Saturday, July 6, 2024, Salvation Army Community Center, Oak Creek, WI
Operating the Oak Creek Card Show is pretty much a seven-day-of-the-week job with calls, messages and texts coming in every single day. So, spending a week in Hawaii put me behind. I tried to respond to messages while on vacation but it was difficult. Then I was terribly jet-lagged the week after the trip. As a result, I really had to hustle during the two weeks prior to the show to respond to messages, check in with most of the 125 regularly dealers, contact folks on the waiting list, and list the show all over the internet. It was a big job but I got it done!
I was a little worried with attendance since the show was scheduled over the Fourth of July weekend which inspired me to promote the event extra hard. I was still trying to fill a few dealer spots on the Friday before the show. I had some dealers initially commit then back out, so I worked the waiting list to fill the spots. I think I ended up with eight or nine new dealers, maybe more. I was able to fill all 185 tables and even added a few guys in the morning to fill some opens spots I did not even realize I had. I think we had 187 tables, as the final tally. I could fill many more tables but I just don't have the space. I only had one no-show dealer, a new record!
Lisa and I arrived at the Salvation Army on Friday around 6 p.m. where we were met by our superstar helpers George and Kristy. It took us only two hours to set everything up. After set up, the four of us went over to El Beso Mexican Restaurant, 909 W. Layton, Milwaukee.
Wow! El Beso is huge and super cool. They have an outdoor patio with a waterfall. We would have sat out there but the temperature dropped outside and it was awfully windy as a storm was approaching. We sat in a booth inside the multi-level restaurant. The group started off with margaritas. I was designated driver and did not drink. Lisa had a few!
To eat, I went with the steak fajitas which turned out to be the largest order of fajitas I have ever received. The food was delicious. Kristy went with a fish enchiladas. George had tamales and Lisa had flautas. We all enjoyed our food.
We arrived at our hotel around 11 p.m. We found it tough to fall asleep as the neighborhood was booming with fireworks well into the wee hours of the morning.
We made it to the Salvation Army around 7 a.m. and there was already a large number of dealers loading into the building. Normally, I do not give myself a dealer spot until later in the morning. I like to plug myself into a spot where a dealer cancels at the last minute -- that way I limit the open spots that day. I like to have all the spots filled but there are always last-minute cancellations and dealer no-shows. It is kind of a hassle to do it this way, so on Friday I decided to give myself the first spot in the front hallway to the right.
This spot has extra room, so I was able to give myself three six-f0ot tables by creating a little U-shaped spot. I brought out all of my binders. I was determined to have a better show after a real lousy show in June.
I was set up by 8 a.m. Unfortunately, I can't just sit by my tables and chill. I have to patrol the building because some of the new dealers always do something stupid like switch name tags on tables and switch their spot which really screws us up. For one, most dealers like their regular spots and throw a fit when a numbnut moves their spot. So I try to keep everyone at their regular spot. There is always some new idiot that will move their spot and piss off one of the regular dealers.
Secondly, I have every inch of space of the building mapped out and we use these maps to collect table fee. I also do not know every dealer's name, so I use the map to identify each dealer. So when they move their spot, we don't know who they are and we don't know whether or not they paid table fee. Honestly, it really pisses me off when dealers switch their space. Why would you do that? I would never do that! Just set up in your assigned space!!
I caught one dealer switching spots early on and was able to move him to his assigned spot. I missed another dealer who moved his spot and only learned about it when Lisa tried to collect table fee and could not figure out who was who because the numbnut moved his spot. I went over, figured it out and gave the offender a dressing down. I don't think he will do that again!
Another problem I have occurs when a dealer or customer takes a chair with a name-tag on it. Most dealers at this show bring their own table. I place a chair in their location with a name tag on it and the dealer is supposed to set up their table in front of the chair. I even measure out the distance between chairs on Friday night, so each dealer has 8-feet of table space and a foot between their neighbor to separate each dealer. Some numbnut will swipe the chair with the name-tag at every show. Drives me nuts. Someone swiped one of my chairs in the gym. I think it may have been a customer who arrived way early and sat down at Dell's booth. I could not tell for sure because he sat there for a few hours and I could not see the name tag under his bottom but I think it was him. I am going to watch out for this guy at the August show.
