Fort Washington

FB · December 8, 2002 9:49AM

Well,

Another Ft. Washington show has come and gone... It was nice to run into Bob Cacamese (gaspipe26) and then Neil Downey and I ran into Eric Sanders (ejguru) later in the evening. Finding high end raw seems to be getting tougher and tougher - but an enjoyable evening nonetheless!!!

Anyone come away with anything really nice at the show?

BASESAREEMPTY · December 8, 2002 10:23AM

Not a bad show.I was there Saturday morning when the show opened. I did find that many dealers had not updated their books of commons since the last show which was frustrating, as you said getting harder to find good raw cards. Droped off a very promising submission to PSA , I will keep my fingers crossed. I also picked up a few PSA graded cards for some sets I'm working on. I also bought my first 1970 KELLOGGS card, a PSA 8 BOOG POWELL . I figured for $6 how can I go wrong. I looked at the card for the whole ride home (approx. 3 hours and no I wasn't driving). I think I am hooked

Overall a fair show, but better than a day at work anytime.

BOB /BASESAREEMPTY

mcdee2 · December 8, 2002 10:58AM

I thought it was a nice show.. focusing mostly on vintage baseball psa graded of course. I dropped off 30 something cards for grading, picked up a couple cards for a set I am working on and bought some wax. It was nice seeing a couple of my buddies there including the guys from Xtrainnnings cards..

mikeschmidt · December 8, 2002 11:20AM

I was very happy to meet Neal Kane, a few of the dealers with whom I've typically only dealt over the phone or computer, and also a person who has purchased some 1955 Bowman cards from me on Ebay.

The card show was very nice -- the first Ft. Washington show I have been able to attend since March. I did not find any great cards to add -- but I was happy to make some contacts nonetheless.

I saw a proliferation of GAI cards at these shows -- but I also saw very little movement on any of them. Some great high-grade cards were abound.

For better or worse (I vote better), Mr. Mint was unusually quiet -- and Bill Goodwin's table has been very stagnant over the past few months.

MS

pc · December 8, 2002 11:49AM

<< <i> Bill Goodwin's table has been very stagnant
over the past few months.MS >>

ummm..nasdaq was 5300
now 14something

ejguru · December 8, 2002 12:27PM

Agree with others--high grade raw 60's is getting harder to find (well, at least over the last 4 years that I've been hunting!). Definite Friday show highlights meeting Ron R., FB (thanks for the case), and Downey. Atlantic City should be a great time Summer 03!

I returned to the show on Sunday and most dealers I spoke to said the show was "very good." In terms of attendance, Sunday seemed VERY crowded. Also enjoyed meeting Bryon over at PSA. He took a few minutes to screen a few cards (THANKS) and showed me some finer points of examining corners. He and Matt estimated PSA did well and on-site for March was a possibility. Submitted some of my '67 cello pack finds that were centered. Any other big scores at the show??

thegemmintman · December 8, 2002 12:41PM

<< <i>I also bought my first 1970 KELLOGGS card, a PSA 8 BOOG POWELL . I figured for $6 how can I go wrong. I looked at the card for the whole ride home (approx. 3 hours and no I wasn't driving). I think I am hooked >>

Great Story!! Now just think what a PSA 9 will do for you! You may miss a week of work, but you will be happy as heck!!

1420sports · December 8, 2002 12:45PM

It was a good show. Most of the dealers had the same stuff at the same price. Funny, but it seems there is one dealer, maybe two, who has had the same cards at the same price for YEARS

I did meet MikeSchmidt Marc - my pleasure - and murcerfan. I almost got a chance to meet EJ, but his Fordham squad was playing Nova = next time E!

Picked up a few Rose cards I needed, met Byron who looked at a 1921 Walter Johnson American Caramel for me. I was told it would grade a 5, maybe a PSA 6 so I bought it.

