Saturday, May 12, 2012, Orland Park Civic Center, Orland Park, IL -- Mother Nature must really dislike card shows because she has been giving us some lousy weather lately. Though not as bad as last Sunday in Milwaukee, today's weather in Orland was cold and rainy and just unpleasant to load and unload my gear. I somehow got to Orland early and there were hardly any dealers in the room. I was even there before Jim, which never happens. No Mark Smith today and I didn't notice any new vintage dealers, which is also unusual. One dealer, who I don't particularly care for, was hovering around my table while I was setting up. He wanted to see what I brought out new this week but I told him I save my new stuff to show my good customers -- which is the honest truth. He can look at it, but he's going to have to wait until after the guys who drop cash with me at every show see it first. You gotta take care of the guys who keep you in business, and I've got quite a few good customers at Orland. I do my best to bring out cards I think they'll need or that they'll like.
One of my autograph hounds started things off by purchasing some '57 Topps baseball commons to send out for signatures. Aaron picked up some 1960s Topps baseball. A regular customer purchased some '75 Topps baseball. A new customer bought some 1965 and 1980 Topps baseball. Another new customer bought some 1981 Topps baseball. A regular customer picked up some 1960 Topps. Chris dug into my 50-cent box and my dollar box. Dave picked up a pile of cards including my 1958 Topps Roberto Clemente that is really nice except for what looks like a light, inadvertent pen or pencil mark. Dave also bought my '59 Topps Rocky Colavito that is Near Mint.
A new customer pulled some cards out of my 50-cent box. It's been months since I've seen Dennis. He picked up some '65s today. A new customer purchased some cards out of my dollar box. Joel picked up a really nice 1953 Topps Minnie Minoso. Rick grabbed a large pile of 1971-72 Topps basketball and my 1957 Topps Frank Robinson rookie. A regular picked up some 1965 Topps New York Mets cards. A father and son team purchased some 1971-72 Topps Trios basketball stickers. Another father and son team bought some 1978s and some 1976s. Derek picked up some 1970s basketball. Will capped things off with some 1957 Topps baseball.
On the buying front, I picked up a large pile of 1970s baseball high numbers, a pile of 1970-71 Topps basketball and another pile of 1976-77 Topps basketball. I bought a 1959 Topps Sandy Koufax and 1973 and 1974 Topps baseball complete sets. I ran out of money and had to turn down some Mantles that I would have normally bought if I had the cash. I'm breaking up the sets and posting the '73 stars on eBay this week. I'll eventually place the commons in my binders. I know I told Will that I'd save him the Schmidt rookie but I really need to get some cash flow going. I unfortunately owe a bunch of guys money for cards I purchased recently. So Will, I'll definitely find you another Schmidt sometime in the near future (Sorry!). As usual, I bought more than I sold, even though I sold a lot of stuff today.
The ride home was hell today with road construction on LaGrange Road and the tollway. Ugh. I tried to find some shortcuts but ended up getting lost. On the bright side, this was my first time really driving around the Orland area and I noticed that it is really, really nice. Some huge houses along with some mega-wooded areas. I also saw some mega-mansions in the Palos area. Isn't that where Eddy Curry was victimized in a home invasion? Anyway, a beautiful area. I wouldn't mind getting lost around there again. Though I won't be back in Orland until the end of June because there is no second show this month and John scheduled the first June show on the same day as Gonzaga -- I'll be at Gonzaga. John actually got a little snippy with me today claiming I should have told him about the Gonzaga show sooner. I thought he was aware of the Gonzaga schedule and he also has more than a month to find someone to take my tables, so I don't feel so bad. I also don't get as easily offended by John as I have in the past because I know he is in his early 80s and running the show is tough for him. I gotta give him credit, I don't think I'll be able to do anything like that when I'm in my 80s, if I even live that long.
Next week is Serb Hall in Milwaukee. I had a real nice show there last month and am looking for more of the same next Sunday. I think this is the last Serb show until August. I'm bummed that PJ shuts the show down for June and July. I'm not taking those months off, so I gotta come up with some other shows to replace Serb. I'm still debating on doing the Sun-Times show at the end of June. I'd also really like to get out to the National at the end of July-early August in Baltimore, but I don't see how that's going to happen with my day job and all.