It really sucks that so many customers arrive well before the show officially opens at 9 a.m. I think I am heading toward closing all the doors except the front door in the morning and sitting at the door to keep customers out until 9 a.m. Customers that come early really just suck. You folks need to arrive at 9 a.m., not 6 a.m., not 7 a.m., not 8 a.m. but 9 a.m.! Early customer arrivals cause many problems like stealing my chairs with the name tags. We also are worried these folks will steal from the dealers while they are setting up. Then there is the fact that we cannot get an accurate head count with so many people coming in before our Salvation Army volunteer is set up at the front door. I am really starting to get frustrated with the early arrivals.
So I was a little pissed off early on but mellowed out as I viewed hordes of folks come into the show from my little perch by the front door. Wow! What a crowd! To think I was concerned prior to the show! We counted 945 people at the front desk but I know many more entered earlier on without making their $1 donation to the Salvation Army -- another reason why early arrivals suck! We are trying to raise funds for the Salvation Army! These early scofflaws can't pay a buck to charity? Man, they suck!
I was real busy at my tables all morning. My newly reloaded 1967 Topps baseball binder got hammered. Dave pulled out a ton of cards! Thanks Dave! Jeff pulled a nice pile from my newly reloaded 1957 Topps football binder. Thanks Jeff! Many others found cards at my tables. Thank you everyone! I had a much better show than June. I am so appreciative. Lisa and I really enjoyed hanging out with Craig and Doreen! Thanks guys!!
On the buying front, I picked up a few things. Larry had a 1964-65 Chicago Blackhawks program for me. That one is going into the PC. Thanks Larry! Then at the end of the show, Mark sold me a slabbed 1959 Topps Warren Spahn and a 1961 Topps Stan Musual. Smaller haul than I had hoped for but I'll take it. There was a guy who brought in some cards from his personal collection. He had some great stuff like a Ryan rookie and some Mantles but he was not selling. He wanted to get an idea on the value of his cards. Too bad. I really wanted that Ryan rookie. I told him it was about a $600 card. He said someone offered him $1,000. I advised he accept the offer!
In other news, as you know, I give away packs of cards to all who come to my table and ask for one. I purchase boxes of cards from the wax dealers at the show to give away. I give away pretty good stuff and spend quite a bit of money on these boxes. On this day, I purchased a few boxes of 2022 and 2021 Topps baseball. Mostly kids come over and ask for packs. Later, I learned that one kid pulled a rare Ronald Acuna card valued around $600. I love it!
Overall, a tremendous day. Most dealers reported excellent sales. I really enjoyed seeing the large crowd and many smiles on faces throughout the building. A huge thank you to everyone who attended the show! No thanks to the early arrivals and the numbnut dealers who switch their tables!!
Lastly, I want to quickly discuss the big theft in Dallas that has the hobby buzzing. We all know Ash, the Dallas dealer with the mega vintage inventory. I have taken photos of his tables and posted them in my blogs many times. Ash sets up all over the country. He also used to visit the Oak Creek show regularly to buy cards. He was here so often, I thought he was local and was surprised to later learn he lives in Dallas.
Anyway, if you haven't heard by now, a group of thieves obviously staked him out and planned a major theft which they accomplished last week. Everyone should be on the lookout for big-ticket vintage cards being offered for sale at cheap prices.
This has become a national news story. See link: Baseball trading cards worth $2 million allegedly stolen from Dallas card show - CBSSports.com
So sorry this happened to Ash, one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. I really hope these cards are recovered and the thieves end up in prison!
Next up for me is the Rockford show on Saturday, July 13, 2024, at the IBEW Local 364, 6820 Mill Road, in Rockford, Illinois. I should have my 1957 Topps baseball binder reloaded by Saturday. I don't have any thing planned for Sunday. There are a couple new shows scheduled on Sunday in Hartford, WI, and in the Wisconsin Dells. I considered setting up at one of these shows but I just don't think there will be any vintage buyers at these shows. If anyone attends these shows, let me know if there was any vintage there. Maybe I'll give it a try down the road. I may end up at the Wilmot Flea Market on Sunday. I was set up there a few weeks ago and did real lousy. I am not sure I will be motivated to go on Sunday but I just might!
A big thank you to everyone who follows my blog. I receive so many nice comments at the shows, I really appreciate it!!
Hope to see you soon!!
Next Oak Creek show is August 3. As usual, dealer tables are sold out. To get on my waiting list, send me your contact info to [email protected].
