Saturday, April 6, 2024, Salvation Army Community Center, Oak Creek, WI
A couple of days after the Sports Spectacular last month, I started on Ozempic. Millions of people take it for weight loss, some, like myself, take it for diabetes. I almost always feel lousy when I am placed on a new med. Ozempic is a weekly shot. I took the shot and felt lousy. I could not eat and I had no energy. Then I went hypoglycemic three times. Ugh!
So I had a rough couple of weeks leading up to the Oak Creek show due to Ozempic. I was late responding to messages. I was late contacting all 120 dealers. I was late mapping out the five rooms. I was late designing the May flyer. Then I had some dealer cancellations and I had to contact a whole bunch of people on the wait list to fill the spots. As a result, I was late getting to the Salvation Army on Friday before the show. Ugh!
My helpers Kristy and George are so patient with me. I don't know where I would be without them and Lisa. We make a great team and have set up down to a science. It took us around two and half hours to get it done. It used to take me five or six hours to do it by myself.
I am happy to report that nothing was stolen out of the kitchen this month. I am not letting dealers in the building any more for early set up.
We made it to the Water Street Brewery around 8:30 p.m. and enjoyed some good food and drink. Back at the hotel, I fell asleep right away but soon woke up and could not fall back asleep. Ugh!
We made it to the Salvation Army around 7 a.m. on Saturday morning. The parking lot was filled with cars from the Weight Watchers Group. I parked across the street at the Target parking lot.
I stopped to chat with dealer David Barta in the parking lot and observed a mass exodus of the Weight Watchers people. Beware! Those folks will run you over! They are not messing around! One woman came walking at David and I with a purpose. I thought she was going to give us a Deacon Jones "clothesline." We moved out of the way.
Lisa went over to Panera to get us coffee and she said on the walk back some Weight Watchers lady in a large SUV almost ran her over. I wonder if it was Deacon Jones. Don't get in her way!
I have all sorts of stuff to deal with once I get into the show. I gotta keep an eye on all the dealers. Some of the dealers in the gym like to move their tables around which is a big problem. For one, they move their tables into the aisle, reducing the aisle to just about nothing. On some dealers' tables, I'll place a note for them not to move their table. They don't like it but we have to have enough aisle space.
David, who I was chatting with earlier in the parking lot, is the worst offender in the gym. He is always moving his table around either killing the aisle or confusing Lisa when she goes to collect table fee because he will switch his spot with another dealer. I gotta remember to chat with him about it.
So I gotta wander around and police the place while dealers set up. In Fellowship Hall, the room with the concession stand, I had a problem last month with one dealer taking too much space and leaving very little for one of his neighbors. Just about all of the dealers in Fellowship Hall bring their own tables. This month, I brought some masking tape and marked out the spot. The dealer was well within the marking this month. Thank you!
One of the reasons Friday night set up takes so long is that the venue only has tables for the gym, so dealers in the other four rooms bring their own tables. I spend a ton of time measuring each space to make sure every single dealer has eight feet of space. A regular problem I have is that many dealers will bring an eight-foot table then try to fit an additional 3-foot card table next to it. No! They can only have 8-feet, not 9, not 10, not 11, not 12! Any more than 8-feet screws up the whole layout. You think these guys care? So I gotta scold them to remove the offending table. One guy gave me a hard time after I told him to move the table. I ended up moving him to a different spot where I thought we could fit his extra @#$%ing table. I think next time I'll charge him an extra 50 bucks. Some of these guys just suck!
Also, on my patrol, I look for no-shows. I had two guys this month pre-pay then not show up. No call. No text. No email. Nothing! I would rather have them not reserve the space instead paying and not showing up. When you have a large wait list, empty tables are problem because people on the wait list stupidly think you did not bother to sell the table and they bitch about it. I sold the table but the asswipe did not bother to show up! I hate that so much!
