Saturday, July 16, 2022, St. John's Lutheran Church, Woodstock, IL
I thought the drive to Woodstock was only 40 minutes but it took me an hour each way. There is just no quick way to Woodstock and McHenry C0unty, Illinois. It is a lovely area but just isolated. Surrounded by farms and no highways.
There were a large number of cars in the parking lot when I arrived around 8:45 a.m. The show starts at 9:30 a.m. I wanted to get there earlier but could not get out of bed. I hit that snooze button a few too many times.
I changed my set up to try and change my luck after a spate of lousy sales the past few weeks. I brought out five display cases and filled them up with complete sets, lots, my higher end doubles (I am saving my good stuff for the National), and my oddball display case stuff like Exhibits and Red Mans. Then I brought out baseball binders from 1949 to 1973, as I had a request for them. I also brought out the hockey binders which were requested as well.
There were the usual suspects set up along with a few new guys. There is this one dealer I have seen before, not sure where, maybe Rockford or Madison, he sells Pokemon. No problems with him but his buddy, a teenager, was a nutter. He kept making weird noises like he has Tourettes or something. He did it all day long and it was real annoying. It seemed like he was doing it for attention. I always ignore those who act weird for the sole purpose of attention. I'm not one to feed lunacy.
Then there was this other long-time dealer who can be annoying, but in a different way than the Tourettes kid. Someone pointed him out to me early on as he put two chairs together and went to sleep. Now, I can see falling asleep when things are slow at the end of a show but this was first thing in the morning and things were hoppin'. Real nice crowd. Yes, annoying dealer was sound asleep.
When he woke up, he started playing a movie on his phone, LOUD! I could not talk to my customers over the sound of his stupid movie. Luckily, this is the only show I ever run into this guy.
Annoying was a theme this day. Later, a guy approached my table who looked like he just crawled out of a cave. He had real long hair and a really long beard. In fact, he won the longest beard award at the show which is quite an accomplishment because there were many big beards in the room.
He told me he had a large box of old cards and asked if I would be interested in purchasing it. I replied that I was indeed interested in purchasing the box of cards. He asked for my phone number. I handed him a show flyer with my email address and told him to send me an email.
Then his whole demeanor changed. Apparently, I insulted him by suggesting he send me an email. He clenched his teeth and said he does not use email because he is environmentally friendly. I just looked at him with my mouth agape. Then he went off on bit coin in Unibomber style. What? I was totally confused.
He said if I only knew the real story behind emails, I would not use them. Again, what? We then argued about emails. I do remember the days prior to the internet and emails and am not interested in going back. He got angrier and angrier, so, I stopped arguing with him. Though, I was a little afraid he would later attack me or something. Weird, weird, dude. When I was loading out of the show, I scanned the parking lot first to make sure he was not waiting for me. Luckily, I think he went back into his cave. I hope I don't see that guy again!!
It is my curse in life. I seem to attract all of the loonies.
Thankfully there were plenty of pleasant people at the show to drown out the crazies. Like Angel, who contacted me prior to the show and requested my early 1960's baseball binders. He was one of my first customers of the day and pulled out a couple of nice piles of cards.
Then I saw Rich, who brought his whole family. His sons were wearing some cool Brooklyn Dodgers caps that they bought in Cooperstown. His wife went to the nearby farmer's market and said it was excellent. I know Rich purchased a card from my display case but I can't remember which one.
I saw Larry last week in Schaumburg and he requested the hockey binders. He purchased a few cards. A couple of other regulars purchased some cards. A new customer purchased a pile of cards to send out for autographs. Phil purchased a 1949 Bowman. A new customer purchased my 1971 Topps lot. That was about it. I had many tire kickers, which has been my theme of late. A lot of people come looking but they don't buy.
Young Nick offered me a pair of 1978-79 Topps basketball cards that I purchased. Nothing else was offered.
The day went by pretty quick. I wished I had brought out some cards to price for the National as I had planned but, of course, forgot on the morning of the show.
I enjoyed meeting the young dealer set up to my right. He lives near me and we talked about the long drive to Woodstock. He also has some vintage cards that he is going to get me a price list on. He had some real nice vintage stuff on display but priced a little too high for me.
