Mike. Your the best on sharing so many pics. I have to get out there earlier next year. Very interesting to watch the set up. I can see how you can miss out on some of the harder to find items by coming later in the show. Once they are gone, they are gone. Then again, there will likely be new unique inventory put out later in the show as dealers make purchases from customers on the floor. See you guys Friday and Saturday.
Collecting PSA 9's from 1970-1977. Raw 9's from 72-77. Raw 10's from '78-'83. Collecting Unopened from '72-'83; mostly BBCE certified boxes/cases/racks. Prefer to buy in bulk.
Got a few redemption packs from Panini. Pulled a judge. As we were ripping at the food court my soon pulled a Drew Brees auto. Guy next to us just happened to be from New Orleans and we made a trade at his table for Wilson. Fun times
Collecting PSA 9's from 1970-1977. Raw 9's from 72-77. Raw 10's from '78-'83. Collecting Unopened from '72-'83; mostly BBCE certified boxes/cases/racks. Prefer to buy in bulk.
Great meeting you in person today Mike as well as all of the other board members there today. For a preview day it was busy and PSA line was jammed and long which is a positive for the hobby. Unopened items were flying out of there, and several other big deals happened and were common happening today. Thanks again for the great pics.
And I took some pics - one is where Topps was riling up the crowd with freebies - I was talking with Keith KendallCat with his son.
I walked right up to Denny Eck and Johnny Bench and no one said: "hey, what u want!"
At BBCEx, we opened a box of 1979 Topps BB - you can see some guys ripping - no one got an Oz! Keith/KC has 3 packs to report on tomorrow and I bought up the last 4 left over - I'll be opening them at the PSA luncheon.
Scan heavy:
The man smiling is Steve Novella - never met him before but I've known him since 1991 when he went to work for Greg Manning Auctions - we used to talk some days when I wasn't busy for an hour or 2 at a time - really good guy.
A nice guy took a pic with me next to cpamike - the old guy with the "farmer tan"
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
A few more photos from today's group rip at the BBCE booth, and around the show floor -
I finally made it to a group rip this year and am thrilled to have had the chance to meet so many awesome board members. Although my memory is not nearly as good as it should be and I've forgotten a few names, really enjoyed getting to chat about cards and see some really great pick-ups too!
Mike (Stone193) looking over the 79 Topps box with Rick
Packs are getting opened. Pictured here John (SDub) and his son Wyatt, awesome people, despite their unfortunate choice of favorite baseball team , along with Manny (Flatfoot), all looking for that Ozzie RC!
Me and the little one, opening a pack graciously gifted to her by John & Wyatt! We pulled a Yaz, Jim Palmer, and Dale Murphy. Second pack yielded nada, except an OC Tim Foli that my daughter decided to take from a 7OC to a 1.5 bending it in half - LOL. Photo credit here to CPAMike, who was cringing as each pack was opened
Also had a chance to talk with other amazing folks - Dustin (Doublestriker), Eric (Thosebackpages) - trying to pull that elusive Gooden RC, Keith (KendallCat) and his son at the CardCounty booth - wow Keith has some seriously amazing cardboard, Kirk (mrmint23), and many others. Hoping to see everyone around over the next few days!
Also wandered the floor over and over again and saw many cards changing hands. From the marketplace I see, things appear to be very healthy. Continue to see many at these shows much younger than I, and parents bringing their kids along into our great hobby. Here were a couple highlights -
I was surprised to see these in a booth with cards for sale and not an auction preview. I didn't ask for prices, although if I was ever going to sell it all and buy one card, that Koufax would be a strong contender - wowzers! Dealer had had a bunch of pretty awesome stuff in that case.
There was some PSA vintage wax around the room, but pretty scarce, leading me to believe much is stored away in collections. I heard there were a few tables with some nice older packs, but either I missed them, or they were sold out by the time I arrived!
Finally, picked up a couple things I was really excited about. Steve and I made a deal for the 67 Topps Who am I Box that I've been eyeing on the BBCE website for a few months. It's one of only 2-3 complete boxes known to exist, and with that elusive Koufax PSA 9 in there, maybe someday when I'm (much) older, I'll rip it - LOL!
Was super excited to find this on the show floor today and although I paid waaaaaay too much (7.5 money for a 7), just couldn't resist adding a card I've always wanted to the collection
Probably the best day I've ever had at a National - Thanks to all who make this place so much fun!
