The first three days of the 2024 National were excellent for both buying and selling. However, once the weekend hit, everything came to a standstill for me. There was a huge crowd on Saturday, but hardly anyone was interested in my stuff. Sales were abysmal on Saturday, unlike the 2023 National in Rosemont where my sales were outstanding. I don't quite understand it. I was on a pace to set a new record for sales this year but Saturday changed all that. I was soooo disappointed.
With little happening at my booth, I walked around the show a bit which was fun. I found Gary, Dennis, Mike and Nelson in the other room. Tim Payne was nearby. If you kept walking to the north wall, there was the Breaker Pavilion which I do not understand at all. Seems like a huge waste of space to me.
In the Breaker Pavilion there is booth after booth of guys sitting at desks wearing headphones and looking into a camera while opening packs of cards. Pretty much no one at the show paid them any attention. Maybe there were folks online following along. I think a better use of the space would be to add more card dealers. Why not move the breakers to a basement room? I mean, nobody, absolutely nobody, was watching them. It just looked like they were sitting around talking to themselves.
Then on Sunday, my sales were worse than Saturday. Again, I had a decent Sunday last year in Rosemont but no such luck this year. Also, the place was empty. There was maybe 25 percent of the Saturday crowd. Felt like a waste of time.
Dave and I had an easy time loading out and were on the road by 4 p.m. and we had an easy drive home.
Overall, my sales were down from the previous three years but still higher than pre-pandemic sales. My buys were excellent. One of my best buying Nationals ever. I also had a ton of fun. There really is nothing better than the National. I am still in awe of the amount of vintage cards that were there this year -- amazing!
What is not amazing is my health. With all my medical issues, the National has become physically difficult. There were a ton of events every night after the show but I was just too tired to do anything but eat dinner and go back to the hotel and lay down. Though, setting up on Tuesday really helped. I think I would have been in bad shape if we had set up on Wednesday morning like we normally do. Also helpful was the location of the dealer parking lot which was not far from our booth. All that walking in Rosemont from the parking lot to the booth is an absolute killer -- not looking forward to that next year.
Like most everybody who attended the 2024 National, I came home with COVID. I've had COVID many times since 2020 and this current edition was not nearly as bad as previous ones. I was out for the count for two or three days but felt much better by the weekend. Though, it did seem to linger for months. I suffered greatly from post-COVID fatigue.
While laid up with COVID, I spent a ton of time watching vlogs from the National on YouTube. I caught the back of my fat head in many of the videos. Seems like most vloggers had issues with automobile traffic coming in and out of the IX Center in Cleveland. We were caught in traffic as well here in there but not too bad.
Lack of bathrooms was a huge issue for vloggers which can be easily fixed with the addition of port-a-potties. There were a lot of complaints about the lack of hotels and restaurants within walking distance of the IX Center. Our hotel was only about a 20-minute drive, not bad but I am never staying there again!
Overall, I do not really have any complaints about the IX Center and look forward to returning one of these days. The next three Nationals are in Rosemont which is great for me since I only live a half hour away. I also secured the same booth location as we had in 2023 which will make things much easier since I now know where to load in and out.
Overall, I really enjoyed the 2024 National and appreciate meeting many folks who follow this blog from all corners of the country. Thanks guys!
Below are some photos from Saturday at the National. The first few photos were taken right when the show opened Saturday morning and depict my booth along with the two others that were attached to my pod. Generally, booths were laid out in squares of four.
With little happening at my booth, I walked around the show a bit which was fun. I found Gary, Dennis, Mike and Nelson in the other room. Tim Payne was nearby. If you kept walking to the north wall, there was the Breaker Pavilion which I do not understand at all. Seems like a huge waste of space to me.
In the Breaker Pavilion there is booth after booth of guys sitting at desks wearing headphones and looking into a camera while opening packs of cards. Pretty much no one at the show paid them any attention. Maybe there were folks online following along. I think a better use of the space would be to add more card dealers. Why not move the breakers to a basement room? I mean, nobody, absolutely nobody, was watching them. It just looked like they were sitting around talking to themselves.
Then on Sunday, my sales were worse than Saturday. Again, I had a decent Sunday last year in Rosemont but no such luck this year. Also, the place was empty. There was maybe 25 percent of the Saturday crowd. Felt like a waste of time.
Dave and I had an easy time loading out and were on the road by 4 p.m. and we had an easy drive home.
Overall, my sales were down from the previous three years but still higher than pre-pandemic sales. My buys were excellent. One of my best buying Nationals ever. I also had a ton of fun. There really is nothing better than the National. I am still in awe of the amount of vintage cards that were there this year -- amazing!
What is not amazing is my health. With all my medical issues, the National has become physically difficult. There were a ton of events every night after the show but I was just too tired to do anything but eat dinner and go back to the hotel and lay down. Though, setting up on Tuesday really helped. I think I would have been in bad shape if we had set up on Wednesday morning like we normally do. Also helpful was the location of the dealer parking lot which was not far from our booth. All that walking in Rosemont from the parking lot to the booth is an absolute killer -- not looking forward to that next year.
Like most everybody who attended the 2024 National, I came home with COVID. I've had COVID many times since 2020 and this current edition was not nearly as bad as previous ones. I was out for the count for two or three days but felt much better by the weekend. Though, it did seem to linger for months. I suffered greatly from post-COVID fatigue.
While laid up with COVID, I spent a ton of time watching vlogs from the National on YouTube. I caught the back of my fat head in many of the videos. Seems like most vloggers had issues with automobile traffic coming in and out of the IX Center in Cleveland. We were caught in traffic as well here in there but not too bad.
Lack of bathrooms was a huge issue for vloggers which can be easily fixed with the addition of port-a-potties. There were a lot of complaints about the lack of hotels and restaurants within walking distance of the IX Center. Our hotel was only about a 20-minute drive, not bad but I am never staying there again!
Overall, I do not really have any complaints about the IX Center and look forward to returning one of these days. The next three Nationals are in Rosemont which is great for me since I only live a half hour away. I also secured the same booth location as we had in 2023 which will make things much easier since I now know where to load in and out.
Overall, I really enjoyed the 2024 National and appreciate meeting many folks who follow this blog from all corners of the country. Thanks guys!
Below are some photos from Saturday at the National. The first few photos were taken right when the show opened Saturday morning and depict my booth along with the two others that were attached to my pod. Generally, booths were laid out in squares of four.
Shortly after opening, the crowds arrived en masse on Saturday.
We celebrated the last night at the National with dinner at the Timber Lodge in Medina. We usually eat at the Timber Lodge during the Strongsville show but decided to head over while at the National because the place is soooo good!
Finally, some random photos from Sunday, the last day of the National.
Well, that is a wrap! Looking forward to returning to Cleveland in April 2025 for the Strongsville show. In the meantime, I am still setting up every single weekend -- next up is Madison on October 19, 2024, and Orland on October 20, 2024. Next Oak Creek Show is November 2. See you soon!!
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