FansEdge Mounted Memories Chicago show report

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Tony Kozelichki

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Attended the now annual summer show at the Rosemont Convention Center, site of several national shows. Hope to hear from others who attended to see if my impressions were correct.

1. Crowd was really down, compared to the many major shows I've attended there in the past. No problems getting around. No crowded aisles. I was able to walk freely and made it around the tables several times during my 5+ hours there.

2. Fewer dealers than before. I talked to several who were surprised at the number of regulars who didn't attend. I can't remember not seeing Bill Henderson at a major Chicago show and he wasn't there. Hope all is well with the "King of Commons."

3. Dealers didn't seem to willing to deal, as several collectors I talked to found few discounts and even fewer buyers, even of quality material. One dealer who gave praise to the one big ticket item I hoped to move said he wasn't buying at all. This guy has most of the finest rare 60's insert and test issues I've ever seen, so if he's not buying some better quality stuff, I wonder who is.

4. I picked up some Cubs paper for my collection... Kessinger and Sutter Sporting News, a couple of Holtzman Baseball Digests and a few other odds and ends from one guy. I sold three extra copies of early 50's Chicago Cubs News, so I was able to pick up this stuff with no money out of pocket.

5. I had spotted a pair (!) of 1959 Home Run Derby Ernie Banks cards at one table. I tried throughout the day to sell my extra Ron Santo Pro's Pizza (for that card not to sell in Chicago should be some indication as to how little dealers were buying) to have the cash to get one of these Banks cards and a few other items I saw during the day. I ended up shelling out $110 for a card I would grade as VG, despite a crease. I just couldn't pass it up as it seems few of these make an appearance, even at Chicago shows.

6. As I was leaving, I took my son over to a table where a guy had a Cubs team set of 1970 superballs. I told my son I had hoped to buy that set if I could have sold the Santo. The dealer, who I hadn't talked to earlier, heard us talking and said he'd be willing to make a deal. I ended up with the superballs, and a nice chunk of green that more than covered my Banks purchase, $10 admission, gas, meals, etc. All of this dealing took place in my last 20 minutes at the show. The first 5 hours were mostly a waste. It's always nice to walk away from a show with stuff you want and more money going home than what you brought.

7. My son was able to land a Toews jersey with the Stanley Cup patch for $55 within a few minutes of walking in. When I went back an hour or so later to nab a Hull for myself, the dealer was packing up and several cops were standing by. I heard from another dealer that the jerseys were knock-offs, although I doubt most would be able to tell the difference (Reebok logos and tags). He's still happy with the jersey, which looks great. I would still like to have had the Hull throwback at $55. I should have bought it as soon as I arrived. Knockoff or not, it looked great.

8. I had no interest in any of the autograph guests, so I can't comment.

9. I haven't been to the last couple of spring and fall shows in Chicago due to scheduling conflicts with my job, so I'm curious if others have seen the same downturn. I do plan to attend the Sun Times show in November and am considering the October 3-day show in St. Louis (my first trip there since their last national) as my son will be attending college a little more than an hour away. Anyone have any past experiences with St. Louis shows?

10. Can't go to national, so I hope someone here can file reports.
 
Hello, I was there Saturday. I agree the crowd was largely down from the past shows I go to, fewer dealers as well. Most of what I find at card shows come out of the quarter/dime boxes people but out (there was a gigantic one near the end of the hall, lots of fun!), so I had my fun! Always a good time at the ol' card show! :)
 
Nick,

I spent several hours at those quarters boxes yesterday as well. Wonder if we were there together.

I spoke at length to my favorite dealer. He only had two display cases and mainly was looking to buy stuff to sell at the National. He told me that he had $35,000 in cash to spend and so far hadn't spent any of it. As a matter of fact he gave up some of his space at the National because he just doesn't have the product that he normally has to sell (he buys collections then sell them off piece by piece).

I've been to many of these shows (it was Sportsfest before this one) and they never are any good. Everyone is gearing up for the National.

The dealer that Nick was talking about is named Wolverine Cards. They are out of Ohio and are relatively new to the game. They have tons of boxes of $.10, $.25, $.50, $1, $3 and $5 cards. I only saw a couple of display cases of higher end cards. The thing with them though is you really need to double check prices before going through their boxes. On several occasions I've spent quite a bit of time going through their boxes and being prepared to pay only to find that "someone moved a sign" and the cards that I've chosen are actually double what I thought.

