Sunday, May 21, 2023, Civic Center, Orland Park, IL
I arrived at the Civic Center around 8:15 a.m. and saw that the parking lot was nearly full due to massive little league games in the adjacent baseball fields. I was able to snag one of the coveted green carts to load in which leads me to my one complaint about the Civic Center -- they leave three green carts out in the morning but just one in the afternoon after the show closes. So load out is usually two or three trips on one of the smaller carts while load in is just one trip on that nice green cart.
I pretty much brought out the same stuff that I had yesterday in Woodstock. New for Orland were two more display cases for a total of four cases. In the cases, I placed baseball cards from 1963 through 1979, after doing 1958 through 1962 last month. I also had space for football cards from 1948 through 1959.
Here is a random observation from my Orland set up. Like clockwork, as soon as I put out a few binders, someone stops to flip through them, blocking my way to put out more binders. It is like they hide in the bushes and wait for me to put out a binder or two then they pounce!
This is a problem at most shows. I almost always have someone jump on a binder as soon as I place any of them out. I wish they would wait until I finish setting up. This problem used to be worse in Orland during the John Leary days when I was set up in the back of the room. In those days, I would have four or five guys at my table as soon as I brought in my bins of cards. At least now, it is usually just one guy who blocks my way instead of four.
I finished setting up at the 9 o'clock bell. Except for the early guys who get in my way, I did not have any customers until 9:30 or so, which seems to be the pattern here. Terry drew my attention to Record Store Steve's table which was mobbed at 9 a.m. As Terry regularly points out, all the vintage customers go to Steve first, then to Jim, then to Terry, then to me.
Outside of the group at Steve's table, there were not a whole lot of people in the room early on. By 10 a.m., the place had filled up and sales started to come in. Will and Joe arrived with hot coffee and Sausage McMuffins. Thanks guys! I really needed that coffee. Those blood pressure meds just drag me down. I felt so much better with that coffee in me.
I sold a 1963 Topps Bill Mazeroski early on. My guy working on '59's pulled out another large pile. I love that guy! Then my pal Joe showed up and we went out to his car in the parking lot where he gave me three heavy boxes of sets from the 1990's. I normally don't take cards from this era but I have a hard time turning down free cards. Thanks Joe!
I found it funny when a regular customer ran over to see what I was getting from Joe in the parking lot. I tried to tell him that it was nothing all too interesting but he still came over to peek in the boxes.
My friend Milan found a card in my recently reloaded 1963 Topps binder. The couple working on '77's was back and pulled another large pile. The older couple working on 1966 Topps purchased a few high numbers from my display case. Two of my regular hockey collectors found some cards.
I did not bring out much football since those binders are beat. Seems like I pretty much just have football from 1977 through 1982 filled up. All the other years have been attacked. I hope to add more football soon. I did not sell any football from the display cases or the few binders that I had out. I normally sell football 12 months out of the year. It is an odd day when I don't sell any football.
Quite a few others purchased cards but I can't seem to remember exactly what I sold. Will was the big winner today with a nice purchase of 1970-71 Topps basketball and all of my 1975 Topps baseball stars from my display case. Thanks Will!
Pretty solid day selling cards as usual in Orland. My numbers were not quite as good as last month but good enough where I was not disappointed.
On the buying front, Jeff P. sent over a young guy selling some old football cards. I picked up the group which included two 1970 Topps Gale Sayers. Jeff also directed me to a new dealer in the corner of the room who had a $5 dollar box with some good stuff. I picked up a few cards there including a 1972 O-Pee-Chee Harmon Killebrew. Any time I see vintage O-Pee-Chees, I automatically buy them because you just don't see them. Thanks Jeff!
Jeff and I also had a nice discussion after the show on our diabetes related illnesses. Did I say that diabetes sucks!
Anyway, back to buying. A guy came to my table with a baggy of beat 1960's and 1970's cards. There were some big names in there but the cards were worn and creased. I asked him for a price on the baggy but he refused and demanded an offer. Uh, oh. This never works out. As I have stated in the past, every seller has a price. I am not going to overpay for beat up and worn cards. I offered $100. He walked away but not before showing me a few more cards including a 1980 Topps Rickey Henderson Rookie and a Gretzky Rookie. He told me he was going to get those cards graded. I told him not to bother because they were creased. He said the Gretzky was not for sale -- then why show it to me?
