Saturday, August 13, 2022, Rock Church, Rockford, IL
Rolling along. Shows have definitely been much better lately, including the Rock Church show. I brought out display cases again. Nine of them this time. It took me a while to fill the cases.
I knew it was going to be a good show when Tim started things off by purchasing my 1961 Topps Mickey Mantle All Star. Thanks Tim! Tim said he recently purchased a near set of '61s and decided to complete the set. I do the same thing when near sets come my way. I am always working on several sets.
I had a nice display of vintage football stars today. My regular football guy came out with his daughter this time around. He said his son would not get out of bed. He purchased my 1967 Philadelphia Bart Starr. I sold several other Bart Starrs as well.
Real nice crowd. I had a lot of interest in my cards. A regular customer purchased a 1961 Topps Felipe Alou. An older customer purchased a pile of stuff including a 1961 Topps Bill Mazeroski, a 1961 Topps Luis Aparicio All Star, 1964 Topps Stand Ups Jim Fregosi and Joe Torre and some 1962 Topps high numbers.
A kid, maybe about 10 years old, was hovering around my table. I am always ready to help out the kids and answer any questions they may have about vintage cards. He did not have any questions and picked out a 1958 Topps Lenny Moore and purchased it. Thank you!
An older guy wearing a White Sox cap purchased some 1969 Topps variations. A customer wearing a Louisville Slugger T-shirt purchased my 1968 Topps Dick Butkus, my 1968 Topps Mike Ditka, my 1969 Topps Carl Yastrzemski, and some 1963s. Denny purchased a bunch of cards but I don't remember exactly what. Another regular pulled a pile of stuff from my display cases for his sets.
I sold many, many more cards but memory fails once again. It was a really good day. One of my best Rockford shows in quite a while.
On the buying front, I bought some 1972 Topps baseball, including some high numbers, from Terry. I don't really need the cards but the price was right. I was telling Tim that I have 15,000 or so '72s. Many near sets that I am slowly building. I have to do the all-1972 display that I mentioned a while ago. I need to get working on that one.
Another regular had a stack of cards largely made up of the Kellogg's 3-D cards from the 1970's. He wanted $110 but I just did not see the value there. I would probably be a buyer at $50.
Just days before the show, Jim found me through Google and said he had some baseball picture cards from the 1920's that he wanted to sell. I learned he lived near Rockford and we agreed to meet at the Rock Church show. Jim is a really nice guy and it was great to meet him. Initially, I was a little skeptical because I was not sure what his baseball picture cards could be. The 1920's was a weird decade for baseball cards. The tobacco companies that produced all those great T cards in the teens, were bought out and stopped producing cards. The 1920's had strip cards, which get the W label like Exhibits. The strip cards are very ugly, in my opinion and not nearly as popular as the T cards. There are also the E cards, that I call candy cards because they were inserted into packs of candy during the 1920's. I like the E cards more than the strip cards but they are more expensive.
I figured Jim had some sort of reprint cards. I figured wrong. He pulled out a complete set of 1929 Kashin Publications cards, still in the original box. I forgot about the Kashin cards, which also get a W designation. The Kashin's are oversized, not quite as large as Exhibits. I have had these in the past but always in low, low grade. I have never seen a complete set before -- including Ruth, Gehrig and Hornsby. The box was a little tattered but the cards were beautiful. Though, the Ruth looked a little short.
Jim said that these were originally his grandfather's cards and they got passed down to him. He said he brought them to school when he was a kid and is glad he did not damage them.
I am no expert on the Kashins and did not know what to offer Jim for the set. As a veteran buyer of cards, I know that every seller has a price in mind, even if they won't admit it. Jim really wanted me to make an offer. I honestly did not know what to offer. I probably would have been comfortable with $3,000 to $4,000. Jim admitted that he looked up the cards on eBay and saw a graded Gehrig listed for $18,000. This is a problem I have mentioned before when seller's look up listings on eBay but do not look at the "sold" listings. The sold listings give an actual idea of the value of a card since it, well, sold, and there is a price from the sale. The regular listings are all over the board and a seller can pick any random price but those cards may never sell.
