Saturday, February 9, 2013, Orland Park, IL -- Back at the Orland Civic Center, my home away from home. Too bad I live 45 minutes or so north. I hate the drive but I can't really knock this show (even though I often do but I have to admit it is an excellent show). There were some empty tables today. John actually put two empties next to me but I didn't bring extra inventory to spread out. Maybe for the Saturday show in March I'll bring some extra inventory. As I've said before, it doesn't make sense to leave tables empty.
I've been tossing around the idea for promoting a Saturday show up in the north 'burbs. I've contacted a couple of places but nothing has materialized. I found a place in Park Ridge that looks like a possibility. Would anybody be interested in a Saturday show in Park Ridge? If so, I'll look into it. If not, carry on.
We had a pretty good turn out for a Saturday show in Orland. As a general rule, the Saturday crowd at Orland is always less than the Sunday crowd. Today, the University of Chicago students were back conducting their "survey." I wasn't able to do it last year because I was too busy. Today, one of the students was persistent and I took the "survey" late in the afternoon. It seems like they're trying to gather some data on risk. The "survey" consisted of a couple of risk-based games where you, the survey taker, choose the odds you would like to play in a "lottery." The "lottery" is a roll of a 12-sided die. Your winnings are determined by the odds you picked prior to rolling the die.
I instantly related the "lottery" to the game of craps. When I'm in Vegas playing craps, I'll put down a couple of safe bets then some slightly risky bets. Any time I do a high risk bet, I lose. So for the students' lottery today, I picked some slightly risky odds. I won $45! Whoo Hoo!!! Next year, I would like to see the students add a "double or nothing" choice. It sure would have been nice to work that 45 bucks a bit. Though, I can't complain about the FREE money!
In addition to winning 45 bucks, I had a real nice show. A regular customer got things going today with a nice purchase of some 1971 Topps baseball. Gil picked up some 1973 and 1974 Topps baseball. Steve took my 1963 Fleer Sandy Koufax and Brooks Robinson. A regular customer found some 1973 Topps baseball. Dave from Indiana made an appearance today. We made a nice trade where Dave got some 1975 Topps Minis and I got some 1953 Topps World on Wheels. If my buddy Mark is reading this, I picked up those World on Wheels for you. I'll have them at Gonzaga next weekend.
Walt purchased some high numbers from the 1960s. I don't have too many women customers but lately there have been a few regulars at Orland. I think it is cool as hell that there are some women who collect vintage sports cards!! One of these nice ladies purchased a pile of 1962 Topps and 1975 Topps baseball. A new customer purchased some 1970 Topps football. Dave from the western 'burbs purchased a 1959 Topps Billy Pierce All Star.
A regular customer purchased some 1971 Topps baseball. A customer who I met last weekend in Schaumburg, made the trek to Orland and purchased some 1959 Topps. Rick picked up a bunch of cards today, including a 1957 Topps Nellie Fox and Ernie Banks. Joel picked up a 1960 Fleer Luke Appling and a Ray Schalk. A new customer purchased some 1962 Topps baseball. Another new customer purchased some 1957 Topps. Chuck T. pulled some 1960 Topps baseball. Chris picked up a nice pile of 1975 Topps Minis.
Harry purchased my 1963 Fleer Jim Kaat and some 1963 Topps baseball. Harry is a super nice guy who sometimes sets up at Orland. He also regularly visits some of the bigger shows around the country and reports back. I always like hearing about those big shows. Will picked up some 1964 and 1966 Topps baseball. I, of course, forgot to bring a card Will purchased from me on eBay. Speaking of eBay. Feel free to bid on my auctions and I'll bring (if I remember!) the cards to a show where you can pick them up and skip the shipping fees. My eBay sales have really picked up lately. Check out my eBay auctions here.
I have also picked up some regular consignors which I think is helping the activity on my eBay auctions by diversifying my listings. As I said before, my wife runs the eBay auctions and she can handle a lot more consignors. So if anyone is interested, be sure to contact me. We'll scan your item, draft the listing, then ship the card out for you. We take a 25 percent commission. About 12 percent of that goes to eBay to cover fees.
Well, on the buying front, I took home a gaggle of cards. I picked up a group of about 400 cards from the early 1970s. I picked up a nice pile of star cards from the 1976 Topps baseball set. I purchased some 1951 Red Backs, some 1954 Topps baseball, some 1934-36 Diamond Stars, a few 1934 Goudeys, some 1939 and 1940 Play Ball, and some star cards from the 1969 Topps baseball set, including an Ernie Banks. I love bringing home this sort of treasure trove.
This was a double bill weekend, the Orland show was the first of two shows. On Sunday, I went up to the wonderful city of Milwaukee for the Serb Hall show. The Serb blog is in the hopper and I should have it ready to go shortly. Next weekend, I'm back in Milwaukee for the Gonzaga show. I'm currently working on reloading my 1976 Topps baseball binder. If I manage to finish it early, I'm debating between reloading either 1976-77 basketball or 1972 Topps football. I haven't decided yet which one I'll do.
A big thank you to everyone in Orland today. I had a great time. I LOVE this hobby. It's terrific fun!!
