Sunday, June 24, 2012, Bloomingdale, IL -- I was burned out this weekend and wasn't sure if I was going to write any blogs but then I noticed the number of hits I was getting to this website today: 232. Well, all the action here motivated me to get my act together and do some blogging. Thanks for all the support everybody. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. It's a crazy juggling act for me, i.e., working my real job all week, spending time with my family, spending long hours at night pricing and sorting cards, trying to fill want lists, setting up at shows every weekend, dealing with eBay and updating this website.
When I got home Saturday evening from Kenosha, I sorted some of the 1938 Our National Game pins I purchased (see yesterday's blog) for my wife to upload to eBay. I currently have 9 of those pins up. I also spent time going through boxes of cards to pull 1959s to load into my show binder. With the heroes of yesteryear on my mind, I passed out around midnight then overslept Sunday morning. I was the last dealer to arrive in Bloomingdale for the Indian Lakes Resort show. There were more dealers set up at this show than I have seen in years. Fred had his usual array of wax. Stark was set up with modern cards next to Fred. Over one table was Willie with all his autos. Then there was Ted with all his new stuff and one vintage card, a 1967 Topps Matty Alou, which he promptly gave to me. Thanks Ted! Del was set up next to Ted with dime boxes. Brian was set up next to Del with quarter boxes. A new guy was set up next to Brian with modern cards. Frank was set up next to the new guy with a mix of vintage and modern. I picked up a few 1954 Bowman football cards off Frank's table. On the inner ring, Bill from Milwaukee was there with his usual array of vintage, modern and autos. Don was next to Bill with vintage, modern and Cubs memorabilia. Rounding out a large circle of tables near the front of the room was Skip, with a large display of vintage and modern. I haven't seen Skip set up at a Fred show in a long time. I was set up in a circle on the far end of the room with Corky as my neighbor and his array of vintage and modern. Then there is a guy, I don't know his name, who I regularly see at the Bloomingdale show with an enormous inventory of modern cards. Between this group of dealers, we had an awesome display of cards and autos. I think the good size crowd that showed up today was appreciative of the inventory in the room because most spent hours at the show today flipping through cards.
Things started out slow for me today then picked up at the end. A new customer got things going by purchasing some Cubs from various years in the 1960s. He paid for the cards with quarters. He came back five our six times throughout the day and purchased a smattering of cards each time with quarters. I was weighed down with quarters by the end of the show. Bill told me that he took in a pile of quarters from the guy as well. Then my old friend Larry came by and showed me some recent purchases. He had a beautiful 1952 Topps Yogi Berra. This card had the richest color of any '52 Berra that I have ever seen. Larry wanted to compare the card to some '52s in my case to make sure the card was not trimmed. The card looked good to me. The only flaw was centering. Larry also picked up an absolutely beautiful 1953 Bowman Color Whitey Ford. We then worked out a cash and trade deal where Larry picked up my 1941 Double Play Jimmy Foxx and my 1953 Topps Whitey Ford in exchange for a pile of high grade 1959s and a few 1952 Bowman Tall football cards. Thanks Larry!
Next up was a father and son team that picked up a bunch of 1967 Topps baseball. A regular customer picked up a 1973 Topps Jack Youngblood then a bunch of 1972 Topps baseball commons. A new customer purchased some 1975 Topps baseball. A regular customer purchased a large pile of 1974 Topps baseball and an assortment of basketball from the 1970s. Ned picked up a pile of assorted commons from various years in the 1970s. Ned currently owns a card shop at 5 S. Wabash in Downtown Chicago. For years he was located inside the old Carson, Pirie, Scott building, a gem of a Victorian building designed by famous architect Louis Sullivan and located on State Street in Downtown Chicago. When Carsons moved out, Ned was forced to move to Wabash. I haven't been to the new shop but am planning on checking it out this summer. Willie rounded out my day, which is customary at Fred's shows, by purchasing some 1956 Topps baseball to send out for signatures.
On the buying front, I purchased a nice group of 1975 Topps minis, some 1955 Bowmans and a small grouping of 1965 Topps Embossed. I also purchased a few more autographs from Willie. Add in the stuff I got from Larry and I came home with quite a haul. Actually, between Orland on Saturday, my buddy in Kenosha, along with Bloomingdale on Sunday, I took in a tremendous amount of cards. I had a lot of fun Sunday night sorting through all this stuff.
Next week I'm heading back to the Two Hearts Banquet Hall in St. Louis for the St. Louis Sports Collectors Show. Bobby Tolan will be signing autos along with a former Blues goalie Ernie Wakely. The Sun-Times show is in Chicago this weekend and I find that I do better out of town when the Sun-Times show is in town. I will have my 1959 Topps baseball binder ready to go by Sunday and am planning on bringing out my dollar box and 50-cent boxes new for this show. I'm looking forward to Sunday and hope to see I nice big crowd at the Two Hearts show. If anyone in St. Louis has anything in particular that they want me to bring out, just let me know.