Then I had one guy reserve. Mind you, I confirm with everybody prior to the show. So he reserved, confirmed he was coming then did not bother to show up. No call. No text. No email. Nothing! He will not be setting up again.
Luckily, I had three guys show up that morning looking for space and I was able to fill all the spots. I always tell guys to show up with their stuff because I always have some dealers who fail to show up or cancel last minute.
It is such a headache to run a card show!
Then there are the dealers that seem to count all the dollars I am making by operating the show and like to tell me about it. They have no idea how much time and energy goes into this thing. In reality, I am earning about $2.25 an hour each month operating this show. It is a ton of work and a huge headache! Those guys that are counting my money need to shove off!
As usual, I am complaining way too much. It was actually a really nice day. Once everyone was set up and customers were in the building, everything went very smoothly.
One more complaint -- early arrivals. There were customers in the building when I arrived at 7 a.m. Show opens to the public at 9 a.m., not 7 a.m. I would really appreciate it if customers would arrive at 9 a.m.
Some dealers really, really hate seeing customers in the room before 9 a.m. and they like to let me know about it. Problem is that I have no way to police it. My only solution would be to raise dealer table fees to come up with extra money to hire several people to watch the doors. So, dealers, if you don't want me to raise table fee, stop bitching about the early arrivals. They do suck, we all know it.
As I have said many times over the years, I just don't understand early arrivals. Why would you want to walk the building before anyone is set up? You are in the way and some dealers think you are there to steal. So please, do not arrive before 9 a.m.
Time to play "Where's Tony?" My original plan was to set up on the stage in the Chapel again. But I had a dealer cancel Friday, so I decided to take his spot in the gym, which is a much better spot than the stage in the Chapel. My sales were much better this month than last. Sometimes it works to my advantage when a dealer cancels the day before the show.
I was real busy at my tables most of the day. It seemed like we had a nice crowd. I noticed a big crowd early, then a lull, then a second wave around noon. It was nice! In total, we had 1,055 through the door. Our third month in a row with more than 1,000 customers. Woot!
I put out most of my baseball binders, all of my basketball and a few football binders along with one non-sports binder. I had just finished reloading my 1956 Topps baseball before the show. I was surprised that I did not sell any. That 1966 book that I reloaded before Madison last week, took a hit today. Kevin was in there along with a few other guys. Jeff pulled some along with a pile of others. Thanks Jeff!
Jim showed up while Jeff was there and it was like old times at the Gonzaga show when Jim and Jeff would spend part of the day at my tables discussing their mutual employer. Now both are retired but they still have much to discuss.
Mike purchased a bunch of basketball cards. Thanks Mike. Robert found a bunch of stuff, as usual. Barry found some 1963 Topps baseball. It was great to see Tim Fritz and to learn he is recovering from some long and arduous health battles. Tim also purchased some cards. Thank Tim! Craig found some cards. Thanks Craig!
It was great to see Dean, after he missed last month. Dean found a bunch of cards. Thanks Dean! Bruce purchased some cards and we also completed a deal we started a few months ago. Thanks Bruce! Many of my regulars purchased cards. It was a really nice day.
On the buying front, I was offered quite a few cards, including some biggies like a 1954 Topps Jackie Robinson, a 1954 Bowman Mickey Mantle (trimmed, did anyone purchase it?) and a 1953 Topps Satchel Paige. Problem was, to a man, they were all way overpriced. As I told them, I purchase cards for resale and there has to be some room for me to make a profit. Nobody today wanted to leave me any room for profit. Very disappointing. My second week in a row with nary a purchase!
I have a couple of well wishes for some of my favorite people like Big Barry and Big Mike who are both scheduled for surgeries. Hope everything goes well and you guys are back at the May 4th show!!
A few notes from Lisa... another favorite of ours, Doreen and Craig, just arrived back into town prior to the show from Washington, D.C., where Doreen was honored for 40 years of employment with the federal government. Congrats Doreen!
