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07-16-2020 If you would have told me before leaving for Cincinnati that I would spend almost all my money buying cards, I'd say that would be a successful show. And...well, there's no twist ending here. It was a successful show. The sales could have been stronger, but I won't complain. I needed to add to my inventory after selling like crazy over the past few months. Bonus: now that a few days has passed, I don't have any COVID symptoms either. Heh heh...cheating death yet again. I'm not setting up at 1.5 shows every month like I used to, so these are events that I savor more and more. There's a freedom to hitting the road and taking in all the "boring" Midwest scenery. Maybe having grown up here, seeing the green of the growing corn against a blue sky triggers a relaxation in me. On the drive east, I dusted off an old podcast I'd had chambered for a while. One of the "-Ologies" with host Alie Ward. Funny and informational if you want to give them a try. This was a two-parter - "Fearology" - I wanted to listen to in an attempt to at least tone down my recent fear of flying. We'll see. Nothing else of note except while gassing up in eastern Indiana, I noticed zero people wearing masks at the gas station or any of the nearby businesses. *shrug* I did a few wise things on this trip, and the first was staying at The Clarion, which also hosted the show. Although I explicitly asked the promoter in an e-mail, he did not let me know what time the dealers could get in to set up in the morning. At least now that I was staying at the hotel, I could just bop downstairs and see if the room was open yet. Another wise thing I did was check in on the breakfast and lunch situations with the clerk who checked me in, Anthony. A free hot breakfast was advertised, but due to COVID, the Clarion could only deliver on the free part. I was told it would be a bagged breakfast. That didn't sound appealing, but I decided I could roll the dice. I also asked if there was a lunch on-site. No. In fact, the restaurant that was part of the hotel was closed. My solution there reflected my veteran sage status as well. When I went out* for a treat of a dinner at White Castle, I also grabbed Jimmy John's for the next day. Meal-wise, everything was coming together swimingly. I was way proud of myself for undertaking such planning ahead. So, while I patted myself on the back that evening, I ate, bid on some cards until the internet connection went south, and watched a Cornhole (I call it "bags") tournament on ESPN. I feel sad that they're relegated to airing cookout sideshows on their major network now. *As I was leaving, I walked by the front desk and Anthony asked how my room was. "Oh, it'll do," was my response. Hope that didn't burst his bubble, but what can I say...I'm too honest. I clearly need work on my impromptu replies. Fast-forward to my bag o' breakfast the next morning. Feast your eyes (but clearly not your stomach) on this: 
A little something about me. I hate blueberry muffins. I only recently started eating and liking blueberries. Muffins are an abomination...barely enough sugar to not be bread, and bread is overrated. Muffins are a garbage creation. And what's more, those are a far cry from actual blueberries inside. Did I eat them? Well, sure. But mostly because I hate to waste food. Another question: did the front desk have spoon for the yogurt? No, they did not. (I ate it on the way home with a spork I had hanging around in the van.) One last question not really regarding breakfast, but still breakfast-adjacent: why do all hotel towels smell exactly the same...faintly like maple syrup? Is there one nationwide hotel supply company for laundry detergent? Decades of staying in hotels of varying price and star level across the country, and the towels all smell indistinguishable from one another. Wild. Anyway, by the time I had one muffin and some peanuts in my stomach, the show started. I kicked off my buying in an inauspicious way...just sifting through dime cards at the table next to me to find some Cubs for my collection. Then things picked up. A gentleman came to my table selling a pair of T206s, which almost never happens:  
One Southern Leaguer and one HOFer. The rest of my buying was from a pair of Jims set up across from each other. Jim from Detroit had 52 Topps Hi#s at a decent price and a few other stars/Hi#s: 
Jim and Linda from Dayton had stars in showcases and a slew of binders (sorted by year) with more stars, commons, and desirable Hi#s. It took a while to buy from them because nothing was priced and he looked up every card individually, but I suppose it was worth it: 
All told, I bought around 30 cards for over $3000. That haul of big boys is a nice injection of star power into my inventory! Sales-wise, I moved all the Griffey rookies and even a bunch of his 2nd year cards I had priced especially for this show. No surprise there. Two items surprisingly didn't move - a lot of Barry Larkin rookies, and an autographed Pete Rose card. Notes: *It was hotel policy to wear masks. While people talked about it, no one complained. *There was a lot of modern basketball in the room. I know it's a bit of a craze, but I didn't expect to see it on so many tables. It's all over the place. The drive home was a quick one. I covered 240 miles in almost 3 hours on the dot. I can't tell you how many times I was passed in Indiana driving 80-85MPH. I can only assume those people wanted to do the smart thing and get the f**k out of Indiana! I'm sure it will be a while before I go back to Cincinnati, but it was good to get out there again, and the show actually turned out OK for me. Have fun! -T You can now find me all over the web:  Like Monster Cards on Facebook
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