Friday, March 17, 2023, Chicago Sports Spectacular, Rosemont, IL
I had a premonition about this one after having bad shows the week before. That premonition came to fruition as I had a bad show at the Sports Spectacular.
My spot was in a better location than the November show, where they had me in the parking lot -- I'm VIP, all the way! Attendance was excellent. I watched copious amounts of collectors walk by my table, especially Friday. Nobody wanted to look at my cards Friday. It was disappointing.
I only had a handful of sales on Friday, which sucks because it is such a long day. I got there around 10:30 a.m. and the show stayed open until 8:30 p.m. My good buddy Tony Schaefer purchased some cards. Thanks Tony! Another good buddy, big Scott purchased my 1952 Bowman small George Halas. Thanks Scott! I had a few more sales and I took note that it was all people I knew but now I can't remember exactly who purchased cards.
Saving grace on Friday were my boothmates, Dave, PJ, and Kevin. I enjoyed hanging out with those guys. The show would have been especially brutal if I was there myself and did not know anyone.
I was happy that I was also next to Stack 'N Sell, who regularly vlogs about the Oak Creek show. Nice group of young guys.
A few more observations. My booth was located in the new room. The show was on the first floor, across from the tattoo convention. The show is normally on the second floor. I do remember that in the 1990's the show was occasionally on the first floor and this extra room was used. I am not sure if my placement in the new room affected my sales. A lot of folks said they could not find me. Though the room was filled with people all weekend.
It was nice to see some new and improved food options. There was a bar set up in the lobby with a sandwich menu. I went out there for a pork-ends sandwich that was pretty good. The Tattoo convention also had a food court. I never made it in there but PJ and Kevin went in there regularly to purchase food.
One of the best parts of being in the new room was that it was far away from the autographs and my thoughts and conversations were not drowned out by the autograph announcements.
Another observation was the mass amounts of vintage cards at the show. Most vintage dealers I have seeen at this show in years. There was some great stuff all around. A lot of big names like Ruth, Gehrig and Cobb on many tables.
Dave commented that the set builders, who we rely on, were noticeably absent. I think if we had more heavey hitters in our display cases, we might have fared much better.
On the buying front, I purchased a beat up 1959 Topps Mickey Mantle. It is always good to add a Mantle into my inventory, no matter what the condition.
Not much else to report. I largely just sat around.
Pictured below are my neighbors Stack 'N Sell, who seemed much busier than I was during the show. My only complaint was that their customers kept placing their boxes and briefcases on my display cases, as did the young guy in the red hoody did here. Those three display cases in the photo are mine. They just gathered dust all weekend.
Also, check out those boxes behind Stack 'N Sell. They belong to this total douchebag set up next to them who did not like my walkway into my booth. He wanted that space and pinched the back of Stack 'N Sell's booth.
I had a premonition about this one after having bad shows the week before. That premonition came to fruition as I had a bad show at the Sports Spectacular.
My spot was in a better location than the November show, where they had me in the parking lot -- I'm VIP, all the way! Attendance was excellent. I watched copious amounts of collectors walk by my table, especially Friday. Nobody wanted to look at my cards Friday. It was disappointing.
I only had a handful of sales on Friday, which sucks because it is such a long day. I got there around 10:30 a.m. and the show stayed open until 8:30 p.m. My good buddy Tony Schaefer purchased some cards. Thanks Tony! Another good buddy, big Scott purchased my 1952 Bowman small George Halas. Thanks Scott! I had a few more sales and I took note that it was all people I knew but now I can't remember exactly who purchased cards.
Saving grace on Friday were my boothmates, Dave, PJ, and Kevin. I enjoyed hanging out with those guys. The show would have been especially brutal if I was there myself and did not know anyone.
I was happy that I was also next to Stack 'N Sell, who regularly vlogs about the Oak Creek show. Nice group of young guys.
A few more observations. My booth was located in the new room. The show was on the first floor, across from the tattoo convention. The show is normally on the second floor. I do remember that in the 1990's the show was occasionally on the first floor and this extra room was used. I am not sure if my placement in the new room affected my sales. A lot of folks said they could not find me. Though the room was filled with people all weekend.
It was nice to see some new and improved food options. There was a bar set up in the lobby with a sandwich menu. I went out there for a pork-ends sandwich that was pretty good. The Tattoo convention also had a food court. I never made it in there but PJ and Kevin went in there regularly to purchase food.
One of the best parts of being in the new room was that it was far away from the autographs and my thoughts and conversations were not drowned out by the autograph announcements.
Another observation was the mass amounts of vintage cards at the show. Most vintage dealers I have seeen at this show in years. There was some great stuff all around. A lot of big names like Ruth, Gehrig and Cobb on many tables.
Dave commented that the set builders, who we rely on, were noticeably absent. I think if we had more heavey hitters in our display cases, we might have fared much better.
On the buying front, I purchased a beat up 1959 Topps Mickey Mantle. It is always good to add a Mantle into my inventory, no matter what the condition.
Not much else to report. I largely just sat around.
Pictured below are my neighbors Stack 'N Sell, who seemed much busier than I was during the show. My only complaint was that their customers kept placing their boxes and briefcases on my display cases, as did the young guy in the red hoody did here. Those three display cases in the photo are mine. They just gathered dust all weekend.
Also, check out those boxes behind Stack 'N Sell. They belong to this total douchebag set up next to them who did not like my walkway into my booth. He wanted that space and pinched the back of Stack 'N Sell's booth.
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