Saturday, April 2, 2022, Salvation Army Community Center, Oak Creek, WI
This may have been my smoothest show to date. Really no issues to report. I was up at 4 a.m. and made it to Oak Creek before 6 a.m. I had to rearrange quite a few tables which was hard to do, I broke a sweat. I am much too old and out of shape to be moving tables around.
Once I had everything figured out, I opened the doors to the dealers around 7:30 a.m. I placed myself in Fellowship Hall again. I kind of like that spot. I was able to add a bunch of new dealers who had to bring their own tables. I noticed I had a few spots open in the front hallway and will add a couple more dealers there next month.
Huge crowd! You guys are awesome!! We had more than 660 people through the door. Many folks kindly gave more than $1 to the Salvation Army. Thank you! We raised more than $800 for the Salvation Army in addition to the proceeds from the concession stand. Thank you everybody! Those funds will help a lot of people in need!
Speaking of the concession stand, Mark reported that he brought more food this month because everything sold out last month. Everything sold out again! I was able to grab a Sloppy Joe in the morning then a brat in the afternoon. Good stuff.
I am amazed that folks notice when the Sloppy Joes are cooked differently. A bunch of people told me they tasted a difference in the Sloppy Joes last month. I was unable to taste any difference at all. This month, the Sloppies were back to the original recipe and everybody was pleased.
A big thank you to the Salvation Army's Mark Lewis who keeps the show running smoothly. His wonderful wife Debbie volunteered to work the front door. Then there were three more volunteers in the concession stand. We appreciate you guys!!
I noticed a lot more people browsing in Fellowship Hall this month. The gym, Fellowship Hall and the Game Room were crowded all day long, even when it started to snow outside. It was nice to have the front hallway open again. I was real happy to have Troy Kinunan from MEARS Auctions along with his son Troy Jr. set up in the hallway.
This was my largest show to date with 71 dealers and 111 tables. I limit all dealers to two tables each, many don't like it, but it enables me to get more dealers into the show. My waiting list is still at 60-plus.
There was so much cool stuff at the show! See below.
This may have been my smoothest show to date. Really no issues to report. I was up at 4 a.m. and made it to Oak Creek before 6 a.m. I had to rearrange quite a few tables which was hard to do, I broke a sweat. I am much too old and out of shape to be moving tables around.
Once I had everything figured out, I opened the doors to the dealers around 7:30 a.m. I placed myself in Fellowship Hall again. I kind of like that spot. I was able to add a bunch of new dealers who had to bring their own tables. I noticed I had a few spots open in the front hallway and will add a couple more dealers there next month.
Huge crowd! You guys are awesome!! We had more than 660 people through the door. Many folks kindly gave more than $1 to the Salvation Army. Thank you! We raised more than $800 for the Salvation Army in addition to the proceeds from the concession stand. Thank you everybody! Those funds will help a lot of people in need!
Speaking of the concession stand, Mark reported that he brought more food this month because everything sold out last month. Everything sold out again! I was able to grab a Sloppy Joe in the morning then a brat in the afternoon. Good stuff.
I am amazed that folks notice when the Sloppy Joes are cooked differently. A bunch of people told me they tasted a difference in the Sloppy Joes last month. I was unable to taste any difference at all. This month, the Sloppies were back to the original recipe and everybody was pleased.
A big thank you to the Salvation Army's Mark Lewis who keeps the show running smoothly. His wonderful wife Debbie volunteered to work the front door. Then there were three more volunteers in the concession stand. We appreciate you guys!!
I noticed a lot more people browsing in Fellowship Hall this month. The gym, Fellowship Hall and the Game Room were crowded all day long, even when it started to snow outside. It was nice to have the front hallway open again. I was real happy to have Troy Kinunan from MEARS Auctions along with his son Troy Jr. set up in the hallway.
This was my largest show to date with 71 dealers and 111 tables. I limit all dealers to two tables each, many don't like it, but it enables me to get more dealers into the show. My waiting list is still at 60-plus.
There was so much cool stuff at the show! See below.
At my tables, sales were solid. I was there for about an hour and a half in the morning before I had to take off and collect table fee from the dealers. I really appreciate the dealers that came by my table early to pay me. Saves me a ton of time.
I'm trying to remember who was at my tables buying cards. There was Robert, Jeff, Jim, Jerome, and many regular customers, whose names I can't seem to remember. One regular customer showed me a photo of his mancave. Oh my! He had shelves upon shelves of autographs, cards and memorabilia on display. May be the coolest display I have ever seen!
