My "National" Report
PSARich
Posts: 534 ✭✭✭
For those of you interested, here's my report of the National Sports Collector's Convention that just completed in Baltimore. First I must say that I drove from Michigan and the trip through Pennsylvania was beautiful, hilly, etc. Didn't appreciated all the Ohio and Penn. tolls though. I arrived Wednesday afternoon, got my VIP pass and hit the isles at a good pace. As you who have attended Nationals know, there is so much stuff and so many booths that it is hard to cover it all. I have learned to keep a note pad with booth numbers that I want to revisit. The convention center was very nice and bigger than I expected. Most of it was filled. The food was expensive and not all that great. A hot dog for $6 on Wednesday was it for me. After that I brought granola bars. The VIP lounge was a joke. A couple escalators up and basically a big conference/luncheon room with round tables and chairs. There were cushioned chairs in the lobbies with tables that were much more comfortable. Trying to find ungraded vintage baseball (1950's-1960's) is always a big challenge these days. I did buy about 80 cards I needed in NM to NM-MINT condition but it took me four days. I hit gold at one dealer who had a half off Beckett going on and I got about 30 1965's and 10 1959's and 10 1960's that were beautiful NM-MINT cards from a collection he just purchased. I also came upon a dealer who had graded cards , mostly PSA 8's but also some 9's from the 1960's I bought four 1967 PSA 9's and a 1964 PSA 9 from him for my set registries at 25% off SMR. As always the beautiful vintage cards were on display all over and they are great to see in person. Probably saw 30 Mantle RC's. The PSA Set Registry Luncheon was great. A couple terrific speakers including David Hall, President of Collector's Universe. Food was a blessing and also recieved the new T-206 book (which I got signed by the authors at the PSA booth), a mouse pad and one of the new PSA single card stand-up holders.
I did get about a dozen cards that I will send in for grading including a nice 1956 Red Schiendist ($25) and a 1954 Phil Rizzuto ($45) that should get at least PSA 7's. My best buy at the show?....a 1973 Goose Gossage RC in NM-MINT to Mint condition that I found in a 50 cent blow out box. Second best?.. a 1954 Rizzuto that is just a beautiful card. Has wax or some substance all over the front so the dealer gave it to me for $45 bucks. Came home and it all came off in about 30 seconds with a little nylon rub.
It would be interesting to hear other reports. Most dealers told me they were having a pretty good show and it seemed pretty crowded on Saturday when I left about 2:00.
I did get about a dozen cards that I will send in for grading including a nice 1956 Red Schiendist ($25) and a 1954 Phil Rizzuto ($45) that should get at least PSA 7's. My best buy at the show?....a 1973 Goose Gossage RC in NM-MINT to Mint condition that I found in a 50 cent blow out box. Second best?.. a 1954 Rizzuto that is just a beautiful card. Has wax or some substance all over the front so the dealer gave it to me for $45 bucks. Came home and it all came off in about 30 seconds with a little nylon rub.
It would be interesting to hear other reports. Most dealers told me they were having a pretty good show and it seemed pretty crowded on Saturday when I left about 2:00.
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I got in on Monday afternoon from Dallas and ran the town with some buddies that night. Downtown Baltimore had a ton of great places to eat and hang out. On Tuesday I helped set up a dealer friend of mine and then I got to run the floor for five hours that day until closing time. I picked up a couple of mid grade sets on Tuesday that I will do very well with. On Wednesday I picked up two sets too, but one of the sets forgot to tell me that he trimmed up about 1/6 of the set. Once I got to the hotel that night I realized that the cards had been messed with. I am in the process of being made whole on the deal once I get him to call me back.
Overall the National was pretty good.
Regards,
Shane
Happy collecting!
Manny
It was nice to see The National Convention come to my hometown of Baltimore. My Downtown office was only 5 blocks away and I've been to the show a few times since it's been here. I stopped by the Mile High Auctions booth to drop off my Dads 1955 Bowman baseball set (All PSA graded) for them to auction off this fall season. Mitch from Mile High was very nice to give me a dealer's exhibitor pass for the convention. It was my first time going to the National and it was awesome. I met Levi from 707 sportscards, Kurt from Kurts Cards and Andy Madec. I got some great deals on 1952 Topps PSA 6 cards. Over all it was a great time and lots to see. Hopefully the National will come back to Baltimore in the future.
Steve
1952 Topps Collector.
I have been to 11 Nationals and I would say that Baltimore was my favorite. The dealers seemed to be content with the set up and the sales which is always good for a buyer.
Shane
You seem to treat the idea of someone selling you trimmed cards pretty casually.
A guy trims 1/6 of the cards in a set and you are not warning the hobby about this guy.
If I new a guy who was trimming cards I would consider it a moral obligation to warn the rest of the hobby about him.
Jim
Believe me the name will come out very quickly once I speak to them on it. I don't want to throw them under the bus until I have a full report on why they did this or if they knew about this before hand. I promise to let everyone know.
SL
Glad to hear you enjoyed The National in Baltimore.
1952 Topps Collector.
One of my other hobbies is playing softball however...and that was the same weekend as our ASA State Championships (as it was we went 0-2 and should have gone to the Nationals instead)...
I just could not be in two place at one time!
Collector
Topps 58,59,60,61,62,63,64 Sets
Fleer 60, 61-62 Sets