Well, I wiggled my way out of doing the Hesston Steam Festival over Labor Day Weekend. I was able to convince my dad that a four-day flea market out in the middle of nowhere on a rain-soaked weekend is a bad idea. I ended up having a nice weekend with the wife and kids.
I was back at it this past Saturday at Orland Park. There was an unusually large number of vintage dealers which I thought may be a bad sign. Turned out that I was busy the whole day, especially in the morning. Rick picked up a bunch of 63 Topps high numbers, some '58s and some more '55 Bowman. Dave picked up some '59s. Dennis about emptied my '69 book and picked up all my '69 stars. Gil picked up a bunch of '58 & '59 Topps football. Gil and I also made some nice trades. I gave him quite a few '63 Topps stars and high numbers and in return I received a nice pile of '50s and '60s football and some '69 Topps baseball stars. My '59 and '60 baseball books got hit pretty good. I sold a near set of '68 Topps Game. I also sold some '72s and '75s. I sold a '58 Topps Mays to another Dave, who had me and Will mesmerized with some stories about his rock band in 1964 and pieces of rock guitar history. This all started when Dave started telling us about his son in law, who is an amazing guitarist. Dave's daughter recently gave him an old-time electric guitar and his son in-law is giving him guitar lessons. Dave was the singer in the 1964 band. Quite a few guys bought cards from me and, as usual, I'm having a senior moment and can't remember everything I sold. It turned out to be an excellent day.
I also enjoy the fact that quite a few guys are reading this blog. One customer was telling me how he enjoyed my bio and that he too worked all sorts of odd jobs like shoveling snow to earn money to buy cards at the pharmacy near his house in the mid-1970s.
I picked up a tremendous amount of cards. I got a whole shoe box full of 1965 Topps high numbers. A 500-card grouping of cards from just about every year in the 1960s. Another box filled with '69s. A pile of '59 Topps high numbers. A large pile of really clean '62 Post baseball. A couple of small boxes of early '70s baseball including some '73 and '72 high numbers. I picked up some '72-73 Topps hockey. I also picked up some 1970s and '80s non-sports. A guy came in with a laundry basket of stuff and he had everything in baggies. I picked up a large baggy filled with cards from the TV shows Mash, Three is Company and Happy Days. There were also movie cards from Close Encounters, Superman II and Star Trek.
I was one of the last guys to leave the room. I could tell the big ugly bald guy was upset. He kept coming in the room and walking out. I don't understand why he didn't start taking down the empty tables if he needed the clear the room. He normally starts to take down the tables while dealers are packing up. I didn't get out the room until around 2:30 p.m. Though John seemed okay with it. Bill was still packing up when I left, so at least I wasn't the last one to leave.
When I got home, I played with my kids for awhile and watched some TV then passed out around 8:30 p.m. That ugly alarm clock got me up at 6 a.m. and I was on the road to Milwaukee by 7 a.m. on Sunday morning for the Gonzaga show. I arrived at the hall around 8 a.m. I went into Gonzaga thinking I was going to have a really good show because I had a terrific show there last month, the next largest vintage dealer Mark Smith was skipping Gonzaga for a show in Cleveland, and the Packers had already played on Thursday and the Brewers game wasn't until 4 p.m. Well, the show was a little slow. There was a steady flow of people in the room but not the usual large Gonzaga crowd.
Mark picked up some '73 Kelloggs and some '65 Topps football. Jim bought some '53 Bowmans. Jason picked up a bunch of cards from the mid-60s. Another customer bought quite a few '59 and '60s. A few guys picked up some Braves from the '50s. My one customer who picks up Italian ball players from the '50s found a few today. Quite a few guys came by with their lists and each picked up some cards. I had quite a few small sales but very few large sales. I thought Gary was going to pull the trigger on my '57 Mantle/Berra but he didn't like a printing mark on the card. Steve picked up a really nice '54 Bowman Don Larsen rookie. I didn't sell any graded cards today. This show is usually a solid show for graded. Even though sales were down, I still had a good time. I had my cake and sloppy Joe. I picked up some '71-72 hockey. I mentioned to a customer last month that I needed a '78 Manny Trillo and Rick Miller to complete a set. He brought me the Trillo today. I searched the room for the Miller but nobody had '78 commons. One lousy card! I hate when I need a single dime card to complete a set. I'll end up spending $5 on eBay to complete the set.
I had much nicer guys behind me today. The long-hair modern seller was nowhere to be found. In his spot was a modern seller who drove in from Detroit. He was a real nice guy. Also, Dave Horshack was back. I haven't seen him for a few shows. He sells photos, autos and bobble heads. He had some real nice framed photos today. I'm hopeful the October Gonzaga show will be better on the sales front. All in all, it was a good weekend. Next weekend I'm setting up at Fred Copp's show at the Radisson Hotel on Algonquin Road in Schaumburg. It's been a few months since I've been there and am looking forward to the show. I'm going to work on reloading my '61 Topps baseball book for the show. Hopefully, I'll see everyone I saw this past weekend out at the Schaumburg show. If nothing else, the show is worth the trip for the Radisson's breakfast buffet!
