I had to work in the morning so I did not get on the road to Indianapolis until 3 p.m. on Friday, August 28, 2015. Two hours later, I was in Indiana. Once on I65 south, traffic was surprisingly light. Just before sunset, I pulled off the road about 90 miles outa Indy and bunked in a town that has more cows than people. It was pitch-black outside when I hit the road early Saturday morning. Surprisingly, traffic was much heavier at 6 a.m. than it was at 6 p.m. I made it to the Fishers American Legion Post just a little before 8 a.m.
I decided to put out mostly display cases to avoid the Bob and other low ballers who covet my binders. Turned out this was a bad idea because sales were few and far inbetween on this beautiful sunny morning. I noticed traffic was down from previous Fisher shows. I was set up across from Mark Smith and smacked inbetween nice-guy dealers Archie and Terry. Most of the usual dealers with a few new guys sprinkled in filled out the rest of the room.
There were some buys to be had in the room but I could not pull the trigger. I have an easier time buying when money is coming in. When sales are slow, I have a tough time buying, even though I know that's how you make money at a slow show by picking stuff up cheap. Well, this was my first dud at Fishers. I probably won't be back for a while but I do plan on setting up there again eventually.
Well, I know the drive home would be horrible because I observed on the way in that at least 50 miles of I65 was closed to all traffic. Someone said there was a bridge out. Mark told me to avoid the detour because it is tow to tow traffic. I weaved my way northwest through the backroads of Indiana. At one point, I wasn't even sure if I was on a road. It felt more like I was driving in the middle of a large corn field. Anyway, six hours later, I was home.
So Saturday was bad and I just had to shrug it off because I had another show set for Sunday. This one was at the Chicagoland Sports Cards shop in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. The owners Les and Marc have been running weekend card shows in their shop for about a year. I previously set up there in December and had a real nice show. The best thing about this show is that it is 15 minutes from home as opposed to my 6-hour drive from Indy the day before.
The guys were kind enough to give me two tables by the front door. I put out four display cases and filled the rest of the space with most of my baseball binders. There was a crowd in the store when I arrived and a good number of people came in and out all day long. I was really thankful and appreciative of the guys who made a special trip to see my like Mort, Chuck and Steve. Thanks guys! I met a father with his two sons at the Bloomingdale show last month and like that show, they made my day with a lot of purchases. Thanks guys! Overall, I did not do as well as December but I did not do nearly as poorly as yesterday in Fishers -- thankfully!!
The best part of the day was seeing a good dozen or so kids in the room having a great time, pictured above. They were buying, selling, and opening wax. It was like a flashback to the 1980's watching all these kids. These were just tremendous kids and a pleasure to be around. They did not know much about vintage cards and I tried to explain them some things here and there. They were most happy opening up packs of cards. They steadily bought boxes and went outside in front of the shop to open them. You could hear the excitement and the cheers when someone made a good pull -- it was just awesome! See video below. I plan on setting up again at Chicagoland Sports Cards in December.
In the meantime, I am a glutton for punishment and am heading back to Indianapolis for Seth Murray's show at the La Quinta in the Beach Grove area of Indianapolis on Saturday. So this time, I am not going to bring any display cases and plan to just put out binders and boxes of cards. Hopefully, I will fare better than I did at Fishers. On Sunday, I am planning to set up at the flea market in Wilmot, Wisconsin, which is always good. See you this weekend! Don't forget my show on September 19 at the Clarion in Milwaukee!!!!!
I decided to put out mostly display cases to avoid the Bob and other low ballers who covet my binders. Turned out this was a bad idea because sales were few and far inbetween on this beautiful sunny morning. I noticed traffic was down from previous Fisher shows. I was set up across from Mark Smith and smacked inbetween nice-guy dealers Archie and Terry. Most of the usual dealers with a few new guys sprinkled in filled out the rest of the room.
There were some buys to be had in the room but I could not pull the trigger. I have an easier time buying when money is coming in. When sales are slow, I have a tough time buying, even though I know that's how you make money at a slow show by picking stuff up cheap. Well, this was my first dud at Fishers. I probably won't be back for a while but I do plan on setting up there again eventually.
Well, I know the drive home would be horrible because I observed on the way in that at least 50 miles of I65 was closed to all traffic. Someone said there was a bridge out. Mark told me to avoid the detour because it is tow to tow traffic. I weaved my way northwest through the backroads of Indiana. At one point, I wasn't even sure if I was on a road. It felt more like I was driving in the middle of a large corn field. Anyway, six hours later, I was home.
So Saturday was bad and I just had to shrug it off because I had another show set for Sunday. This one was at the Chicagoland Sports Cards shop in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. The owners Les and Marc have been running weekend card shows in their shop for about a year. I previously set up there in December and had a real nice show. The best thing about this show is that it is 15 minutes from home as opposed to my 6-hour drive from Indy the day before.
The guys were kind enough to give me two tables by the front door. I put out four display cases and filled the rest of the space with most of my baseball binders. There was a crowd in the store when I arrived and a good number of people came in and out all day long. I was really thankful and appreciative of the guys who made a special trip to see my like Mort, Chuck and Steve. Thanks guys! I met a father with his two sons at the Bloomingdale show last month and like that show, they made my day with a lot of purchases. Thanks guys! Overall, I did not do as well as December but I did not do nearly as poorly as yesterday in Fishers -- thankfully!!
The best part of the day was seeing a good dozen or so kids in the room having a great time, pictured above. They were buying, selling, and opening wax. It was like a flashback to the 1980's watching all these kids. These were just tremendous kids and a pleasure to be around. They did not know much about vintage cards and I tried to explain them some things here and there. They were most happy opening up packs of cards. They steadily bought boxes and went outside in front of the shop to open them. You could hear the excitement and the cheers when someone made a good pull -- it was just awesome! See video below. I plan on setting up again at Chicagoland Sports Cards in December.
In the meantime, I am a glutton for punishment and am heading back to Indianapolis for Seth Murray's show at the La Quinta in the Beach Grove area of Indianapolis on Saturday. So this time, I am not going to bring any display cases and plan to just put out binders and boxes of cards. Hopefully, I will fare better than I did at Fishers. On Sunday, I am planning to set up at the flea market in Wilmot, Wisconsin, which is always good. See you this weekend! Don't forget my show on September 19 at the Clarion in Milwaukee!!!!!
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