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July/August 2021 Sunday, July 25: Here we go! Are you ready? Am I ready? If the former is a yes, keep reading to see if the latter matches. I'm sitting here at a show in Champaign - Marketplace Mall - and if I have time to write this column during show hours, you know this hasn't been a great show. Check that...it's not even been a good show. This is on the heels of the last show here being the best of the four or five that have been held recently in this location, so I did have at least middling expectations. Oh well. That's not the important part. What matters most right now is that I'm in the midst of 7 show days out of 8 earth days. Yesterday and today I'm locked into my psuedo-kiosk at the mall. (You can refresh yourself on my feelings about mall shows here.) Monday is a day to catch my breath, strategize, and pack. Then at 5AM on Tuesday, I'll be hitting the road for Chicago (Rosemont) for The National, where I'll be until Sunday. In the past, I've given advice to National-goers. I think everyone has that down by now. Hydrate (with whatever liquid you please, no judgment here), wear comfy shoes...blah blah. So I'll switch it up this year and make some predictions for myself. Having attended...idk, 8 to 10 Nationals since my first, which was an absolute oven in Atlanta back in 1999 (damn, I'm old), there are some things I should do. But will I? That's the question. Stay tuned to find out. I will eat healthy. I admit, this will be easier if all the concession stands and the Expoteria (their word, not mine) are open. If there isn't much variety beyond pretzels and sloppy joes in the convention center, I'm in trouble. I might actually have to order salad at *gasp* a pizza place some night. Oh lord, the embarrassment. I will not exercise. I checked the website for the hotel I'll be staying at - it does have a fitness center and an indoor pool. And sure, I'll bring exercise clothes and swim gear. But will I actually seek these things/activities out? No, I won't. I'll be too tired. Hopefully I'll be pricing new inventory from buys I've made at the show. Or maybe I'll be networking. Those last couple are very acceptable. I have a finite amount of time to kick ass at The National, and any precious time outside of show hours should be spent refueling or refreshing (aka eating/sleeping). Or writing, of course. :) I will not do a good job refilling my cooler with ice. Ahhh, what a luxury it is to have a cooler (or two) behind the table. But the logistics of keeping it cool are difficult to manage. By Friday, you have a lukewarm pool of bobbing Dr Peppers and adult beverages. Sadly, "Would you like a cold one?" is a question that does not apply. I always go in with big dreams of finding and transporting more ice over to the show, along with dumping the unfrozen ice out, but I never do. I'm putting this in writing as a challenge to myself to make this happen. I will not use a loupe when I'm walking around buying cards, even though I bring one with. This is a mistake, and quite literally a costly one. No matter how decent the lighting is in a show, there is no substitute for closely examining a card under a desk lamp. Wrinkles of all sizes are discovered later, and cards I thought were ExMt end up being Vg+. Boo. Do dealers do it on purpose? Are they not careful? Are they ignorant? Who knows. This is why I write "wrinkle" on the price tags of cards I sell that have hard-to-detect wrinkles. But when I'm buying, it's too time-consuming to get out a loupe to give cards a once-over. Ultimately, I only have myself to blame. Same as always, I will want to walk the entire floor. But likely, I will not be able to accomplish this, even in six days. What will happen is I'll cover everything within a 15 table radius multiple times and then make scattered, random paths through the room as I look for certain dealers/friends. I never run through the show in a logical, orthogonal way like the sportscard gods intended. I will still be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on Sunday, unlike most of the other dealers. One thing I will re-state for the customers: don't expect to swoop in on Sunday and think the dealers will be ready to get rid of cards on the cheap. First of all, many of those setting up are nationally-known dealers who will have more shows in the coming weeks, not to mention presences on eBay and the web. Second, call it "card hubris" or a seller's market, but folks would rather have cards than cash right now. Lastly, and most importantly, most dealers are not physically or mentally built for a six-day show. By Sunday, the room is filled with glazed-over eyes, yawns, seated