Sunday, October 7, 2012, Gonzaga Hall, Milwaukee, WI -- I got to talking to PJ, the dealer who sets up next to me at the Gonzaga show. Like me, PJ works a full-time job and also puts in full-time hours selling cards. PJ is the promoter of the monthly Serb Hall show in Milwaukee. He also maintains two sportscard websites: www.VarietyKing.com and www.PJsportscards.com. PJ has millions of cards for sale on his websites, he sells cards on eBay and sets up twice a month at shows. Like me, PJ puts in a tremendous effort into selling cards. Feeling weary from pricing cards all night, It was nice to talk with someone who understands the crazy thing that I do. Interestingly, PJ told me that each card that he has listed on his websites is also a link. So if the card shows up on a Google search, you merely click on the card and it sends you to one of his web pages where you can purchase the card. Cool stuff! Much more advanced than me. I'd like to one day get more cards up on this website in my store portion. I just can't seem to find the time to do it right now though. It's on my "To Do" list and one day I'll get to it.
I was telling PJ how I spent all week going through a good 5,000 1968 Topps baseball cards to come up with a near set, 580 cards or so, to place in my show binder. It was tough work and I didn't finish until midnight on the night before Gonzaga. As a result, I was dragging a bit this morning. Though, I was able to set up a little sooner than usual. I made it to the show at 8 a.m. and really hustled getting all my cards out. There was a pretty good crowd early on but it thinned out around noon as the Packer game kicked in. The live auction seemed mobbed all morning and they had some offbeat items today like Three Stooges DVDs, a Paul McCartney concert program and KISS action figures.
Mark got things going for me early on and pulled out a large pile of 1965 and 1966 Philadelphia football and some 1962 Topps football. A new customer pulled some 1978 baseball. A regular grabbed some 1976 Topps baseball. Then I did a cash and trade deal with a new customer. I got cash and some star cards from the 1960s and he got a really nice 1958 Topps Ted Williams.
Then came the rush where my table was crowded and everyone wanted to pay for their pile of cards at the same time. I rushed to add up the cards and completed the transactions. There were many sales in a short amount of time and I wasn't able to write them all down or remember what I sold. I do remember that Jeff took his usual large pile but I don't remember what years. Thanks for the purchase Jeff! Tim was in from Madison and took his usual large pile. Thanks Tim! He was telling me about his dinner last night at Lombardi's Steak House in Appleton, WI. The restaurant is filled with Lombardi and Packer memorabilia. It sounds really cool and I need to take a drive and check this place out!
Jim purchased a 1955 Topps Eddie Stanky. A new customer purchased some 1961s. Another new customer purchased some 1976-77 Topps Hockey. A regular picked up some 1979 Topps baseball. Another regular was the first to go through that 1968 binder and found some cards. A new customer, one of two customers today wearing San Francisco Giants gear, purchased some 1963s. My regular who usually buys Italian ballplayers picked up some 1955 Topps and some cards out of my 50-cent box.
A dealer, who I haven't seen in a while, came in and purchased both of my 50-cent boxes. It's a lot of work making those boxes and I probably won't have a new one out for some time. A regular capped my day by purchasing my 1960 Topps Stan Musial, 1963 Topps Nellie Fox and 1961 Topps Ernie Banks MVP. I had a bunch more sales but they all seemed to come at once and I'm getting too old to remember. Seems like early onset of Alzheimers.
On the buying front, a real nice lady came in with a pile of candy wrappers. She discovered the wrappers behind a wall in her home while having some work done. The bulk of the wrappers are 1955 Bowman baseball. I bought all the 1955 Bowmans. Now that I have time to think about it, I should have bought the other candy wrappers too. At the time, I had no idea what to offer for them and I also didn't have much money on me. A big thank you goes out to Keith for his assistance in this transaction. I quickly sold some of the wrappers to Mark, who picked up a few for his brother.
I bought some 1971 Topps scratch offs from Scotty. From Rolf, I purchased a poster-sized Hank Aaron that sort of looked like his 1954 Topps rookie card. The poster is already up in my baseball card room at Casa Del Fat Daddy. Rolf is going to be promoting some shows next year in Milwaukee. I've always thought Milwaukee could use another show. Hopefully I can find some time to set up at the show. I also purchased some random pre-War from George along with three 1956 Topps Minnie Minoso cards.
