Wednesday, July 24, 2024, I-X Center, Cleveland, OH
After a lousy night's sleep in our deluxe luxury hotel suite, Dave and I ventured toward Downtown Cleveland around 8 a.m. Our destination -- Slyman's Deli. We have been talking about Slyman's ever since we first set up at the Strongsville show 15 years ago. Well, we finally made it there and Slyman's did not disappoint.
The deli was opened in the mid-1960's in an old neighborhood lined with old, tall houses and dotted with Victorian warehouses and churches. Inside is the grill to the left, a cashier straight ahead and a dining room to the right. The place felt and looked like an antique. The decor was a mixture of church revival and Three Stooges memorabilia... kind of weird decor for an old Jewish deli.
The menu had typical deli items. Dave went with a pastrami sandwich while I had the corned beef. We took our sandwiches back to the I-X Center and were blown away. Each sandwich featured a plateau of rye bread in-between mountains of meat. Showgoers stopped in their tracks when they saw Dave and I munching away on these sandwiches that sort of resembled bricks. Amazing. Delicious. Neither of us could finish our sandwiches.
After finishing my meal, I mostly sat around the booth for the next several hours. I was surprised by the lack of traffic in the building. In years past, there was steady traffic on Wednesday morning, even though the show does not officially open until 3:30 p.m. I can only guess that some rule changes implemented by the new management group in charge of the National resulted in the lack of customer traffic.
Here are the rule changes. Dealers are now given two badges, instead of three. The cost of additional badges increased from $60 to $100 and limits were placed on the number of badges each booth holder could purchase --- end result, hardly anybody was walking the show in the morning.
In addition, everyone in the building prior to the opening bell was required to wear a badge. I observed a security officer escort folks out of the building who were not wearing badges.
With no customers, I took some time to walk the show -- my first time walking the show in years. I observed quite a few vintage dealers with prices all over the board. I also observed a food court with seven or eight food and drink options. I purchased a cup of coffee from a coffee truck.
After obtaining my coffee, I ran into Tom and Anita Daniels, who have set up at every single National. Tom and Anita were set up by the front door. I love viewing their National set up which is so different from their Oak Creek set up. In Oak Creek, they largely bring out wax. At the National, the big guns are out like a 1952 Topps Jackie Robinson.
Not far from Tom and Anita, I saw Tony Schaefer's booth. I drooled at all of his T206s. Then I saw Dell and Jeff back by the dealer entrance.
Set up near me are the comic book guys from Detroit. Ash is down my aisle. I saw Jeremy and Chase set up down by the washroom. Lake Country Cards was set up near Dell and Jeff.
Even though early sales were slow, this may have been the most pleasant first day of the National I have ever had. I was so relaxed and had great energy because I had set up on Tuesday when in the past, I always set up on Wednesday which would tire me out for that first day.
Finally, at 3:30 p.m., the building started to fill up. Customers complained that automobile traffic outside of the venue was jammed up. Some said they waited an hour or so in traffic to enter the building's parking lot then once in the building there was another long wait in line to enter the show floor.
I saw a lot of frustrated faces in addition to quite a few friendly faces. A steady stream of folks I knew stopped by like Eddie, Chris, Scott, Jim, Al, other Jim, Dan, Larry, Nelson and many others. Of course, I found Willie looking through a stack of Wackys.
I enjoyed meeting Chris from Missouri, one of the many vintage sports card vloggers I follow on YouTube. What a nice guy!
Sales were a trickle up until 5 p.m. or so when they really picked up. I was very busy late in the day. In fact, I was busy up until the show ended at 8 p.m. I felt like I could continue to sell cards for hours more if the show was open later.
I had quite a few interesting conversations with showgoers. I met Tim from Naples, Florida, who told me he purchased a 1974 Lauglin Negro League set from Larry Fritch back in 1974. Tim said some of the high-grade slabbed cards are currently selling for $5.000 to $6,000. He asked for a recommendation on how to sell his set. I advised he take the set over to Heritage Auctions, which was located near my booth.
Tim later came back to my booth and said he took my advice and took the set to Heritage and they were very excited to receive it. I was happy to help out.
Then Steve from Lansing, Mich, came by and just about cleared out all of my hockey cards. Thanks Steve! I had a lot of nice sales. My first day at the 2024 National was much better than 2023. Dave had an excellent day as well.
Things were going so well, I was disappointed when the show closed for the day. I could have gone all night at this rate!
On the buying front, nada, nuttin', zilch. Nobody offered to sell me any cards. Though Tim said he would be back on Thursday with some things for me.
Dave and I left the building through the dealer exit to the back parking lot. It was a zoo out there. Traffic leaving the parking lot through the main entrance was at a standstill. Dave and I decided to drive to the back exit which moved much better.
We went over to a sports bar just minutes away from the I-X Center. Dave said that he ate there with PJ when they were set up at the Cleveland National in 2019. The bar was noisy. There was some sort of music trivia game going on with a DJ blaring music. Lots of TVs channeled to either the Guardians-Tigers game or the Yankees-Mets.
Dave and I decided to order wings. The pretty waitress brought out a huge pile of tasty wings. We enjoyed our meal.
Afterwards, it was back to the luxury suite for another lousy night of sleep. Day one of the 2024 National was in the books.
Now for some photos:
After a lousy night's sleep in our deluxe luxury hotel suite, Dave and I ventured toward Downtown Cleveland around 8 a.m. Our destination -- Slyman's Deli. We have been talking about Slyman's ever since we first set up at the Strongsville show 15 years ago. Well, we finally made it there and Slyman's did not disappoint.
