National Perspective from a Modern Card Collector

RANDYMOSS84

I went to the national this year, however I do not collect vintage, I am involved in the modern cards(i love to look at vintage but it just isnt something i like to collect). As for prices on modern, I believe i picked up enough for the week to make 1500+ Profit off them. Overally it was a good show, but I knew all the dealers that I dealt with from the Modern Trading Card Forum that i Co-Own. I read another post saying dealers were aging. I do agree most vintage guys were pretty old, the Sellers that I dealt with however were very young. I saw a lot of money trade hands as my friends busted cases of Exquisite Basketball, Football and "The Cup". It wasn't rare to see them bust 3-4 cases a day of those products. I saw 3 of the biggest modern day cards at the Greg(Gem_Cards on ebays) booth. The wade Exquisite 3/3 Rc AUto Patch, Lebron 23/23 AUto Rc Patch, and the Carmelo 15/15 Exquisite auto rc patch. Also met with Karvin the designer of Exquisite basketball and the CUP, hes very cool. Exquisite baseball is coming out as well for those intrested. Overall imo it was a good show, and i plan on being a dealer next year in CLE as I am hooked. Hopefully its as fun this year next year.

joestalin

Did you get to ask UD why their redemptions take years to get and why their customer service sucks #ss? To me the national is just a bunch
of fat "dealers" showing off their cards that they have no intention of selling. All reports I have heard said this was the worst ever....becuase
of the location or the state of the hobby...you decide

Kevin

RANDYMOSS84

<< <i>Did you get to ask UD why their redemptions take years to get and why their customer service sucks #ss? To me the national is just a bunch
of fat "dealers" showing off their cards that they have no intention of selling. All reports I have heard said this was the worst ever....becuase
of the location or the state of the hobby...you decide

Kevin >>



Forgot to mention I had a VIP pass so can coment on the 17.50 a day. I got my Vip pass for 64 and sold the junk they handed out for free to make up cost.

Kevin I only dealt with the UD Creator of exquisites. I do not care about redemptions because I do not deal with them, not my beef. I got a sneak peak at the exquisite checklist for Baseball some amazing stuff there going to release. The dealers I dealt with were young. Big ebay sellers of highend modern cards like:

gem_cards- one of the nicest guys I have ever met, knew him online from selling to him multiple times, but it was nice to meet and hang out with him, as I know the person he was sharing the booth with so i stayed around there most of the week.

Emoncards- He was alright but not to bad. Hard to deal with Very young. His friend had a exquisite /5 fb set on display.

Autolover- Good guy didnt buy much Young as well.


Overall the modern dealers were not fat or mean, and would work with me(maybe its because Ive dealt with them before not sure.)

On a side note, my friend pulled a exquisite redemption /5 from football for the entire set. An amazing pull valued at over 20k for the entire set.

Stone193

Randy

Thanx for the "modern" report.

I am one of the "aging" guys but enjoy modern - I don't do high end - more like Topps Heritage, and a few other sets.

I'm glad to hear there was excitement generated over the higher end stuff. That can only be good for the hobby.

The Exquisite redemption #/5 is quite a pull for that individual! How come I never pull stuff like that!

Thanx again,
mike

Stone193

<< <i>To me the national is just a bunch
of fat "dealers" showing off their cards that they have no intention of selling. >>


Kevin

I was not at CA for the National but I think that may be an exaggeration. The dealers that I know are there to sell and not play show and tell.

I've seen way more of that at smaller shows tho - I must admit.

Now, the show prices make ebay look like a fire sale - granted - but most - I believe - are there to make money and buy where possible.

I could be wrong - but, I sure hope not.
mike

ctsoxfan

<< <i>Did you get to ask UD why their redemptions take years to get and why their customer service sucks #ss? To me the national is just a bunch
of fat "dealers" showing off their cards that they have no intention of selling. All reports I have heard said this was the worst ever....becuase
of the location or the state of the hobby...you decide

Kevin >>



That seems to be the consensus from those that attended - I'm sure location was a big reason for the poor attendance, but the state of the hobby can take some of the blame as well. You have to wonder if there will even be a single National in 5 years? Maybe, we'll see an East Coast "National" and a West Coast "National", and a big show in the Chicago/Cleveland market. Shows have lost a lot of their significance, and while I do personally still enjoy a local one (like the Fort Washington shows), I don't see the need to go out of my way for one anymore, with Ebay and all the auction houses constantly running from the comfort of my home.

Stone193

<< <i>

<< <i>Did you get to ask UD why their redemptions take years to get and why their customer service sucks #ss? To me the national is just a bunch
of fat "dealers" showing off their cards that they have no intention of selling. All reports I have heard said this was the worst ever....becuase
of the location or the state of the hobby...you decide

Kevin >>



That seems to be the consensus from those that attended - I'm sure location was a big reason for the poor attendance, but the state of the hobby can take some of the blame as well. You have to wonder if there will even be a single National in 5 years? Maybe, we'll see an East Coast "National" and a West Coast "National", and a big show in the Chicago/Cleveland market. Shows have lost a lot of their significance, and while I do personally still enjoy a local one (like the Fort Washington shows), I don't see the need to go out of my way for one anymore, with Ebay and all the auction houses constantly running from the comfort of my home. >>


Jerry

I really can't argue the point since I really don't know enough about it.