Now for some photos from the July 6, Oak Creek show:
Operating the Oak Creek Card Show is pretty much a seven-day-of-the-week job with calls, messages and texts coming in every single day. So, spending a week in Hawaii put me behind. I tried to respond to messages while on vacation but it was difficult. Then I was terribly jet-lagged the week after the trip. As a result, I really had to hustle during the two weeks prior to the show to respond to messages, check in with most of the 125 regularly dealers, contact folks on the waiting list, and list the show all over the internet. It was a big job but I got it done!
I was a little worried with attendance since the show was scheduled over the Fourth of July weekend which inspired me to promote the event extra hard. I was still trying to fill a few dealer spots on the Friday before the show. I had some dealers initially commit then back out, so I worked the waiting list to fill the spots. I think I ended up with eight or nine new dealers, maybe more. I was able to fill all 185 tables and even added a few guys in the morning to fill some opens spots I did not even realize I had. I think we had 187 tables, as the final tally. I could fill many more tables but I just don't have the space. I only had one no-show dealer, a new record!
Lisa and I arrived at the Salvation Army on Friday around 6 p.m. where we were met by our superstar helpers George and Kristy. It took us only two hours to set everything up. After set up, the four of us went over to El Beso Mexican Restaurant, 909 W. Layton, Milwaukee.
Wow! El Beso is huge and super cool. They have an outdoor patio with a waterfall. We would have sat out there but the temperature dropped outside and it was awfully windy as a storm was approaching. We sat in a booth inside the multi-level restaurant. The group started off with margaritas. I was designated driver and did not drink. Lisa had a few!
To eat, I went with the steak fajitas which turned out to be the largest order of fajitas I have ever received. The food was delicious. Kristy went with a fish enchiladas. George had tamales and Lisa had flautas. We all enjoyed our food.
We arrived at our hotel around 11 p.m. We found it tough to fall asleep as the neighborhood was booming with fireworks well into the wee hours of the morning.
We made it to the Salvation Army around 7 a.m. and there was already a large number of dealers loading into the building. Normally, I do not give myself a dealer spot until later in the morning. I like to plug myself into a spot where a dealer cancels at the last minute -- that way I limit the open spots that day. I like to have all the spots filled but there are always last-minute cancellations and dealer no-shows. It is kind of a hassle to do it this way, so on Friday I decided to give myself the first spot in the front hallway to the right.
This spot has extra room, so I was able to give myself three six-f0ot tables by creating a little U-shaped spot. I brought out all of my binders. I was determined to have a better show after a real lousy show in June.
I was set up by 8 a.m. Unfortunately, I can't just sit by my tables and chill. I have to patrol the building because some of the new dealers always do something stupid like switch name tags on tables and switch their spot which really screws us up. For one, most dealers like their regular spots and throw a fit when a numbnut moves their spot. So I try to keep everyone at their regular spot. There is always some new idiot that will move their spot and piss off one of the regular dealers.
Secondly, I have every inch of space of the building mapped out and we use these maps to collect table fee. I also do not know every dealer's name, so I use the map to identify each dealer. So when they move their spot, we don't know who they are and we don't know whether or not they paid table fee. Honestly, it really pisses me off when dealers switch their space. Why would you do that? I would never do that! Just set up in your assigned space!!
I caught one dealer switching spots early on and was able to move him to his assigned spot. I missed another dealer who moved his spot and only learned about it when Lisa tried to collect table fee and could not figure out who was who because the numbnut moved his spot. I went over, figured it out and gave the offender a dressing down. I don't think he will do that again!
Another problem I have occurs when a dealer or customer takes a chair with a name-tag on it. Most dealers at this show bring their own table. I place a chair in their location with a name tag on it and the dealer is supposed to set up their table in front of the chair. I even measure out the distance between chairs on Friday night, so each dealer has 8-feet of table space and a foot between their neighbor to separate each dealer. Some numbnut will swipe the chair with the name-tag at every show. Drives me nuts. Someone swiped one of my chairs in the gym. I think it may have been a customer who arrived way early and sat down at Dell's booth. I could not tell for sure because he sat there for a few hours and I could not see the name tag under his bottom but I think it was him. I am going to watch out for this guy at the August show.