A big thank you goes out to everybody who came out to the Bloomingdale show. I had a great time! Thank you!!!
When I got home Saturday evening from Kenosha, I sorted some of the 1938 Our National Game pins I purchased (see yesterday's blog) for my wife to upload to eBay. I currently have 9 of those pins up. I also spent time going through boxes of cards to pull 1959s to load into my show binder. With the heroes of yesteryear on my mind, I passed out around midnight then overslept Sunday morning. I was the last dealer to arrive in Bloomingdale for the Indian Lakes Resort show. There were more dealers set up at this show than I have seen in years. Fred had his usual array of wax. Stark was set up with modern cards next to Fred. Over one table was Willie with all his autos. Then there was Ted with all his new stuff and one vintage card, a 1967 Topps Matty Alou, which he promptly gave to me. Thanks Ted! Del was set up next to Ted with dime boxes. Brian was set up next to Del with quarter boxes. A new guy was set up next to Brian with modern cards. Frank was set up next to the new guy with a mix of vintage and modern. I picked up a few 1954 Bowman football cards off Frank's table. On the inner ring, Bill from Milwaukee was there with his usual array of vintage, modern and autos. Don was next to Bill with vintage, modern and Cubs memorabilia. Rounding out a large circle of tables near the front of the room was Skip, with a large display of vintage and modern. I haven't seen Skip set up at a Fred show in a long time. I was set up in a circle on the far end of the room with Corky as my neighbor and his array of vintage and modern. Then there is a guy, I don't know his name, who I regularly see at the Bloomingdale show with an enormous inventory of modern cards. Between this group of dealers, we had an awesome display of cards and autos. I think the good size crowd that showed up today was appreciative of the inventory in the room because most spent hours at the show today flipping through cards.
Things started out slow for me today then picked up at the end. A new customer got things going by purchasing some Cubs from various years in the 1960s. He paid for the cards with quarters. He came back five our six times throughout the day and purchased a smattering of cards each time with quarters. I was weighed down with quarters by the end of the show. Bill told me that he took in a pile of quarters from the guy as well. Then my old friend Larry came by and showed me some recent purchases. He had a beautiful 1952 Topps Yogi Berra. This card had the richest color of any '52 Berra that I have ever seen. Larry wanted to compare the card to some '52s in my case to make sure the card was not trimmed. The card looked good to me. The only flaw was centering. Larry also picked up an absolutely beautiful 1953 Bowman Color Whitey Ford. We then worked out a cash and trade deal where Larry picked up my 1941 Double Play Jimmy Foxx and my 1953 Topps Whitey Ford in exchange for a pile of high grade 1959s and a few 1952 Bowman Tall football cards. Thanks Larry!
Next up was a father and son team that picked up a bunch of 1967 Topps baseball. A regular customer picked up a 1973 Topps Jack Youngblood then a bunch of 1972 Topps baseball commons. A new customer purchased some 1975 Topps baseball. A regular customer purchased a large pile of 1974 Topps baseball and an assortment of basketball from the 1970s. Ned picked up a pile of assorted commons from various years in the 1970s. Ned currently owns a card shop at 5 S. Wabash in Downtown Chicago. For years he was located inside the old Carson, Pirie, Scott building, a gem of a Victorian building designed by famous architect Louis Sullivan and located on State Street in Downtown Chicago. When Carsons moved out, Ned was forced to move to Wabash. I haven't been to the new shop but am planning on checking it out this summer. Willie rounded out my day, which is customary at Fred's shows, by purchasing some 1956 Topps baseball to send out for signatures.
On the buying front, I purchased a nice group of 1975 Topps minis, some 1955 Bowmans and a small grouping of 1965 Topps Embossed. I also purchased a few more autographs from Willie. Add in the stuff I got from Larry and I came home with quite a haul. Actually, between Orland on Saturday, my buddy in Kenosha, along with Bloomingdale on Sunday, I took in a tremendous amount of cards. I had a lot of fun Sunday night sorting through all this stuff.
Next week I'm heading back to the Two Hearts Banquet Hall in St. Louis for the St. Louis Sports Collectors Show. Bobby Tolan will be signing autos along with a former Blues goalie Ernie Wakely. The Sun-Times show is in Chicago this weekend and I find that I do better out of town when the Sun-Times show is in town. I will have my 1959 Topps baseball binder ready to go by Sunday and am planning on bringing out my dollar box and 50-cent boxes new for this show. I'm looking forward to Sunday and hope to see I nice big crowd at the Two Hearts show. If anyone in St. Louis has anything in particular that they want me to bring out, just let me know.
A big thank you goes out to everybody who came out to the Bloomingdale show. I had a great time! Thank you!!!
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