Friday - Sunday, March 14 - 16, 2025, Chicago Sports Spectacular, Donald Stephens Center, Rosemont, IL
I was concerned about loading into the show on Thursday night because the last couple of years the folks that operate this show shrunk the dealer load-in area creating a dangerous situation. I had a little debate with myself, as I often do, as to whether I should brave the load-in area or just park across the street in the parking garage and load in from there.
I realized loading in from the parking garage would be a huge hike and very draining for my sickly body, so I opted for the regular load-in area and was pleasantly surprised. There was a group of guys that met me at the garage door and took my info, then a couple of guys inside directed me to a spot. This was my easiest and safest load in at this show in years. Nice to see they fixed a serious problem.
I arrived around 5 p.m. and was greeted by my neighbors Paul and Greg. Love those guys! I think I finally found a permanent home in this place after setting up all over the room during the past 30 years.
I could not remember exactly how many display cases I brought out last time. I was able to place out 13 display cases. I brought one extra which I took home after set up Thursday night.
Normally, you gotta move your car right away after you unload but it did not seem like many more dealers arrived after I did, so I left my car in the load-in area. The guys had my phone number and could call if they needed me to move my car.
I moved the 8-foot table provided by the venue back about 12 feet then lined up my side against Greg's booth with two six footers I brought along. I had one little side table I placed against Paul's booth. This was the same layout I used in November. I spent about an hour cleaning the glass on all of my cases. I only clean the glass at the big shows.
Easy ride home around 7 p.m. Of course I could not sleep well. I always have a tough time sleeping the night before a show. I don't know why! I had hoped to get to the show Friday morning around 11 a.m. but did not make it until noon. I brought my showcase cards with me and commenced loading the cases. The VIPs were allowed in around 1 p.m. I think I just finished up in time.
Kind of slow early on. I went and got a hot dog at the concession stand to the horror of Paul. I needed some sustenance and a diet Coke.
Man, it was slow goin' for quite a while. I sat around what seemed like hours before I had a sale. I think my pal Tony was my first sale. He purchased some '73s for his set. Thanks Tony! Sales started to trickle in.
Mike S. arrived and told me the tacos at the taco stand were pretty good. I had Mike watch my booth while I grabbed some tacos. Thanks Mike!
Sales trickled in until closing time at 8:30 p.m. Sales were much slower than on Friday at the November show. I was concerned. Much smaller Friday crowd than November but I do remember the show being absolutely dead on Friday for the March show last year. Not sure why so few people seem to come out on Friday during the March show. This is the most inconsistent of all the shows I do.
I did see my Wisconsin buddies Scott, Jim, Al and Pittsburgh Jim. Always great hanging out with those guys.
I stopped off to get some groceries and gas at Woodman's on the way home. Ate some food and passed out until around 4:30 a.m. when I just woke up and was wide awake. I tried to watch some TV to fall asleep but no luck. I was up. It was going to be a long day with lack of sleep once again!
One of the nice things about this show is that the promoters provide coffee and doughnuts for all the dealers. Trouble was, they moved the entrance into the coffee/doughnut area. I could not find it!
I purchased some diet Mountain Due at Woodman's Friday night along with some bread and sandwich meat, so I was ready to go on the drinks and food front. Paul thought I was nuts for drinking Mountain Due -- I love the stuff!
Like the November show, there was as big crowd on Saturday. The building filled up fast. I was concerned after having slow sales on Friday and remembering slow sales on Saturday in November. Once again, I was concerned for nothing. I ended up having a real nice day! Scott S. purchased a bunch of my hockey. Thanks Scott! I sold some of my graded cards after not selling any on Friday. I sold a raw T206.
My old friend Jason showed up and purchased a bunch of cards including my 1960 Willie McCovey rookie. Thanks Jason! A new customer purchased a nice pile of 1969 Topps baseball along with my 1971 Topps Willie Mays. I sold a 1972 and 1974 Hank Aaron. One of my Woodstock customers purchased some 1953 Topps. Sales added up and I had a satisfying day.
I also purchased a bunch of stuff including some '75 minis, a hodge podge of 1960's cards including a 1968 Topps Bob Gibson, some '74 commons and a pile of 1965 Topps high numbers. Gizmo stopped by my booth and sold me a 1963 Topps Al Lopez PSA 7. Thanks Giz! Nice haul!