In other employment news, regular dealer Jonathan Mortimer received a promotion from the U.S. Navy and will be moving to San Diego. Congrats Jonathan! We are sorry to see you go!!
Back to notes from Lisa, she told me that the woman we thought was dealer David Glazer's sister is actually his mother-in-law. A few months ago, David told us she was his sister! Today, he said he was joking. Still, we think that is so nice that he brings his mother-in-law out to the show.
Tyler update: If you recall, in one of my Sports Spectacular blogs, I wrote about Tyler heading to the South Side of Chicago after the show to try a breaded steak sandwich at Ricobene's. I was a little worried about him because I know the neighborhood can be a little rough at night. I was glad to see Tyler in Oak Creek, alive and well. He said the breaded steak sandwich was awesome and he had no issues. Woot!
Also, Tyler promotes a Bobble Head Show. His next show is this Sunday, April 14, 2024, at the New Berlin VFW, 17980 W. Beloit Road, New Berlin, WI. Anyone ever go to these shows? I'm curious if it is just bobble heads or includes other sports memorabilia. When Tyler sets up in Oak Creek he has a pretty great set up with bobble heads. vintage programs, pennants and other memorabilia. I wish I could attend but I'll be set up Sunday at the Timber Rattlers stadium in Appleton.
A big thank you to Troy from Mears Auctions for coming to the show. Also, Johnny Adams flew in from Minnesota to attend the show. Thanks Johnny! John and Mike from Premier Sports Card Shows were there. Great to see you guys! There are also quite a few guys that I know from the Orland Park show who drive up every month from the south suburbs of Chicago. I appreciate you guys like Eddie, Dennis, Tony and his lovely wife. I saw my favorite artist today, John Gehring, who showed me a drawing he recently completed of Kerry Wood. Great stuff as always John!
Most importantly, we celebrated Stan Atkinson's 60th birthday at the show. Stan has been a huge supporter of the show and has attended just about all of them over these past 10 years. I got to meet Stan's lovely wife today, who brought us a yummy cake. Jeremy put up some giant photos of Stan. Thanks Jeremy! Happy Birthday Stan! You are the best!
The show was abuzz with talk about our good friend Beau Spencer Thompson, who completed his quest to obtain one million Chicago Cubs cards. I loved seeing Beau walk around the National with his Cubs Card O-Meter these past several years.
The Cubs honored Beau on Friday where he threw out the first pitch before the game. Then the Cubs and Topps presented Beau with his one millionth Cubs card which was a 1/1 Topps card of Beau, complete with bio on the back. How cool is that! Congrats Beau!!
A huge thank you to the Salvation Army for hosting our little show. We love the volunteer who works the front door and we appreciate all the volunteers at the concession stand, especially Ken who makes that delicious Sloppy Joe. Thanks to that Ozempic, I could only get through half a sandwich. I am going to lose a ton of weight!
As always, a huge thank you to Mark who makes sure everything runs smoothly. Normally, Mark has a crew of teenagers to take down all the tables and chairs and clean up after the show. None of them could make it today! Lisa and I tried to help Mark but we were both a little infirm at the end of the show. Captain Dana helped set up the Chapel for Sunday services. Her amazingly cute kids were there. I love them!
I always leave the show in a better mood than when I arrive. I also like to take a week after the show and just forget about it before I start working on the next one. Messages started to come in right after the show. I'll get to them sometime this week. I need a little rest!
Next show is May 4. I was able to get five or six new dealers in off the wait list for April. I hope to get some more new guys in for the May 4 show.
In the meantime, I have a double bill weekend with Janesville on Saturday, April 13, and Appleton on Sunday, April 14. I should have 1956 Topps football reloaded by this weekend. I might have 1955 Bowman baseball ready to go as well. Come on out and see me!
Have a great week everybody! Thank you for all the nice comments about this blog!! Also, thank you for all of your support!!
