Some photos to add - did not think we needed a entirely new thread since one was already up.
Top photo from BBCE with a 1968 box and a 1971 OPC box.
Heritage had some amazing stuff with high end Ruth cards, Nagurski, Jordan rookies, Koufax… stunning stuff.
REA had some amazing unopened stuff including packs from 1952, 53, 54, and 55 Topps plus a 1960 Yax rookie rack, 1973 rack, 1976 rack Yount and Aaron showing, and a 1975 Brett rack.
From what I could see a lot of Ruth and Gehrig cards being offered by dealers and AH’s plus Jordan rookies and T206’s. Mantle stuff is getting hard to find. Last year you could find 8-10 nice 56 Mantle’s in PSA 8, couple of 8.5’s and couple of 9’s. This year I saw 3 total in the room - one at REA, one at Polo Grounds, and one other one - plus a 9 at Memory Lane. 57’s I saw one PSA 8 at Natex and nothing higher in the room and no high end 8’s. Seems if you wanted a 53, 56, or 57 Mantle in 8 or above you were more than likely going to an AH.
Was able to pick up a few small things this year for the PC - nice 75 and 76 Rose and 68 Clemente. On the 57 Mantle I could not decide between the PSA 7 and PSA 6. The PSA 7 has incredible centering while the 6 is very strong centering wise and has a great image - since I could not find a 56 Mantle I liked in 8/8.5 figure I would add both - can always decide later which one to keep and which one to move later. Hope you enjoy the photos and have more to post later - at the airport now. Travel safe everyone.
Top photo from BBCE with a 1968 box and a 1971 OPC box.
Heritage had some amazing stuff with high end Ruth cards, Nagurski, Jordan rookies, Koufax… stunning stuff.
REA had some amazing unopened stuff including packs from 1952, 53, 54, and 55 Topps plus a 1960 Yax rookie rack, 1973 rack, 1976 rack Yount and Aaron showing, and a 1975 Brett rack.
From what I could see a lot of Ruth and Gehrig cards being offered by dealers and AH’s plus Jordan rookies and T206’s. Mantle stuff is getting hard to find. Last year you could find 8-10 nice 56 Mantle’s in PSA 8, couple of 8.5’s and couple of 9’s. This year I saw 3 total in the room - one at REA, one at Polo Grounds, and one other one - plus a 9 at Memory Lane. 57’s I saw one PSA 8 at Natex and nothing higher in the room and no high end 8’s. Seems if you wanted a 53, 56, or 57 Mantle in 8 or above you were more than likely going to an AH.
Was able to pick up a few small things this year for the PC - nice 75 and 76 Rose and 68 Clemente. On the 57 Mantle I could not decide between the PSA 7 and PSA 6. The PSA 7 has incredible centering while the 6 is very strong centering wise and has a great image - since I could not find a 56 Mantle I liked in 8/8.5 figure I would add both - can always decide later which one to keep and which one to move later. Hope you enjoy the photos and have more to post later - at the airport now. Travel safe everyone.
great cards thanks for showing the bbce cards and boxes. the roses are great cards to have.
I hadn’t been to National in quite a while. It was enjoyable but I didn’t spend $1.00. Except $20 for a hamburger and fries. I can say without a doubt unopened is getting harder and harder to find. BBCE had their usual nice display, but I felt it was a below average year. The show is mostly modern high end cards, which isn’t where I spend my time. I was happy to see all of the young collectors at those booths though. For the older stuff it was mostly mid grade. Clearly the auction houses are getting the premium unopened and high grade cards now days. And their displays proved that. Still a great time, but just not the best place anymore for the old stuff. My 2 Pennies.
@KurtisJoseph said:
I hadn’t been to National in quite a while. It was enjoyable but I didn’t spend $1.00. Except $20 for a hamburger and fries. I can say without a doubt unopened is getting harder and harder to find. BBCE had their usual nice display, but I felt it was a below average year. The show is mostly modern high end cards, which isn’t where I spend my time. I was happy to see all of the young collectors at those booths though. For the older stuff it was mostly mid grade. Clearly the auction houses are getting the premium unopened and high grade cards now days. And their displays proved that. Still a great time, but just not the best place anymore for the old stuff. My 2 Pennies.
Very accurate assessment of the National right here. Unopened is tough to find especially pre 1978, BBCE booth this year was good, but if you are not there Tuesday/Wednesday the good stuff is gone.
Also, spot on about the show being modern high end cards. Our last day we had found everything we needed so I went by several high end booths of modern and saw one guy with 6-7 Josh Allen NT and Flawless RC all in the $25-60k range each and how he acquires them.
