Typical Sunday for me at the Sun-Times show with slow sales. I noticed that only a few people were waiting to get in the room when I arrived at about 8:45 a.m. At 10 a.m. there was a decent crowd in the room. I added some more cards to my cases in the morning. I didn't change much else with the display. I thought we had a real nice display between Dave, Bob and I. Though Dave didn't like it too much because he wants a longer table on the aisle. I think if I give him a little more space next to me, it should solve the problem. I hope we keep this layout for future shows.
I actually had about an hour there where I was real busy. I was helping customers with cards out of my cases and four or five guys were at my books. I sold a 1953 Bowman Black & White Andy Pafko to a customer. I sold a 1960 Topps Rocky Colavito to another customer. Gary bought my 1964 Topps Ernie Banks. Gary sets up at Wolff's flea market in the summer and I usually see him at Fred Copp's Schaumburg shows. He regularly buys Cubs from me. I sold my 1954 Topps Eddie Mathews PSA 4 to another customer. I had quite a few guys go through my 50-cent box and my dollar box on this day. I sold a bunch of '76 Topps to a gentleman from Niles, Illinois. One of the top hat guys from Detroit bought all my '68 Topps Tigers. I had another customer purchase quite a few Braves cards from my binders. Another gentleman was pretty excited when he found a '68 Topps Tony LaRussa in my '68 binder. I sold a 1962 Topps Frank Robinson to a gentleman from the Quad Cities. Another customer purchased quite a few '65 Topps. I sold a smattering of football cards. Chuck, who I've known for years from the Fred Copp shows, purchased some '63 high numbers. His son is now 16 years old and 6'1" -- I remember when he was up to my waste.
On the buying front, I made a nice cash and trade deal with Larry B. for a '56 Topps Sandy Koufax. I also purchased a 1934-36 Batter Up Pie Traynor from a dealer. A guy came by my table with a complete '61 Topps set and a '63 set but he wanted waaaayyy too much money for the sets. I'm pretty sure he went home with those. Junior had some stuff but it was largely schwag and I passed. I saw Mike and Steve from the Orland shows. I saw Bill Nest, who I first met at Gonzaga several years ago.
Steve report: Except for when he started to go off about Mike and Lisa Madigan, he wasn't so bad today. Though he and Dave had a heated argument about stocks which I found particularly annoying. Steve was golden in the end when he found us a cart as we packed up.
My final thoughts on the Sun-Times show: It's a lousy show for me. I haven't done well there in at least four years. As far as the other dealers go, I've decided I really hate these artist guys -- the guys who sell paintings of athletes and they paint something during the show. I've learned over the years of being stuck next to them that they're all tools. The guy this weekend set up late and had to place his tables right up against mine. He had plenty of room where he didn't have to pimp my space. The show in general feels more like a shopping mall than a card show. There's so many dealers selling framed photos/autographs, jerseys, pennants and assorted crap for your basement wall. I don't really care for these guys and miss the days when it was largely vintage card dealers. There were a lot less dealers at this show in general. The room was down at least one row from last time. I'm going to have to decide whether I want to set up again in March. On the positive side, there are quite a few customers at the Sun-Times Show that I don't see anywhere else. On the negative side, I used to have a lot more of these folks and they've disappeared. I'll have it figured out sometime in February on whether I want to set up in March.
In the meantime, I have a double bill next weekend with Orland and Serb Hall. I'll have a ton of star cards priced for the shows along with my '69 Topps baseball book updated. I missed the last Orland show, so it will be nice to be back there. I haven't done Serb since May and am hoping for a good show. I hope everyone has a great Turkey Day and see you next weekend!
Below are some photos from Sunday including some after-show carnage:
I actually had about an hour there where I was real busy. I was helping customers with cards out of my cases and four or five guys were at my books. I sold a 1953 Bowman Black & White Andy Pafko to a customer. I sold a 1960 Topps Rocky Colavito to another customer. Gary bought my 1964 Topps Ernie Banks. Gary sets up at Wolff's flea market in the summer and I usually see him at Fred Copp's Schaumburg shows. He regularly buys Cubs from me. I sold my 1954 Topps Eddie Mathews PSA 4 to another customer. I had quite a few guys go through my 50-cent box and my dollar box on this day. I sold a bunch of '76 Topps to a gentleman from Niles, Illinois. One of the top hat guys from Detroit bought all my '68 Topps Tigers. I had another customer purchase quite a few Braves cards from my binders. Another gentleman was pretty excited when he found a '68 Topps Tony LaRussa in my '68 binder. I sold a 1962 Topps Frank Robinson to a gentleman from the Quad Cities. Another customer purchased quite a few '65 Topps. I sold a smattering of football cards. Chuck, who I've known for years from the Fred Copp shows, purchased some '63 high numbers. His son is now 16 years old and 6'1" -- I remember when he was up to my waste.
On the buying front, I made a nice cash and trade deal with Larry B. for a '56 Topps Sandy Koufax. I also purchased a 1934-36 Batter Up Pie Traynor from a dealer. A guy came by my table with a complete '61 Topps set and a '63 set but he wanted waaaayyy too much money for the sets. I'm pretty sure he went home with those. Junior had some stuff but it was largely schwag and I passed. I saw Mike and Steve from the Orland shows. I saw Bill Nest, who I first met at Gonzaga several years ago.
Steve report: Except for when he started to go off about Mike and Lisa Madigan, he wasn't so bad today. Though he and Dave had a heated argument about stocks which I found particularly annoying. Steve was golden in the end when he found us a cart as we packed up.
My final thoughts on the Sun-Times show: It's a lousy show for me. I haven't done well there in at least four years. As far as the other dealers go, I've decided I really hate these artist guys -- the guys who sell paintings of athletes and they paint something during the show. I've learned over the years of being stuck next to them that they're all tools. The guy this weekend set up late and had to place his tables right up against mine. He had plenty of room where he didn't have to pimp my space. The show in general feels more like a shopping mall than a card show. There's so many dealers selling framed photos/autographs, jerseys, pennants and assorted crap for your basement wall. I don't really care for these guys and miss the days when it was largely vintage card dealers. There were a lot less dealers at this show in general. The room was down at least one row from last time. I'm going to have to decide whether I want to set up again in March. On the positive side, there are quite a few customers at the Sun-Times Show that I don't see anywhere else. On the negative side, I used to have a lot more of these folks and they've disappeared. I'll have it figured out sometime in February on whether I want to set up in March.
In the meantime, I have a double bill next weekend with Orland and Serb Hall. I'll have a ton of star cards priced for the shows along with my '69 Topps baseball book updated. I missed the last Orland show, so it will be nice to be back there. I haven't done Serb since May and am hoping for a good show. I hope everyone has a great Turkey Day and see you next weekend!
Below are some photos from Sunday including some after-show carnage:
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