Now for some photos from the show:
A couple of days after the Sports Spectacular last month, I started on Ozempic. Millions of people take it for weight loss, some, like myself, take it for diabetes. I almost always feel lousy when I am placed on a new med. Ozempic is a weekly shot. I took the shot and felt lousy. I could not eat and I had no energy. Then I went hypoglycemic three times. Ugh!
So I had a rough couple of weeks leading up to the Oak Creek show due to Ozempic. I was late responding to messages. I was late contacting all 120 dealers. I was late mapping out the five rooms. I was late designing the May flyer. Then I had some dealer cancellations and I had to contact a whole bunch of people on the wait list to fill the spots. As a result, I was late getting to the Salvation Army on Friday before the show. Ugh!
My helpers Kristy and George are so patient with me. I don't know where I would be without them and Lisa. We make a great team and have set up down to a science. It took us around two and half hours to get it done. It used to take me five or six hours to do it by myself.
I am happy to report that nothing was stolen out of the kitchen this month. I am not letting dealers in the building any more for early set up.
We made it to the Water Street Brewery around 8:30 p.m. and enjoyed some good food and drink. Back at the hotel, I fell asleep right away but soon woke up and could not fall back asleep. Ugh!
We made it to the Salvation Army around 7 a.m. on Saturday morning. The parking lot was filled with cars from the Weight Watchers Group. I parked across the street at the Target parking lot.
I stopped to chat with dealer David Barta in the parking lot and observed a mass exodus of the Weight Watchers people. Beware! Those folks will run you over! They are not messing around! One woman came walking at David and I with a purpose. I thought she was going to give us a Deacon Jones "clothesline." We moved out of the way.
Lisa went over to Panera to get us coffee and she said on the walk back some Weight Watchers lady in a large SUV almost ran her over. I wonder if it was Deacon Jones. Don't get in her way!
I have all sorts of stuff to deal with once I get into the show. I gotta keep an eye on all the dealers. Some of the dealers in the gym like to move their tables around which is a big problem. For one, they move their tables into the aisle, reducing the aisle to just about nothing. On some dealers' tables, I'll place a note for them not to move their table. They don't like it but we have to have enough aisle space.
David, who I was chatting with earlier in the parking lot, is the worst offender in the gym. He is always moving his table around either killing the aisle or confusing Lisa when she goes to collect table fee because he will switch his spot with another dealer. I gotta remember to chat with him about it.
So I gotta wander around and police the place while dealers set up. In Fellowship Hall, the room with the concession stand, I had a problem last month with one dealer taking too much space and leaving very little for one of his neighbors. Just about all of the dealers in Fellowship Hall bring their own tables. This month, I brought some masking tape and marked out the spot. The dealer was well within the marking this month. Thank you!
One of the reasons Friday night set up takes so long is that the venue only has tables for the gym, so dealers in the other four rooms bring their own tables. I spend a ton of time measuring each space to make sure every single dealer has eight feet of space. A regular problem I have is that many dealers will bring an eight-foot table then try to fit an additional 3-foot card table next to it. No! They can only have 8-feet, not 9, not 10, not 11, not 12! Any more than 8-feet screws up the whole layout. You think these guys care? So I gotta scold them to remove the offending table. One guy gave me a hard time after I told him to move the table. I ended up moving him to a different spot where I thought we could fit his extra @#$%ing table. I think next time I'll charge him an extra 50 bucks. Some of these guys just suck!
Also, on my patrol, I look for no-shows. I had two guys this month pre-pay then not show up. No call. No text. No email. Nothing! I would rather have them not reserve the space instead paying and not showing up. When you have a large wait list, empty tables are problem because people on the wait list stupidly think you did not bother to sell the table and they bitch about it. I sold the table but the asswipe did not bother to show up! I hate that so much!
Then I had one guy reserve. Mind you, I confirm with everybody prior to the show. So he reserved, confirmed he was coming then did not bother to show up. No call. No text. No email. Nothing! He will not be setting up again.