Even though I was tired, Saturday was a real nice day. It was great to see Jimmy C., Derek and host of other guys from the Orland show.
Though, I did have some down time which I used for people watching. My mind wandered to hair as it often does at these larger shows -- maybe it is because I don't have any which causes me to take notice of those that do. Well, actually I was noticing the guys that have some hair, not a lot. There were a few guys with the 1970's comb over, made popular again by our current President. I have never understood the comb-over. Why? It is not a good look and those guys are better off doing what I do, shave it off.
I shave my head a couple of times each week. It is soooo comfortable. I love it. I really don't miss having hair.
Then I was stuck staring at the older dealer across from me with the toupee. I have never understood toupees which may be the worst look of all time.
I probably hate the comb-over and the toupee because I experienced them both growing up. When I was little, in the 1970s, my dad did the comb-over. Never looked good. Then he moved onto the toupee, Burt Reynolds' style. In the 1980s, my dad and all of his buddies had that stupid Burt Reynolds toupee. One of my uncles wore that thing as well. I got a laugh once when I walking to the train after work on a windy day in Downtown Chicago. I did not see him at first, but my uncle came up from behind and started to explain his need to hold his toupee down on his head during windy days in Chicago. Apparently, his Burt Reynolds toupee blew off his head one day and he had race around commuters to recover that thing, a little damaged, but fit back on his bald globe.
Okay, now for the worst look of all time -- the man bun. OMG! It is so horrible. How do guys think it is okay to look that way? I watched this one tubby guy with the man bun compliment his look with big black glasses and a bad porn star mustache. WTF? Then there are the older guys who have the gray-haired man bun. One such guy complimented my T-shirt and said his wife got him the same one for Christmas. As he was talking to me, all I could think about was how could his wife allow him to leave the house with a stupid gray-haired man bun? Cut that shit off! It looks sooo stupid!!
Sorry, I have regressed. Back to the task at hand, buying and selling cards. I had a nice day Saturday. I probably should not be allowed to be alone with my thoughts.
Once again, I went home, ate dinner and passed out. Finally, I was able to sleep through the night. I think I could have slept all day Sunday but forced myself out of bed, bathed, grabbed my diet Mountain Due and a sandwich and made it to the show around 9 a.m. where I finally found the doughnuts and coffee. Woot!
As a general rule, Sunday at the bigger shows like the Sports Spectacular and the National are usually a huge waste of time. I almost took home most of my booth on Saturday night but I did not have the strength to deal with it. Thankfully, I was fully set up Sunday because I had my best day of the weekend! Woot!
Nice crowd early on and I sold all sorts of stuff. I sold my 1955 Topps All-American Jim Thorpe to get the day going. I sold a nice looking 1968 Topps Ernie Banks. I sold a 1975 Topps Robin Yount rookie.
Scott S. returned and pulled out a huge pile of football cards. Thanks Scott! A random guy purchased all of my 1952-53 Parkhurst hockey. Nick, who was set up a couple booths away, purchased my 1959 Topps Bob Gibson rookie. Thanks Nick! I sold a bunch of other stuff that I don't even remember. All I know is that I went home with the most money on Sunday. Woot!
Overall, a much better show than November. I more than doubled my November sales. One thing that helped me was I did not bring out any of my Exhibit cards. I had a whole case filled with Exhibits in November and did not sell one. In place of the Exhibits, I had a near case of vintage hockey and sold a ton of it! Woot!
The folks from the show did a nice job directing traffic during load-out which was easy peasy. I was home by 6 p.m. Another Sports Spectacular in the books. I am probably going to give their Detroit show a try at the end of May. I need to get my contract in. I'll definitely be back for the November show.
A huge thank you to everyone who bought and sold me cards this weekend. I also appreciate all the people that stopped by to say hello and chat. I had a really nice weekend.
Up next is a new show at the RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN, on Saturday, March 22. Then I'm at the mighty Orland show on Sunday, March 23.
Next Oak Creek show is April 5. I am expecting another huge crowd. One of the things I like about the Sports Spectacular is that it is a great opportunity to promote my shows. I had a lot of interest in the MegaShow slated for April 19 in Franklin, WI. More fun ahead... but no man buns, please!!!
