I've been enjoying my week off work and a rare weekend off from card shows. I wasn't sure I could wake up for the Orland Show today since I've been sleeping all day each of the past eight days. Surprisingly, I didn't have much of a problem. I made it to Orland around 8:04 a.m. The room was fairly empty when I got there. There were three or four empty dealer tables today. Nice crowd though. I was busy most of the day. I thought maybe I'd see some out-of-towners but that didn't seem to be the case. Many regulars were there along with a few new customers. There seemed to be a decent amount of vintage in the room. The guy set up across from me had game-used hockey jerseys and some gear. I don't know what that stuff normally sells for but Will, my resident hockey expert, said the items were priced too high. As a result, I don't think that dealer sold a thing. Another dealer, the guy set up next to me, has mostly new Bears cards. I don't think he sold a thing either. I even heard him ask John for a break on his table fee. I don't know how many years I've been setting up at Orland but I've never asked John for a break on my table fee. I've had promoters at other shows in the past give me a break on my table fee when my inventory wasn't as strong as it currently is. I've only asked a promoter for a break on table fee one time. It was eight or 10 years ago after I had set up at a mall show and barely made table fee -- 35 bucks. I was willing to give the show another shot as long as the promoter would discount the table. The promoter refused and I haven't set up at a mall show since and have no plans to do so in the future. I guess I don't have a problem with the Bears dealer asking for a break on his table fee. Whether John gives him a discount is his business. Though, I think it is my business when John leaves tables empty. It makes the show look bad and I don't want to give customers any incentive not to show up. Luckily, we had a nice crowd today.
Rick and Dave were the first guys at my table. Rick, who has a great wit and can be really funny, was in a real good mood and in rare form today, cracking one liners. I haven't seen Dave in a while, glad to have him back. Rick picked up a bunch of '72 baseball and '69-70 basketball. Dave picked up a few cards as well. I sold some '74 baseball to a regular. A newer customer picked up a bunch of '79s. I had a couple regulars work on '61s today. Another regular bought some old football. Derek picked up some '70s basketball. Larry picked up a '55 Topps Junior Gilliam. Another Larry picked up a '55 Bowman Don Zimmer. Chuck picked up some '63s. I had a new customer buy a bunch of '72s. Another customer picked up a T207 Ed Delahanty. My White Sox collector picked up a '51 Topps Blue Back Billy Pierce. Ron bought a bunch of '58s. Will picked up some '62s. Tom picked up a '76-77 Topps Bill Bradley. Another regular picked up some '62s. A new customer bought some '56s. I had a few autograph hounds today buy cards to send out for 'graphs. Jim Goodfriend made an appearance today.
On the buying front, I picked up a nice grouping of 1960s cards from Jim, a small pile of '60 Topps from Junior, and Chuck gave me a gift titled "Little Box of Horrors" with a skull and crossbone drawn on the box, which I thought was pretty cool and I really appreciate the cards. Another dealer brought over some cards but he had them priced a tad too high and I turned down some boxes of multi-sport cards from the '70s because my inventory is pretty solid on those right now. All in all, not as many buying opportunities today as there usually are at this show.
Midway through the show, a dealer came over and asked me about a customer who regularly buys from us both. Today that customer skipped my table while the other dealer is pretty certain this customer stole some cards off his table. It wasn't more than a few bucks but he stuffed them in his pocket and walked away. I've actually had the same experience with this customer where he pocketed a few bucks worth of cards off my table. Oddly, he occasionally will drop 50 to 100 bucks at my table. The other dealer said he'll spend that amount with him too. The other dealer and I are a little perplexed. Why would a guy who can spend 100 bucks at your table one day steal five bucks worth of cards on another day?
Other than that, a pretty mellow show. I had a good crowd at my table most of the day and always enjoy hanging out with my group of regulars in Orland. It's actually a double bill weekend, where I have two shows. Orland on Saturday and Schaumburg on Sunday.
I made it to the Park Inn Radisson in Schaumburg around 8:30 a.m. on Sunday. I had a hard time waking up Sunday. We were in the big room today which I prefer. I had the tables by the front door. I hit the breakfast buffet which was jammed packed. I had a tough time staying awake after eating all that food. A few Mountain Dews did the trick. It was slow going on this day. I think most people stayed in bed this New Year's Day. Though, I had a good time hanging out with Fred, Willie, Corky, the Woj, Ted, Starks, and the Korean stewardesses. I sold a few things to Larry, Kyle, his dad, my 25-cent pack guy and Willie. Not much else doing. A lot of guys went through my cheapie boxes but didn't pull the trigger. One guy wanted to trade a few '59 commons. I wasn't interested. I picked up a smattering of '39 Play Balls, '49 Bowmans, '78s, '71-72 basketball, and some '88-'89 Fleer basketball. Good purchases always make up for slow sales. I was home by 2:30 p.m. which may be some sort of record. I slept all afternoon which was awesome.
