"Da" Region Sports Cards and Collectibles Expo, Sunday, March 25, Villa Cesare Hall, Schererville, Indiana
After skipping the Sun-Times show, I was itching to set up somewhere. Originally, I had planned to set up in Bloomingdale, Illinois, on March 25 but I kept seeing Facebook postings for this new show in Schererville, Indiana. Once Baseball Card Exchange posted the show on their Facebook page, I was sold. I cancelled Bloomingdale. Sorry Fred!
Leading up to the show, there was a tremendous amount of chatter on Facebook regarding this Indiana show. There even was an article in the local Northwest Indiana newspaper about the show and promoter Mitch LaRock.
When I spoke to Mitch on the phone I really appreciated his enthusiasm for the hobby and his new show. Usually, I am reluctant to set up at a new show but Mitch did an outstanding job promoting his event.
I have done quite a few Indiana shows over the years but never one is Schererville. I had never been to Schererville before even though, one of these days, I want to go to Baseball Card Exchange, which is located in this quaint Indiana town that sits just over the border from Illinois.
That morning my GPS took me to a familiar exit from I94, the Indiana Route 41 exit. This is where I exit for the Highland, Indiana, show. Lo and behold, Schererville is just down the road from Highland. My first thought was I hope Mark Smith is setting up so we can hit our Highland spot for steak after the show. Unfortunately, no Mark Smith at this show. However, I was happy to see Jim from the Orland show had set up. I also saw Juan, who is a dealer from Indiana that I have known for years. I recognized a few other dealers from the Highland show.
The room at Villa Cesare Hall is huge and there were a ton of tables and a ton of dealers. Most of the dealers I did not know. I was lucky to be set up next to Luke "Skywalker," who was setting up at his first show ever. Luke is a super nice guy with an incredible collection of cards. Luke brought out just two display cases of cards. One had cards for sale, the other was just for show, and wow, he had some stuff to show including a 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth and a 1948 Leaf Satchell Paige.
Mitch said about 300 people attended the show. I had a steady flow of customers at my table all day long. It was great to see old buddy Dave F., who has been very busy with work and family. I haven't seen Dave in over a year or so. He spent a long time going through my newly reloaded 1972-73 Topps basketball. I think he purchased most of the cards. Thanks Dave!
Dave was the only customer I had that day that I knew previously. I thought it was awesome all the new customers that came to my table with their vintage card lists. One new customer bought a tremendous amount of vintage basketball cards. He came by twice. On the first run, he purchased a bunch of '69-70 and '70-71s. On the second run he purchased my entire late 1970's basketball binder. Thank you!
Another new customer found a bunch of cards for his '72 Topps baseball set. I had a guy find a bunch of '73 Topps baseball high numbers for his set. A young guy purchased my 1960 Fleer Ted Williams and my 1958 Topps Yogi Berra. A dealer, who was set up with his young son, purchased my 1950 and 1951 Bowman Frankie Frisch cards. The dealer said he attended Fordham University where Frisch starred close to 100 years ago.
Another new customer purchased my 1956 Topps Nellie Fox. I had quite a few other guys dink around my binders. I was pleased with my sales.
On the buying front, I struck out. I had a few guys offer me their grand collections of 1988 Topps. I politely declined. Nobody brought anything decent to my table and none of the dealers had any cards priced low enough for me to buy for resale. Instead, I went home with cash in my pocket, which is not such a bad thing.
I was very impressed with this show, it was amazing for a first effort. Mitch's next show is slated for May 6th. I am going to skip that one because I have my Four Points Sheraton show on May 5 and need the 6th to chill out before the busy work week begins on May 7th. Though, I definitely am going to set up there again down the road. Below are a bunch of photos of the show I swiped off Mitch's Facebook page. You can click on the photos for a larger view.
Don't forget to come out to my show on April 7th at the Four Points Sheraton, 5311 S. Howell, in Milwaukee!!
After skipping the Sun-Times show, I was itching to set up somewhere. Originally, I had planned to set up in Bloomingdale, Illinois, on March 25 but I kept seeing Facebook postings for this new show in Schererville, Indiana. Once Baseball Card Exchange posted the show on their Facebook page, I was sold. I cancelled Bloomingdale. Sorry Fred!
Leading up to the show, there was a tremendous amount of chatter on Facebook regarding this Indiana show. There even was an article in the local Northwest Indiana newspaper about the show and promoter Mitch LaRock.
When I spoke to Mitch on the phone I really appreciated his enthusiasm for the hobby and his new show. Usually, I am reluctant to set up at a new show but Mitch did an outstanding job promoting his event.
I have done quite a few Indiana shows over the years but never one is Schererville. I had never been to Schererville before even though, one of these days, I want to go to Baseball Card Exchange, which is located in this quaint Indiana town that sits just over the border from Illinois.
That morning my GPS took me to a familiar exit from I94, the Indiana Route 41 exit. This is where I exit for the Highland, Indiana, show. Lo and behold, Schererville is just down the road from Highland. My first thought was I hope Mark Smith is setting up so we can hit our Highland spot for steak after the show. Unfortunately, no Mark Smith at this show. However, I was happy to see Jim from the Orland show had set up. I also saw Juan, who is a dealer from Indiana that I have known for years. I recognized a few other dealers from the Highland show.
The room at Villa Cesare Hall is huge and there were a ton of tables and a ton of dealers. Most of the dealers I did not know. I was lucky to be set up next to Luke "Skywalker," who was setting up at his first show ever. Luke is a super nice guy with an incredible collection of cards. Luke brought out just two display cases of cards. One had cards for sale, the other was just for show, and wow, he had some stuff to show including a 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth and a 1948 Leaf Satchell Paige.
Mitch said about 300 people attended the show. I had a steady flow of customers at my table all day long. It was great to see old buddy Dave F., who has been very busy with work and family. I haven't seen Dave in over a year or so. He spent a long time going through my newly reloaded 1972-73 Topps basketball. I think he purchased most of the cards. Thanks Dave!
Dave was the only customer I had that day that I knew previously. I thought it was awesome all the new customers that came to my table with their vintage card lists. One new customer bought a tremendous amount of vintage basketball cards. He came by twice. On the first run, he purchased a bunch of '69-70 and '70-71s. On the second run he purchased my entire late 1970's basketball binder. Thank you!
Another new customer found a bunch of cards for his '72 Topps baseball set. I had a guy find a bunch of '73 Topps baseball high numbers for his set. A young guy purchased my 1960 Fleer Ted Williams and my 1958 Topps Yogi Berra. A dealer, who was set up with his young son, purchased my 1950 and 1951 Bowman Frankie Frisch cards. The dealer said he attended Fordham University where Frisch starred close to 100 years ago.
Another new customer purchased my 1956 Topps Nellie Fox. I had quite a few other guys dink around my binders. I was pleased with my sales.
On the buying front, I struck out. I had a few guys offer me their grand collections of 1988 Topps. I politely declined. Nobody brought anything decent to my table and none of the dealers had any cards priced low enough for me to buy for resale. Instead, I went home with cash in my pocket, which is not such a bad thing.
I was very impressed with this show, it was amazing for a first effort. Mitch's next show is slated for May 6th. I am going to skip that one because I have my Four Points Sheraton show on May 5 and need the 6th to chill out before the busy work week begins on May 7th. Though, I definitely am going to set up there again down the road. Below are a bunch of photos of the show I swiped off Mitch's Facebook page. You can click on the photos for a larger view.
Don't forget to come out to my show on April 7th at the Four Points Sheraton, 5311 S. Howell, in Milwaukee!!
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