It really sucks that so many customers arrive well before the show officially opens at 9 a.m. I think I am heading toward closing all the doors except the front door in the morning and sitting at the door to keep customers out until 9 a.m. Customers that come early really just suck. You folks need to arrive at 9 a.m., not 6 a.m., not 7 a.m., not 8 a.m. but 9 a.m.! Early customer arrivals cause many problems like stealing my chairs with the name tags. We also are worried these folks will steal from the dealers while they are setting up. Then there is the fact that we cannot get an accurate head count with so many people coming in before our Salvation Army volunteer is set up at the front door. I am really starting to get frustrated with the early arrivals.
So I was a little pissed off early on but mellowed out as I viewed hordes of folks come into the show from my little perch by the front door. Wow! What a crowd! To think I was concerned prior to the show! We counted 945 people at the front desk but I know many more entered earlier on without making their $1 donation to the Salvation Army -- another reason why early arrivals suck! We are trying to raise funds for the Salvation Army! These early scofflaws can't pay a buck to charity? Man, they suck!
I was real busy at my tables all morning. My newly reloaded 1967 Topps baseball binder got hammered. Dave pulled out a ton of cards! Thanks Dave! Jeff pulled a nice pile from my newly reloaded 1957 Topps football binder. Thanks Jeff! Many others found cards at my tables. Thank you everyone! I had a much better show than June. I am so appreciative. Lisa and I really enjoyed hanging out with Craig and Doreen! Thanks guys!!
On the buying front, I picked up a few things. Larry had a 1964-65 Chicago Blackhawks program for me. That one is going into the PC. Thanks Larry! Then at the end of the show, Mark sold me a slabbed 1959 Topps Warren Spahn and a 1961 Topps Stan Musual. Smaller haul than I had hoped for but I'll take it. There was a guy who brought in some cards from his personal collection. He had some great stuff like a Ryan rookie and some Mantles but he was not selling. He wanted to get an idea on the value of his cards. Too bad. I really wanted that Ryan rookie. I told him it was about a $600 card. He said someone offered him $1,000. I advised he accept the offer!
In other news, as you know, I give away packs of cards to all who come to my table and ask for one. I purchase boxes of cards from the wax dealers at the show to give away. I give away pretty good stuff and spend quite a bit of money on these boxes. On this day, I purchased a few boxes of 2022 and 2021 Topps baseball. Mostly kids come over and ask for packs. Later, I learned that one kid pulled a rare Ronald Acuna card valued around $600. I love it!
Overall, a tremendous day. Most dealers reported excellent sales. I really enjoyed seeing the large crowd and many smiles on faces throughout the building. A huge thank you to everyone who attended the show! No thanks to the early arrivals and the numbnut dealers who switch their tables!!
Lastly, I want to quickly discuss the big theft in Dallas that has the hobby buzzing. We all know Ash, the Dallas dealer with the mega vintage inventory. I have taken photos of his tables and posted them in my blogs many times. Ash sets up all over the country. He also used to visit the Oak Creek show regularly to buy cards. He was here so often, I thought he was local and was surprised to later learn he lives in Dallas.
Anyway, if you haven't heard by now, a group of thieves obviously staked him out and planned a major theft which they accomplished last week. Everyone should be on the lookout for big-ticket vintage cards being offered for sale at cheap prices.
This has become a national news story. See link: Baseball trading cards worth $2 million allegedly stolen from Dallas card show - CBSSports.com
So sorry this happened to Ash, one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. I really hope these cards are recovered and the thieves end up in prison!
Next up for me is the Rockford show on Saturday, July 13, 2024, at the IBEW Local 364, 6820 Mill Road, in Rockford, Illinois. I should have my 1957 Topps baseball binder reloaded by Saturday. I don't have any thing planned for Sunday. There are a couple new shows scheduled on Sunday in Hartford, WI, and in the Wisconsin Dells. I considered setting up at one of these shows but I just don't think there will be any vintage buyers at these shows. If anyone attends these shows, let me know if there was any vintage there. Maybe I'll give it a try down the road. I may end up at the Wilmot Flea Market on Sunday. I was set up there a few weeks ago and did real lousy. I am not sure I will be motivated to go on Sunday but I just might!
A big thank you to everyone who follows my blog. I receive so many nice comments at the shows, I really appreciate it!!
Hope to see you soon!!
Next Oak Creek show is August 3. As usual, dealer tables are sold out. To get on my waiting list, send me your contact info to [email protected].
Now for some photos from the July 6, Oak Creek show:
Thanks again everybody! What a great show! I think that was one of our best ever! Next one is August 3. See you there!!
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