Saturday, March 23, 2013, Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, IL -- I was too wired from the long day yesterday to sleep much. Though, it sure was nice to not have to load up the car. I was actually able to have a leisurely morning as I stopped at McDonald's for an egg mcmuffin and some coffee. About 20 minutes later, I pulled into the CTA station in Rosemont, parked and walked the six blocks to the convention center.
It was nice to see a line already forming at the door when I arrived around 8 a.m. Morning set up was easy. I just had to remove the tarps I placed over my tables the night before. We had a nice steady stream of customers today. I like the fact that collectors come from all over the Midwest for this show. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio, Michigan and Missouri were well represented today. I saw a lot of Detroit Tigers gear.
Ken, a regular dealer at Orland, got things going for me today by purchasing a 1955 Bowman Ernie Banks to get signed. A new customer purchased some 1971 Topps baseball. Another new customer purchased a 1970-71 Topps Lou Alcindor. A new customer purchased some 1967 Topps baseball. Another new customer purchased some 1976 Topps baseball. A new customer purchased some 1971 Topps coins and some cards out of my 50-cent box.
A new customer purchased some 1971-72 and 1977-78 Topps hockey. Another new customer purchased some 1966 Topps baseball. A new customer purchased a 1975 Topps Mini Mike Schmidt and a Strikeout Leaders card featuring Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton. Then the boys from Old Baseball Cards (OBC) made my day. One member picked up some 1952 Bowman football. Another OBC picked up some 1967 Topps baseball. My old friend TJ picked up a group of cards including a 1952 Bowman Willie Mays.
A new customer purchased some 1970 Topps baseball. A young collector purchased some 1976-77 Topps basketball. Another young collector purchased some 1970's hockey. You know, I hear guys complaining all the time that there aren't any young collectors. This is absolute nonsense. I see young collectors every single weekend. Unlike the complainers, I think the hobby is healthy and there are plenty of collectors under age 20. I see quite a few father and sons at the shows and this weekend was no exception. Sports card collecting is alive and well and a great thing for families to do together.
After the young guys, I engaged a new customer in a cash and trade deal. I gave the guy a 1952 Topps Bob Feller in exchange for some cash and a 1933 Goudey Fred Lindstrom. A husband and wife team then purchased some 1971 Topps baseball and some cards out of my 50-cent box. Dennis then purchased some Packers out of my newly loaded 1973 Topps football binder. My day ended with a guy looking through a dozen or so binders. I write the book price and my sale price on the sleeves in the binders. Well, this guy wanted my Beckett so he could look up the prices himself. He spent like an hour looking up cards and spent a big 75 cents. I should have charged him an hourly rate to look at my Beckett.
On the buying front, I purchased a small group of cards from the 1950s and 1960s and a nice group of T206s. There were more people trying to sell me cards than I have ever seen at this show. I bought what I could.
We had a really nice crowd today. The aisles were jam packed for most of the day. My sales were okay but down from previous Sun-Times shows. The famous Steve was out and about. He bought us Subway sandwiches which was much appreciated. Though, I had to listen to a rant about social workers. I got home around 7 p.m. and was tired. One more day!
Below is a video I shot while walking back to my booth from the washroom.
It was nice to see a line already forming at the door when I arrived around 8 a.m. Morning set up was easy. I just had to remove the tarps I placed over my tables the night before. We had a nice steady stream of customers today. I like the fact that collectors come from all over the Midwest for this show. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio, Michigan and Missouri were well represented today. I saw a lot of Detroit Tigers gear.
Ken, a regular dealer at Orland, got things going for me today by purchasing a 1955 Bowman Ernie Banks to get signed. A new customer purchased some 1971 Topps baseball. Another new customer purchased a 1970-71 Topps Lou Alcindor. A new customer purchased some 1967 Topps baseball. Another new customer purchased some 1976 Topps baseball. A new customer purchased some 1971 Topps coins and some cards out of my 50-cent box.
A new customer purchased some 1971-72 and 1977-78 Topps hockey. Another new customer purchased some 1966 Topps baseball. A new customer purchased a 1975 Topps Mini Mike Schmidt and a Strikeout Leaders card featuring Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton. Then the boys from Old Baseball Cards (OBC) made my day. One member picked up some 1952 Bowman football. Another OBC picked up some 1967 Topps baseball. My old friend TJ picked up a group of cards including a 1952 Bowman Willie Mays.
A new customer purchased some 1970 Topps baseball. A young collector purchased some 1976-77 Topps basketball. Another young collector purchased some 1970's hockey. You know, I hear guys complaining all the time that there aren't any young collectors. This is absolute nonsense. I see young collectors every single weekend. Unlike the complainers, I think the hobby is healthy and there are plenty of collectors under age 20. I see quite a few father and sons at the shows and this weekend was no exception. Sports card collecting is alive and well and a great thing for families to do together.
After the young guys, I engaged a new customer in a cash and trade deal. I gave the guy a 1952 Topps Bob Feller in exchange for some cash and a 1933 Goudey Fred Lindstrom. A husband and wife team then purchased some 1971 Topps baseball and some cards out of my 50-cent box. Dennis then purchased some Packers out of my newly loaded 1973 Topps football binder. My day ended with a guy looking through a dozen or so binders. I write the book price and my sale price on the sleeves in the binders. Well, this guy wanted my Beckett so he could look up the prices himself. He spent like an hour looking up cards and spent a big 75 cents. I should have charged him an hourly rate to look at my Beckett.
On the buying front, I purchased a small group of cards from the 1950s and 1960s and a nice group of T206s. There were more people trying to sell me cards than I have ever seen at this show. I bought what I could.
We had a really nice crowd today. The aisles were jam packed for most of the day. My sales were okay but down from previous Sun-Times shows. The famous Steve was out and about. He bought us Subway sandwiches which was much appreciated. Though, I had to listen to a rant about social workers. I got home around 7 p.m. and was tired. One more day!
Below is a video I shot while walking back to my booth from the washroom.
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