Scary drive up to Milwaukee this morning with some really thick fog most of the way. Once I got to Milwaukee, the fog cleared and it was nice and sunny. Turned out to be a sunny day in every way, except for those that follow the National Football League in the states of Illinois and Wisconsin. Pack lose to the lowly Chiefs. The Bears, well they just suck. Gawd I hope the McCaskeys finally dump Angelo.
Nice crowd at Gonzaga today!! The show was jam packed from 9 a.m. through noon. While I was setting up, Mike, from the WSCA, was telling me about a collection he helped sell off recently. Mike told me that the daughter of a former member of the WSCA called him up after her father died and wanted his help to sell her dad's collection of vintage cards. Mike said the women's father bought at least a box of cards every year from from 1948 through the 1970s. The cards were all nice but most of the stars were missing. Mike brought in a guy who purchased the pre-1970 cards for $2,500. The 1970s cards went at the auction today at Gonzaga. I was too busy and didn't see what they went for. Note to Mike -- CALL ME NEXT TIME!! I would have gladly paid $2,500-plus for all those cards.
Sales today were steady. I have two customers named Jason at this show. One Jason bought a '59 Ken Boyer All Star, some '69 commons and a few '52 commons while the other Jason picked up some '34-36 Batter Ups and some '71 Topps football. I sold my '50 Bowman Jackie Robinson and a '49 Leaf Marty Marion to a regular customer. Jim bought some '53 Topps baseball. An oldtimer picked up some '41 Double Play. The guy had to be in his mid-80s and was telling me how he bought '33 Goudeys out of the pack as a kid -- he still has all his cards and is still going strong adding cards to his collection!! Larry made the trip up to Gonzaga and bought some cards. I promised some ABA cards from the '70s to a customer and, of course, forgot to bring them. Sorry! I will have them next time!! A regular picked up some '57s. My autograph hound found some cards out of my 50-cent and dollar boxes along with some 78-79 hockey. Another regular pulled a nice pile of cards from the 1950s. One of my regular set builders pulled quite a few cards from the '60s. I sold my T206 Heinie Zimmerman to a young collector. A new customer bought my '39 Play Ball Charlie Gehringer. A new customer bought a small stack of '56 Topps. I sold quite a few cards today, I can't recall all that I sold.
On the buying front, an unusually good day at Gonzaga. I'm usually lucky to pick up a card or two at this show. I had quite a few offers today. At least two different guys offered me large lots of '71 Topps. Problem is, I have in stock close to 5,000 '71 Topps. Seems like I have 8 to 12 copies of most every card. I actually did make some buys and bought two binders of cards filled with '60s commons from a dealer. I also picked up a nice pile of cards from a customer, including a '60 Clemente, '59 Aaron, Musial, and Snider, two t206 commons and some '55 Topps commons. A dealer offered me some beat-up '55 Bowmans, but the price was a tad too high for the condition. Another dealer offered me some moldy early '50s bowmans. These cards were just too nasty. I've had moldy cards in the past and they were very difficult to sell. Overall, I am quite pleased with my haul.
Douchebag report: I was set up across from the guy who I think was accusing me of stealing cards at Serb Hall last month. He didn't say anything to me today so I assume he found his "missing" card. Second douchebag -- early on, a guy who I sometimes buy cards from, pulled an extreme douchebag move. He had a box of cards. I wasn't interested in any. He wanted to trade me some. I again wasn't interested. A customer purchased a bunch of '70s basketball while douchebag was talking to me. Doucheboy then asks MY customer if he would like to see HIS cards. Then Douchebag lays HIS cards on MY table -- the table I paid $100 for and Douchebag paid nothing. Extremely bad form. Go get your own table!! I will never buy cards from this guy again. Third douchebag -- I noticed the guy from the last Serb show, who wanted book price for his poor condition cards, had a table today. I wonder if he sold anything? Fourth douchebag -- a guy had an interest in a '57 Topps Colavito rookie. I had it priced at $40 and offered it to him at $30. He then tells me he is working on a deal with another dealer -- Jerry, who is a douchebag of a dealer (see past Gonzaga blog where Jerry offered me a group of '62 Topps football but then sold them to somebody else). The guy who wanted the '57 Colavito says he wants to trade and is shocked I am not interested in his 1982 Topps Brewers team card. Really?!!
Extremely nice people report: Keith, who runs the WSCA, passed out coupons for complimentary sandwiches and sodas from the concession stand. I took advantage of the free grub and also bought a piece of cake because I freakin' LOVE the cake!! Dave Horseshack was a no-show today, Dave also loves the cake. If Fred Copp is reading this blog, take note, me and several other dealers would like you to start bringing cake to your shows!
Overall, a really great day. I sold a lot of cards, bought a lot of cards, ate cake, and it was my birthday. Forty-five years old today. I tried to listen to the Bears game on the drive home but the Bears were so pitiful that I switched on the FM for some music. I had some ribs for dinner and more cake when I got home. Life is good!!
I am taking next weekend off. This will be my first weekend without a show since the summer. It will be a much needed break. My last show of the year will be Orland on New Year's eve. I should have my '71 and '72 books updated. I may do Fred's Schaumburg show on New Year's Day. I'm still debating.
One final note, my blog received 145 hits last Sunday. I just want to say that I appreciate all the comments I get at the shows about this blog and it is really cool so many people are reading this thing. I also want to let all my customers know how much I appreciate you. Without you, I wouldn't have this wonderful hobby. There are also a great many dealers who I enjoy seeing regularly and also make this hobby a lot of fun. I want to wish you all a Merry Xmas, Happy Hannukah and Happy New Year!!
