some serious coin — I thought that was cool. Other than people stopping to chat, there was not much happening at my booth. I walked around a little bit and observed that vintage prices were sky high on the other tables nearby.
I spent most of the day Sunday just trying to stay awake. It had been a long three days and I was tired.
As with all the shows at the Stephens Center, I worked on planning an exit strategy as this is the worst venue in the country for load in and load out. Making matters worse this time around is that the knuckleheads in charge of the Sports Spectacular cut dealer parking access by half. It was a serious cluste$#&@ to load in and out. That is a lawsuit waiting to happen. I am amazed no one got hurt.
As a result, my strategy was to wait it out. I did not want to enter the loading dock chaos at the height of loadout insanity. I just chilled out by my booth and took my sweet time packing up. Normally, I’d be on the road home by 5 p.m. but this time, I was on the road at 6 p.m. Better to be safe than sorry, I figured.
Even with the piss-poor showing on Sunday, my sales were up so I’ll be back in March. A couple conmen-sense things I would like to see for March is increased space on the loading dock/parking lot. Somebody is just going to get hurt. That is a tragedy waiting to happen.
Next, these folks have to up their promotion game. They need to stop relying on their emails. It is 2023 where social media is all the rage. How about making a presence on social media?
Unless they fix some things, I think this show is heading into the dumps. I am just one bad show away from quitting. If they raise table fee again, I am definitely out. Table fee was $375 for years. Now they have bumped it up to $495. It is just not worth it with such a small crowd. We get a bigger crowd in Oak Creek than the Spectacular gets on Friday and Sunday. These folks need to step up their game!
Regardless, I did have some fun and I appreciate everyone who bought some cards and who stopped by to say hello.
I normally need some time to chill out and recover after the Sports Spectacular but I had too much going on in my world and was unable to rest. As a result, I got sick as hell, culminating with a hospital stay. I am still recovering, still feeling lousy. I have many doctor visits in my immediate future and hope to right the ship.
Somehow, I have still been attending card shows but it has been a real struggle. I am really in for it with a double-bill weekend coming up with St. Charles on Saturday, December 16, and Orland on Sunday, December 17, 2023. I may pack up early if I do not feel well.
Next Oak Creek show is scheduled for January 6. Dealer tables are sold out. I have not been able to return calls, texts and messages lately. I hope to start getting back to everyone this week. Please be patient with me!
Stay safe and healthy!
See you soon!
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