Jim wanted $10,000 for the set. I don't know if I could sell the set for $10,000 and declined. Later, I looked at the eBay sold listings and saw commons sold for $12 to $15 and the stars from $50 to $250. There was not any sales data on the Gehrig. I would love to have these cards but I just can't do $10K. It sure was fun to look at them, though.
After chatting with Jim, I started to get hungry. Tim, his daughter and I were all looking forward to the taco truck which broke down. My buddy Phil and his lovely wife ordered me an Italian sausage sandwich from Rosati's, a northern Illinois chain of pizza places. There is a Rosati's by my office. I regularly order from there. This was my first time trying their Italian sausage sandwich. I ordered it with sweet and hot peppers. It came on fresh Italian bread, covered in marinara and the peppers. Oh, that was good.
After lunch, several folks asked about my binders. I will probably bring them out next month to the September 10 Rock Church show. I will also have the binders out this weekend in Merrillville and Orland.
I had a chance to chat with Mark from Iowa, who was set up near me in Rockford. Mark said he had some cards stolen at the last Madison show. He is always set up behind me and I try to keep an eye on his stuff and I know he does the same for me. I don't know how we missed the thief. I think we might place some chairs to block entry behind our tables at the next Madison show.
Next Oak Creek show is September 3. Dealer tables are sold out. My waiting list is growing again. I really wish I could provide dealer space to everyone who wants to set up but I am just overrun right now. If this keeps up, I may expand into the chapel area. Though that space is really pricey and I would have to bump up table fee to do it. I don't know if I want the extra headache. I had about 90 dealers at the last Oak Creek show and managing so many people is very difficult.
During the past several months I have been able to get many new dealers into the Oak Creek show which has been nice but it looks like space is tightening up for the foreseeable future. If you are interested in setting up in Oak Creek, send me an email at abrandongordon@hotmail.com and I will add you to my waiting list.
A big thank you to John and Mike for running an excellent show in Rockford. A huge thank you to everyone who bought cards from me in Rockford. I appreciate you! Next Rockford show is September 10. In the meantime, come see me this weekend in Merrillville and Orland!!
Below are some photos from the August Rockford show.
Rolling along. Shows have definitely been much better lately, including the Rock Church show. I brought out display cases again. Nine of them this time. It took me a while to fill the cases.
I knew it was going to be a good show when Tim started things off by purchasing my 1961 Topps Mickey Mantle All Star. Thanks Tim! Tim said he recently purchased a near set of '61s and decided to complete the set. I do the same thing when near sets come my way. I am always working on several sets.
I had a nice display of vintage football stars today. My regular football guy came out with his daughter this time around. He said his son would not get out of bed. He purchased my 1967 Philadelphia Bart Starr. I sold several other Bart Starrs as well.
Real nice crowd. I had a lot of interest in my cards. A regular customer purchased a 1961 Topps Felipe Alou. An older customer purchased a pile of stuff including a 1961 Topps Bill Mazeroski, a 1961 Topps Luis Aparicio All Star, 1964 Topps Stand Ups Jim Fregosi and Joe Torre and some 1962 Topps high numbers.
A kid, maybe about 10 years old, was hovering around my table. I am always ready to help out the kids and answer any questions they may have about vintage cards. He did not have any questions and picked out a 1958 Topps Lenny Moore and purchased it. Thank you!
An older guy wearing a White Sox cap purchased some 1969 Topps variations. A customer wearing a Louisville Slugger T-shirt purchased my 1968 Topps Dick Butkus, my 1968 Topps Mike Ditka, my 1969 Topps Carl Yastrzemski, and some 1963s. Denny purchased a bunch of cards but I don't remember exactly what. Another regular pulled a pile of stuff from my display cases for his sets.
I sold many, many more cards but memory fails once again. It was a really good day. One of my best Rockford shows in quite a while.
On the buying front, I bought some 1972 Topps baseball, including some high numbers, from Terry. I don't really need the cards but the price was right. I was telling Tim that I have 15,000 or so '72s. Many near sets that I am slowly building. I have to do the all-1972 display that I mentioned a while ago. I need to get working on that one.
Another regular had a stack of cards largely made up of the Kellogg's 3-D cards from the 1970's. He wanted $110 but I just did not see the value there. I would probably be a buyer at $50.