Anyway, a great day in Orland. A big thank you to everyone who bought and sold me cards today. Thanks for feeding my addiction! I'm getting ready to price some '54 Topps. I also may do another blog about the flea market I attended on Sunday. I actually dragged my ass out of bed at the crack of dawn on Sunday to set up at Wolff's Flea Market at the Allstate Arena (or Rosemont Horizon for you oldtimers). There's not much to write about since I didn't sell a whole lot but I think I may have enough to put something together later this week. Stay tuned! Also, everyone reading this blog should go to Serb Hall on Sunday!!
One of my autograph hounds started things off by purchasing some '57 Topps baseball commons to send out for signatures. Aaron picked up some 1960s Topps baseball. A regular customer purchased some '75 Topps baseball. A new customer bought some 1965 and 1980 Topps baseball. Another new customer bought some 1981 Topps baseball. A regular customer picked up some 1960 Topps. Chris dug into my 50-cent box and my dollar box. Dave picked up a pile of cards including my 1958 Topps Roberto Clemente that is really nice except for what looks like a light, inadvertent pen or pencil mark. Dave also bought my '59 Topps Rocky Colavito that is Near Mint.
A new customer pulled some cards out of my 50-cent box. It's been months since I've seen Dennis. He picked up some '65s today. A new customer purchased some cards out of my dollar box. Joel picked up a really nice 1953 Topps Minnie Minoso. Rick grabbed a large pile of 1971-72 Topps basketball and my 1957 Topps Frank Robinson rookie. A regular picked up some 1965 Topps New York Mets cards. A father and son team purchased some 1971-72 Topps Trios basketball stickers. Another father and son team bought some 1978s and some 1976s. Derek picked up some 1970s basketball. Will capped things off with some 1957 Topps baseball.
On the buying front, I picked up a large pile of 1970s baseball high numbers, a pile of 1970-71 Topps basketball and another pile of 1976-77 Topps basketball. I bought a 1959 Topps Sandy Koufax and 1973 and 1974 Topps baseball complete sets. I ran out of money and had to turn down some Mantles that I would have normally bought if I had the cash. I'm breaking up the sets and posting the '73 stars on eBay this week. I'll eventually place the commons in my binders. I know I told Will that I'd save him the Schmidt rookie but I really need to get some cash flow going. I unfortunately owe a bunch of guys money for cards I purchased recently. So Will, I'll definitely find you another Schmidt sometime in the near future (Sorry!). As usual, I bought more than I sold, even though I sold a lot of stuff today.
The ride home was hell today with road construction on LaGrange Road and the tollway. Ugh. I tried to find some shortcuts but ended up getting lost. On the bright side, this was my first time really driving around the Orland area and I noticed that it is really, really nice. Some huge houses along with some mega-wooded areas. I also saw some mega-mansions in the Palos area. Isn't that where Eddy Curry was victimized in a home invasion? Anyway, a beautiful area. I wouldn't mind getting lost around there again. Though I won't be back in Orland until the end of June because there is no second show this month and John scheduled the first June show on the same day as Gonzaga -- I'll be at Gonzaga. John actually got a little snippy with me today claiming I should have told him about the Gonzaga show sooner. I thought he was aware of the Gonzaga schedule and he also has more than a month to find someone to take my tables, so I don't feel so bad. I also don't get as easily offended by John as I have in the past because I know he is in his early 80s and running the show is tough for him. I gotta give him credit, I don't think I'll be able to do anything like that when I'm in my 80s, if I even live that long.
Next week is Serb Hall in Milwaukee. I had a real nice show there last month and am looking for more of the same next Sunday. I think this is the last Serb show until August. I'm bummed that PJ shuts the show down for June and July. I'm not taking those months off, so I gotta come up with some other shows to replace Serb. I'm still debating on doing the Sun-Times show at the end of June. I'd also really like to get out to the National at the end of July-early August in Baltimore, but I don't see how that's going to happen with my day job and all.
Anyway, a great day in Orland. A big thank you to everyone who bought and sold me cards today. Thanks for feeding my addiction! I'm getting ready to price some '54 Topps. I also may do another blog about the flea market I attended on Sunday. I actually dragged my ass out of bed at the crack of dawn on Sunday to set up at Wolff's Flea Market at the Allstate Arena (or Rosemont Horizon for you oldtimers). There's not much to write about since I didn't sell a whole lot but I think I may have enough to put something together later this week. Stay tuned! Also, everyone reading this blog should go to Serb Hall on Sunday!!
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