I will be attending the National along with several others from this site. We'll get everyone a report. I'm excited! My mom bought me a VIP pass for it. This will be my seventh National and first time to Baltimore. Hoping to see some different dealers.

Take Care,
Melissa
 
I was at the show today. I have been to Every Spring, Summer and Fall show for at least the last three years. And the National 2 years ago.

I think it is fair only to compare this show to last summers show. The Spring and Fall shows draw much better crowds and many more dealers.

Last summer's show was the worst I have ever been to in Chicago and I started going about 20 years ago. So compared to that today was better attended. Now that does not mean it was busy-since it was not.

It was in a different room this summer. Which I think was a smaller room. That **** convention was were the summer show usually is. Yes I said **** convention. It was the buzz being talked about around the card show all day.

So there probably were about the same amount of dealers as last summer - again that is not to say it was alot, just about the same as a terrible show last year. Last year they had a very annoying barely "professional" wrestling show going on. This year there was no gimmick.

I would agree that few good deals were to be had. I made my best deals in the line before the show opened.

A little disappointing, but I did have my expectations low. Last year was so bad that this could hardly be worse.

I did see a few dealers buying, at very low prices.

I had no interest in the autograph guests.

Shawn
 
Nick,

I spent several hours at those quarters boxes yesterday as well. Wonder if we were there together.

I spoke at length to my favorite dealer. He only had two display cases and mainly was looking to buy stuff to sell at the National. He told me that he had $35,000 in cash to spend and so far hadn't spent any of it. As a matter of fact he gave up some of his space at the National because he just doesn't have the product that he normally has to sell (he buys collections then sell them off piece by piece).

I've been to many of these shows (it was Sportsfest before this one) and they never are any good. Everyone is gearing up for the National.

The dealer that Nick was talking about is named Wolverine Cards. They are out of Ohio and are relatively new to the game. They have tons of boxes of $.10, $.25, $.50, $1, $3 and $5 cards. I only saw a couple of display cases of higher end cards. The thing with them though is you really need to double check prices before going through their boxes. On several occasions I've spent quite a bit of time going through their boxes and being prepared to pay only to find that "someone moved a sign" and the cards that I've chosen are actually double what I thought.

I will be attending the National along with several others from this site. We'll get everyone a report. I'm excited! My mom bought me a VIP pass for it. This will be my seventh National and first time to Baltimore. Hoping to see some different dealers.

Take Care,
Melissa

I ran in to the same problem with them in the past. Get a bunch of cards together only to be told they were higher priced than I thought they should be. I have also heard the "moved" signs excuse.

They do sell a ton of stuff, but be careful.

Shasn
 
I ran in to the same problem with them in the past. Get a bunch of cards together only to be told they were higher priced than I thought they should be. I have also heard the "moved" signs excuse.

They do sell a ton of stuff, but be careful.

Shasn

Glad I didn't have that problem with them. I ended up buying around a 150 cards for a quarter a piece and around 50 for a dime each.

Until I got to the last few aisles, I thought this show might be a bust. I did manage to find a good chunk of discounted vintage. Did any of you see the dealers that had the gigantic tub of vintage cards? Since condition isn't really a factor for the vintage cards I buy, those were a lot of fun to look through.

I actually went to a little card show up in Schamburg today at the Radisson hotel. There were only two small rooms that the dealers set up in, but every one of them had very cool dime/quarter boxes along with some GU and vintage available as well. I actually found more cards at this one than the entire show on Saturday.
 
I ran in to the same problem with them in the past. Get a bunch of cards together only to be told they were higher priced than I thought they should be. I have also heard the "moved" signs excuse.

They do sell a ton of stuff, but be careful.

Shasn

I'm pretty sure that the dealer that you just mentioned was at the CSA show in Chantilly, VA last weekend and I had a similar issue. They have some really good stuff, but I ended up putting some of it back because it was more than I anticipated (and the sign indicated).

Thanks for the show report. I always like reading them and getting a feel for what others are experiencing on the show circuit. I get to go to a fair few shows on the East Coast, but have never been to Chicago.

I will be going to the National in Baltimore as well, so I will be throwing in my $0.02 about my experience there. Counting down the days until that one...
 
I have been to quite a few of the St. Louis shows. All have been ran well as far the auto guests go. The cards can be hit or miss, lots of vintage. You may want to check out their website www.stlsportscollectors.com . They have a 25% off sale until July 23 that can be used on anything at the show.

Ray
 
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