White Plains show

ejguru

Just back from the opening night of the "East Coast National" at White Plains County Center. Admission was $12, parking another $4. It was open tonight from 5-9 p.m. Most of the dealers were set up and ready to go at 5---even though a large portion of their prime stuff went to those who were in Chicago last week. Almost 100% of the 15-20 dealers I chatted with said they did very well out there. I did score some graded 67's and 68's, but my gripe is with the people who run the show at White Plains.

For the ridiculous entrance fee ($12), there was one payment window open and a line of 75-100 by 5 p.m. Sure, there's that wonderful $1 off ad in Beckett (and the local paper), but that doesn't cut it. No free autographs for Thursday. PSA was advertised as coming on flyers printed by the show operator, but PSA did not come to pick up submissions. I called PSA last week and was told they weren't coming, so that wasn't a surprise to me, but I heard other folks grumbling. To call this thing the "East Coast National" is ridiculous. Wondering if other regional shows are as costly as this one. No offering of a multi-day pass, or show pass so I am not sure if I'll be back over the weekend. Even though this show is less than 2 miles from my house, I can't imagine I'll be back.

E

1420sports

E - I have never been to the "East Coast National" but I have been going to the "Philly Show" in Ft Washington, PA for several years now. It is about $5 to get in (not a bad wait time), free autographs (semi-stars), and some of the biggest and best dealers in the USA. I did confirm with PSA that they will have onsite grading as usual and will be accepting submissions. Hope to see you there, we will have to catch up.

How are the Goudey's coming along?

ejguru

BRO--I did open up a few more 67 HOF'ers in "7" for you--F.Rob, Gibson, and Morgan. That prevented me from going after that nice 1933 Ruth PSA 2 I saw for $1,000 I have driven down to Ft. Wash for the past 2 years and never have been disappointed there. I will see you there, right?? Hopefully, I'll be bringing some cards for you

E

gemint

I wonder if the two shows will eventually merge since there appears to now be two East Coast Nationals within a week of each other.

uniship

Who cares about the long lines, the question is - did the show promoters provide enough security? This is a baseball card show after all.

1420sports

Gemint - I would like to see it bigger. The only show I was ever at bigger than the Fort, was Sportsfest in Philly a few years ago - met Rose and Schmidt so that was great. This was before I became a PSA member.

E - I will be there, and you could get a PSA 2 for less than a G. What # was it?

Eric - I guess with all of the "events/rumors" of last week, more security is needed

ejguru

Uniship--Security? I don't understand. The complaint about the lines was more to the fact that advance tickets weren't sold. It was at least half an hour before the "line"--those arriving before 4:30 p.m.--could enter the show. It just seemed very half-hearted. The ticket window could've had a second person or could've begun selling tickets at 4:45p.m. so people could actually go in at 5:00 instead of the trickle of customers.

E

ejguru

Oh yeah. Right. Security. I get it. I have no idea what happpened (other than trying to keep up with the thread), but there might have been 1 uniform there. Not something I'm used to looking for, but maybe it will have to be beefed up.

N-The 33 Goudey I was looking at was 144--Batting stance, yellow background. I'm not seriously looking to divert $500+ from my '67/'68 pursuits any time soon, but it was a nice 2--if there is such a thing

E

1420sports

Eric, I for one believe any Goudey Ruth PSA is a great card to have, be it a 2 or a an 8 .... I got an extra Farrell # 148 PSA 3 I can trade to you. Let me know if you need it.

Anyone know Eric of uniship? I ahve talked to him a few times, and he seems like a nice guy. Eric, how does collecting all Red Sox HOFer's sound? I know you were looking to focus your collecting efforts

gaspipe26

That show in Westchester is nothing like it used to be 10-12 years ago. $12 does seem like a hefty fee. Is it upstairs or down?

waitilltheytrytosell

Upstairs or down? Remember when it was upstairs, downstairs, in the lobby, down the halls, and in side rooms. I think they could have put tables in the bathrooms and sold them.

metsfan

Gaspipe:
Your right about the show. It was upstairs. I went Friday, There were 50 or more on line(never saw that at that show). Just a very average show. PSA was not there, SGC was. I think Gloria Rothenstein used to run the show, but her son does it now. Gloria always walked the show, I dont see anyone doing that now. It would be nice if it was run like it used to be.

Slabbed

Went to the East Coast National on Saturday. Very bad show if you collect PSA graded cards. Only Two dealers had anything at all one dealer was PK cards and the other was AJ from Canada. After those two dealers there was plenty of ungraded VG to EXMT cards. Also lots of trimmed cards.

Fabfrank

I've gone to the East Coast National as well as the other Rothstein shows regularly for the last 12 years. It's amazing how it just keeps shrinking. My son refers to the show as "the one with the reptiles". It seems the sportscard show usually coincides with a reptile show held downstairs.
Anyway I went Friday afternoon from 2-6. Met Keith (Andiehaley) from the boards who is a super nice guy and talked about 71's.
10 years ago you couldn't walk down the aisle at this show, now I look down the aisle and can see to the end of the room.
No great deals to speak of and lots on off condition cards. I was hoping there would be some dealers selling graded commons, but very little. The few 71 commons I bought I ended up overpaying for ( I guess my money was burning a hole in my pocket).
There was one dealer who had some really nice raw 72 football hi numbers. All would be solid 8's and some borderline 9's. I'm not doing the set so I passed them up.
I did notice that the dealers who specialize in breaking down the new material were struggling. These dealers used to be the busiest at this show, but whenever I passed their tables the were just sitting and talking. A few of these dealers even starting playing cards (poker??) during the show! This tells me that collectors are just giving up on the new stuff. With all the product out there, it's just too confusing for a newbie to sort through.
Hopefully we'll get a report on how the show does over the weekend.

CDC4

Went to the show on Thursday, and every time the show amazes me somehow with how bad it has become. There was a long line to get in, which I didn't expect to see on Thursday night, and only one person was selling tickets!?!? Come on, you would think they would have planned this a little better.
$12 to get in is pretty steep for the quality of the show and $4 to park was a scam.
The only good thing was that I got to meet some people. From now on I'm going to stick to Fort Washington, free parking and half the price to get in, for a show that is 1000x better!

Of course that's just my opinion I could be wrong.

FB

I have to say that I haven't been to the White Plains show in years but I agree with the folks talking up the Ft. Washingtn show. I've been going to that one since it was in Willow Grove and it really is a great deal.

If you are within driving distance, you can buy a $30 pass which is good for a year - unlimited entry - plus you get in 15 minutes before the general public. So, thats my Friday night and Saturday morning every show.