I was at the Sportsfest show in Chicago today

gregm13

and it was positively BRUTAL. The autograph lineup was laughable. I did however get Monte Irvin ($25), Billy Sims (free) and Frank Howard (free). I also picked up a PSA 9 1959 Topps FB #170 for $120 - which isn't too bad considering the astronomical prices being paid on E-Bay lately ($200+ for commons).

downgoesfrazier

The company was good, but I honestly can't recall a worse show in terms of what was available. Many dealers are sandbagging for the National I presume. One thing that is very interesting; the increasing number of GAI graded cards on dealer tables. Their presence simply cannot be denied or overlooked any longer by the serious collector. They actually accounted for (unscientific data here) 1/3 of the graded material. I also saw a line to submit cards to Global. They were easily the most active grading company present.


dgf

koby

Any word on when GAI will introduce its population report and registry?

WinPitcher

they say monday

koby

Thanks. I am looking forward to having my PSA cards registered on two separate registries.

grilloj39

Koby...What I have heard is that GAI has fixed all problems with converting SGC 100 pt system to the half-point system and some other minor issues were fixed as well. The only thing remaining is content. They simply want to add more content (sets) before implementation. They have "working" copies of population reports and a price guide as well.

I know it has taken forever to get the registry up and running and has caused some frustration/skepticism among collectors. But the GAI registry will be an exciting concept imo. There are many mixed-grade set collectors out there like myself and the registry will afford us the opportunity to register sets without going through the huge expense in grading crossover fees.

murcerfan

gregm13

I was surprised that PSA wasn't doing on site grading. GAI definately had a larger presence than PSA did....

Regards,

Greg M.

Chew

<< <i>they say monday >>



I do not know who told you Monday.

I spoke with a represenative there, that told me they were beta testing, and that the National was when they planned

to introduce the finished product.

I was told that if they were just doing a registry that was just for GAI cards they could have been up and running 10 months ago.

What they are trying to do is a first time deal for this hobby and it has taken more time than they would have hoped.

Next time someone on this board says it will be the next Monday of the next week do not believe it.


H. Walker

wolfbear

Chew : "I spoke with a represenative there, that told me they were beta testing,
and that the National was when they planned to introduce the finished product."

Which National ? ... this year's or next year's

murcerfan

Buckwheat

Monday, Monday, la la, la la lala
Can't trust that day.

mamas and papas

ctsoxfan

<< <i>

<< <i>they say monday >>



I do not know who told you Monday.

I spoke with a represenative there, that told me they were beta testing, and that the National was when they planned

to introduce the finished product.

I was told that if they were just doing a registry that was just for GAI cards they could have been up and running 10 months ago.

What they are trying to do is a first time deal for this hobby and it has taken more time than they would have hoped.

Next time someone on this board says it will be the next Monday of the next week do not believe it.


H. Walker >>



Chew, Monday was not meant to be taken literally.

wolfbear

Hope we hear something definitive from GAI soon,
because now we know there's at least one person that cares.

Not counting all the dealers, with sweetheart deals, that care a whole, whole bunch ...

FB

I have nothing against GAI other than that I already have 8,000 cards in PSA holders - so there is no switching in my future.

But, you gotta wonder what bozo would blow the planned rollout date by such a long time simply to add more sets.

Put out what you've got - ask the world for a priority on the remaining thousand sets and start getting buy-in from the masses. There are going to be issues from the start - but find out what they are when you have to fix 10 different sets - not 500.

I think in the end that the mixed set collector will benefit greatly from the GAI registry and it might even force the collapse of the SGC registry. But - there's no need to wait for perfection (PSA didn't and look how popular its become!) - just put it out there and get going!

mcastaldi

The good. . .I got to go with my best friends and did actually find a few things to buy.

