Friday, June 17, 2022, Chicago Sports Spectacular, Rosemont, IL
For Day 2 of the Sports Spectacular, I brought out another display case, having some extra space. I parked my wife's car in the convention center parking garage and forgot my phone in the car, so no photos.
I was the first to arrive at the booth. I took off the tarps from my display cases then proceeded to organize them. I like to fill in all of the empty spots in the cases each morning. I had quite a few empty spots thanks to JD.
With the new space, I was able to place out all of my 1970's baseball cards. In the new case, I placed out most of my hockey cards.
While I was reloading the cases, a customer I recognized from previous Rosemont shows pulled out some 1958 Topps baseball for his set. Nice way to start off the day! Then I saw a guy I recognize from Orland but have forgotten his name. He was with a buddy and they both purchased a handful of cards.
Sales were much steadier on Day 2. I honestly can't remember what I sold but do remember that most customers seemed to be from St. Louis, Cleveland and Minneapolis -- which is the thing I love about the Rosemont shows, meeting all these customers from all over the country (well largely the Midwest at this one).
The goofy guys who wore the fake wigs and mustaches were back. This time, no costumes. They looked normal and chatted me up. I was surprised that they were very knowledgeable about cards. I wanted to ask them why they were wearing wigs yesterday but could not seem to get it out. I had to stop myself from saying: "What the $#@& is a matter with you?" I am a little concerned that they took my business card. I really do not need any more weirdos calling me.
No buys on Friday. Like, Thursday, I was not in a buying mood.
Not a whole lot to report from Friday. I had a lot more customers purchase cards than Thursday, but the day seemed to drag and drag. I arrived at the show around 9:30 a.m. and left at 8 p.m. It was a long, long, day. Too long! They need to end these shows at 6 p.m., not 8 p.m.
I ate several $50 hot dogs from the concession stand. On one trip to the concession stand, Mark, who sets up behind me at the Madison show, shouted to me from across the room. I walked over to his booth where he told me he sold a gaggle of complete vintage sets for $33K. He told me he texted a picture of the pile of money to his wife, who responded that she was going out to buy a car. I need a car too! Maybe Mark can adopt me.
My good friend Dave was having a lousy morning selling cards on Friday. After just $40 in sales, he moved his display cases over to the empty table next to us and proceeded to sell a large number of cards. I guess that spot at the end of PJ's section was really bad. Next time, I think Dave will purchase his own table so he can be in the aisle. His set up does not work unless he is in the aisle. He was much happier by the afternoon. Nice to see!
The coolest thing to happen on Friday was when Rollie Fingers walked over to Andrew's table and purchased his most expensive Pokémon card. Rollie bought the card for his grandson. Kevin walked over and asked Rollie if he could send him a program to have signed. Rollie gave him his address. What a cool guy! I really enjoyed watching him as a kid, especially with those amazing Oakland A's teams.
There were a ton of autograph guests all weekend. I never really pay attention because I am there to sell cards. I find the constant announcements regarding the guests very annoying. The announcements are so loud that you have to stop your conversation and continue once the announcement is over.
Reminder, my next Oak Creek show is on July 2. I may have a few dealer spaces available. I have been contacting waiting list dealers for the past week or so. Most don't seem to respond. If you are interested in setting up in Oak Creek, you will have to bring your own table because the Sal does not have enough tables to go around. Let me know if you are interested.
Day 3 blog on its way....
For Day 2 of the Sports Spectacular, I brought out another display case, having some extra space. I parked my wife's car in the convention center parking garage and forgot my phone in the car, so no photos.
I was the first to arrive at the booth. I took off the tarps from my display cases then proceeded to organize them. I like to fill in all of the empty spots in the cases each morning. I had quite a few empty spots thanks to JD.
With the new space, I was able to place out all of my 1970's baseball cards. In the new case, I placed out most of my hockey cards.
While I was reloading the cases, a customer I recognized from previous Rosemont shows pulled out some 1958 Topps baseball for his set. Nice way to start off the day! Then I saw a guy I recognize from Orland but have forgotten his name. He was with a buddy and they both purchased a handful of cards.
Sales were much steadier on Day 2. I honestly can't remember what I sold but do remember that most customers seemed to be from St. Louis, Cleveland and Minneapolis -- which is the thing I love about the Rosemont shows, meeting all these customers from all over the country (well largely the Midwest at this one).
The goofy guys who wore the fake wigs and mustaches were back. This time, no costumes. They looked normal and chatted me up. I was surprised that they were very knowledgeable about cards. I wanted to ask them why they were wearing wigs yesterday but could not seem to get it out. I had to stop myself from saying: "What the $#@& is a matter with you?" I am a little concerned that they took my business card. I really do not need any more weirdos calling me.
No buys on Friday. Like, Thursday, I was not in a buying mood.
Not a whole lot to report from Friday. I had a lot more customers purchase cards than Thursday, but the day seemed to drag and drag. I arrived at the show around 9:30 a.m. and left at 8 p.m. It was a long, long, day. Too long! They need to end these shows at 6 p.m., not 8 p.m.
I ate several $50 hot dogs from the concession stand. On one trip to the concession stand, Mark, who sets up behind me at the Madison show, shouted to me from across the room. I walked over to his booth where he told me he sold a gaggle of complete vintage sets for $33K. He told me he texted a picture of the pile of money to his wife, who responded that she was going out to buy a car. I need a car too! Maybe Mark can adopt me.
My good friend Dave was having a lousy morning selling cards on Friday. After just $40 in sales, he moved his display cases over to the empty table next to us and proceeded to sell a large number of cards. I guess that spot at the end of PJ's section was really bad. Next time, I think Dave will purchase his own table so he can be in the aisle. His set up does not work unless he is in the aisle. He was much happier by the afternoon. Nice to see!
The coolest thing to happen on Friday was when Rollie Fingers walked over to Andrew's table and purchased his most expensive Pokémon card. Rollie bought the card for his grandson. Kevin walked over and asked Rollie if he could send him a program to have signed. Rollie gave him his address. What a cool guy! I really enjoyed watching him as a kid, especially with those amazing Oakland A's teams.
There were a ton of autograph guests all weekend. I never really pay attention because I am there to sell cards. I find the constant announcements regarding the guests very annoying. The announcements are so loud that you have to stop your conversation and continue once the announcement is over.
Reminder, my next Oak Creek show is on July 2. I may have a few dealer spaces available. I have been contacting waiting list dealers for the past week or so. Most don't seem to respond. If you are interested in setting up in Oak Creek, you will have to bring your own table because the Sal does not have enough tables to go around. Let me know if you are interested.
Day 3 blog on its way....
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