Overall, a real nice show at Gonzaga today. Next week is a double bill weekend with Orland on Saturday and Schaumburg on Sunday. My projects this week are 1967 Topps football and 1969 Topps baseball. I'll also have a new pile of cards for my display cases. A big thank you to everybody at Gonzaga today!! I had a great time!!! And even better, I have tomorrow off of work!! Yes!!!!
Pictured above is today's live auction at Gonzaga. Pictured below are a couple more photos of the auction, some binders and boxes from PJ's table, a photo of Jim and Scott Ziegert, two of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, some photos of memorabilia on the table of Mears Auction Co., and lastly, some of my pickups from today.
I was telling PJ how I spent all week going through a good 5,000 1968 Topps baseball cards to come up with a near set, 580 cards or so, to place in my show binder. It was tough work and I didn't finish until midnight on the night before Gonzaga. As a result, I was dragging a bit this morning. Though, I was able to set up a little sooner than usual. I made it to the show at 8 a.m. and really hustled getting all my cards out. There was a pretty good crowd early on but it thinned out around noon as the Packer game kicked in. The live auction seemed mobbed all morning and they had some offbeat items today like Three Stooges DVDs, a Paul McCartney concert program and KISS action figures.
Mark got things going for me early on and pulled out a large pile of 1965 and 1966 Philadelphia football and some 1962 Topps football. A new customer pulled some 1978 baseball. A regular grabbed some 1976 Topps baseball. Then I did a cash and trade deal with a new customer. I got cash and some star cards from the 1960s and he got a really nice 1958 Topps Ted Williams.
Then came the rush where my table was crowded and everyone wanted to pay for their pile of cards at the same time. I rushed to add up the cards and completed the transactions. There were many sales in a short amount of time and I wasn't able to write them all down or remember what I sold. I do remember that Jeff took his usual large pile but I don't remember what years. Thanks for the purchase Jeff! Tim was in from Madison and took his usual large pile. Thanks Tim! He was telling me about his dinner last night at Lombardi's Steak House in Appleton, WI. The restaurant is filled with Lombardi and Packer memorabilia. It sounds really cool and I need to take a drive and check this place out!
Jim purchased a 1955 Topps Eddie Stanky. A new customer purchased some 1961s. Another new customer purchased some 1976-77 Topps Hockey. A regular picked up some 1979 Topps baseball. Another regular was the first to go through that 1968 binder and found some cards. A new customer, one of two customers today wearing San Francisco Giants gear, purchased some 1963s. My regular who usually buys Italian ballplayers picked up some 1955 Topps and some cards out of my 50-cent box.
A dealer, who I haven't seen in a while, came in and purchased both of my 50-cent boxes. It's a lot of work making those boxes and I probably won't have a new one out for some time. A regular capped my day by purchasing my 1960 Topps Stan Musial, 1963 Topps Nellie Fox and 1961 Topps Ernie Banks MVP. I had a bunch more sales but they all seemed to come at once and I'm getting too old to remember. Seems like early onset of Alzheimers.
On the buying front, a real nice lady came in with a pile of candy wrappers. She discovered the wrappers behind a wall in her home while having some work done. The bulk of the wrappers are 1955 Bowman baseball. I bought all the 1955 Bowmans. Now that I have time to think about it, I should have bought the other candy wrappers too. At the time, I had no idea what to offer for them and I also didn't have much money on me. A big thank you goes out to Keith for his assistance in this transaction. I quickly sold some of the wrappers to Mark, who picked up a few for his brother.
I bought some 1971 Topps scratch offs from Scotty. From Rolf, I purchased a poster-sized Hank Aaron that sort of looked like his 1954 Topps rookie card. The poster is already up in my baseball card room at Casa Del Fat Daddy. Rolf is going to be promoting some shows next year in Milwaukee. I've always thought Milwaukee could use another show. Hopefully I can find some time to set up at the show. I also purchased some random pre-War from George along with three 1956 Topps Minnie Minoso cards.
Overall, a real nice show at Gonzaga today. Next week is a double bill weekend with Orland on Saturday and Schaumburg on Sunday. My projects this week are 1967 Topps football and 1969 Topps baseball. I'll also have a new pile of cards for my display cases. A big thank you to everybody at Gonzaga today!! I had a great time!!! And even better, I have tomorrow off of work!! Yes!!!!
Pictured above is today's live auction at Gonzaga. Pictured below are a couple more photos of the auction, some binders and boxes from PJ's table, a photo of Jim and Scott Ziegert, two of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, some photos of memorabilia on the table of Mears Auction Co., and lastly, some of my pickups from today.
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