Luckily, I had three guys show up that morning looking for space and I was able to fill all the spots. I always tell guys to show up with their stuff because I always have some dealers who fail to show up or cancel last minute.
It is such a headache to run a card show!
Then there are the dealers that seem to count all the dollars I am making by operating the show and like to tell me about it. They have no idea how much time and energy goes into this thing. In reality, I am earning about $2.25 an hour each month operating this show. It is a ton of work and a huge headache! Those guys that are counting my money need to shove off!
As usual, I am complaining way too much. It was actually a really nice day. Once everyone was set up and customers were in the building, everything went very smoothly.
One more complaint -- early arrivals. There were customers in the building when I arrived at 7 a.m. Show opens to the public at 9 a.m., not 7 a.m. I would really appreciate it if customers would arrive at 9 a.m.
Some dealers really, really hate seeing customers in the room before 9 a.m. and they like to let me know about it. Problem is that I have no way to police it. My only solution would be to raise dealer table fees to come up with extra money to hire several people to watch the doors. So, dealers, if you don't want me to raise table fee, stop bitching about the early arrivals. They do suck, we all know it.
As I have said many times over the years, I just don't understand early arrivals. Why would you want to walk the building before anyone is set up? You are in the way and some dealers think you are there to steal. So please, do not arrive before 9 a.m.
Time to play "Where's Tony?" My original plan was to set up on the stage in the Chapel again. But I had a dealer cancel Friday, so I decided to take his spot in the gym, which is a much better spot than the stage in the Chapel. My sales were much better this month than last. Sometimes it works to my advantage when a dealer cancels the day before the show.
I was real busy at my tables most of the day. It seemed like we had a nice crowd. I noticed a big crowd early, then a lull, then a second wave around noon. It was nice! In total, we had 1,055 through the door. Our third month in a row with more than 1,000 customers. Woot!
I put out most of my baseball binders, all of my basketball and a few football binders along with one non-sports binder. I had just finished reloading my 1956 Topps baseball before the show. I was surprised that I did not sell any. That 1966 book that I reloaded before Madison last week, took a hit today. Kevin was in there along with a few other guys. Jeff pulled some along with a pile of others. Thanks Jeff!
Jim showed up while Jeff was there and it was like old times at the Gonzaga show when Jim and Jeff would spend part of the day at my tables discussing their mutual employer. Now both are retired but they still have much to discuss.
Mike purchased a bunch of basketball cards. Thanks Mike. Robert found a bunch of stuff, as usual. Barry found some 1963 Topps baseball. It was great to see Tim Fritz and to learn he is recovering from some long and arduous health battles. Tim also purchased some cards. Thank Tim! Craig found some cards. Thanks Craig!
It was great to see Dean, after he missed last month. Dean found a bunch of cards. Thanks Dean! Bruce purchased some cards and we also completed a deal we started a few months ago. Thanks Bruce! Many of my regulars purchased cards. It was a really nice day.
On the buying front, I was offered quite a few cards, including some biggies like a 1954 Topps Jackie Robinson, a 1954 Bowman Mickey Mantle (trimmed, did anyone purchase it?) and a 1953 Topps Satchel Paige. Problem was, to a man, they were all way overpriced. As I told them, I purchase cards for resale and there has to be some room for me to make a profit. Nobody today wanted to leave me any room for profit. Very disappointing. My second week in a row with nary a purchase!
I have a couple of well wishes for some of my favorite people like Big Barry and Big Mike who are both scheduled for surgeries. Hope everything goes well and you guys are back at the May 4th show!!
A few notes from Lisa... another favorite of ours, Doreen and Craig, just arrived back into town prior to the show from Washington, D.C., where Doreen was honored for 40 years of employment with the federal government. Congrats Doreen!
In other employment news, regular dealer Jonathan Mortimer received a promotion from the U.S. Navy and will be moving to San Diego. Congrats Jonathan! We are sorry to see you go!!