slouches with crossed arms, and the desire to get home. But let's snap back to the present day. Already on Tuesday, I have an agreement to sell all of my commons to another dealer. This will be a good deal for both of us, as he's actively selling commons at shows while my customers all seem to have their sets filled except for a handful of stars and Hi#s. This is a great start to the show for me. While I don't planning on selling out the rest of my inventory at the show, I will have a number ready in case the right offer comes along! Ideally, I'll update this during the week, but no promises. If you're headed up to the show, come find me at Booth 325! Tuesday, July 27: What day is it? Still Tuesday? This was just the unofficial first day of the National....Day 0, in effect, and already my body is buzzing. My feet are throbbing, my head hurts, my eyes hurt, and I'm hungry! And it's just 5PM. So let's go back to the beginning. "Beginning" meaning yesterday, which flew by. I thought it would be an easy day. I thought I would do a little bit of card work, some exercise, and then rest up. I was wrong. So wrong. I did laundry to have 6 days worth of clothes ready. I ran errands. I did a LOT of last-minute card work, and only caught about a 15 minute nap. Remember that 15 minute nap and fast-forward to today... My 4:30AM alarm was unnecessary because my body either reviles alarms or takes pride in waking up before them, or both. To put it this way, I woke up at 3:15AM and couldn't fall back asleep. I did try for a little while, but then it was time for a quick shower and breakfast before ride (Joe Yanello - we're splitting a booth again this year) arrived around 5:15. Traffic wasn't too bad for too long, and we arrived in good time at the Donald E Stephens and set up quickly.  Yes, we're here.  Who's more upset: me for this guy ruining my picture, or this guy for me taking his picture? The show floor was alive was activity today. Dealer vans and trucks driving in and out, union dudes zipping around on forklifts and golf carts and whatever other vehicles they have at their disposal. Dealers were reuniting, often in sincere, concerned tones after the pandemic. What didn't happen was a flurry of transactions, which is typical for a "Day 0" at The National. By tomorrow, most dealers will be set up, have their bearings, and be ready to get down to business. Never fear - I tried to keep the chit-chat to a minimum to focus on buying/selling. haha I did complete the sale of my commons, so check that off the list. And I picked up a few smaller deals here and there. Most notably, I bought a box of stars, mainly from the 70s, that will totally refresh my $2 box. All in all, a good day of settling in and getting on the board with a few buys/sells. This hotel might really work out for me too. Check this out:  ICE!!!!! I've done it, by golly. And now I'll cut this off for the day, as I have Giordano's pizza (and salad) arriving shortly. Wednesday, July 28: You know what's weird to start your day with? Smokey and the Bandit. But that's what was on when I woke up this morning. Or rather, it was what I deemed the best option while I was doing some pre-show stretching. I've liked that movie since I was 5 years old. That was well before I understood all the innuendoes and the fact that The Bandit was banging every woman from Texarkana to Atlanta. I'm not sure that set the theme for the show today, because I didn't have any great "hauls." I purchased a stack of cards from JD Heckathorn from Indiana. He and his wife Stacy are among the nicest people in the biz, and enjoy buying from them. Another card caught my eye when I was first entering the show and making my way to the tables to set up. Luckily, it was still there when we finished setting up. A signed, authenticated 1968 Topps Mickey Mantle...at a decent price. (I left it at show tonight, or I'd post a pic.) I already have one, but I'm looking to add more autographed Mantle cards from any year to my collection. Editor's note: Here it is! 
I wasn't swamped with sales today, but I did meet a very notable person in the hobby - Bill Hemrick, who co-founded the Upper Deck company. You can Google him, or check this Wikipedia entry out. Super nice guy, and as he talked about the Wally Joyner promo card (he had one on him) I asked about DeWayne Buice, the subject of the other promo card. Bill said, "Buice made $17 million for making 10 phone calls!" Classic. And that conversation started because I had a PSA 8 1952 Topps Eddie Pellegrini Hi# he needed for his set. This is the magic of The National. I told Bill it must be pretty cool to have a "pedigree" from PSA where your name is on the flip too. 