The deli was opened in the mid-1960's in an old neighborhood lined with old, tall houses and dotted with Victorian warehouses and churches. Inside is the grill to the left, a cashier straight ahead and a dining room to the right. The place felt and looked like an antique. The decor was a mixture of church revival and Three Stooges memorabilia... kind of weird decor for an old Jewish deli.
The menu had typical deli items. Dave went with a pastrami sandwich while I had the corned beef. We took our sandwiches back to the I-X Center and were blown away. Each sandwich featured a plateau of rye bread in-between mountains of meat. Showgoers stopped in their tracks when they saw Dave and I munching away on these sandwiches that sort of resembled bricks. Amazing. Delicious. Neither of us could finish our sandwiches.
After finishing my meal, I mostly sat around the booth for the next several hours. I was surprised by the lack of traffic in the building. In years past, there was steady traffic on Wednesday morning, even though the show does not officially open until 3:30 p.m. I can only guess that some rule changes implemented by the new management group in charge of the National resulted in the lack of customer traffic.
Here are the rule changes. Dealers are now given two badges, instead of three. The cost of additional badges increased from $60 to $100 and limits were placed on the number of badges each booth holder could purchase --- end result, hardly anybody was walking the show in the morning.
In addition, everyone in the building prior to the opening bell was required to wear a badge. I observed a security officer escort folks out of the building who were not wearing badges.
With no customers, I took some time to walk the show -- my first time walking the show in years. I observed quite a few vintage dealers with prices all over the board. I also observed a food court with seven or eight food and drink options. I purchased a cup of coffee from a coffee truck.
After obtaining my coffee, I ran into Tom and Anita Daniels, who have set up at every single National. Tom and Anita were set up by the front door. I love viewing their National set up which is so different from their Oak Creek set up. In Oak Creek, they largely bring out wax. At the National, the big guns are out like a 1952 Topps Jackie Robinson.
Not far from Tom and Anita, I saw Tony Schaefer's booth. I drooled at all of his T206s. Then I saw Dell and Jeff back by the dealer entrance.
Set up near me are the comic book guys from Detroit. Ash is down my aisle. I saw Jeremy and Chase set up down by the washroom. Lake Country Cards was set up near Dell and Jeff.
Even though early sales were slow, this may have been the most pleasant first day of the National I have ever had. I was so relaxed and had great energy because I had set up on Tuesday when in the past, I always set up on Wednesday which would tire me out for that first day.
Finally, at 3:30 p.m., the building started to fill up. Customers complained that automobile traffic outside of the venue was jammed up. Some said they waited an hour or so in traffic to enter the building's parking lot then once in the building there was another long wait in line to enter the show floor.
I saw a lot of frustrated faces in addition to quite a few friendly faces. A steady stream of folks I knew stopped by like Eddie, Chris, Scott, Jim, Al, other Jim, Dan, Larry, Nelson and many others. Of course, I found Willie looking through a stack of Wackys.
I enjoyed meeting Chris from Missouri, one of the many vintage sports card vloggers I follow on YouTube. What a nice guy!
Sales were a trickle up until 5 p.m. or so when they really picked up. I was very busy late in the day. In fact, I was busy up until the show ended at 8 p.m. I felt like I could continue to sell cards for hours more if the show was open later.
I had quite a few interesting conversations with showgoers. I met Tim from Naples, Florida, who told me he purchased a 1974 Lauglin Negro League set from Larry Fritch back in 1974. Tim said some of the high-grade slabbed cards are currently selling for $5.000 to $6,000. He asked for a recommendation on how to sell his set. I advised he take the set over to Heritage Auctions, which was located near my booth.
Tim later came back to my booth and said he took my advice and took the set to Heritage and they were very excited to receive it. I was happy to help out.
Then Steve from Lansing, Mich, came by and just about cleared out all of my hockey cards. Thanks Steve! I had a lot of nice sales. My first day at the 2024 National was much better than 2023. Dave had an excellent day as well.
Things were going so well, I was disappointed when the show closed for the day. I could have gone all night at this rate!
On the buying front, nada, nuttin', zilch. Nobody offered to sell me any cards. Though Tim said he would be back on Thursday with some things for me.
Dave and I left the building through the dealer exit to the back parking lot. It was a zoo out there. Traffic leaving the parking lot through the main entrance was at a standstill. Dave and I decided to drive to the back exit which moved much better.
We went over to a sports bar just minutes away from the I-X Center. Dave said that he ate there with PJ when they were set up at the Cleveland National in 2019. The bar was noisy. There was some sort of music trivia game going on with a DJ blaring music. Lots of TVs channeled to either the Guardians-Tigers game or the Yankees-Mets.
Dave and I decided to order wings. The pretty waitress brought out a huge pile of tasty wings. We enjoyed our meal.
Afterwards, it was back to the luxury suite for another lousy night of sleep. Day one of the 2024 National was in the books.
Now for some photos:
Pictured above is your hero with Anita and Tom Daniels.
Pictured above is a 1971 Bazooka Hockey panel -- I never knew these existed, so cool!
Pictured above is one of Tony Schaefer's display cases.
In another display case, Tony had all these autographed Mickey Mantle cards, pictured above.
I observed this random Jerome Walton mask on a dealer's table near the front entrance. I also saw quite a few dealer tables with similar stuff that was not worth the price of the booth. Puzzling.
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