Saturday, March 22, 2025, RV Hall of Fame, Elkhart, IN
Had the date open. Saw this show posted online. Booked it without realizing Elkhart is more than two hours away from home. Though, I have driven by the RV Hall of Fame a million times, so I was interested in setting up at this show.
On the morning of, I woke up at 4 a.m. It took me a while to gather myself (I'm not a morning person), bathe, load the car and hit the road. It was still pitch black outside when I started out for Elkart at 5 a.m. Pretty easy drive. Not much traffic at that hour.
I thought it was kind of cool when I received a video via text from the promoter on Friday night. In the video he showed the room and gave some instructions to dealers for arrival.
I was a little worried I would be late because of the time change. I arrived around 8:15 a.m. Eastern Time. The room was only half full of dealers. I followed the instructions from the video and parked on the north end and loaded into the venue. I was pleasantly surprised to find my tables located next to old friend John Dobiecki.
I brought out all of my baseball and football binders. I reloaded 1980 Topps baseball before the show. The promoter gave John and I an extra table to split between us. Neither of us brought enough extra stuff to fill our extra space. I was able to get out three extra football binders.
Set up was easy and I had time to spare before the show opened so I hit the concession stand for some diet Cokes and a plate of pulled pork for breakfast. Looking around the room, I did not see too many people I knew setting up. Mitch L. was nearby. Dennis who regularly sets up with Tommy Larsen was there. Bob L. was set up way in the back of the room. That was about it for people I knew. My assumption is that most of these dealers set up at the monthly South Bend and Fort Wayne shows. I heard a lot of people talk about the recent Shipshewana show. I have been hearing good things about Shipshewana for years. I finally put my name on their waiting list and hope to set up there one of these days.
The dealer across from me had four tables of Funko Pops. I was interested to see how he would do since I have a load of them at home as my son used to collect them but lost interest long ago. The dealer seemed pretty busy the whole show. He had a huge inventory and would fill the holes on his table after every purchase with more Funko Pops.
Nice crowd. The aisle in front of me was a little tight and there was a lot of congestion. Not a very good use of the space. The promoters could have made the aisles wider. In the video from Friday, the promoter advised customers to leave strollers at home -- now I know why.
Sales started out slow. I did not have my first sale until after 10 a.m. Seemed like John was doing much better with his blaster boxes. He also kept scouring the room and purchased a ton more blaster boxes during the show. I was glad I could watch his table while he ventured out and appreciated that he watched my table while I made repeated trips to the concession stand, as I often do.
I think I saw five or six tables of vintage. In general, the prices were too high for me. Though, one dealer had a 1963 Topps Pete Rose rookie in an SGC 4 that I did contemplate purchasing. I haven't had a Rose rookie in a couple of years.
After getting a few sales here and there, some set builders finally arrived. One customer just about cleared out my 1957 Topps baseball binder, which made my day. Another set builder stopped by a few times and pulled some nice piles each visit. Then a father and son team pulled a ton of cards late in the day and I ended up having a real nice show. Woot!
On the buying front, I purchased a 1969-70 Topps Ruler Jerry West and a Jerry Lucas. The rulers aren't in the greatest shape but the price was right. I love these things and have not had any in years, so I was pretty happy with the purchase.
A few other guys offered me stuff priced too high. Then an older husband and wife came by. The husband said he had complete sets from the 1950s up to the 2010s. When I tried to tell him I would only be interested in the older stuff, he cut me off and angrily said he is selling it all and no one can cherry pick. I replied that I was not interested.
One thing that puzzles me during every show is that people will try to sell me modern cards when I have nothing but vintage cards on my tables. Can't they see that I only carry vintage? What would I do with modern cards? I don't have buyers for modern cards. I don't have any interest in modern cards. I don't want modern cards.
Anyway, on Sunday, I saw Dennis in Orland and he told me a bunch of 1933 Goudeys walked into the RV Hall of Fame show and one of the vintage dealers purchased them all. Damn! I wish they made it to me!!! Dennis said there were Ruths and Gehrigs in the group -- this is the stuff I want! I could care less about Paul Skenes.
Overall, I thought this was an excellent show. I had a real nice time hanging out with John all day. The promoters are planning another show at the RV Hall of Fame in November which is a tough month for me, hope I can make it back!
This was another double-bill weekend with Orland on Sunday. Orland blog coming soon.
Next up for me is Madison on Saturday, March 29, 2025. This should be an especially strong Madison show with PSA set up and accepting submissions. I am still working on my new 1969 Topps binder but won't have it done by Saturday. I'm hoping to have 1961 Fleer football reloaded by Saturday. I am also leaning towards bringing out some publications to Madison. I have a huge inventory of vintage Sport and Sports Illustrated magazines and have been packaging and pricing quite a few of them lately. I also have a nice box of vintage Baseball Digests ready to go.
Next Oak Creek show is coming up fast on April 5. As usual, I am overbooked and keep adding more folks to my crazy-long waiting list. It is now about a year wait to get space at the Oak Creek show.
I still have some dealer space available for my Wisconsin MegaShow slated for April 19, 2025, at the Milwaukee County Sports Complex, 6000 Ryan Road, Franklin, WI. Eight-foot tables cost $50 each and need to be prepaid via PayPal to [email protected].
Fun stuff ahead! Hope to see you in Madison on Saturday!!!
