Sunday, December 23, 2012, Indian Lakes Resort, Bloomingdale, IL -- Not much doing today. I'm guessing people were out Christmas shopping. Though, I did buy and sell a few cards.
Larry and I did our usual trade and cash deal. Larry took some 1953 Topps including a Phil Rizzuto. In return, I received some 1953 Bowman football, some 1957-58 Topps basketball, a 1971 Topps Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente, and some cash. A regular purchased 1970, 1971, and 1972 Topps baseball. Uncle Morty made the long trek to Bloomingdale and purchased a 1964 Philadelphia Merlin Olsen rookie. Mort also left his eye glass case at my table which I will be bringing to the January 6 Best Western show. A regular customer purchased a mixture of baseball from the 1970s. A father and son team purchased some 1976 and 1979 Topps baseball. Willie rounded out my day by purchasing some 1969-70 and 1970-71 Topps hockey.
On the buying front, I picked up a pile of 1962 Topps baseball (Thanks Bill!).
Up next is the first show of 2013 -- Sunday, January 6, at the Best Western Plus, 1725 Algonquin Road in Bloomingdale. I'm working on reloading my 1974 Topps baseball binder. Hopefully, I'll have it ready to go by Sunday. I'm looking forward to a nice big crowd Sunday!!
Now that 2012 is in the record books, upon reflection, I had an excellent year at the card shows. I started 2012 off with a double bill weekend with Orland on New Year's Eve and Fred's show in Schaumburg on New Year's Day. The hotel in Schaumburg was called the Park Inn last year. Now it is Best Western Plus. The year started off strong that weekend and continued on later in the month and again in February 2012 when Gizmo bought most of my star cards and I then went on a buying spree. That was fun.
March 2012 was absolutely crazy. My dog died. I was diagnosed with diabetes, lost about 40 pounds from December 2011 through March 2012, and had to give up doughnuts, muffins, cereal, potato chips, french fries, and cookies. That was rough! It still is rough!! Also in March, I brought both kids out with me to a show for the first time at the Schaumburg show. The kids came with me several times in 2012. I enjoyed having them with me but they complained they were bored. I gotta figure something out to entice them to come out to the shows. At the end of March, I trucked out to Dayton and Canton, Ohio. The Dayton show was slow but the Canton show was lights out.
In April, the family trucked down to Florida. I didn't take in any card shows but I caught a Mets-Cardinals spring training game and enjoyed it thoroughly. Upon returning home, we bought a puppy -- Coconut. He's a Golden Retriever and is an absolutely awesome dog. While we miss our old dog Rodney, Coconut has fit right in like he has been with us always. At the April Serb Hall show, I picked up a nice grouping of 1964 Topps Stand-ups -- one of my best purchases of the year! I have since sold them all except for the Clemente.
In May, at the Orland show I picked up complete 1973 and 1974 Topps set. I recently loaded the '73s into my show binder and am in the process of loading in the '74s. On Mother's Day, I made the absolutely stupid move of setting up at Wolf's Flea Market. I was hassled by the Wolf employees and hardly made any sales. The Wolf's Flea Market was my lowpoint of 2012. I won't be making that same mistake in 2013. I had a really great Bloomingdale show in May 2012 where I had some nice sales and spent a bunch of dough on some autographs from Willie. I got great stuff from Willie that day and continued to buy autographs, largely from Willie, all year long for my personal collection.
On the first weekend of June 2012, I trucked down to St. Louis for the Two Hearts show. I had a terrific show. St. Louis rocks! The following weekend, I drove to Vermont with my elderly parents for my cousin's wedding. My dad, who drives like Mr. Magoo, did most of the driving. He wouldn't let me drive. We got lost and ran out of gas at one point. On the way back, my dad drove off the road. He still wouldn't let me drive. Somehow, I'm still alive.
I went back to St. Louis on the first weekend of July 2012. The whole family came and we made a little vacation of it, visiting some of the sights. I also had my best show of the year. It was an amazing day at the Two Hearts. Unfortunately, I never made it back to St. Louis the rest of the year and the Two Hearts is now shuttered. However, promoter Dave Jackson just started booking shows at a new venue. I'm debating on heading down there soon. I also trucked back to Canton, Ohio, in July 2012, and had a lousy show after a stellar one there in March. I'm not sure if I'm going to go to Canton or Dayton again.
In August 2012, the family road-tripped to the wife's homestate of Massachusetts. We camped just north of the little burg where she grew up. A bear scared us silly and put an end to this family ever camping anywhere again. Closer to home, I bought a nice grouping of pre-War at the Gonzaga show.
In September 2012, crowds were noticeably down at the shows due to football. It happens every year. Sports card collectors are football fanatics and football season is always slow at the card shows. October 2012 and November 2012 were slow. However, things picked up in Schaumburg and I had a nice show in Milwaukee while skipping the Sun Times show. The year ended on a high note, I had excellent shows in December at Orland and Gonzaga, where I picked up a T206 Ty Cobb.
I am definitely looking forward to 2013. Shows are usually strong early in the year. I'm healthy. I have my diabetes under control. Much like last year, I plan on buying and selling bushels of cards this year. Who knows what cards will walk in the card shows in 2013? I hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday season. See you January 6 at the Best Western Plus in Schaumburg!