The bad. . .the dealer turnout seemed light. Some dealers who normally make the Chicago shows just weren't there. Dealers like Set Builders decided to skip this one and save it for National. Dealers who were there seemed to really be sandbagging this show for National. I don't know how many dealers I went to and got to talking about cards and heard "You should see what I'm bringing to National" or to that effect. Sort of boggles my mind. If the item is ready to go and you have buyers ready to go at SportsFest, why save it til National? If you've got stuff you haven't had a chance to go through yet that's one thing. But in several cases, dealers held stuff back perhaps thinking it would bring a higher price in Cleveland.

Trafffic through the show seemed really light - even compared to a Sun-Times show.

PSA was the ONLY grading company present who was not encapsulating on-site. I understand that it costs money to get the machine to and from shows, but if Beckett and SGC take in so many fewer submissions and yet can bring their full setup, why can't PSA? Perhaps there are other reasons PSA did not encapsulate on-site at SportFest that I'm not aware of.

GAI cards were much more present - particularly in 1950s HOFers.


Mike

Spinrx

I was actually glad to find out that they were not grading on-site because then the cards I have already turned in would have been pushed back another week.

SpinRx

gregm13

"Dealers who were there seemed to really be sandbagging this show for National. I don't know how many dealers I went to and got to talking about cards and heard "You should see what I'm bringing to National" or to that effect. Sort of boggles my mind. If the item is ready to go and you have buyers ready to go at SportsFest, why save it til National?"Text

It seemed strange to me that the dealer/collector turnout was so light. I bought the PSA 9 1959 FB common from SSS Sportcards (who was very nice by the way...) but I was a little upset when he told me that he only brought a few (6 or 7) of the MANY high grade 1959 cards that he has. The rest were back at his shop - waiting for the national. It seems that the dealers knew the Sports Fest show was going to suck....(that's my interpretation at least...)

Regards,

Greg M.

MorrellMan

IMO - the top 5 markets for seeking highest prices, in descending order:
5. Message boards
4. ebay
3. card show
4. card shop
5. The National
If you were a dealer, what would you do?

qualitycards

MM - Not so sure that dealers will get higher prices at the Nat'l. In fact at last years Nat'l the dealers that I went to that I knew from Ft Washington, had the same prices listed. A $100 card at Ft Washington will still be priced at $100 for the Nat'l. Buyers ae savvy enough to know the market and will walk away from gouging. There will be 800 dealer tables in Cleveland, if a dealers prices aren't fair check the next, or the next or the next. Theres alot of expenses at the Nat'l for a dealer so its imperative that he sells cards, not just showing off a high priced inventory...jay

gregm13

I'm sure that up until the advent of E-Bay, dealers could get away w/ charging more at the National (or larger regional shows for that matter)- since there were fewer forums for collectors to buy high end vintage cards. To be honest, I rarely buy vintage graded cards at shows since the prices are normally ridiculous. One moron at yesterday's show was selling 1958 to 1961 or 1962 PSA 8 and 9's for 1.5 to 2x book (even for higher pop commons and semi-stars). I made an offer for a PSA 8 1959 Topps FB Frank Gifford - that was 30% over the SMR but he refused. Let him sit on the f'ing thing until the second coming of christ for all I care. I can see charging a premium for low pop cards and key stars - but he was even charging $25 to $40 for PSA 8 commons. I have never paid more than $22 or $23 on E-Bay (usually around $15 to $18).

Regards,

Greg M.

dude

I'm not surprised in the least to read that the Chicago show was a disappointment. The Houston Tri-Star show was last week and it OK for finding raw cards. I managed to find over 100 raw cards from '67 to '71 that were PSA 8 candidates and maybe a handful of 9's, and another 80 - 1972 & 1973 high-end 8's or 9's. I was fortunate to catch one dealer who had just broken up 2 high grade vintage sets from those years. There was also a full time eBay dealer that flew in from the east coast for the sole purpose of going through all raw inventories and buying anything vintage worth grading and from what I could see left nothing decent behind (spent $5,000+ at one dealers table alone). I can't image that these 6 or 7 raw dealers that set up at the Houston show replenished their stock over 4 days for the Chicago show. Also, most of these same dealers that I bought from all admitted that supply for quality vintage cards is tapering off noticably this year.