I'm off again next weekend, hanging out with the in-laws who are coming in from L.A. I have another double-bill weekend January 14 and January 15. On the 14th I'm back in Orland while on the 15th I'll be at the Serb Hall Show in Milwaukee. I'm planning on knocking out my '72 high numbers and '73s. I'm going to load up some '77-'78 hockey and some '56 Topps football. See you soon and Happy New Year!!
Rick and Dave were the first guys at my table. Rick, who has a great wit and can be really funny, was in a real good mood and in rare form today, cracking one liners. I haven't seen Dave in a while, glad to have him back. Rick picked up a bunch of '72 baseball and '69-70 basketball. Dave picked up a few cards as well. I sold some '74 baseball to a regular. A newer customer picked up a bunch of '79s. I had a couple regulars work on '61s today. Another regular bought some old football. Derek picked up some '70s basketball. Larry picked up a '55 Topps Junior Gilliam. Another Larry picked up a '55 Bowman Don Zimmer. Chuck picked up some '63s. I had a new customer buy a bunch of '72s. Another customer picked up a T207 Ed Delahanty. My White Sox collector picked up a '51 Topps Blue Back Billy Pierce. Ron bought a bunch of '58s. Will picked up some '62s. Tom picked up a '76-77 Topps Bill Bradley. Another regular picked up some '62s. A new customer bought some '56s. I had a few autograph hounds today buy cards to send out for 'graphs. Jim Goodfriend made an appearance today.
On the buying front, I picked up a nice grouping of 1960s cards from Jim, a small pile of '60 Topps from Junior, and Chuck gave me a gift titled "Little Box of Horrors" with a skull and crossbone drawn on the box, which I thought was pretty cool and I really appreciate the cards. Another dealer brought over some cards but he had them priced a tad too high and I turned down some boxes of multi-sport cards from the '70s because my inventory is pretty solid on those right now. All in all, not as many buying opportunities today as there usually are at this show.
Midway through the show, a dealer came over and asked me about a customer who regularly buys from us both. Today that customer skipped my table while the other dealer is pretty certain this customer stole some cards off his table. It wasn't more than a few bucks but he stuffed them in his pocket and walked away. I've actually had the same experience with this customer where he pocketed a few bucks worth of cards off my table. Oddly, he occasionally will drop 50 to 100 bucks at my table. The other dealer said he'll spend that amount with him too. The other dealer and I are a little perplexed. Why would a guy who can spend 100 bucks at your table one day steal five bucks worth of cards on another day?
Other than that, a pretty mellow show. I had a good crowd at my table most of the day and always enjoy hanging out with my group of regulars in Orland. It's actually a double bill weekend, where I have two shows. Orland on Saturday and Schaumburg on Sunday.
I made it to the Park Inn Radisson in Schaumburg around 8:30 a.m. on Sunday. I had a hard time waking up Sunday. We were in the big room today which I prefer. I had the tables by the front door. I hit the breakfast buffet which was jammed packed. I had a tough time staying awake after eating all that food. A few Mountain Dews did the trick. It was slow going on this day. I think most people stayed in bed this New Year's Day. Though, I had a good time hanging out with Fred, Willie, Corky, the Woj, Ted, Starks, and the Korean stewardesses. I sold a few things to Larry, Kyle, his dad, my 25-cent pack guy and Willie. Not much else doing. A lot of guys went through my cheapie boxes but didn't pull the trigger. One guy wanted to trade a few '59 commons. I wasn't interested. I picked up a smattering of '39 Play Balls, '49 Bowmans, '78s, '71-72 basketball, and some '88-'89 Fleer basketball. Good purchases always make up for slow sales. I was home by 2:30 p.m. which may be some sort of record. I slept all afternoon which was awesome.
I'm off again next weekend, hanging out with the in-laws who are coming in from L.A. I have another double-bill weekend January 14 and January 15. On the 14th I'm back in Orland while on the 15th I'll be at the Serb Hall Show in Milwaukee. I'm planning on knocking out my '72 high numbers and '73s. I'm going to load up some '77-'78 hockey and some '56 Topps football. See you soon and Happy New Year!!
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