The main reason why I want to attend a larger show is to meet up with some of you guys - walk the floor a bit and then go drink a Bud and eat my face off.

mike

ctsoxfan

Mike, no question about it - the social aspect of a show is pretty much the only reason they still exist at all. And, I do enjoy them for that reason, especially getting to talk with and meet other people that enjoy this hobby as much as we do. If you ever come East, or if they do in fact have a National in Houston in 2009, beers are on me!

RANDYMOSS84

As for the prices, I do not expect to pay lower than ebay at shows. I expect a slight mark up and take that for not having to hassle to wait, etc. However selling I do sell to the dealers at around ebay prices knowing that they will markup my cards a ton. Overall it was a good show and I will be going next year as I said splitting a booth with some others.

joestalin

How can you not be concerned about redemptions when you are talking about exquisite. If you have even one penny invested into
this hobby then Upper Deck's crappy customer service should be a BIG deal. I know Carlin was there, all this emails were returned...did
they pass out the rose colored glasses before or after you paid the 17 bucks to get in? So many problems but even face to face no one
wants to bring them up....If the national ever hits Florida, these companies better be ready!

Kevin

Stone193

<< <i>How can you not be concerned about redemptions when you are talking about exquisite. If you have even one penny invested into
this hobby then Upper Deck's crappy customer service should be a BIG deal. I know Carlin was there, all this emails were returned...did
they pass out the rose colored glasses before or after you paid the 17 bucks to get in? So many problems but even face to face no one
wants to bring them up....If the national ever hits Florida, these companies better be ready!

Kevin >>

Archaninator

.

tedh111

I am not sure what others are referring to, because ithoguht the show floor was way busier then the last three. My sales were a little lower then last year, but i made about 5 yimes as many contacts. So overall it was a good show.... Also, i buy and sell modern, i would say prices were for the most part around20-30% above ebay at most, which i think is very fair.

Stone193

In the most general terms...

I like the fact that Randy titled his thread - National "Perspective"

Since perspective is exactly what one gets when reporting something...

Any account of historical nature involves point of view, individual bias, method of collecting data, how the data is compiled and sorted and finally - the "Report."

IMO, don't ever underestimate "point of view" - this will totally skew or slant the facts that one sees and how they report it.

So, in essence, history is NOT a collection of facts but rather "FACTS IN PERSPECTIVE" - and that's why the reporting will vary immensely from one individual to another.

Just my opine on historical perspective - hope I didn't bore too many to death!
mike

RANDYMOSS84

<< <i>How can you not be concerned about redemptions when you are talking about exquisite. If you have even one penny invested into
this hobby then Upper Deck's crappy customer service should be a BIG deal. I know Carlin was there, all this emails were returned...did
they pass out the rose colored glasses before or after you paid the 17 bucks to get in? So many problems but even face to face no one
wants to bring them up....If the national ever hits Florida, these companies better be ready!

Kevin >>




Kevin, I do not break open cases, rather watch my friends do it and invest in the singles. If I do happen to buy a redemption I do read the back and see that it states 6-12 weeks. After those 12 weeks I get concerned, however have never had anything take that long. Also exquisite only has redemptions on a few cards, none that i really need(bought one because i got it so cheap that i couldn't resist, and the stats on them is shipped)


Anything On the First 2 pages are stuff I picked up. As you can see It was a good show IMO. But again its only my view. For others it could've been terrible due to not finding their items or prices. Guess I was lucky enough to know the right people as well.

Wizardsguildcards

I have never had an UD redemption take more than 8 weeks and have always had good dealings with their CS.

Courvoisier

<< <i>Did you get to ask UD why their redemptions take years to get and why their customer service sucks #ss? To me the national is just a bunch
of fat "dealers" showing off their cards that they have no intention of selling. All reports I have heard said this was the worst ever....becuase
of the location or the state of the hobby...you decide

Kevin >>



Playa, I disagree. The worse was the 1999 Nationals in Atlanta. GA. The place was a virtual ghost town.

Pimp On...

GlynRParson

<< <i>Playa, I disagree. The worse was the 1999 Nationals in Atlanta. GA. The place was a virtual ghost town. >>





WORD!!!!

joestalin

<< <i>I have never had an UD redemption take more than 8 weeks and have always had good dealings with their CS. >>



where do you live..under a rock?

JS

baseballfanatic

<< <i>

<< <i>I have never had an UD redemption take more than 8 weeks and have always had good dealings with their CS. >>



where do you live..under a rock?

JS >>



Gotta say I never had a problem with any of my redemptions either, though I have heard the horror stories. I only had one major problem with an item and Chris ironed it out within one week of my initial complaint......

lawnmowerman

<< <i>Randy



I am one of the "aging" guys but enjoy modern -


Mike

>>



Mike, You actually look really good for your age!

ps How often do you feed them?





Matt

Goodsport40

Randy:

Great cards you picked up. Like many others here, I don't do much modern either. However, the Exquisite line has some awesome cards. Glad to see that you made the most of your show experience and thanks for sharing.

Robert

fur72

Great cards Randy, nice to see another modren basketball collectors stuff.

RANDYMOSS84

<< <i>Great cards Randy, nice to see another modren basketball collectors stuff. >>




Thanks! My collection was much bigger but I have sold a lot off.


Robert- Thanks for the comments!

envoy98

Thanks for the report. It sounds very similar to my experience at last years national.

By the way, I love that Moss/Rice co-signers card! You should trade it to me