On the buying front, I bought a stack of cards from Jim. I also purchased a stack of late-1970's basketball from Jeff. Then a guy came by who was looking for some help on how to sell his collection. He pulled out a baseball signed by the 1931 New York Giants. I directed him to Troy from MEARS for the ball. Then he told me he had a large amount of cards from the 1980s. I sent him over to Jeff Talamantez.
Shortly afterwards, Jeff sent him back to me because he pulled out a pile of vintage rookie cards including a Stan Musial Rookie and a Bob Gibson Rookie. I asked him for a price on the cards and he would not give me one. He said they were very valuable. Jeff and I think he looked up the prices for PSA 9s, not the off-grade raw he showed us. I think he is gravely mistaken -- which happens, oh, so often. People see the graded listings and don't look at the sold raw listings on eBay. They also often fail to match the listings to the condition of their cards, so they think they have much more value than they actually do. I'd be surprised if I do any business with this guy down the road.
Anyway, my helper for the day was Jason, who was unable to attend the past few shows. I was happy to see him and really needed his help because Rachel had to work at her real job. Congratulations on the promotion Rachel!
I owe Rachel's dad an assist on helping me make one of my best card purchases ever at this show. A guy walked in with a binder containing a near-set of 1951 Bowman baseball. He said he inherited the cards from his grandfather. He had the Mantle and Mays slabbed and sold them at the recent Sports Spectacular in Rosemont, IL -- damn! But the remaining cards were pretty good like a Whitey Ford Rookie, Nellie Fox rookie, Ted Williams, Yogi Berra, Duke Snider, Bob Feller, Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella and more. See below.
I'm trying to remember who was at my tables buying cards. There was Robert, Jeff, Jim, Jerome, and many regular customers, whose names I can't seem to remember. One regular customer showed me a photo of his mancave. Oh my! He had shelves upon shelves of autographs, cards and memorabilia on display. May be the coolest display I have ever seen!
On the buying front, I bought a stack of cards from Jim. I also purchased a stack of late-1970's basketball from Jeff. Then a guy came by who was looking for some help on how to sell his collection. He pulled out a baseball signed by the 1931 New York Giants. I directed him to Troy from MEARS for the ball. Then he told me he had a large amount of cards from the 1980s. I sent him over to Jeff Talamantez.
Shortly afterwards, Jeff sent him back to me because he pulled out a pile of vintage rookie cards including a Stan Musial Rookie and a Bob Gibson Rookie. I asked him for a price on the cards and he would not give me one. He said they were very valuable. Jeff and I think he looked up the prices for PSA 9s, not the off-grade raw he showed us. I think he is gravely mistaken -- which happens, oh, so often. People see the graded listings and don't look at the sold raw listings on eBay. They also often fail to match the listings to the condition of their cards, so they think they have much more value than they actually do. I'd be surprised if I do any business with this guy down the road.
Anyway, my helper for the day was Jason, who was unable to attend the past few shows. I was happy to see him and really needed his help because Rachel had to work at her real job. Congratulations on the promotion Rachel!
I owe Rachel's dad an assist on helping me make one of my best card purchases ever at this show. A guy walked in with a binder containing a near-set of 1951 Bowman baseball. He said he inherited the cards from his grandfather. He had the Mantle and Mays slabbed and sold them at the recent Sports Spectacular in Rosemont, IL -- damn! But the remaining cards were pretty good like a Whitey Ford Rookie, Nellie Fox rookie, Ted Williams, Yogi Berra, Duke Snider, Bob Feller, Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella and more. See below.
I could not pay him fast enough for the cards. Only problem was, I did not go home with any money but I can't really complain because I can't stop flipping through this binder of cards. Initially, I was thinking about trying to finish off the set but in reality, I'll never get the Mantle and Mays. I did a quick search for the Mantle in the eBay sold listings and the cheapest one was $14K.
I was in a pretty great mood on Saturday because we had such a great turn out, all of the dealers showed up and they were all fantastic. I sold a lot of cards and bought those '51 Bowmans. Woot!
But, man, was I tired!! No rest for the weary because after the show I went to look at long-time customer Wally's collection. He told me he is turning 80 and figures it is time to sell. I don't know. If you enjoy collecting, why stop? I think a better way to go is to keep on collecting and leave some instructions for your family on how to properly sell off the collection when your time is up.
I just can't see myself ever stopping -- I enjoy it too much! I really need to take my own advice and write down some instructions for my wife and kids just in case my time comes up sooner than later.