On my left, was my old pal Lou and his son Anthony. Incredibly nice folks. Where there is Lou, there is Donny, who I always look forward to seeing. Nice day with these guys. I also saw my buddy Tom Mularz. We are both setting up in Madison this coming Saturday, July 23, 2022.
As I was loading out, I saw the church pastor walk into the room looking for Curtis, the promoter. I did not overhear their conversation but apparently the pastor recently started at this church and does not like the show. Afterwards, Curtis, who is the nicest guy in the world and a top-notch promoter, was concerned about the future of the show. I hope the new pastor does not shut down the show! I have seen this before at church shows where a new pastor comes in and finds a need to exert his authority and harass the show.
I have never understood why shows get harassed by venues, all venues, not just churches. My problems at the Four Points Sheraton are well documented in previous blogs. Card shows are such low-key events. We are nerdy guys, mostly middle aged, who collect baseball cards. None of us cause any problems. We're just happy being around other card nerds. Yet, we seem to get hassled by every type of venue. It makes no sense to me. Wouldn't you want to rent your venue to a bunch of conscientious nerds? Anyway, I hope things work out for Curtis and his card show because he runs a top-notch show and does not deserve the grief.
The next Woodstock card show is scheduled for August 20. I am not sure if I am setting up yet. Check Curt's Cards or Midwest Sports Card Shows on Facebook for updates on the Woodstock show. Don't check Instagram for info about this show! Some idiot on Instagram posted that the July show was cancelled when it obviously was not. Thankfully that Instagram post did not affect attendance as it was excellent. As far as I know, the August 20th show is on! So please don't spread any info to the contrary!!
I had another double bill weekend with Root River on Sunday. Root River blog coming soon.
In the meantime, my string of double bill weekends is ending with just one show next weekend -- Madison. Then Dave and I are heading out to Atlantic City for the National. Come visit us in Booth 657. As soon as we return, the Oak Creek show is happening on August 6. I am up to 85 freakin' dealers for the August 6 Oak Creek show!
Have a great week everybody!
Below are some photos from the July Woodstock show.
I thought the drive to Woodstock was only 40 minutes but it took me an hour each way. There is just no quick way to Woodstock and McHenry C0unty, Illinois. It is a lovely area but just isolated. Surrounded by farms and no highways.
There were a large number of cars in the parking lot when I arrived around 8:45 a.m. The show starts at 9:30 a.m. I wanted to get there earlier but could not get out of bed. I hit that snooze button a few too many times.
I changed my set up to try and change my luck after a spate of lousy sales the past few weeks. I brought out five display cases and filled them up with complete sets, lots, my higher end doubles (I am saving my good stuff for the National), and my oddball display case stuff like Exhibits and Red Mans. Then I brought out baseball binders from 1949 to 1973, as I had a request for them. I also brought out the hockey binders which were requested as well.
There were the usual suspects set up along with a few new guys. There is this one dealer I have seen before, not sure where, maybe Rockford or Madison, he sells Pokemon. No problems with him but his buddy, a teenager, was a nutter. He kept making weird noises like he has Tourettes or something. He did it all day long and it was real annoying. It seemed like he was doing it for attention. I always ignore those who act weird for the sole purpose of attention. I'm not one to feed lunacy.
Then there was this other long-time dealer who can be annoying, but in a different way than the Tourettes kid. Someone pointed him out to me early on as he put two chairs together and went to sleep. Now, I can see falling asleep when things are slow at the end of a show but this was first thing in the morning and things were hoppin'. Real nice crowd. Yes, annoying dealer was sound asleep.
When he woke up, he started playing a movie on his phone, LOUD! I could not talk to my customers over the sound of his stupid movie. Luckily, this is the only show I ever run into this guy.
Annoying was a theme this day. Later, a guy approached my table who looked like he just crawled out of a cave. He had real long hair and a really long beard. In fact, he won the longest beard award at the show which is quite an accomplishment because there were many big beards in the room.
He told me he had a large box of old cards and asked if I would be interested in purchasing it. I replied that I was indeed interested in purchasing the box of cards. He asked for my phone number. I handed him a show flyer with my email address and told him to send me an email.