I was back at it this past Saturday at Orland Park. There was an unusually large number of vintage dealers which I thought may be a bad sign. Turned out that I was busy the whole day, especially in the morning. Rick picked up a bunch of 63 Topps high numbers, some '58s and some more '55 Bowman. Dave picked up some '59s. Dennis about emptied my '69 book and picked up all my '69 stars. Gil picked up a bunch of '58 & '59 Topps football. Gil and I also made some nice trades. I gave him quite a few '63 Topps stars and high numbers and in return I received a nice pile of '50s and '60s football and some '69 Topps baseball stars. My '59 and '60 baseball books got hit pretty good. I sold a near set of '68 Topps Game. I also sold some '72s and '75s. I sold a '58 Topps Mays to another Dave, who had me and Will mesmerized with some stories about his rock band in 1964 and pieces of rock guitar history. This all started when Dave started telling us about his son in law, who is an amazing guitarist. Dave's daughter recently gave him an old-time electric guitar and his son in-law is giving him guitar lessons. Dave was the singer in the 1964 band. Quite a few guys bought cards from me and, as usual, I'm having a senior moment and can't remember everything I sold. It turned out to be an excellent day.
I also enjoy the fact that quite a few guys are reading this blog. One customer was telling me how he enjoyed my bio and that he too worked all sorts of odd jobs like shoveling snow to earn money to buy cards at the pharmacy near his house in the mid-1970s.
I picked up a tremendous amount of cards. I got a whole shoe box full of 1965 Topps high numbers. A 500-card grouping of cards from just about every year in the 1960s. Another box filled with '69s. A pile of '59 Topps high numbers. A large pile of really clean '62 Post baseball. A couple of small boxes of early '70s baseball including some '73 and '72 high numbers. I picked up some '72-73 Topps hockey. I also picked up some 1970s and '80s non-sports. A guy came in with a laundry basket of stuff and he had everything in baggies. I picked up a large baggy filled with cards from the TV shows Mash, Three is Company and Happy Days. There were also movie cards from Close Encounters, Superman II and Star Trek.
I was one of the last guys to leave the room. I could tell the big ugly bald guy was upset. He kept coming in the room and walking out. I don't understand why he didn't start taking down the empty tables if he needed the clear the room. He normally starts to take down the tables while dealers are packing up. I didn't get out the room until around 2:30 p.m. Though John seemed okay with it. Bill was still packing up when I left, so at least I wasn't the last one to leave.
When I got home, I played with my kids for awhile and watched some TV then passed out around 8:30 p.m. That ugly alarm clock got me up at 6 a.m. and I was on the road to Milwaukee by 7 a.m. on Sunday morning for the Gonzaga show. I arrived at the hall around 8 a.m. I went into Gonzaga thinking I was going to have a really good show because I had a terrific show there last month, the next largest vintage dealer Mark Smith was skipping Gonzaga for a show in Cleveland, and the Packers had already played on Thursday and the Brewers game wasn't until 4 p.m. Well, the show was a little slow. There was a steady flow of people in the room but not the usual large Gonzaga crowd.
Mark picked up some '73 Kelloggs and some '65 Topps football. Jim bought some '53 Bowmans. Jason picked up a bunch of cards from the mid-60s. Another customer bought quite a few '59 and '60s. A few guys picked up some Braves from the '50s. My one customer who picks up Italian ball players from the '50s found a few today. Quite a few guys came by with their lists and each picked up some cards. I had quite a few small sales but very few large sales. I thought Gary was going to pull the trigger on my '57 Mantle/Berra but he didn't like a printing mark on the card. Steve picked up a really nice '54 Bowman Don Larsen rookie. I didn't sell any graded cards today. This show is usually a solid show for graded. Even though sales were down, I still had a good time. I had my cake and sloppy Joe. I picked up some '71-72 hockey. I mentioned to a customer last month that I needed a '78 Manny Trillo and Rick Miller to complete a set. He brought me the Trillo today. I searched the room for the Miller but nobody had '78 commons. One lousy card! I hate when I need a single dime card to complete a set. I'll end up spending $5 on eBay to complete the set.
I had much nicer guys behind me today. The long-hair modern seller was nowhere to be found. In his spot was a modern seller who drove in from Detroit. He was a real nice guy. Also, Dave Horshack was back. I haven't seen him for a few shows. He sells photos, autos and bobble heads. He had some real nice framed photos today. I'm hopeful the October Gonzaga show will be better on the sales front. All in all, it was a good weekend. Next weekend I'm setting up at Fred Copp's show at the Radisson Hotel on Algonquin Road in Schaumburg. It's been a few months since I've been there and am looking forward to the show. I'm going to work on reloading my '61 Topps baseball book for the show. Hopefully, I'll see everyone I saw this past weekend out at the Schaumburg show. If nothing else, the show is worth the trip for the Radisson's breakfast buffet!
RSS Feed