Back to notes from Lisa, she told me that the woman we thought was dealer David Glazer's sister is actually his mother-in-law. A few months ago, David told us she was his sister! Today, he said he was joking. Still, we think that is so nice that he brings his mother-in-law out to the show.
Tyler update: If you recall, in one of my Sports Spectacular blogs, I wrote about Tyler heading to the South Side of Chicago after the show to try a breaded steak sandwich at Ricobene's. I was a little worried about him because I know the neighborhood can be a little rough at night. I was glad to see Tyler in Oak Creek, alive and well. He said the breaded steak sandwich was awesome and he had no issues. Woot!
Also, Tyler promotes a Bobble Head Show. His next show is this Sunday, April 14, 2024, at the New Berlin VFW, 17980 W. Beloit Road, New Berlin, WI. Anyone ever go to these shows? I'm curious if it is just bobble heads or includes other sports memorabilia. When Tyler sets up in Oak Creek he has a pretty great set up with bobble heads. vintage programs, pennants and other memorabilia. I wish I could attend but I'll be set up Sunday at the Timber Rattlers stadium in Appleton.
A big thank you to Troy from Mears Auctions for coming to the show. Also, Johnny Adams flew in from Minnesota to attend the show. Thanks Johnny! John and Mike from Premier Sports Card Shows were there. Great to see you guys! There are also quite a few guys that I know from the Orland Park show who drive up every month from the south suburbs of Chicago. I appreciate you guys like Eddie, Dennis, Tony and his lovely wife. I saw my favorite artist today, John Gehring, who showed me a drawing he recently completed of Kerry Wood. Great stuff as always John!
Most importantly, we celebrated Stan Atkinson's 60th birthday at the show. Stan has been a huge supporter of the show and has attended just about all of them over these past 10 years. I got to meet Stan's lovely wife today, who brought us a yummy cake. Jeremy put up some giant photos of Stan. Thanks Jeremy! Happy Birthday Stan! You are the best!
The show was abuzz with talk about our good friend Beau Spencer Thompson, who completed his quest to obtain one million Chicago Cubs cards. I loved seeing Beau walk around the National with his Cubs Card O-Meter these past several years.
The Cubs honored Beau on Friday where he threw out the first pitch before the game. Then the Cubs and Topps presented Beau with his one millionth Cubs card which was a 1/1 Topps card of Beau, complete with bio on the back. How cool is that! Congrats Beau!!
A huge thank you to the Salvation Army for hosting our little show. We love the volunteer who works the front door and we appreciate all the volunteers at the concession stand, especially Ken who makes that delicious Sloppy Joe. Thanks to that Ozempic, I could only get through half a sandwich. I am going to lose a ton of weight!
As always, a huge thank you to Mark who makes sure everything runs smoothly. Normally, Mark has a crew of teenagers to take down all the tables and chairs and clean up after the show. None of them could make it today! Lisa and I tried to help Mark but we were both a little infirm at the end of the show. Captain Dana helped set up the Chapel for Sunday services. Her amazingly cute kids were there. I love them!
I always leave the show in a better mood than when I arrive. I also like to take a week after the show and just forget about it before I start working on the next one. Messages started to come in right after the show. I'll get to them sometime this week. I need a little rest!
Next show is May 4. I was able to get five or six new dealers in off the wait list for April. I hope to get some more new guys in for the May 4 show.
In the meantime, I have a double bill weekend with Janesville on Saturday, April 13, and Appleton on Sunday, April 14. I should have 1956 Topps football reloaded by this weekend. I might have 1955 Bowman baseball ready to go as well. Come on out and see me!
Have a great week everybody! Thank you for all the nice comments about this blog!! Also, thank you for all of your support!!
Now for some photos from the show:
Again, thank you for your support everybody! Next Oak Creek show is May 4th. Come on out!!
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