Had the date open. Saw this show posted online. Booked it without realizing Elkhart is more than two hours away from home. Though, I have driven by the RV Hall of Fame a million times, so I was interested in setting up at this show.
On the morning of, I woke up at 4 a.m. It took me a while to gather myself (I'm not a morning person), bathe, load the car and hit the road. It was still pitch black outside when I started out for Elkart at 5 a.m. Pretty easy drive. Not much traffic at that hour.
I thought it was kind of cool when I received a video via text from the promoter on Friday night. In the video he showed the room and gave some instructions to dealers for arrival.
I was a little worried I would be late because of the time change. I arrived around 8:15 a.m. Eastern Time. The room was only half full of dealers. I followed the instructions from the video and parked on the north end and loaded into the venue. I was pleasantly surprised to find my tables located next to old friend John Dobiecki.
I brought out all of my baseball and football binders. I reloaded 1980 Topps baseball before the show. The promoter gave John and I an extra table to split between us. Neither of us brought enough extra stuff to fill our extra space. I was able to get out three extra football binders.
Set up was easy and I had time to spare before the show opened so I hit the concession stand for some diet Cokes and a plate of pulled pork for breakfast. Looking around the room, I did not see too many people I knew setting up. Mitch L. was nearby. Dennis who regularly sets up with Tommy Larsen was there. Bob L. was set up way in the back of the room. That was about it for people I knew. My assumption is that most of these dealers set up at the monthly South Bend and Fort Wayne shows. I heard a lot of people talk about the recent Shipshewana show. I have been hearing good things about Shipshewana for years. I finally put my name on their waiting list and hope to set up there one of these days.
The dealer across from me had four tables of Funko Pops. I was interested to see how he would do since I have a load of them at home as my son used to collect them but lost interest long ago. The dealer seemed pretty busy the whole show. He had a huge inventory and would fill the holes on his table after every purchase with more Funko Pops.
Nice crowd. The aisle in front of me was a little tight and there was a lot of congestion. Not a very good use of the space. The promoters could have made the aisles wider. In the video from Friday, the promoter advised customers to leave strollers at home -- now I know why.
Sales started out slow. I did not have my first sale until after 10 a.m. Seemed like John was doing much better with his blaster boxes. He also kept scouring the room and purchased a ton more blaster boxes during the show. I was glad I could watch his table while he ventured out and appreciated that he watched my table while I made repeated trips to the concession stand, as I often do.
I think I saw five or six tables of vintage. In general, the prices were too high for me. Though, one dealer had a 1963 Topps Pete Rose rookie in an SGC 4 that I did contemplate purchasing. I haven't had a Rose rookie in a couple of years.
After getting a few sales here and there, some set builders finally arrived. One customer just about cleared out my 1957 Topps baseball binder, which made my day. Another set builder stopped by a few times and pulled some nice piles each visit. Then a father and son team pulled a ton of cards late in the day and I ended up having a real nice show. Woot!
On the buying front, I purchased a 1969-70 Topps Ruler Jerry West and a Jerry Lucas. The rulers aren't in the greatest shape but the price was right. I love these things and have not had any in years, so I was pretty happy with the purchase.
A few other guys offered me stuff priced too high. Then an older husband and wife came by. The husband said he had complete sets from the 1950s up to the 2010s. When I tried to tell him I would only be interested in the older stuff, he cut me off and angrily said he is selling it all and no one can cherry pick. I replied that I was not interested.
One thing that puzzles me during every show is that people will try to sell me modern cards when I have nothing but vintage cards on my tables. Can't they see that I only carry vintage? What would I do with modern cards? I don't have buyers for modern cards. I don't have any interest in modern cards. I don't want modern cards.
Anyway, on Sunday, I saw Dennis in Orland and he told me a bunch of 1933 Goudeys walked into the RV Hall of Fame show and one of the vintage dealers purchased them all. Damn! I wish they made it to me!!! Dennis said there were Ruths and Gehrigs in the group -- this is the stuff I want! I could care less about Paul Skenes.
Overall, I thought this was an excellent show. I had a real nice time hanging out with John all day. The promoters are planning another show at the RV Hall of Fame in November which is a tough month for me, hope I can make it back!
This was another double-bill weekend with Orland on Sunday. Orland blog coming soon.
Next up for me is Madison on Saturday, March 29, 2025. This should be an especially strong Madison show with PSA set up and accepting submissions. I am still working on my new 1969 Topps binder but won't have it done by Saturday. I'm hoping to have 1961 Fleer football reloaded by Saturday. I am also leaning towards bringing out some publications to Madison. I have a huge inventory of vintage Sport and Sports Illustrated magazines and have been packaging and pricing quite a few of them lately. I also have a nice box of vintage Baseball Digests ready to go.
Next Oak Creek show is coming up fast on April 5. As usual, I am overbooked and keep adding more folks to my crazy-long waiting list. It is now about a year wait to get space at the Oak Creek show.
I still have some dealer space available for my Wisconsin MegaShow slated for April 19, 2025, at the Milwaukee County Sports Complex, 6000 Ryan Road, Franklin, WI. Eight-foot tables cost $50 each and need to be prepaid via PayPal to [email protected].
Fun stuff ahead! Hope to see you in Madison on Saturday!!!
RSS Feed