I was concerned about loading into the show on Thursday night because the last couple of years the folks that operate this show shrunk the dealer load-in area creating a dangerous situation. I had a little debate with myself, as I often do, as to whether I should brave the load-in area or just park across the street in the parking garage and load in from there.
I realized loading in from the parking garage would be a huge hike and very draining for my sickly body, so I opted for the regular load-in area and was pleasantly surprised. There was a group of guys that met me at the garage door and took my info, then a couple of guys inside directed me to a spot. This was my easiest and safest load in at this show in years. Nice to see they fixed a serious problem.
I arrived around 5 p.m. and was greeted by my neighbors Paul and Greg. Love those guys! I think I finally found a permanent home in this place after setting up all over the room during the past 30 years.
I could not remember exactly how many display cases I brought out last time. I was able to place out 13 display cases. I brought one extra which I took home after set up Thursday night.
Normally, you gotta move your car right away after you unload but it did not seem like many more dealers arrived after I did, so I left my car in the load-in area. The guys had my phone number and could call if they needed me to move my car.
I moved the 8-foot table provided by the venue back about 12 feet then lined up my side against Greg's booth with two six footers I brought along. I had one little side table I placed against Paul's booth. This was the same layout I used in November. I spent about an hour cleaning the glass on all of my cases. I only clean the glass at the big shows.
Easy ride home around 7 p.m. Of course I could not sleep well. I always have a tough time sleeping the night before a show. I don't know why! I had hoped to get to the show Friday morning around 11 a.m. but did not make it until noon. I brought my showcase cards with me and commenced loading the cases. The VIPs were allowed in around 1 p.m. I think I just finished up in time.
Kind of slow early on. I went and got a hot dog at the concession stand to the horror of Paul. I needed some sustenance and a diet Coke.
Man, it was slow goin' for quite a while. I sat around what seemed like hours before I had a sale. I think my pal Tony was my first sale. He purchased some '73s for his set. Thanks Tony! Sales started to trickle in.
Mike S. arrived and told me the tacos at the taco stand were pretty good. I had Mike watch my booth while I grabbed some tacos. Thanks Mike!
Sales trickled in until closing time at 8:30 p.m. Sales were much slower than on Friday at the November show. I was concerned. Much smaller Friday crowd than November but I do remember the show being absolutely dead on Friday for the March show last year. Not sure why so few people seem to come out on Friday during the March show. This is the most inconsistent of all the shows I do.
I did see my Wisconsin buddies Scott, Jim, Al and Pittsburgh Jim. Always great hanging out with those guys.
I stopped off to get some groceries and gas at Woodman's on the way home. Ate some food and passed out until around 4:30 a.m. when I just woke up and was wide awake. I tried to watch some TV to fall asleep but no luck. I was up. It was going to be a long day with lack of sleep once again!
One of the nice things about this show is that the promoters provide coffee and doughnuts for all the dealers. Trouble was, they moved the entrance into the coffee/doughnut area. I could not find it!
I purchased some diet Mountain Due at Woodman's Friday night along with some bread and sandwich meat, so I was ready to go on the drinks and food front. Paul thought I was nuts for drinking Mountain Due -- I love the stuff!
Like the November show, there was as big crowd on Saturday. The building filled up fast. I was concerned after having slow sales on Friday and remembering slow sales on Saturday in November. Once again, I was concerned for nothing. I ended up having a real nice day! Scott S. purchased a bunch of my hockey. Thanks Scott! I sold some of my graded cards after not selling any on Friday. I sold a raw T206.
My old friend Jason showed up and purchased a bunch of cards including my 1960 Willie McCovey rookie. Thanks Jason! A new customer purchased a nice pile of 1969 Topps baseball along with my 1971 Topps Willie Mays. I sold a 1972 and 1974 Hank Aaron. One of my Woodstock customers purchased some 1953 Topps. Sales added up and I had a satisfying day.
I also purchased a bunch of stuff including some '75 minis, a hodge podge of 1960's cards including a 1968 Topps Bob Gibson, some '74 commons and a pile of 1965 Topps high numbers. Gizmo stopped by my booth and sold me a 1963 Topps Al Lopez PSA 7. Thanks Giz! Nice haul!