All in all a good show and look forward to the next one.

mcastaldi · December 8, 2002 12:52PM

This is very similar to what I found at the Sun-Times show right before Thanksgiving. High-quality raw stuff was a lot tougher to come by - especially when you consider how abundant it seemed to be at National two months prior.
I found a few nice 75s, 78s, and 79s - but just a few. Expecting results on those any time now *crosses fingers*
Mike

KING KELLOGG · December 8, 2002 2:17PM

I wish there was at least one GOOD show that was somewhere close***

You east coast guys have it pretty good, even if the show is marginal ( it still beats the 6 table mall shows here in OR).....

Larry

PlayBall · December 8, 2002 2:44PM

I was there on Saturday morning. Since I am only working on one real set (1940 Play Ball), I usually get out by noon, but attendance seemed pretty strong compared to the last few shows. I did notice a huge spike in dealers displaying raw cards from my set, but most were PSA 2-4 quality, and some looked obviously altered. Maybe dealers were hoping for better demand, because of the SMR article by Joe O. on this set. Did pick up a few raw cards, and submitted them. Should get me over that 90% plateau. As for other stuff, I did see alot of high grade PSA cards, particularly a group of 1915 CJ PSA 8's and 9's, that made my heart pump.

On a side note, I took my father with me to the show. He took me to my first show in 1989, and this was the first time since that we've been to a show together. Walking around the hall I was telling him about my set, the registry, and reasons why cards were priced as they were. We arrived at Shoebox Card's table, and my father struck up a conversation about Play Ball cards, in general, with Wayne and his partner. Needless to say, my father was making no sense, and bless their hearts, the Shoebox guys did a great job in tactfully explaining the err in his thinking, and not make him feel silly. Kudos to them!

Great show for me for obvious reasons.

Bernie

mcdee2 · December 8, 2002 9:39PM

Great story Playball... took my 6 mos. old daughter and while she did not fully comprehend any of the nuances of my collecting habits she did manage to drool and smile a lot. I directly attribute her smile to saving me 10 bucks at a table where the dealer was doing the "coocy-coo" thing with her. At the end of the day, my wife took a picture of my daughter and I in front of the huge PSA hanging back drop and booth for a souvenier for my daughters first major card show. I was never a Bill Russel (SS LA.. not the BkB guy) fan so I skipped having her picture taken with him..

theBobs · December 8, 2002 11:31PM

<< <i>while she did not fully comprehend any of the nuances of my collecting habits she did manage to drool and smile a lot. >>

drool and smile, that is also what Zardoz does when he is at shows

dude · December 8, 2002 11:35PM

I sure wish I could have made the show. I've been to the Ft. Washington show three times and it's hands down the best regional show in the country. Reading over these messages, it pretty much confirmed what I had already expected in that finding high-end raw cards is getting very tough these days, and that's why I can't justify making that trip anymore. On the positive side, most of the graded stuff on eBay is selling at very reasonable prices these days. Of course meeting other collectors and dealers is half the fun. I can't wait to go to the Atlantic City show this summer.

Playball--Your story about Shoebox Cards made my day. I think that's terrific that a father and son spend time together in a hobby like this and I'm glad to hear that Shoebox did the right thing. Thanks for sharing that! Most of the dealers are decent people, and it's a shame a few rotten apples stink up the hobby by not having a clue how to treat their customers right.

mcastaldi · December 9, 2002 12:08AM

Bobs> "drool and smile, that is also what Zardoz does when he is at shows"

It sounds like he's made progress if he's keeping to to just when he's at shows

Mike

BobS · December 9, 2002 12:12AM

I live to far from Philly to go to the Fort. shows, however the quarterly show was this week-end here in Columbus. The high-quality raw delima you guys speak about is absent here. Still plenty of good stuff from 1986 on

.

Seriously, I did pick up about 40 1972 FB high #'s which will fit very nicely in my nm-mint raw set. The entire set will eventually be graded, I'm expecting mostly 8's with 7's and 9's also.