Larry and I did our usual trade and cash deal. Larry took some 1953 Topps including a Phil Rizzuto. In return, I received some 1953 Bowman football, some 1957-58 Topps basketball, a 1971 Topps Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente, and some cash. A regular purchased 1970, 1971, and 1972 Topps baseball. Uncle Morty made the long trek to Bloomingdale and purchased a 1964 Philadelphia Merlin Olsen rookie. Mort also left his eye glass case at my table which I will be bringing to the January 6 Best Western show. A regular customer purchased a mixture of baseball from the 1970s. A father and son team purchased some 1976 and 1979 Topps baseball. Willie rounded out my day by purchasing some 1969-70 and 1970-71 Topps hockey.
On the buying front, I picked up a pile of 1962 Topps baseball (Thanks Bill!).
Up next is the first show of 2013 -- Sunday, January 6, at the Best Western Plus, 1725 Algonquin Road in Bloomingdale. I'm working on reloading my 1974 Topps baseball binder. Hopefully, I'll have it ready to go by Sunday. I'm looking forward to a nice big crowd Sunday!!
Now that 2012 is in the record books, upon reflection, I had an excellent year at the card shows. I started 2012 off with a double bill weekend with Orland on New Year's Eve and Fred's show in Schaumburg on New Year's Day. The hotel in Schaumburg was called the Park Inn last year. Now it is Best Western Plus. The year started off strong that weekend and continued on later in the month and again in February 2012 when Gizmo bought most of my star cards and I then went on a buying spree. That was fun.
March 2012 was absolutely crazy. My dog died. I was diagnosed with diabetes, lost about 40 pounds from December 2011 through March 2012, and had to give up doughnuts, muffins, cereal, potato chips, french fries, and cookies. That was rough! It still is rough!! Also in March, I brought both kids out with me to a show for the first time at the Schaumburg show. The kids came with me several times in 2012. I enjoyed having them with me but they complained they were bored. I gotta figure something out to entice them to come out to the shows. At the end of March, I trucked out to Dayton and Canton, Ohio. The Dayton show was slow but the Canton show was lights out.
In April, the family trucked down to Florida. I didn't take in any card shows but I caught a Mets-Cardinals spring training game and enjoyed it thoroughly. Upon returning home, we bought a puppy -- Coconut. He's a Golden Retriever and is an absolutely awesome dog. While we miss our old dog Rodney, Coconut has fit right in like he has been with us always. At the April Serb Hall show, I picked up a nice grouping of 1964 Topps Stand-ups -- one of my best purchases of the year! I have since sold them all except for the Clemente.
In May, at the Orland show I picked up complete 1973 and 1974 Topps set. I recently loaded the '73s into my show binder and am in the process of loading in the '74s. On Mother's Day, I made the absolutely stupid move of setting up at Wolf's Flea Market. I was hassled by the Wolf employees and hardly made any sales. The Wolf's Flea Market was my lowpoint of 2012. I won't be making that same mistake in 2013. I had a really great Bloomingdale show in May 2012 where I had some nice sales and spent a bunch of dough on some autographs from Willie. I got great stuff from Willie that day and continued to buy autographs, largely from Willie, all year long for my personal collection.
On the first weekend of June 2012, I trucked down to St. Louis for the Two Hearts show. I had a terrific show. St. Louis rocks! The following weekend, I drove to Vermont with my elderly parents for my cousin's wedding. My dad, who drives like Mr. Magoo, did most of the driving. He wouldn't let me drive. We got lost and ran out of gas at one point. On the way back, my dad drove off the road. He still wouldn't let me drive. Somehow, I'm still alive.
I went back to St. Louis on the first weekend of July 2012. The whole family came and we made a little vacation of it, visiting some of the sights. I also had my best show of the year. It was an amazing day at the Two Hearts. Unfortunately, I never made it back to St. Louis the rest of the year and the Two Hearts is now shuttered. However, promoter Dave Jackson just started booking shows at a new venue. I'm debating on heading down there soon. I also trucked back to Canton, Ohio, in July 2012, and had a lousy show after a stellar one there in March. I'm not sure if I'm going to go to Canton or Dayton again.
In August 2012, the family road-tripped to the wife's homestate of Massachusetts. We camped just north of the little burg where she grew up. A bear scared us silly and put an end to this family ever camping anywhere again. Closer to home, I bought a nice grouping of pre-War at the Gonzaga show.
In September 2012, crowds were noticeably down at the shows due to football. It happens every year. Sports card collectors are football fanatics and football season is always slow at the card shows. October 2012 and November 2012 were slow. However, things picked up in Schaumburg and I had a nice show in Milwaukee while skipping the Sun Times show. The year ended on a high note, I had excellent shows in December at Orland and Gonzaga, where I picked up a T206 Ty Cobb.
I am definitely looking forward to 2013. Shows are usually strong early in the year. I'm healthy. I have my diabetes under control. Much like last year, I plan on buying and selling bushels of cards this year. Who knows what cards will walk in the card shows in 2013? I hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday season. See you January 6 at the Best Western Plus in Schaumburg!
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