Today's show hours were 8am-8pm. The 8a-3:30p shift was dealers only, with some folks still setting up. After that, the public was let in. However, this week isn't just about what happens during show hours. A couple customers asked me to have drinks with them tonight (multiple times), and I was also invited to a trade night. I passed on both to preserve myself for the rest of the week. Plus, with the show ending at a respectable 6pm for the next three nights, I'll have the opportunity to hit up these events later, and I plan to. I'm far from a young buck in this hobby anymore, and I'm doing my best to balance networking with being fresh and sharp at the show itself. Thursday, July 29: Big sales day today. In fact, I was so busy that I didn't get a chance to walk around the room and look for cards to buy. This is where some planning and discipline come into play. Before the show, my goal was to sell. So sell I did, and I resisted the allure of leaving the table to look for more deals. Gotta keep your focus at a show like this or you'll come home without your objectives met and be ticked off. What sold? Mostly 1952 Topps Hi#s, PSA graded. These are some of the hottest cards in the hobby, and I scratch and claw to keep adding them to my inventory in any condition. Today, six cards graded PSA 6 or higher sold to one customer. Rookies were the other big mover. I sold an Ernie Banks, two Sandy Koufax, a Nolan Ryan, and a Roberto Clemente...a mix of graded and raw. To toot my own horn, one of the Koufax rookies I sold today I bought yesterday in the room and on a whim just decided to throw a price on it and put it in my showcase. It's a fun little rush when you can turn something in the same show like that. (I actually did that with a second card today - a 1953 Bowman Warren Spahn.) But what I'd really like to talk about today is food! How dare I forget that yesterday reps fron the Chicago Dogs were roaming around the show floor. 
And today I'll let you in on what is one of the best kept secrets at the National...for the first couple days: the dealer hospitality room. Shhh! Just off to the side of the main floor at the Donald E Stephens is a little room with coffee and donuts (and maybe tea, which is too terrible to be recognized as a drink). There were all of about 7 dealers in there when I walked in, and the donut trays were nearly completely intact! I scarfed two of the chocolate-frosted crullers. Mmmmm! 
Just wait...tomorrow there will be a line and I'll only have my pick of crappy donuts (luckily, most of the world doesn't like cream-filled), and by Sat/Sun, the poor room will be a wasteland with not enough crumbs to interest a mouse. It's incredible how quickly the dealers learn about this room and lay it to waste over the course of the show. That's why I have to take matters into my own hands when planning for six days away from home with long hours stuck in a convention center. I plack food like a freakin' prepper. This is just a part of my stash: 
In addition, there are peanuts, oatmeal, granola bars, and the aforementioned cooler with a whole complement of drinks (beer, water, pop, Gatorade, vodka, Red Bull). I don't want to be dealing with customers while hangry! We're only at the halfway point so far, and I'd already consider this show a success after today's rush of customers. Tonight I'll be exploring a 'trade night' at a nearby hotel for dealers/customers/anyone who hears about it. I have my doubts that I'll be able to find much in the way of vintage cards, but it will be cool to survey the scene and hopefully make a few contacts. Thursday, July 29...PART TWO!! Trade Night = Wild. I didn't expect it to be literally 1000s of people smashed into a ballroom. Check this: 
People doing biz on the floor in every corner of the room. 
People wedged in between support columns working deals. 
This was an insane gathering of people, a card free-for-all bigger than any local/monthly show I've ever attended. Incredible buzz in the room. And basically all are a new breed of dealer, into new basketball, wrestling (I walked the entire room and saw a LOT of wrestling cards), and grinding out deals table-to-table. It was entertaining....kinda like watching speed dating. I also got my feet wet by buying what I would consider constituted about 1/10th of vintage in the entire room. That's not as much as it might sound like, but I was happy to pick up these cards below, especially after not buying much of anything at the show. 
(Came close to selling the Ted at the show Friday.) Friday, July 30: And the beat goes on! Today was another busy, busy day at the show. By this morning, the buzz was already circulating that all the dealers set up were having amazing, if not record-breaking, sales totals. My day started with a bang when one customer pulled the trigger on Jackie Robinson from 53, 54, and 56, along with a 53 Satchel Paige. Big sale! Later on, the gentleman who bought (6) 1952 Topps Hi#s from me on Thursday came back for (5) more that were below his intial PSA 6 grade threshold. All that said, I noticed a trend of more customers looking and not buying. I do expect that to continue the next couple days as the show winds down. Sure, the weekend will bring a large crowd, but The National is a big enough event that "serious" buyers will take off work (and/or fly across the country) to attend as soon as the doors open. Those people streaming in over the last couple days just aren't as gung-ho. Today I was sorta able to get back and visit Tony Gordon (see Fat Daddy's Sports here) and buy some cards from him. I don't know the last time I saw him...maybe even the last National! He's one of the coolest, most honest guys in the hobby, and I enjoy time spent at a show hanging/dealing with him. Unfortunately, I wasn't even able to finish looking through his cases before I was called back to my table to sell a Mike Schmidt rookie, and I didn't get back out again. Fortunately, Tony delivered my buys at the end of the day and went back to his table with some of my dollars in his pocket. Two more things of note. For posterity's sake, today was the baseball trade deadline, and I will not be discussing the carnage that happened to the Cubs as we say a temporary or permanent good-bye to some of the stars from the 2016 World Series team. Next, the much-anticipated Donut Update! As sure as I'm Monster Cards, the donut selection was ravaged this morning!!! 