I would really like to see my wife and kids sell my cards on eBay because I think that way they will make the greatest profit. Though, I don't think they will spend the time needed to sell the cards on eBay. I'm thinking, I'll give them a second option and leave them with a list of auction houses like Wisconsin's own MEARS and Just Collect. There are so many auction houses out there but the others kind of pick and choose from collections as to what they will sell. I think MEARS and Just Collect will take collections as a whole and sell them off.
Plus, I just do not trust many of the other auction houses like PWCC and Heritage. The troubles with PWCC are well documented. I am probably one of the few that doesn't like Heritage. My issues with Heritage stem from the fact that they allow their employees to bid which I think is a huge conflict of interest. Heritage will also loan funds to certain bidders so you are essentially bidding against the house. I also have had a terrible time with Heritage shipping items I have won at auction in a reasonable time.
It would be great to start a discussion on how to help families liquidate collections. There are many options out there. What do you guys think?
Anyway, it was really nice to go over to Wally's house, see his collection and to chat. He has an interesting collection. He has binders upon binders of NFL quarterbacks, dating from the 1950's to now. Much of the collection features modern cards. As a vintage dealer, I don't have buyers for this stuff. He also had some binders of old Braves and modern Brewers. He wants to sell everything at once for about $2,000. There are about 20 binders. If anybody, is interested, let me know and I'll pass your information on to Wally.
What a great day! Thank you everybody for making my card show one of the best around! You guys are awesome!
Well, I don't think we are going to be able to fit any more people into the building but things will be tight next month, May 7, when Nick from Midwest Sports Buffet is bringing in former Packers Dorsey Levens, Craig Newsome and Shannon Clavelle to sign autographs.
Originally, we were thinking of placing the autograph guests on the stage in the Game Room but after seeing the crowds in there on Saturday, I may place them in the Chapel, next to the hallway.
The May 7th show should be another chart topper. Hope you can make it! Pictured below are more photos from the April 2nd show.
I was in a pretty great mood on Saturday because we had such a great turn out, all of the dealers showed up and they were all fantastic. I sold a lot of cards and bought those '51 Bowmans. Woot!
But, man, was I tired!! No rest for the weary because after the show I went to look at long-time customer Wally's collection. He told me he is turning 80 and figures it is time to sell. I don't know. If you enjoy collecting, why stop? I think a better way to go is to keep on collecting and leave some instructions for your family on how to properly sell off the collection when your time is up.
I just can't see myself ever stopping -- I enjoy it too much! I really need to take my own advice and write down some instructions for my wife and kids just in case my time comes up sooner than later.
I would really like to see my wife and kids sell my cards on eBay because I think that way they will make the greatest profit. Though, I don't think they will spend the time needed to sell the cards on eBay. I'm thinking, I'll give them a second option and leave them with a list of auction houses like Wisconsin's own MEARS and Just Collect. There are so many auction houses out there but the others kind of pick and choose from collections as to what they will sell. I think MEARS and Just Collect will take collections as a whole and sell them off.
Plus, I just do not trust many of the other auction houses like PWCC and Heritage. The troubles with PWCC are well documented. I am probably one of the few that doesn't like Heritage. My issues with Heritage stem from the fact that they allow their employees to bid which I think is a huge conflict of interest. Heritage will also loan funds to certain bidders so you are essentially bidding against the house. I also have had a terrible time with Heritage shipping items I have won at auction in a reasonable time.
It would be great to start a discussion on how to help families liquidate collections. There are many options out there. What do you guys think?
Anyway, it was really nice to go over to Wally's house, see his collection and to chat. He has an interesting collection. He has binders upon binders of NFL quarterbacks, dating from the 1950's to now. Much of the collection features modern cards. As a vintage dealer, I don't have buyers for this stuff. He also had some binders of old Braves and modern Brewers. He wants to sell everything at once for about $2,000. There are about 20 binders. If anybody, is interested, let me know and I'll pass your information on to Wally.
What a great day! Thank you everybody for making my card show one of the best around! You guys are awesome!
Well, I don't think we are going to be able to fit any more people into the building but things will be tight next month, May 7, when Nick from Midwest Sports Buffet is bringing in former Packers Dorsey Levens, Craig Newsome and Shannon Clavelle to sign autographs.
Originally, we were thinking of placing the autograph guests on the stage in the Game Room but after seeing the crowds in there on Saturday, I may place them in the Chapel, next to the hallway.
The May 7th show should be another chart topper. Hope you can make it! Pictured below are more photos from the April 2nd show.
Stan the Man! Love this guy!!
Thanks again everybody! See you at the next Oak Creek show on May 7th!!
Thanks again everybody! See you at the next Oak Creek show on May 7th!!
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