Pictured above is the main room at the Orland show. I took this picture from the front of the room. Usually, my Orland photos are taken from behind my table at the back of the room. I thought it would be nice to capture another part of the room.
I've been tossing around the idea for promoting a Saturday show up in the north 'burbs. I've contacted a couple of places but nothing has materialized. I found a place in Park Ridge that looks like a possibility. Would anybody be interested in a Saturday show in Park Ridge? If so, I'll look into it. If not, carry on.
We had a pretty good turn out for a Saturday show in Orland. As a general rule, the Saturday crowd at Orland is always less than the Sunday crowd. Today, the University of Chicago students were back conducting their "survey." I wasn't able to do it last year because I was too busy. Today, one of the students was persistent and I took the "survey" late in the afternoon. It seems like they're trying to gather some data on risk. The "survey" consisted of a couple of risk-based games where you, the survey taker, choose the odds you would like to play in a "lottery." The "lottery" is a roll of a 12-sided die. Your winnings are determined by the odds you picked prior to rolling the die.
I instantly related the "lottery" to the game of craps. When I'm in Vegas playing craps, I'll put down a couple of safe bets then some slightly risky bets. Any time I do a high risk bet, I lose. So for the students' lottery today, I picked some slightly risky odds. I won $45! Whoo Hoo!!! Next year, I would like to see the students add a "double or nothing" choice. It sure would have been nice to work that 45 bucks a bit. Though, I can't complain about the FREE money!
In addition to winning 45 bucks, I had a real nice show. A regular customer got things going today with a nice purchase of some 1971 Topps baseball. Gil picked up some 1973 and 1974 Topps baseball. Steve took my 1963 Fleer Sandy Koufax and Brooks Robinson. A regular customer found some 1973 Topps baseball. Dave from Indiana made an appearance today. We made a nice trade where Dave got some 1975 Topps Minis and I got some 1953 Topps World on Wheels. If my buddy Mark is reading this, I picked up those World on Wheels for you. I'll have them at Gonzaga next weekend.
Walt purchased some high numbers from the 1960s. I don't have too many women customers but lately there have been a few regulars at Orland. I think it is cool as hell that there are some women who collect vintage sports cards!! One of these nice ladies purchased a pile of 1962 Topps and 1975 Topps baseball. A new customer purchased some 1970 Topps football. Dave from the western 'burbs purchased a 1959 Topps Billy Pierce All Star.
A regular customer purchased some 1971 Topps baseball. A customer who I met last weekend in Schaumburg, made the trek to Orland and purchased some 1959 Topps. Rick picked up a bunch of cards today, including a 1957 Topps Nellie Fox and Ernie Banks. Joel picked up a 1960 Fleer Luke Appling and a Ray Schalk. A new customer purchased some 1962 Topps baseball. Another new customer purchased some 1957 Topps. Chuck T. pulled some 1960 Topps baseball. Chris picked up a nice pile of 1975 Topps Minis.
Harry purchased my 1963 Fleer Jim Kaat and some 1963 Topps baseball. Harry is a super nice guy who sometimes sets up at Orland. He also regularly visits some of the bigger shows around the country and reports back. I always like hearing about those big shows. Will picked up some 1964 and 1966 Topps baseball. I, of course, forgot to bring a card Will purchased from me on eBay. Speaking of eBay. Feel free to bid on my auctions and I'll bring (if I remember!) the cards to a show where you can pick them up and skip the shipping fees. My eBay sales have really picked up lately. Check out my eBay auctions here.
I have also picked up some regular consignors which I think is helping the activity on my eBay auctions by diversifying my listings. As I said before, my wife runs the eBay auctions and she can handle a lot more consignors. So if anyone is interested, be sure to contact me. We'll scan your item, draft the listing, then ship the card out for you. We take a 25 percent commission. About 12 percent of that goes to eBay to cover fees.
Well, on the buying front, I took home a gaggle of cards. I picked up a group of about 400 cards from the early 1970s. I picked up a nice pile of star cards from the 1976 Topps baseball set. I purchased some 1951 Red Backs, some 1954 Topps baseball, some 1934-36 Diamond Stars, a few 1934 Goudeys, some 1939 and 1940 Play Ball, and some star cards from the 1969 Topps baseball set, including an Ernie Banks. I love bringing home this sort of treasure trove.
This was a double bill weekend, the Orland show was the first of two shows. On Sunday, I went up to the wonderful city of Milwaukee for the Serb Hall show. The Serb blog is in the hopper and I should have it ready to go shortly. Next weekend, I'm back in Milwaukee for the Gonzaga show. I'm currently working on reloading my 1976 Topps baseball binder. If I manage to finish it early, I'm debating between reloading either 1976-77 basketball or 1972 Topps football. I haven't decided yet which one I'll do.
A big thank you to everyone in Orland today. I had a great time. I LOVE this hobby. It's terrific fun!!
Pictured above is the main room at the Orland show. I took this picture from the front of the room. Usually, my Orland photos are taken from behind my table at the back of the room. I thought it would be nice to capture another part of the room.
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