Fortunately, along with cream or jelly-filled donuts, I enjoy myself a good apple danish, so I was still satisfied with this morning's scraps. As for more nutritious food, I ventured a few blocks to the nearest Jewel tonight after the show and picked up some bananas, water, and salads to get me through the next couple days. A man cannot live on Cheetos and Oreos alone....not for long anyway. Saturday, July 31: Already Satuday night, and it's all over but the packing and driving home. As predicted yesterday, today's crowd continued to thin out and continued to be more tire-kickers than anything. Sales slowed to what would be a less than mediocre one-day non-National show pace. A couple people showed interest in items and said they'd be back tomorrow, but it wouldn't surprise me if my sales are ZERO tomorrow, just as they were on Sunday at The National in 2019. I did have one good sale when a gentleman bought a starter set of 1955 Topps baseball, then purchased some Hi#s and a Killebrew rookie to go along with them. For some reason, all week I had my sites set on moving that lot, which I picked up in St Louis earlier this month. It was taking up a decent amount of room in my showcases, and I also nearly sold it to another dealer on Tuesday or Wednesday. Anyway, it was something I feel like would have flown off the table a couple years ago when it seems more people were building sets. On the flip side, there were a lot more people walking up to the table offering cards for sale. The majority were new cards and I had no idea about their value, but I did buy a couple smaller deals that were mostly graded. Nothing of much note, except a Chamique Holdsclaw PSA 9 and 10...and I would have NEVER predicted I'd buy a WNBA card at the show. However, when the price is right, I'll buy just about anything. There was a great "That's what she said" moment as I walked into the show this morning. One dealer was talking to a comtemporary and said, "Lately I've enjoyed getting into ball research." Hey, it made me laugh and I'm not apologizing for it. So as I reflect back on the week (I'll revisit at my "will/will not" predications and see how I did in my final post Sunday or Monday), I can tell you that my food All-Star was oatmeal. I also pulled this maneuver in Cleveland at the 2018 National. Fact: I need to eat breakfast to function. And since I'm staying across the street from the show, traveling to McDonald's or Dunkin in the morning is an unnecessary hassle. Also a hassle - to my wallet - is a $15 omelette from the hotel. So, armed with an in-room coffee maker to heat up some water, instant oatmeal is the perfect breakfast hack. One can even pair it with a banana or an orange, as I did, and have a sorta well-rounded breakfast. Then coffee and a donut is just a luxury/gluttony. We also have an over-achiever this week, and that is my hotel fridge. There isn't a cooling setting on it, and it keeps freezing my water. Why, fridge? Just chill, or don't...I don't know how to tell a fridge to relax without confusing it. Oh, and before I go, my most popular running segment: How were the donuts this morning? 
There were more than just crumbs!! Today I didn't grab one; anticipating there would be nothing left, I snagged a frosted cinnamon roll at Jewel last night. That was more than enough to fill me up after my oats. Monday, August 2: I'm back home, and it's time to put a cherry on top of the 2021 National experience. I've been known to say, "If you don't come back sick from The National, you didn't do it right," and sure enough, today I have a head cold. At least I put my all into these past six days at the National, and going back to the beginning, seven of eight days of shows. The final day at The National is usually just looking forward to the moment you're allowed to drive into the building and load up so you can start the journey home. The sound of packing tape emanating from all corners of the floor signifies this moment, which is around noon-1pm. This year, things were different. After a slower Saturday on the sales front, things picked up again on Sunday, despite the waning crowd size. I sold a card I'd had for a while, a T202 Ed Walsh PSA 7, to Adam from Dave and Adam's and another card I had just picked up at the show, a 60 Topps Mantle PSA 1.5, to an employee of the Baseball Card Exchange. I also sold a 53 Bowman Mantle with great eye-appeal from a star deal I purchased in St Louis a few weeks back. And to cap my buying, I was able to go through the remainder of Tony Gordon's inventory and exchange more of my cash for his cards. As it was, the crowd stayed strong late into the day and dealers didn't start leaving en masse until about 4 o'clock. We were able to start loading outside before the main doors opened, and then finished up inside. All told, I was home just before 8pm. My final donut update of the show is a major disappointment! Imagine my surprise and dismay when I actually got to the show a half-hour before we could enter in order to savor some coffee and a pastry...only to find out the dealer lounge doesn't even exist on Sunday! What a kick in the pants. 