Nice crowd at Gonzaga today!! The show was jam packed from 9 a.m. through noon. While I was setting up, Mike, from the WSCA, was telling me about a collection he helped sell off recently. Mike told me that the daughter of a former member of the WSCA called him up after her father died and wanted his help to sell her dad's collection of vintage cards. Mike said the women's father bought at least a box of cards every year from from 1948 through the 1970s. The cards were all nice but most of the stars were missing. Mike brought in a guy who purchased the pre-1970 cards for $2,500. The 1970s cards went at the auction today at Gonzaga. I was too busy and didn't see what they went for. Note to Mike -- CALL ME NEXT TIME!! I would have gladly paid $2,500-plus for all those cards.
Sales today were steady. I have two customers named Jason at this show. One Jason bought a '59 Ken Boyer All Star, some '69 commons and a few '52 commons while the other Jason picked up some '34-36 Batter Ups and some '71 Topps football. I sold my '50 Bowman Jackie Robinson and a '49 Leaf Marty Marion to a regular customer. Jim bought some '53 Topps baseball. An oldtimer picked up some '41 Double Play. The guy had to be in his mid-80s and was telling me how he bought '33 Goudeys out of the pack as a kid -- he still has all his cards and is still going strong adding cards to his collection!! Larry made the trip up to Gonzaga and bought some cards. I promised some ABA cards from the '70s to a customer and, of course, forgot to bring them. Sorry! I will have them next time!! A regular picked up some '57s. My autograph hound found some cards out of my 50-cent and dollar boxes along with some 78-79 hockey. Another regular pulled a nice pile of cards from the 1950s. One of my regular set builders pulled quite a few cards from the '60s. I sold my T206 Heinie Zimmerman to a young collector. A new customer bought my '39 Play Ball Charlie Gehringer. A new customer bought a small stack of '56 Topps. I sold quite a few cards today, I can't recall all that I sold.
On the buying front, an unusually good day at Gonzaga. I'm usually lucky to pick up a card or two at this show. I had quite a few offers today. At least two different guys offered me large lots of '71 Topps. Problem is, I have in stock close to 5,000 '71 Topps. Seems like I have 8 to 12 copies of most every card. I actually did make some buys and bought two binders of cards filled with '60s commons from a dealer. I also picked up a nice pile of cards from a customer, including a '60 Clemente, '59 Aaron, Musial, and Snider, two t206 commons and some '55 Topps commons. A dealer offered me some beat-up '55 Bowmans, but the price was a tad too high for the condition. Another dealer offered me some moldy early '50s bowmans. These cards were just too nasty. I've had moldy cards in the past and they were very difficult to sell. Overall, I am quite pleased with my haul.
Douchebag report: I was set up across from the guy who I think was accusing me of stealing cards at Serb Hall last month. He didn't say anything to me today so I assume he found his "missing" card. Second douchebag -- early on, a guy who I sometimes buy cards from, pulled an extreme douchebag move. He had a box of cards. I wasn't interested in any. He wanted to trade me some. I again wasn't interested. A customer purchased a bunch of '70s basketball while douchebag was talking to me. Doucheboy then asks MY customer if he would like to see HIS cards. Then Douchebag lays HIS cards on MY table -- the table I paid $100 for and Douchebag paid nothing. Extremely bad form. Go get your own table!! I will never buy cards from this guy again. Third douchebag -- I noticed the guy from the last Serb show, who wanted book price for his poor condition cards, had a table today. I wonder if he sold anything? Fourth douchebag -- a guy had an interest in a '57 Topps Colavito rookie. I had it priced at $40 and offered it to him at $30. He then tells me he is working on a deal with another dealer -- Jerry, who is a douchebag of a dealer (see past Gonzaga blog where Jerry offered me a group of '62 Topps football but then sold them to somebody else). The guy who wanted the '57 Colavito says he wants to trade and is shocked I am not interested in his 1982 Topps Brewers team card. Really?!!
Extremely nice people report: Keith, who runs the WSCA, passed out coupons for complimentary sandwiches and sodas from the concession stand. I took advantage of the free grub and also bought a piece of cake because I freakin' LOVE the cake!! Dave Horseshack was a no-show today, Dave also loves the cake. If Fred Copp is reading this blog, take note, me and several other dealers would like you to start bringing cake to your shows!
Overall, a really great day. I sold a lot of cards, bought a lot of cards, ate cake, and it was my birthday. Forty-five years old today. I tried to listen to the Bears game on the drive home but the Bears were so pitiful that I switched on the FM for some music. I had some ribs for dinner and more cake when I got home. Life is good!!
I am taking next weekend off. This will be my first weekend without a show since the summer. It will be a much needed break. My last show of the year will be Orland on New Year's eve. I should have my '71 and '72 books updated. I may do Fred's Schaumburg show on New Year's Day. I'm still debating.
One final note, my blog received 145 hits last Sunday. I just want to say that I appreciate all the comments I get at the shows about this blog and it is really cool so many people are reading this thing. I also want to let all my customers know how much I appreciate you. Without you, I wouldn't have this wonderful hobby. There are also a great many dealers who I enjoy seeing regularly and also make this hobby a lot of fun. I want to wish you all a Merry Xmas, Happy Hannukah and Happy New Year!!
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