I gathered that this guy knows nothing about cards. He told me he collects vintage video games and obtained these cards with a purchase of a video game collection. I am going to guess that he went on eBay and saw some high-grade slabbed prices and thought he had gold. I tried to explain to him that the value of vintage cards is condition sensitive. He did not seem to care nor take my comments seriously. I saw him walking around later in the show without the baggy. Someone must have bought those cards. I wonder what they paid?
Later in the show, my old friend Blue Island Tom reported that his long-time pal Jeff Watson died on Friday. Tom said he had been friends with Jeff since 1955. Jeff was one of my regular customers at the Orland show and he was working on the early Bowman baseball sets. His health started to fail about a year ago and he stopped coming to the show. I received regular updates on Jeff's condition from Tom. I always thought I'd see Jeff saunter back into the Orland show and take his rightful place at my old Bowman binder with that usual smile on his face. It never did happen and I am so sorry to hear about his passing. Jeff was a super nice guy. My thoughts and prayers to Jeff's family and friends. Here is a link to his obituary: James Jeffrey Watson Obituary (tributearchive.com).
On a happier note, I capped off the day at the sub shop with Will and Joe. Those guys went with the fried shrimp while I ate a burger. Man, that shrimp looked so good. I made a mistake and should have gone with the shrimp. Problem is, I hate eating the same thing I had last time. I always try to go with something new but I think I'll have to go with the shrimp next time.
So the next Orland show is on June 11 will be a rare show where I will not attend. I have a scheduling conflict. The bi-monthly Roma Lodge show in Racine, WI, is also June 11 and I opted for that show in June. I skipped the April Roma show for Orland. I don't know what to do when two shows I want to attend are scheduled for the same day. All I can do is rotate. I wish I could be in two spots at once!
I will be at the July 16 Orland show. I sure would like to see more of my Orland regulars come up to Oak Creek! Next Oak Creek show is coming up fast on June 3. That show is located at the Salvation Army Community Center, 8853 S. Howell, in Oak Creek, WI. Oak Creek is a south suburb of Milwaukee and really easy to get to from I94. I will have a bunch of new dealers at this show. Come on out!!!
A big thank you to Rich and his crew for putting on another excellent show!
Pictured below are some of my purchases from the May Orland show.
See you soon!
I arrived at the Civic Center around 8:15 a.m. and saw that the parking lot was nearly full due to massive little league games in the adjacent baseball fields. I was able to snag one of the coveted green carts to load in which leads me to my one complaint about the Civic Center -- they leave three green carts out in the morning but just one in the afternoon after the show closes. So load out is usually two or three trips on one of the smaller carts while load in is just one trip on that nice green cart.
I pretty much brought out the same stuff that I had yesterday in Woodstock. New for Orland were two more display cases for a total of four cases. In the cases, I placed baseball cards from 1963 through 1979, after doing 1958 through 1962 last month. I also had space for football cards from 1948 through 1959.
Here is a random observation from my Orland set up. Like clockwork, as soon as I put out a few binders, someone stops to flip through them, blocking my way to put out more binders. It is like they hide in the bushes and wait for me to put out a binder or two then they pounce!
This is a problem at most shows. I almost always have someone jump on a binder as soon as I place any of them out. I wish they would wait until I finish setting up. This problem used to be worse in Orland during the John Leary days when I was set up in the back of the room. In those days, I would have four or five guys at my table as soon as I brought in my bins of cards. At least now, it is usually just one guy who blocks my way instead of four.
I finished setting up at the 9 o'clock bell. Except for the early guys who get in my way, I did not have any customers until 9:30 or so, which seems to be the pattern here. Terry drew my attention to Record Store Steve's table which was mobbed at 9 a.m. As Terry regularly points out, all the vintage customers go to Steve first, then to Jim, then to Terry, then to me.
Outside of the group at Steve's table, there were not a whole lot of people in the room early on. By 10 a.m., the place had filled up and sales started to come in. Will and Joe arrived with hot coffee and Sausage McMuffins. Thanks guys! I really needed that coffee. Those blood pressure meds just drag me down. I felt so much better with that coffee in me.
I sold a 1963 Topps Bill Mazeroski early on. My guy working on '59's pulled out another large pile. I love that guy! Then my pal Joe showed up and we went out to his car in the parking lot where he gave me three heavy boxes of sets from the 1990's. I normally don't take cards from this era but I have a hard time turning down free cards. Thanks Joe!