Went by another booth and they had an absurd amount of cards in the $25-40k range snd then several in the $200k+ range. Asked the guy how they acquired so many high end modern auto cards and they said they ripped about 50 cases of the stuff - this stuff is $8-10k per case which consists of 2 boxes 😳. Dealers ripping $400-500k worth of product - amazing and there are tons of them out there.
Levi was there and the usual stuff. Giant table set up with a full 360 degrees of tables, tons of product, priced over market which is nothing new, and quality of what he had was way down. He has a ton of inventory without question, but the high end stuff for the grade is not there IMO. Not a lot of 8’s and 9’s - mostly PSA 1-5 stuff.
I think I saw the BBCE 1971 Topps Baseball wax box at a National a few years back. If I recall correctly, the ask was $75K back then. Down to $68K now. Lets see, If I wait another 60 years I might be able to afford it :-)
Seriously, I do miss the affordable group rips from around 8-10 years ago. If that '71 box was available then, it could have been a (still expensive) group opportunity.
@KendallCat said:
Levi was there and the usual stuff. Giant table set up with a full 360 degrees of tables, tons of product, priced over market which is nothing new, and quality of what he had was way down. He has a ton of inventory without question, but the high end stuff for the grade is not there IMO. Not a lot of 8’s and 9’s - mostly PSA 1-5 stuff.
I've only been to the 2017 National but it sounds like little has changed with him. I did enjoy looking at his inventory and his staff was cordial that day.
From the recaps I have read it certainly appears that most of the high end vintage goes to the auction houses now. Sign of the times I guess.
His staff is friendly and he has a LOT of stuff - i just prefer a little higher end for what I am looking for, but with that size booth I think he is going to be just fine. One thing I notice is that a lot of vendors and AH’s did a good job interacting and with service. Beckett folks were extremely helpful with submissions and very nice to deal with. Their online appt scheduling was a huge help as well. REA is amazing at personal service and you walk up and Brian, Dean, Calvin… all great you by name and they are great at developing relationships - just good people. Memory Lane and Heritage were also very good to deal with. We’re there some turds - sure. With those folks spend as little time as possible with them is the way to handle them.
I was there last year and there was plenty of high end vintage to spend my money on. Some stuff I could afford - and even two of a card that I wanted for years and no longer could afford a ‘53 Satchel Paige PSA 8. Maybe less vintage dealers made the trip to AC but I am confident I will be able to find more to buy than dollars in my pocket when it returns to Chicago next year.
For as long as I remember, Levi and 707 have always had the most impressive and expansive set up at the National and other shows. I have bought cards from Levi and Jim (who is deceased). 707's prices have always been on the high side (some very high). I have found the staff and customer service to be great. But I probably don't need to say that Levi is a tough negotiator and will back off very little from his asking prices. Nevertheless, I have found reasonable prices on some cards.
@erikthredd said:
Looks like this Sports Card Investor guy just spent $100K on a MJ Star #101 PSA 8 at the National then posted a video about it. This pic below came from a youtube video screen grab so its pretty bad quality. 🤷♂️
I feel bad for him. It sounds like he knows the guy enough to give a great description and somebody else in the hobby likely knows his name. Betting this guy gets caught. Having your victim know your face and voice , leaving a box that has your fingerprints all over it and sending a text doesn’t exactly feel like the perfect crime. Hope he spends years behind bars.
Comments
Some photos to add - did not think we needed a entirely new thread since one was already up.
Top photo from BBCE with a 1968 box and a 1971 OPC box.
Heritage had some amazing stuff with high end Ruth cards, Nagurski, Jordan rookies, Koufax… stunning stuff.
REA had some amazing unopened stuff including packs from 1952, 53, 54, and 55 Topps plus a 1960 Yax rookie rack, 1973 rack, 1976 rack Yount and Aaron showing, and a 1975 Brett rack.
From what I could see a lot of Ruth and Gehrig cards being offered by dealers and AH’s plus Jordan rookies and T206’s. Mantle stuff is getting hard to find. Last year you could find 8-10 nice 56 Mantle’s in PSA 8, couple of 8.5’s and couple of 9’s. This year I saw 3 total in the room - one at REA, one at Polo Grounds, and one other one - plus a 9 at Memory Lane. 57’s I saw one PSA 8 at Natex and nothing higher in the room and no high end 8’s. Seems if you wanted a 53, 56, or 57 Mantle in 8 or above you were more than likely going to an AH.
Was able to pick up a few small things this year for the PC - nice 75 and 76 Rose and 68 Clemente. On the 57 Mantle I could not decide between the PSA 7 and PSA 6. The PSA 7 has incredible centering while the 6 is very strong centering wise and has a great image - since I could not find a 56 Mantle I liked in 8/8.5 figure I would add both - can always decide later which one to keep and which one to move later. Hope you enjoy the photos and have more to post later - at the airport now. Travel safe everyone.
great cards thanks for showing the bbce cards and boxes. the roses are great cards to have.
