One issue that needs to be addressed is early arrivals. I see it at every show and am just amazed at how many customers arrive at the same time as the dealers. It takes me a good hour to load in and set up. Why attend an hour before I even set up? It also slows my set up when guys are in my face while I am attempting to put out all of my cards. I know I speak for most dealers by requesting that all attendees arrive when the show officially opens. Two or three customers walked in with me as I was loading into the Woodstock show Saturday. That stuff has gotta stop.
One exception to the early arrival rule is my pal Don, who popped out of nowhere while I was unloading my car and helped me load in. Thanks Don!
Similar table layout as last month in Woodstock except that my row was a lot tighter. I still had room to place out the card table I brought along. I lucked out that Jose Roman was to my right, and he offered to move his table down, if needed.
I enjoyed chatting with Jose and the other dealer on my left. Both guys sell modern cards and had excellent days. Not a good day for the vintage stars in the display cases. I did not sell much. All the guys who came out for me last month were nowhere to be found this month. Where were you guys? I had some really good stuff out!
In total, I filled up 11 display cases. It took me quite a while to get those cases filled up. I had a lot of guys show up at my table while I was setting up to sell me stuff. Which is great and all, but I just wish they came when the show officially opened at 9:30 a.m., not 8:30 a.m. when I’m loading in and struggling to set up.
I am not an early riser and always have difficulty getting out of bed. I try to arrive an hour before the show opens and I really need all that time to load in and set up. It is starting to get really annoying.
While setting up, I took several boxes from several guys, who had them for sale and allowed me to hold onto them until I finished setting up and had the time to look at them. I turned away a bunch more guys because they had 1990 Donruss baseball, 1990 Hoops basketball, 1988 Topps baseball… you get the picture. One guy had some 1986 Fleer basketball which is one of the few issues that sells great from the 1980’s but he would not give me a price. He shopped them around the whole show then went home with them.
I was amazed at how many guys stopped at my table to sell me cards well before I finished setting up. The guys walking the room selling continued for the next several hours. I don’t think this has ever happened at any show ever! Where did all these guys come from? There were so many guys walking the show and selling cards!
The only one of these guys that I knew was my friend from Rockford, who arrived early in Rockford last week, he also arrived early in Rockford the previous month and was angry that I was on the phone. When I had just two of the 11 display cases filled in Woodstock, he gave me a 3200-count box largely filled with 1965 through 1967 Topps baseball. He seemed to understand that I needed some time to set up and then look at the cards before we could work out a deal. Though, he came back every 10 minutes to see if I was done setting up. Ugh!
When I was finally able to complete set up, I looked through his box before the others because he is impatient. Then we got to talking and I started to feel really bad. He told me he has cancer and he wants to sell all of his baseball cards because his son has no interest in them. He said he is going to switch from collecting baseball to collecting Chicago Bears football cards because his son has an interest in those. Sad, sad, sad, situation. My guy is undergoing chemo and I truly wish him the best and hope he gets through it okay.
Anyway, I went through his box of cards. About half of it was 1966 Topps with a nice number of stars and a handful of high numbers. There were some cards with writing and some that had been chewed up by a mouse. With those crummy cards in mind, I made a conservative offer. The seller wanted a little more but I would not budge with a box containing some cards munched by mice.
Next boxes came from a guy who I have never met before. He saw that I was busy setting up and said I could keep the boxes and go through them at my leisure then call him to work out a deal. He left me his business card. Good thing I am honest. There are quite a few guys who would have just walked away with the cards without ever paying for them.
I eventually looked through the boxes which were obviously his childhood collection of baseball and football cards from the early 1970’s. The cards were well loved. He admitted that he played with them a lot. I texted him an offer and he accepted. Now I just need to figure out a way to get him the money. He wanted to use Venmo but I don’t have it and tried to register this weekend but had nothing but trouble with it. I gotta get my kids to help me. They will know how to do it. The seller does not have PayPal which would have been easiest for me. I also offered to send out a check.
So I probably went home with a good four to five thousand cards! Sales may have been slow but these boxes of cards will yield a nice profit down the road.
On the food front, no concession stand today. Good thing I brought some drinks.
Here is an observation about this show... One of the things that makes the Woodstock show unique is that there are always a group of dealers set up that only set up at this show, and no others. One of these dealers looks to be 90 years old. He is a kind, sweet man.
I observed last month and this month that, out of the kindness of his heart, he made balloon animals for all the kids that stopped at his table. He was just two tables down from me, so there was a parade of kids walking by all day long with balloons. Problem I saw was that the balloons do not look like animals, rather, they look like penises. Yes, you read that right, penises. There were dozens of kids walking around with balloon penises. I do not know what animal he was shooting for, but the end result was a penis. I am certain he is not intentionally making penises, maybe tadpoles? Snakes? I should have taken a photo. I’ll try to next time.
Naughty balloons aside, the day flew by and I had a really nice time. I was happy with my purchases and did not expect to spend all that money. The purchases were kind of a bummer in a way because I was hoping to raise funds at this show for a T206 deal I am working on, not lose funds. Oh, well. When the deal is there, you gotta take it!
No Woodstock show in March. Next one is April 15 when I will be out in Strongsville, Ohio, for the yearly all-vintage show. Next time I am setting up in Woodstock is May 20th. Though, I really like the Woodstock show and love the promoter. I recommend that everyone attend the April 15th show in Woodstock!
Not sure what I’ll bring out to the May 20th show. Woodstock is a tough place for vintage. I will try and do something a little different for that one.
This was a double bill weekend with the Racine show on Sunday. Racine blog coming soon.
Reminder, next Oak Creek show is March 4, 2023. Dealer tables are sold out! Attention dealers, no fighting, please!
Next show for me is Orland Park on Sunday, February 26, 2023. I’m bringing binders out to that one. I hope to have 1952 Topps baseball ready to go by Sunday.
A huge thank you to everyone who bought and sold me cards in Woodstock! See you guys in Orland!
Below are some of my purchases from Saturday's show in Woodstock. I've already begun to post some of them on eBay. Find my eBay store here: Fat Daddy's Sports | eBay Stores