I had a real rough week of back pain prior to the Orland Park show this past weekend. Ten hours in my car the previous weekend had a negative effect on my back. I didn't get a whole lot of cards priced over the days leading to the show because I spent most of the time on the couch with a heating pad. Luckily, I didn't feel as bad on the morning of the show, though I noticed I was feeling a little weak. It was tough to load and unload the car. Anyway, I made it to Orland around 8:30 a.m. and observed quite a few more cars in the parking lot than last show. I didn't see any empty tables in the show today like last show either. There were also quite a few dealers I didn't recognize. Which isn't all that unusual for Orland but today it seemed like close to half the room were new dealers. I noticed one modern card dealer came up from St. Louis. I was next to an older couple, who I had never seen before, that had two tables filled with wax. Turns out they're just from nearby Palos Heights. Which just goes to show you, you don't have to be a regular at a card show these days to posses a large amount of cards. Though I'm curious as to just how many massive collections are out there that were all acquired via eBay or some other internet site. One of my customers had a good idea today about creating an informal group to meet and trade cards. If anybody has any interest in creating a trading group, let me know, and maybe we can meet one evening after work and try and fill some want lists by trading doubles. I'm slowly working on a 1970 Topps set, I need a lousy Rick Miller #482 to complete a '78 set. I also just started a '72 set and am not very far along.
There was a nice crowd in the room today. Many more people than I've seen in a while. Rick and Dave were the first ones at my table as usual. Rick picked up my 1940 Play Ball Rabbit McNair along with a nice stack of '66s, '65s and '64s. Dave picked up a small pile of '66s and '65s in exchange for a large lot of '68s of which I still owe some cash on (It's coming Dave, thanks for the cards!). Another regular bought some '57s. I sold some '53 Bowman Color and a '58 Aaron All Star to a new customer who is putting together old Milwaukee Braves team sets. A regular picked up a large stack of '74s. Dennis bought some '64s as upgrades for his set. I could tell he was disappointed I didn't have my '69 book reloaded. I was able to get '65s and '66s done for this show. I'm shooting for '67s this week. I only have enough time to get one book done a week. It's incredibly time consuming. In some cases I'm sorting through several thousand cards, placing them in numerical order, grading/pricing them then placing them in the book. Between my day job and my family, I can only get in an hour or so a night. So it is a painfully slow process.
I sold some '61s to a regular customer. Some '62s and '63s to another customer. Chuck picked up some '52 Bowmans. I sold a '62 Aaron to a new customer. My one regular Orland autograph hound purchased some cards to send out for signatures. I made some sales out of my cheapie binder. I sold quite a few '72s and some '73s. I sold some '59s. I sold a few more cards out of my cases but I just can't seem to recall what they were. Quite a few other guys dinked through my binders picking out a few cards here and there. Jim Goodfriend made an appearance today. Another oldtimer, I believe his name is John stopped in today for the first time in a while. I was pretty busy on this day. Though I made more trades than usual which I think accounts for lower sales than last show. I picked up a large pile of '65s, '66s, and '67s in trade. I picked up a nice pile of Post Cereal cards from the '60s in trade. Will traded me a nice '64 Mays and Spahn. Another regular traded me a nice pile of '72s. I generally don't look to trade but if a guy brings me something I can use and the deal is fair, I'll pull the trigger.
I pulled the trigger on quite a few purchases today as well. Jim had his usual pile for me. I picked up a '61 Billy Williams rookie from Junior. I picked up a 58-59 Topps hockey card of an old Hawk which I promptly traded to Will. I bought a great box of cards from Chuck filled with everything from '54 Bowman to 71-72 hockey. I also bought a nice pile of stars from from the '60s that included some cool hockey sticker/stamp inserts from the early 1970s of guys like Stan Mikita and Tony Esposito. I had to race out to an ATM to buy that last pile. I turned down a bunch of stuff too, largely cards I have in triplicate. One dealer had a large box of cards from the late '70s for $95. The cards looked a little beat and I have so much of that stuff. If I had more money in my pocket, I might of made a counter-offer on the box. Unfortunately, I can't buy everything, though I sure would like to.