That 76 Rose is great. That’s a tough card to find that well centered. Congratulations.
Thank you for the nice comments. For $200 I could not pass it up despite the fact I already have one.
How much were the old hockey Psa packs?
I hadn’t been to National in quite a while. It was enjoyable but I didn’t spend $1.00. Except $20 for a hamburger and fries. I can say without a doubt unopened is getting harder and harder to find. BBCE had their usual nice display, but I felt it was a below average year. The show is mostly modern high end cards, which isn’t where I spend my time. I was happy to see all of the young collectors at those booths though. For the older stuff it was mostly mid grade. Clearly the auction houses are getting the premium unopened and high grade cards now days. And their displays proved that. Still a great time, but just not the best place anymore for the old stuff. My 2 Pennies.
Very accurate assessment of the National right here. Unopened is tough to find especially pre 1978, BBCE booth this year was good, but if you are not there Tuesday/Wednesday the good stuff is gone.
Also, spot on about the show being modern high end cards. Our last day we had found everything we needed so I went by several high end booths of modern and saw one guy with 6-7 Josh Allen NT and Flawless RC all in the $25-60k range each and how he acquires them.
Went by another booth and they had an absurd amount of cards in the $25-40k range snd then several in the $200k+ range. Asked the guy how they acquired so many high end modern auto cards and they said they ripped about 50 cases of the stuff - this stuff is $8-10k per case which consists of 2 boxes 😳. Dealers ripping $400-500k worth of product - amazing and there are tons of them out there.
Was Levi(707 Cards) there this year?
I wonder how he and some of the long term dealers did this year?
Levi was there and the usual stuff. Giant table set up with a full 360 degrees of tables, tons of product, priced over market which is nothing new, and quality of what he had was way down. He has a ton of inventory without question, but the high end stuff for the grade is not there IMO. Not a lot of 8’s and 9’s - mostly PSA 1-5 stuff.
I think I saw the BBCE 1971 Topps Baseball wax box at a National a few years back. If I recall correctly, the ask was $75K back then. Down to $68K now. Lets see, If I wait another 60 years I might be able to afford it :-)
Seriously, I do miss the affordable group rips from around 8-10 years ago. If that '71 box was available then, it could have been a (still expensive) group opportunity.
The 1971 box is OPC not topps.
I've only been to the 2017 National but it sounds like little has changed with him. I did enjoy looking at his inventory and his staff was cordial that day.
From the recaps I have read it certainly appears that most of the high end vintage goes to the auction houses now. Sign of the times I guess.
His staff is friendly and he has a LOT of stuff - i just prefer a little higher end for what I am looking for, but with that size booth I think he is going to be just fine. One thing I notice is that a lot of vendors and AH’s did a good job interacting and with service. Beckett folks were extremely helpful with submissions and very nice to deal with. Their online appt scheduling was a huge help as well. REA is amazing at personal service and you walk up and Brian, Dean, Calvin… all great you by name and they are great at developing relationships - just good people. Memory Lane and Heritage were also very good to deal with. We’re there some turds - sure. With those folks spend as little time as possible with them is the way to handle them.
I was there last year and there was plenty of high end vintage to spend my money on. Some stuff I could afford - and even two of a card that I wanted for years and no longer could afford a ‘53 Satchel Paige PSA 8. Maybe less vintage dealers made the trip to AC but I am confident I will be able to find more to buy than dollars in my pocket when it returns to Chicago next year.
For as long as I remember, Levi and 707 have always had the most impressive and expansive set up at the National and other shows. I have bought cards from Levi and Jim (who is deceased). 707's prices have always been on the high side (some very high). I have found the staff and customer service to be great. But I probably don't need to say that Levi is a tough negotiator and will back off very little from his asking prices. Nevertheless, I have found reasonable prices on some cards.
I hope for Geoff's sake that his new Jordan wasn't handled by this airport security. Just watching this is rough.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/puABtGTz2M0
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
Theft ?
https://sportscollectorsdigest.com/.amp/news/sports-card-theft-national-sports-collectors-convention-gizmos-sportscards-atlantic-city
I wouldn’t expect a seasoned veteran like Rick to be so gullible.
Always buying Bobby Cox inserts. PM me.
This just popped up in my suggestions. Definitely one of those WTF were you thinking moments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fkyl7IYRpw
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
I feel bad for him. It sounds like he knows the guy enough to give a great description and somebody else in the hobby likely knows his name. Betting this guy gets caught. Having your victim know your face and voice , leaving a box that has your fingerprints all over it and sending a text doesn’t exactly feel like the perfect crime. Hope he spends years behind bars.