Just days before the show, Jim found me through Google and said he had some baseball picture cards from the 1920's that he wanted to sell. I learned he lived near Rockford and we agreed to meet at the Rock Church show. Jim is a really nice guy and it was great to meet him. Initially, I was a little skeptical because I was not sure what his baseball picture cards could be. The 1920's was a weird decade for baseball cards. The tobacco companies that produced all those great T cards in the teens, were bought out and stopped producing cards. The 1920's had strip cards, which get the W label like Exhibits. The strip cards are very ugly, in my opinion and not nearly as popular as the T cards. There are also the E cards, that I call candy cards because they were inserted into packs of candy during the 1920's. I like the E cards more than the strip cards but they are more expensive.
I figured Jim had some sort of reprint cards. I figured wrong. He pulled out a complete set of 1929 Kashin Publications cards, still in the original box. I forgot about the Kashin cards, which also get a W designation. The Kashin's are oversized, not quite as large as Exhibits. I have had these in the past but always in low, low grade. I have never seen a complete set before -- including Ruth, Gehrig and Hornsby. The box was a little tattered but the cards were beautiful. Though, the Ruth looked a little short.
Jim said that these were originally his grandfather's cards and they got passed down to him. He said he brought them to school when he was a kid and is glad he did not damage them.
I am no expert on the Kashins and did not know what to offer Jim for the set. As a veteran buyer of cards, I know that every seller has a price in mind, even if they won't admit it. Jim really wanted me to make an offer. I honestly did not know what to offer. I probably would have been comfortable with $3,000 to $4,000. Jim admitted that he looked up the cards on eBay and saw a graded Gehrig listed for $18,000. This is a problem I have mentioned before when seller's look up listings on eBay but do not look at the "sold" listings. The sold listings give an actual idea of the value of a card since it, well, sold, and there is a price from the sale. The regular listings are all over the board and a seller can pick any random price but those cards may never sell.
Jim wanted $10,000 for the set. I don't know if I could sell the set for $10,000 and declined. Later, I looked at the eBay sold listings and saw commons sold for $12 to $15 and the stars from $50 to $250. There was not any sales data on the Gehrig. I would love to have these cards but I just can't do $10K. It sure was fun to look at them, though.
After chatting with Jim, I started to get hungry. Tim, his daughter and I were all looking forward to the taco truck which broke down. My buddy Phil and his lovely wife ordered me an Italian sausage sandwich from Rosati's, a northern Illinois chain of pizza places. There is a Rosati's by my office. I regularly order from there. This was my first time trying their Italian sausage sandwich. I ordered it with sweet and hot peppers. It came on fresh Italian bread, covered in marinara and the peppers. Oh, that was good.
After lunch, several folks asked about my binders. I will probably bring them out next month to the September 10 Rock Church show. I will also have the binders out this weekend in Merrillville and Orland.
I had a chance to chat with Mark from Iowa, who was set up near me in Rockford. Mark said he had some cards stolen at the last Madison show. He is always set up behind me and I try to keep an eye on his stuff and I know he does the same for me. I don't know how we missed the thief. I think we might place some chairs to block entry behind our tables at the next Madison show.
Next Oak Creek show is September 3. Dealer tables are sold out. My waiting list is growing again. I really wish I could provide dealer space to everyone who wants to set up but I am just overrun right now. If this keeps up, I may expand into the chapel area. Though that space is really pricey and I would have to bump up table fee to do it. I don't know if I want the extra headache. I had about 90 dealers at the last Oak Creek show and managing so many people is very difficult.
During the past several months I have been able to get many new dealers into the Oak Creek show which has been nice but it looks like space is tightening up for the foreseeable future. If you are interested in setting up in Oak Creek, send me an email at abrandongordon@hotmail.com and I will add you to my waiting list.
A big thank you to John and Mike for running an excellent show in Rockford. A huge thank you to everyone who bought cards from me in Rockford. I appreciate you! Next Rockford show is September 10. In the meantime, come see me this weekend in Merrillville and Orland!!
Below are some photos from the August Rockford show.
I stopped for gas just outside of Rockford since it is much cheaper here than by my house. At the gas station, I snapped this photo of the big sky and corn field that seems to go on forever. I love getting out to the country.
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