I wish at just one show a year in this area one of the big dealers would attend. There are no high grade PSA dealers to speak of. There are a handful of guys with graded stuff, but no vintage stars were slabbed and the chances of ever finding already graded cards for any of my sets at these shows is never. I'm jealous

brumbach · December 9, 2002 12:55AM

I was able to get to the show on Friday night for once, as my father and I usually don't get there until Sunday. I went specifically looking for Set Builders but I couldn't find them and assume that they didn't set up this time around. All the way near the last isle, near SGC, was a couple with a similar set up to Set Builders with binders divided into years. Flipped through two books of '65 commons and then went through a good number of stars and high numbers that were in top-loaders. Most impressive, I can't remember the last time I went through that many well-centered '65s from the same dealer. I spent the bulk of my time and funds at this one table so I can't really comment on the rest of the show.

Basilone · December 9, 2002 2:07AM

Nevermind...I thought you said you bought those commons from "set-builders"....

John

chrisrenaud · December 9, 2002 4:48AM

I was able to pick up some 8s and 9s for my 70 set, as well as about 30 raw cards for the set, and I splurged and picked up a 53 Bowman Color Stan Musial in a 9.

FB · December 9, 2002 5:02AM

brumbach,

You're correct - Set Builders didn't make this one, but they will be back in February. And I too spent the bulk of my funds at that same table where you grabbed your 65's. I snagged 10 - 15 really sweet 67's and grabbed another 60 beautiful 64's. Made my evening!!!!

theBobs · December 9, 2002 8:01AM

<< <i>53 Bowman Color Stan Musial in a 9 >>

I wish I could pick up a card like this

Wayne8348 · December 9, 2002 9:35AM

Brian,

You can always pick up a card like that - it's just that dealers make guys like us put it back down.

wayne

zardoz51 · December 9, 2002 9:51AM

Brian

Security usually gets me at the door or the parking lot

carkim · December 9, 2002 11:08AM

BobS,

Seriously, I did pick up about 40 1972 FB high #'s which will fit very nicely in my nm-mint raw set. The entire set will eventually be graded, I'm expecting mostly 8's with 7's and 9's also.

If you come across any doubles of the cards listed below LMK,

1 1971 RUSHING LEADERS
19 FRED HOAGLIN
20 CARL ELLER
37 RON SHANKLIN
40 ROMAN GABRIEL
58 KEN BOWMAN
60 CHARLIE SANDERS
61 JAN STENERUD
70 LEROY KELLY
71 BOB LEE
105 BOB HAYES
110 GALE SAYERS
115 GARO YEPREMIAN
133 AFC SEMI-FINAL
134 NFC SEMI-FINAL
138 NFC TITLE GAME
140 LARRY CSONKA
141 RICK VOLK
144 BOBBY DOUGLASS
146 HAROLD JACKSON
147 PETE GOGOLAK
162 ERNIE KELLERMAN
166 CLINT JONES
167 PAUL WARFIELD
179 BOB TRUMPY
193 JAKE SCOTT
203 TOM BEER
211 BILL NELSEN
216 TOM MATTE
217 PAT FISCHER
221 MANNY FERNANDEZ
232 NORM BULAICH
233 SPIDER LOCKHART
242 GLEN RAY HINES
246 W.K. HICKS
257 L.C.GREENWOOD IA
260 MIKE MCCOY DT IA
262 RAY MAY IA

I need these in PSA 8 NQ or higher.

Carlos

Email ME

Aaronman · December 10, 2002 6:05AM

I haven't met any of you but from poking through these threads and tying it back to the registry I can see there are some fantastic collections among you. On the topic of Fort Washington. I was there on Sunday and picked up about 25 beautiful 1954 Bowman cards (raw), a bunch of 1960's (both raw and graded), a dozen 1966's (graded) and a handful of Bobby Orr cards that I will get graded (probably range from 6 to 8). I still see that most dealers have their PSA 9 pricing still in the stratosphere so I spent most of my time in the back left corner looking for high grade commons. I have yet to register a set (outside of player sets) but will probably do so in the next few months.

theBobs · December 10, 2002 6:46AM

welcome Aaronman.

Fort Washington

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