Here's my purchase form yesterday. I bought this from Terry Brooks (1neatstuff). It was the first time I'd met Terry and he was very helpful as were others on this board. I'm not an unopened collector but wanted this for my Gibson collection.
"You know we just don't recognize the most significant moments of our lives while they're happening. Back then I thought, well, there'll be other days. I didn't realize that that was the only day."
I always wondered if 707 moved his prices fast enough during the big boom a year ago. Did he beat the curve and surpass the high and even some cases fake sales prices or did he give some people some "deals" for once? lol
@secretstash said:
I always wondered if 707 moved his prices fast enough during the big boom a year ago. Did he beat the curve and surpass the high and even some cases fake sales prices or did he give some people some "deals" for once? lol
They had one card that I need for a set. VCP is around $65-70. They were asking $200.
James
@MarsAttacks said:
A few more photos from today's group rip at the BBCE booth, and around the show floor -
I finally made it to a group rip this year and am thrilled to have had the chance to meet so many awesome board members. Although my memory is not nearly as good as it should be and I've forgotten a few names, really enjoyed getting to chat about cards and see some really great pick-ups too!
Mike (Stone193) looking over the 79 Topps box with Rick
Packs are getting opened. Pictured here John (SDub) and his son Wyatt, awesome people, despite their unfortunate choice of favorite baseball team , along with Manny (Flatfoot), all looking for that Ozzie RC!
Me and the little one, opening a pack graciously gifted to her by John & Wyatt! We pulled a Yaz, Jim Palmer, and Dale Murphy. Second pack yielded nada, except an OC Tim Foli that my daughter decided to take from a 7OC to a 1.5 bending it in half - LOL. Photo credit here to CPAMike, who was cringing as each pack was opened
Also had a chance to talk with other amazing folks - Dustin (Doublestriker), Eric (Thosebackpages) - trying to pull that elusive Gooden RC, Keith (KendallCat) and his son at the CardCounty booth - wow Keith has some seriously amazing cardboard, Kirk (mrmint23), and many others. Hoping to see everyone around over the next few days!
Also wandered the floor over and over again and saw many cards changing hands. From the marketplace I see, things appear to be very healthy. Continue to see many at these shows much younger than I, and parents bringing their kids along into our great hobby. Here were a couple highlights -
I was surprised to see these in a booth with cards for sale and not an auction preview. I didn't ask for prices, although if I was ever going to sell it all and buy one card, that Koufax would be a strong contender - wowzers! Dealer had had a bunch of pretty awesome stuff in that case.
There was some PSA vintage wax around the room, but pretty scarce, leading me to believe much is stored away in collections. I heard there were a few tables with some nice older packs, but either I missed them, or they were sold out by the time I arrived!
Finally, picked up a couple things I was really excited about. Steve and I made a deal for the 67 Topps Who am I Box that I've been eyeing on the BBCE website for a few months. It's one of only 2-3 complete boxes known to exist, and with that elusive Koufax PSA 9 in there, maybe someday when I'm (much) older, I'll rip it - LOL!
Was super excited to find this on the show floor today and although I paid waaaaaay too much (7.5 money for a 7), just couldn't resist adding a card I've always wanted to the collection
Probably the best day I've ever had at a National - Thanks to all who make this place so much fun!
MarsAttacks - great meeting you and your little onel at the show. I remember the days when I had curly hair(or even hair) like that!
Awesome photo of the 53 Robinson card, and the photo does not do it justice on how nice it looks! An amazing card.
Comments
Great pics...keep'em coming, please. And enjoy the show.
Mike. Your the best on sharing so many pics. I have to get out there earlier next year. Very interesting to watch the set up. I can see how you can miss out on some of the harder to find items by coming later in the show. Once they are gone, they are gone. Then again, there will likely be new unique inventory put out later in the show as dealers make purchases from customers on the floor. See you guys Friday and Saturday.
these are great pics...looking forward to seeing it in person.
Great job with all the photos.

Donato
Donato's Complete US Type Set ---- Donato's Dansco 7070 Modified Type Set ---- Donato's Basic U.S. Coin Design Set
Successful transactions: Shrub68 (Jim), MWallace (Mike)
Mike-- get a pic of Levi in whatever hat he is wearing this year
Bowman Baseball -1948-1955
Fleer Baseball-1923, 1959-2007
Al
Which hat is he wearing ?
