Mornings are my kryptonite. I am a night person, always have been, always will. My brain is foggy in the morning. I can't really see in the morning. I just can't function in the morning.
I had hoped to be on the road to St. Charles around 7 a.m. but after I woke up around 6 a.m., I languished around my house. It sort of felt like I was swimming in quick sand. I did not get on the road until around 8 a.m. and did not arrive at the show until close to 9 a.m. when the show opened. Ugh.
Thankfully load in and set up went smoothly and quickly. I started chatting up my superstar neighbors right away. Dave was on my right, next to Dave was Gary G. On my left was Tom M. Behind me was Nelson and Pam, Mikey, Dennis and Kevin F. Across the way was the Other, Other Tony. What a great group! I had a ball!
While I love buying and selling vintage cards, I really, really love hanging out with all the great people that set up along side me at all these card shows.
I also really appreciate Premier Card Shows promoters John and Mike for providing a great venue loaded with a mega-ton number of dealers and a huge crowd. Those guys looked a little tired and stressed in the morning. Like I have said many times before, it is not fun to put on a card show, especially one as large as this one at the Kane County Fairgrounds. I think by the end of the day John and Mike were able to relax and enjoy the fruits of their labor. Well done guys!
The show was crowded all day long with 1,300 through the door! Woot! I had folks at my tables most of the day. I brought out some discount boxes, two display cases and most of my baseball binders, along with a few basketball and football binders.
The discount boxes were a hit. Guys were going through those things all day. Only problem was the sales did not add up to much. You can only make so much selling dime cards. I knew beforehand my sales would be down because I am holding back my good stuff for the Sports Spectacular next week. With the time and money invested into a show like the Sports Spectacular, I really need to make some higher end sales at that show -- while Kane County, not so much. I can kick back a little more there because I don't have so much time and money invested.
On the buying front, only thing that came to my tables were a bunch of autographs. I did not know the seller and did not purchase anything, even though he had some cool-looking stuff but I was uncertain as to the authenticity of any of it. I generally only purchase autographs from people I know and trust. There are way too many fakes and scammers out there to purchase autographs from those I do not know and trust.
On the food front, there was an excellent taco truck at the show today. John mentioned that they had breakfast this morning, including my favorite -- French toast. Oh my! That French toast was awesome. Made to order and covered in cherry syrup. Good thing I remembered to bring my insulin! Delicious! Dave also brought me a ham sandwich. Thanks Dave!
The highlight of my day was seeing my old friend Skip, who is cancer free for the third time! I know some tough SOBs and Skip is one of them! Welcome back Skip!!
Unfortunately, the next Kane County show is not until December 7th -- the same day as my Oak Creek show, so obviously I will be in Oak Creek that day along with just about everybody who was set up around me today. I get it, sometimes you gotta run the show on the dates that the venue is available.
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed myself at the Kane County show today. I know I will have a good time as always tomorrow in Orland Park. Hope to see everyone in Orland on Sunday!!
Reminder... next Oak Creek show is April 6, 2024.
Below are a couple of photos from the Kane County show today...