Overall, a real nice day at Orland. I'm especially pleased with my purchases. With my wife posting cards on eBay for me, I need to regularly pick up new inventory for her. I think I scored today. Next weekend, I'm heading down to St. Louis for the Two Hearts show. Old Chicago promoter George Johnson ran a show down there last weekend. I talked to one dealer who went down there and said it was awful. I've learned the hard way to stay away from new shows. I only set up at established shows. The Two Hearts show has been the regular show in St. Louis since the 1980s. It's a great show and should be rocking after the Cards amazing run at the end of the season to capture the World Series. Lee Smith will be signing autos along with old St. Louis Blues hockey player Bob Plager. My old buddy Andy is letting me stay at his place again. It should be a great time!
Pictured below is some of my haul from Orland this past Sunday.
There was a nice crowd in the room today. Many more people than I've seen in a while. Rick and Dave were the first ones at my table as usual. Rick picked up my 1940 Play Ball Rabbit McNair along with a nice stack of '66s, '65s and '64s. Dave picked up a small pile of '66s and '65s in exchange for a large lot of '68s of which I still owe some cash on (It's coming Dave, thanks for the cards!). Another regular bought some '57s. I sold some '53 Bowman Color and a '58 Aaron All Star to a new customer who is putting together old Milwaukee Braves team sets. A regular picked up a large stack of '74s. Dennis bought some '64s as upgrades for his set. I could tell he was disappointed I didn't have my '69 book reloaded. I was able to get '65s and '66s done for this show. I'm shooting for '67s this week. I only have enough time to get one book done a week. It's incredibly time consuming. In some cases I'm sorting through several thousand cards, placing them in numerical order, grading/pricing them then placing them in the book. Between my day job and my family, I can only get in an hour or so a night. So it is a painfully slow process.
I sold some '61s to a regular customer. Some '62s and '63s to another customer. Chuck picked up some '52 Bowmans. I sold a '62 Aaron to a new customer. My one regular Orland autograph hound purchased some cards to send out for signatures. I made some sales out of my cheapie binder. I sold quite a few '72s and some '73s. I sold some '59s. I sold a few more cards out of my cases but I just can't seem to recall what they were. Quite a few other guys dinked through my binders picking out a few cards here and there. Jim Goodfriend made an appearance today. Another oldtimer, I believe his name is John stopped in today for the first time in a while. I was pretty busy on this day. Though I made more trades than usual which I think accounts for lower sales than last show. I picked up a large pile of '65s, '66s, and '67s in trade. I picked up a nice pile of Post Cereal cards from the '60s in trade. Will traded me a nice '64 Mays and Spahn. Another regular traded me a nice pile of '72s. I generally don't look to trade but if a guy brings me something I can use and the deal is fair, I'll pull the trigger.
I pulled the trigger on quite a few purchases today as well. Jim had his usual pile for me. I picked up a '61 Billy Williams rookie from Junior. I picked up a 58-59 Topps hockey card of an old Hawk which I promptly traded to Will. I bought a great box of cards from Chuck filled with everything from '54 Bowman to 71-72 hockey. I also bought a nice pile of stars from from the '60s that included some cool hockey sticker/stamp inserts from the early 1970s of guys like Stan Mikita and Tony Esposito. I had to race out to an ATM to buy that last pile. I turned down a bunch of stuff too, largely cards I have in triplicate. One dealer had a large box of cards from the late '70s for $95. The cards looked a little beat and I have so much of that stuff. If I had more money in my pocket, I might of made a counter-offer on the box. Unfortunately, I can't buy everything, though I sure would like to.
Overall, a real nice day at Orland. I'm especially pleased with my purchases. With my wife posting cards on eBay for me, I need to regularly pick up new inventory for her. I think I scored today. Next weekend, I'm heading down to St. Louis for the Two Hearts show. Old Chicago promoter George Johnson ran a show down there last weekend. I talked to one dealer who went down there and said it was awful. I've learned the hard way to stay away from new shows. I only set up at established shows. The Two Hearts show has been the regular show in St. Louis since the 1980s. It's a great show and should be rocking after the Cards amazing run at the end of the season to capture the World Series. Lee Smith will be signing autos along with old St. Louis Blues hockey player Bob Plager. My old buddy Andy is letting me stay at his place again. It should be a great time!
Pictured below is some of my haul from Orland this past Sunday.
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