LEVI BLEAM!!!!
It has been said 707 is code for LOL
Bowman Baseball -1948-1955
Fleer Baseball-1923, 1959-2007
Al
My goodness fellas. Awesome pics. I can't recall, in all my years on here, seeing pics of that quality. Thanks so much for sharing
LOL (I mean 707)
Nobody has any signed cards? LOL! Last year I bought 3 signed rookies from BBCE based on pictures on this forum
My Podcast - Now FEATURED on iTunes
Thank you for taking the time to take
pics and then post them!! I wish I could be
there w/a trunk of cash. Thanks.
Love the card porn!
About to buy the 73 cello FB box with Bradshaw and Harris on top.
The dude literally skips over everything I cared about! BOOOOO! Where are the Richie Ashburn and Bob Lemon signed 49 Bowmans?!!?
My Podcast - Now FEATURED on iTunes
The 87/88 bsktball case is sold.
Collecting Unopened from '72-'83; mostly BBCE certified boxes/cases/racks.
Prefer to buy in bulk.
Got a few redemption packs from Panini. Pulled a judge. As we were ripping at the food court my soon pulled a Drew Brees auto. Guy next to us just happened to be from New Orleans and we made a trade at his table for Wilson. Fun times
Collecting Unopened from '72-'83; mostly BBCE certified boxes/cases/racks.
Prefer to buy in bulk.
Thanks for the great pics mike. Living vicariously. Dad and I head out to cooperstown tomorrow.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
@djr, @cpamike and @stone193:
Thank you very much for all the pictures!
I had planned to be there, but had to cancel my reservation a couple weeks ago due to medical issues
Please keep the pictures coming!
Steve
Hiya everyone
This one is scan heavy!!!!
Al - I saw Levi and then he was gone - will check tomorrow.
Thanks for all the photos. Anyone have any interesting loose unopened packs from the 50s or 60s?
Great meeting you in person today Mike as well as all of the other board members there today. For a preview day it was busy and PSA line was jammed and long which is a positive for the hobby. Unopened items were flying out of there, and several other big deals happened and were common happening today. Thanks again for the great pics.
Incredible photos. I really appreciate your taking the time to share. Would be so nice to be there rather than in all-day meetings today and tomorrow.
Mike,
Thanks for taking the time to share.
Kevin
Kevin
You're welcome guys.
A pleasure meeting you too > @bishop said:
Here ya go Al - he even smiled for you!
OK - PSA'ers met at 2 today at BBCEx.
And I took some pics - one is where Topps was riling up the crowd with freebies - I was talking with Keith KendallCat with his son.
I walked right up to Denny Eck and Johnny Bench and no one said: "hey, what u want!"
At BBCEx, we opened a box of 1979 Topps BB - you can see some guys ripping - no one got an Oz! Keith/KC has 3 packs to report on tomorrow and I bought up the last 4 left over - I'll be opening them at the PSA luncheon.
Scan heavy:
The man smiling is Steve Novella - never met him before but I've known him since 1991 when he went to work for Greg Manning Auctions - we used to talk some days when I wasn't busy for an hour or 2 at a time - really good guy.
A nice guy took a pic with me next to cpamike - the old guy with the "farmer tan"
Guys opening the 79T packs.
If anyone has any questions who's who?
Let me know and I'll tell you I don't remember.
I want to tell you the high light of the show was meeting all of our great people I didn't see in Chicago last time.
And a special thanx to Kirk was a really nice racing game - very generous!
Wow its like a real life Candyland in there. Thanks to all for posting pics.
I wonder how many "Yuck" inscriptions Dennis Eckersley signs while there?
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
Terrific photos, Mike! Thanks for posting them!
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
.
Has anyone seen a 1986/1987 Fleer pack with Jordan showing?
Was it for sale and what was the asking price?
A few more photos from today's group rip at the BBCE booth, and around the show floor -
I finally made it to a group rip this year and am thrilled to have had the chance to meet so many awesome board members. Although my memory is not nearly as good as it should be and I've forgotten a few names, really enjoyed getting to chat about cards and see some really great pick-ups too!