Then his whole demeanor changed. Apparently, I insulted him by suggesting he send me an email. He clenched his teeth and said he does not use email because he is environmentally friendly. I just looked at him with my mouth agape. Then he went off on bit coin in Unibomber style. What? I was totally confused.
He said if I only knew the real story behind emails, I would not use them. Again, what? We then argued about emails. I do remember the days prior to the internet and emails and am not interested in going back. He got angrier and angrier, so, I stopped arguing with him. Though, I was a little afraid he would later attack me or something. Weird, weird, dude. When I was loading out of the show, I scanned the parking lot first to make sure he was not waiting for me. Luckily, I think he went back into his cave. I hope I don't see that guy again!!
It is my curse in life. I seem to attract all of the loonies.
Thankfully there were plenty of pleasant people at the show to drown out the crazies. Like Angel, who contacted me prior to the show and requested my early 1960's baseball binders. He was one of my first customers of the day and pulled out a couple of nice piles of cards.
Then I saw Rich, who brought his whole family. His sons were wearing some cool Brooklyn Dodgers caps that they bought in Cooperstown. His wife went to the nearby farmer's market and said it was excellent. I know Rich purchased a card from my display case but I can't remember which one.
I saw Larry last week in Schaumburg and he requested the hockey binders. He purchased a few cards. A couple of other regulars purchased some cards. A new customer purchased a pile of cards to send out for autographs. Phil purchased a 1949 Bowman. A new customer purchased my 1971 Topps lot. That was about it. I had many tire kickers, which has been my theme of late. A lot of people come looking but they don't buy.
Young Nick offered me a pair of 1978-79 Topps basketball cards that I purchased. Nothing else was offered.
The day went by pretty quick. I wished I had brought out some cards to price for the National as I had planned but, of course, forgot on the morning of the show.
I enjoyed meeting the young dealer set up to my right. He lives near me and we talked about the long drive to Woodstock. He also has some vintage cards that he is going to get me a price list on. He had some real nice vintage stuff on display but priced a little too high for me.
On my left, was my old pal Lou and his son Anthony. Incredibly nice folks. Where there is Lou, there is Donny, who I always look forward to seeing. Nice day with these guys. I also saw my buddy Tom Mularz. We are both setting up in Madison this coming Saturday, July 23, 2022.
As I was loading out, I saw the church pastor walk into the room looking for Curtis, the promoter. I did not overhear their conversation but apparently the pastor recently started at this church and does not like the show. Afterwards, Curtis, who is the nicest guy in the world and a top-notch promoter, was concerned about the future of the show. I hope the new pastor does not shut down the show! I have seen this before at church shows where a new pastor comes in and finds a need to exert his authority and harass the show.
I have never understood why shows get harassed by venues, all venues, not just churches. My problems at the Four Points Sheraton are well documented in previous blogs. Card shows are such low-key events. We are nerdy guys, mostly middle aged, who collect baseball cards. None of us cause any problems. We're just happy being around other card nerds. Yet, we seem to get hassled by every type of venue. It makes no sense to me. Wouldn't you want to rent your venue to a bunch of conscientious nerds? Anyway, I hope things work out for Curtis and his card show because he runs a top-notch show and does not deserve the grief.
The next Woodstock card show is scheduled for August 20. I am not sure if I am setting up yet. Check Curt's Cards or Midwest Sports Card Shows on Facebook for updates on the Woodstock show. Don't check Instagram for info about this show! Some idiot on Instagram posted that the July show was cancelled when it obviously was not. Thankfully that Instagram post did not affect attendance as it was excellent. As far as I know, the August 20th show is on! So please don't spread any info to the contrary!!
I had another double bill weekend with Root River on Sunday. Root River blog coming soon.
In the meantime, my string of double bill weekends is ending with just one show next weekend -- Madison. Then Dave and I are heading out to Atlantic City for the National. Come visit us in Booth 657. As soon as we return, the Oak Creek show is happening on August 6. I am up to 85 freakin' dealers for the August 6 Oak Creek show!
Have a great week everybody!
Below are some photos from the July Woodstock show.
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