Even though I was tired, Saturday was a real nice day. It was great to see Jimmy C., Derek and host of other guys from the Orland show.
Though, I did have some down time which I used for people watching. My mind wandered to hair as it often does at these larger shows -- maybe it is because I don't have any which causes me to take notice of those that do. Well, actually I was noticing the guys that have some hair, not a lot. There were a few guys with the 1970's comb over, made popular again by our current President. I have never understood the comb-over. Why? It is not a good look and those guys are better off doing what I do, shave it off.
I shave my head a couple of times each week. It is soooo comfortable. I love it. I really don't miss having hair.
Then I was stuck staring at the older dealer across from me with the toupee. I have never understood toupees which may be the worst look of all time.
I probably hate the comb-over and the toupee because I experienced them both growing up. When I was little, in the 1970s, my dad did the comb-over. Never looked good. Then he moved onto the toupee, Burt Reynolds' style. In the 1980s, my dad and all of his buddies had that stupid Burt Reynolds toupee. One of my uncles wore that thing as well. I got a laugh once when I walking to the train after work on a windy day in Downtown Chicago. I did not see him at first, but my uncle came up from behind and started to explain his need to hold his toupee down on his head during windy days in Chicago. Apparently, his Burt Reynolds toupee blew off his head one day and he had race around commuters to recover that thing, a little damaged, but fit back on his bald globe.
Okay, now for the worst look of all time -- the man bun. OMG! It is so horrible. How do guys think it is okay to look that way? I watched this one tubby guy with the man bun compliment his look with big black glasses and a bad porn star mustache. WTF? Then there are the older guys who have the gray-haired man bun. One such guy complimented my T-shirt and said his wife got him the same one for Christmas. As he was talking to me, all I could think about was how could his wife allow him to leave the house with a stupid gray-haired man bun? Cut that shit off! It looks sooo stupid!!
Sorry, I have regressed. Back to the task at hand, buying and selling cards. I had a nice day Saturday. I probably should not be allowed to be alone with my thoughts.
Once again, I went home, ate dinner and passed out. Finally, I was able to sleep through the night. I think I could have slept all day Sunday but forced myself out of bed, bathed, grabbed my diet Mountain Due and a sandwich and made it to the show around 9 a.m. where I finally found the doughnuts and coffee. Woot!
As a general rule, Sunday at the bigger shows like the Sports Spectacular and the National are usually a huge waste of time. I almost took home most of my booth on Saturday night but I did not have the strength to deal with it. Thankfully, I was fully set up Sunday because I had my best day of the weekend! Woot!
Nice crowd early on and I sold all sorts of stuff. I sold my 1955 Topps All-American Jim Thorpe to get the day going. I sold a nice looking 1968 Topps Ernie Banks. I sold a 1975 Topps Robin Yount rookie.
Scott S. returned and pulled out a huge pile of football cards. Thanks Scott! A random guy purchased all of my 1952-53 Parkhurst hockey. Nick, who was set up a couple booths away, purchased my 1959 Topps Bob Gibson rookie. Thanks Nick! I sold a bunch of other stuff that I don't even remember. All I know is that I went home with the most money on Sunday. Woot!
Overall, a much better show than November. I more than doubled my November sales. One thing that helped me was I did not bring out any of my Exhibit cards. I had a whole case filled with Exhibits in November and did not sell one. In place of the Exhibits, I had a near case of vintage hockey and sold a ton of it! Woot!
The folks from the show did a nice job directing traffic during load-out which was easy peasy. I was home by 6 p.m. Another Sports Spectacular in the books. I am probably going to give their Detroit show a try at the end of May. I need to get my contract in. I'll definitely be back for the November show.
A huge thank you to everyone who bought and sold me cards this weekend. I also appreciate all the people that stopped by to say hello and chat. I had a really nice weekend.
Up next is a new show at the RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN, on Saturday, March 22. Then I'm at the mighty Orland show on Sunday, March 23.
Next Oak Creek show is April 5. I am expecting another huge crowd. One of the things I like about the Sports Spectacular is that it is a great opportunity to promote my shows. I had a lot of interest in the MegaShow slated for April 19 in Franklin, WI. More fun ahead... but no man buns, please!!!
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