Mike (Stone193) looking over the 79 Topps box with Rick
Packs are getting opened. Pictured here John (SDub) and his son Wyatt, awesome people, despite their unfortunate choice of favorite baseball team
Me and the little one, opening a pack graciously gifted to her by John & Wyatt! We pulled a Yaz, Jim Palmer, and Dale Murphy. Second pack yielded nada, except an OC Tim Foli that my daughter decided to take from a 7OC to a 1.5 bending it in half - LOL. Photo credit here to CPAMike, who was cringing as each pack was opened
Also had a chance to talk with other amazing folks - Dustin (Doublestriker), Eric (Thosebackpages) - trying to pull that elusive Gooden RC, Keith (KendallCat) and his son at the CardCounty booth - wow Keith has some seriously amazing cardboard, Kirk (mrmint23), and many others. Hoping to see everyone around over the next few days!
Also wandered the floor over and over again and saw many cards changing hands. From the marketplace I see, things appear to be very healthy. Continue to see many at these shows much younger than I, and parents bringing their kids along into our great hobby. Here were a couple highlights -
I was surprised to see these in a booth with cards for sale and not an auction preview. I didn't ask for prices, although if I was ever going to sell it all and buy one card, that Koufax would be a strong contender - wowzers! Dealer had had a bunch of pretty awesome stuff in that case.
There was some PSA vintage wax around the room, but pretty scarce, leading me to believe much is stored away in collections. I heard there were a few tables with some nice older packs, but either I missed them, or they were sold out by the time I arrived!
Finally, picked up a couple things I was really excited about. Steve and I made a deal for the 67 Topps Who am I Box that I've been eyeing on the BBCE website for a few months. It's one of only 2-3 complete boxes known to exist, and with that elusive Koufax PSA 9 in there, maybe someday when I'm (much) older, I'll rip it - LOL!
Was super excited to find this on the show floor today and although I paid waaaaaay too much (7.5 money for a 7), just couldn't resist adding a card I've always wanted to the collection
Probably the best day I've ever had at a National - Thanks to all who make this place so much fun!
Here's my purchase form yesterday. I bought this from Terry Brooks (1neatstuff). It was the first time I'd met Terry and he was very helpful as were others on this board. I'm not an unopened collector but wanted this for my Gibson collection.
Did anyone notice if Steve had any 1974 topps baseball factory sets?
I'm back this morning...insane amount of people..all ages and diversity.
I would jump all over BBCE's $20 1982 Topps FB Grocery Racks.
Kiss me twice.....let's party.
Just got a great deal for my display at home...wowsa fun!!!
.
.
No stars but a few to get graded look really nice.
Some great stuff at the National and BBCE has some great stuff left. Enjoy.
He's had a lot of that inventory for a VERY long time (i.e. years). He's probably trimmed the roots off of some of the slabs several times by now.
Dave
As usual, the National looks like a great place to pick up chicks.
I always wondered if 707 moved his prices fast enough during the big boom a year ago. Did he beat the curve and surpass the high and even some cases fake sales prices or did he give some people some "deals" for once? lol
I enjoy seeing pictures of the major players in the industry, like the pic of Steve Novella up above. And pictures of our message board members, too!
They had one card that I need for a set. VCP is around $65-70. They were asking $200.
James
Hi everyone
Crowd was pretty good for a Friday.
Vendors were doing really well - a friend of mine said he's doing way better than last year.
Saw Jeff - card country - and he's busy.
Prices were as usual....high.
I overpaid for a nice Hartland and handheld baseball pinball machine.
The PSA luncheon was good - David Hall spoke along with Joe and the awards were given.
Our own Logan got 2 NASCAR awards and David for 56T pins.
David's to the right of Mike.
And here's Logan:
I've had trouble with the wifi here.
Will post some more pics when I get a chance.
This is just a quick dump of pics from the luncheon.
You can see Joe spoke but also David Hall - the "big" honcho of CU. As I said, was a nice luncheon.
and Mike says:
"Never ever, never ever, ever rip this stuff or you'll turn to a pillar of stone by the wrath of the "unopened Gods!"
MarsAttacks - great meeting you and your little onel at the show. I remember the days when I had curly hair(or even hair) like that!
Awesome photo of the 53 Robinson card, and the photo does not do it justice on how nice it looks! An amazing card.