I found it funny when a regular customer ran over to see what I was getting from Joe in the parking lot. I tried to tell him that it was nothing all too interesting but he still came over to peek in the boxes.
My friend Milan found a card in my recently reloaded 1963 Topps binder. The couple working on '77's was back and pulled another large pile. The older couple working on 1966 Topps purchased a few high numbers from my display case. Two of my regular hockey collectors found some cards.
I did not bring out much football since those binders are beat. Seems like I pretty much just have football from 1977 through 1982 filled up. All the other years have been attacked. I hope to add more football soon. I did not sell any football from the display cases or the few binders that I had out. I normally sell football 12 months out of the year. It is an odd day when I don't sell any football.
Quite a few others purchased cards but I can't seem to remember exactly what I sold. Will was the big winner today with a nice purchase of 1970-71 Topps basketball and all of my 1975 Topps baseball stars from my display case. Thanks Will!
Pretty solid day selling cards as usual in Orland. My numbers were not quite as good as last month but good enough where I was not disappointed.
On the buying front, Jeff P. sent over a young guy selling some old football cards. I picked up the group which included two 1970 Topps Gale Sayers. Jeff also directed me to a new dealer in the corner of the room who had a $5 dollar box with some good stuff. I picked up a few cards there including a 1972 O-Pee-Chee Harmon Killebrew. Any time I see vintage O-Pee-Chees, I automatically buy them because you just don't see them. Thanks Jeff!
Jeff and I also had a nice discussion after the show on our diabetes related illnesses. Did I say that diabetes sucks!
Anyway, back to buying. A guy came to my table with a baggy of beat 1960's and 1970's cards. There were some big names in there but the cards were worn and creased. I asked him for a price on the baggy but he refused and demanded an offer. Uh, oh. This never works out. As I have stated in the past, every seller has a price. I am not going to overpay for beat up and worn cards. I offered $100. He walked away but not before showing me a few more cards including a 1980 Topps Rickey Henderson Rookie and a Gretzky Rookie. He told me he was going to get those cards graded. I told him not to bother because they were creased. He said the Gretzky was not for sale -- then why show it to me?
I gathered that this guy knows nothing about cards. He told me he collects vintage video games and obtained these cards with a purchase of a video game collection. I am going to guess that he went on eBay and saw some high-grade slabbed prices and thought he had gold. I tried to explain to him that the value of vintage cards is condition sensitive. He did not seem to care nor take my comments seriously. I saw him walking around later in the show without the baggy. Someone must have bought those cards. I wonder what they paid?
Later in the show, my old friend Blue Island Tom reported that his long-time pal Jeff Watson died on Friday. Tom said he had been friends with Jeff since 1955. Jeff was one of my regular customers at the Orland show and he was working on the early Bowman baseball sets. His health started to fail about a year ago and he stopped coming to the show. I received regular updates on Jeff's condition from Tom. I always thought I'd see Jeff saunter back into the Orland show and take his rightful place at my old Bowman binder with that usual smile on his face. It never did happen and I am so sorry to hear about his passing. Jeff was a super nice guy. My thoughts and prayers to Jeff's family and friends. Here is a link to his obituary: James Jeffrey Watson Obituary (tributearchive.com).
On a happier note, I capped off the day at the sub shop with Will and Joe. Those guys went with the fried shrimp while I ate a burger. Man, that shrimp looked so good. I made a mistake and should have gone with the shrimp. Problem is, I hate eating the same thing I had last time. I always try to go with something new but I think I'll have to go with the shrimp next time.
So the next Orland show is on June 11 will be a rare show where I will not attend. I have a scheduling conflict. The bi-monthly Roma Lodge show in Racine, WI, is also June 11 and I opted for that show in June. I skipped the April Roma show for Orland. I don't know what to do when two shows I want to attend are scheduled for the same day. All I can do is rotate. I wish I could be in two spots at once!
I will be at the July 16 Orland show. I sure would like to see more of my Orland regulars come up to Oak Creek! Next Oak Creek show is coming up fast on June 3. That show is located at the Salvation Army Community Center, 8853 S. Howell, in Oak Creek, WI. Oak Creek is a south suburb of Milwaukee and really easy to get to from I94. I will have a bunch of new dealers at this show. Come on out!!!
A big thank you to Rich and his crew for putting on another excellent show!
Pictured below are some of my purchases from the May Orland show.
See you soon!
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