I was bored, but thankfully not hungry, again thanks to the All-Star oatmeal. So let's hit the tale of the tape on my original predictions above and see how well I actually know myself! Did I eat healthy? Yes! Sorta! Over the course of six days, I had salads at four different meals. The rest of my food was basically convention center (breaded) chicken sandwiches, pizza, and BBQ sandwiches. I did eat a bunch of fruit, drank a lot of water, and limited the beer intake. Overall, that's a win considering my location. Did I exercise? Hardly. No jogging, but some crunches in the morning. Don't worry, despite the congestion, I ran five miles this morning now that I'm home. It's good to be back into that routine. I didn't mention above, but I stayed on the same floor as the pool and fitness room. Unfortunately, the pool was closed or I surely would have soaked for a bit and maybe swam a few laps an evening or two if there weren't any annoying kids splashing around. Could I have used the fitness room - absolutely! Did I? No! Did I maintain a good level of ice in the cooler? Yes! You already know I did. I actually refilled it twice during the week. Staying at a hotel across the street helps immensely with this, as I could just wheel that bad boy back to my room at night. Did I use a loupe when buying cards? Definitely not; that thing stayed put in my bag all week. I know myself too well on this one. Granted, I barely had time to run around and attempt to buy, so there was no way I was going to slow things down while I was loose. One of the next things I'll do is price my buys, so just know I'll be cussing at myself when I discover wrinkles in cards that I couldn't see at the show. Did I walk the whole floor? I've alluded to this throughout this recap... I just didn't have the time. My best opportunity to walk the room was on Tuesday, which is still not ideal, as dealers are in various stages of setting up or flat-out haven't shown up yet, opting to set up on Wednesday. I mostly hit the dealers I knew in order to maximize my results. As predicted, I covered the swath of dealers between our tables and the restrooms quite thoroughly, and also those on the paths to the other dealers I targeted for visits. Was I still energetic on Sunday? Yes! In fact, most dealers were. Now that I'm home and done with the bookwork, my sales totals were extraordinary. We all have the crowd to thank for this, as there remained a buzz in the room from the time they were let in on Wednesday afternoon until we left on Sunday. VIP and Super VIP passes/packages sold out, and I heard that advance admission sales were 3-4x the number that sold in 2019. This speaks to the incredible popularity of the hobby over the 20 months...basically since the pandemic forced us all indoors. Many people jumped into buying/selling cards, fueling both a surge in prices and sparking many people to re-enter the hobby who had gone dormant for years or decades. If this popularity can continue, The National in Atlantic City next year should be almost on equal footing with this one. I hesitate to say it will be better because dealers generally love coming to Chicago. The ease of arriving/departing, along with being centrally-located from a United States standpoint makes it very well-attended by dealers and collectors alike. To wrap these predictions, and using The National as a mile marker, it shifts my focus to what I'd like to accomplish in the next year. One can never predict how the market will change, but there are things I can do with my own business. I'd say the top item on my list is to do more marketing. I'm still one of the younger vintage card dealers out there, whether I feel like it or not. I don't have all the same in-person connections that dealers older than I am have made. I'm also not doing the quantity of shows to forge some of those relationships. So social media is key to reaching out to dealers, existing customers, and new customers. This takes time, time that could be spent pricing cards or bidding in auctions, but I believe it to be an investment that will pay off. In any case, I'll continue to think on that as I spend time on immediate post-show tidying up. Until then, good night to the 2021 National! 
Have fun! -T |
Inside My Brain