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July 2022 
Monday, July 25: (written Tuesday while I wait for pizza) Quick quiz: The Pennsylvania Turnpike: A) runs East-West most of the way through Pennsylvania B) stretches around the Earth four times C) goes halfway to the sun The correct answer is: A + B + C! More on that in a moment. On Monday, Joe came over around 6AM and we put the finishing touches on filling my van...a project that we started the day before. (Do I even need to mention that I woke up before my 5AM alarm?)  
I promise you we hauled more than beer and showcases halfway across the country, but those are both important elements of The National! This trip - about 13.5 hours of driving in total - was going great, until we hit the "Penna" Turnpike. I can honestly say I've been mentally preparing for this long-ass drive for a year, but once we hit the Turnpike, my demeanor shifted, my thoughts darkened, and my mental preparedness went out the window. Some of it might be all the ups and downs, the curves, the slow traffic, etc. that made me feel like we weren't actually getting anywhere.  It begins!  (Insert rude, snarky response here.) All in all though, it was a fine drive. Joe and I can talk for quite a long time about cards, eBay, PSA, etc. Around 9PM (Eastern), we arrived at our hotel and lit out to try to find somewhere that was still open where we could grab dinner. Subway to the rescue, and one inside a Walmart to boot. When my head hit the pillow, I was less than 12 hours from the beginning of the National! Tuesday, July 26: This morning, I experienced a first. It was my first time ever waking up in New Jersey. You'll notice I didn't end that sentence with an exclamation point. I'd like to say that all things went smoothly getting to the Convention Center, but they did not. Nothing catastrophic though. We started the day by getting on the highway going the wrong direction. And once we got to the Convention Center, the dealer check-in wasn't in the area they e-mailed us it would be. All told, we did a couple extra loops - one at the beginning of the trip and one at the end - and wasted about 15 minutes. Not bad at all for a couple of F ups. (I'm referring to the mistakes, not Joe and myself. lol)   With this being the most elaborate corporate setup I've ever seen at a National, it's amazing to see the transformation over the course of the day. The load-in process was a dream. We waited almost no time in line and then were allowed to drive right up to our table (if only customers were allowed to do the same!) to unload. We did have to hustle the van over to a parking lot about a block away when we were done, but it's so great not having to lug showcases and tubs (and beer, haha) through a parking lot, up ramps, and through a huge show floor. My back is so thankful for how smoothly this process went. I quickly set up my display and was able to walk the floor while Joe held down the fort and finished getting his cards into showcases. Right away I spotted a stack of '86 Fleer basketball wrappers in a dealer's case and asked what he wanted. He, in turn, asked what I wanted to pay, and then agreed right away to my price if I bought all 34. Done and done! They're in nice shape too!  Other buys from today include a T200 Boston Americans (Red Sox), a '67 Topps Mike Shannon and Mickey Stanley (both Hi#s, of course), a neat Carlos Rodon autograph/jersey card numbered 01/10, and a nice miscellaneous handful of vintage cards from JD Heckathorn that includes a couple Mantles. Compared to Tuesday last year, I think more dealers have already set up this year. (Tomorrow is also a set-up day until the VIPs enter at 3:30 or so.) I wish I could say that led to more activity in the room as well. But no. I walked around quite a bit today, trying to canvas one particular part of the show so as to methodically work my way through, and I also observed from our booth (#1508) while eating and re-grouping and allowing Joe some time to get out... there just wasn't that much traffic in the aisles. In my estimation, there weren't many dealers out looking for cards/inventory. The people walking around are eBay/Facebook flippers and people who asked dealers to grab them an extra badge. In other words, I didn't see a lot of serious buying taking place. Of course, this is as expected as I wrote in my National preview. Note: MVP of today's show is definitely the Red Bull I had sometime well before noon that helped wake me up and get me in gear. Otherwise, I was kinda dragging with all the travel. Non-MVP of the day goes to our hotel. Check-in was craaaazy. There was only one rep to help a line of about 20 people. Yuck. So we snuck over to an express check-in kiosk that no one was using for some reason. Unfortunately, it told us that our rooms were both unavailable since they were yet to be cleaned. And it was 5:30PM. C'mon. So Joe and I headed down to the boardwalk, grabbed a couple beers, and then I got tired of waiting and made a couple phone calls that eventually put me in touch with the front desk. When I told my story about the rooms not being ready, the women gave an exasperated sigh and said, "Those kiosks...I don't know about those things." So, check-in ended up being around 6:45. Pizza arrived (I had to track down the delivery woman across the street.) around 9, and I'm gonna hit bed in just a moment...around 11PM. (This is definitely not proofread yet...at all!) I'm still deciding if I want to tell my body I'm on Central time, or switch over to Eastern. Hoping to get more pics of town, but I won't have time to explore tomorrow as the show floor is open from 8AM-8PM for dealers. Wednesday, July 27: It's a well-known hack that you can get hot water - for, let's say, oatmeal - from a hotel room coffee maker. And oatmeal is not just a semi-healthy breakfast (even the instant packets), but a breakfast that's quick and easy when you're on the road. One thing you'll want to do first though is check whether your coffee pouch is still in the filter. Otherwise, your oatmeal tastes like, well, coffee. What I'm saying is...I'm a work in progress. More notes in no particular order: Patting myself on the back, I did get in a round of stretching and crunches before heading over to the convention center. Can't say I slept all that well. Not that they kept me awake, but I'm surprised at how loud the seagulls (or just "gulls") are. I can hear their screeching over the air-conditioning unit in my room. As for the show, the room was quiet before all the customers were let in. Gone were all the sounds of convention center carts backing up and beeping, massive corporate displays being constructed, and dealer vehicles running in and out. I made my first sale of the show to another dealer. He was after some 80s rookies that he'll later have autographed. He also sniffed around my lot of (6) 89 Topps Traded Tiffany sets. I've had a little bit of interest in that (impressive, IMO) lot, but no one has pulled the trigger yet. I also have a 1960 Topps set getting plenty of looks but no bites. I'm sure it's the cheapest in the room, the stars are VG-ish, but I've seen the other dealers' prices as I've walked around and I'm feeling VERY confident that my prices on all my inventory are some of the lowest in the room. That said, my buying slowed down today. I found a few more '67 Hi#s, a handful of pre-war commons, and some cheap stars in a $1 box. As I mentioned, the show officially opened today! The VIPs were let in at 3:30. Some of those excited folks were in line at 11AM or earlier! Did I sell much? Yes and no. Four PSA-graded cards made up the bulk of my sales: (3) T206 PSA 6s and a 1955 Topps Willie Mays PSA 7. That Mays card is super-popular. I had (6) of them, graded in every increment from 7 to 2. I'm coming to the realization that my inventory isn't especially curated toward the average customer looking to spend $40-75 anymore. My common inventory is low (again, by design) and I'm not running into big star and minor star deals like I used to. I have some cards that are high-end and and geared more toward online sales. So, sales like I did on Wednesday are becoming the new norm for me. Hey, how's the food situation here? I have a pic of Tuesday's BBQ and Wednesday's salad...  
Which looks better? :) One more good/bad: Bad: Traffic! Getting from the convention center to our close-by hotel after the show was insane. Good: Towels! I've never stayed at a hotel that featured such large towels. They reach from the floor all the way up to my shoulders. Thursday, July 28: Dealer reviews from the show today were mixed, but mostly leaned toward the crowd being tire kickers. I would generally agree, with the qualifier that the customers came to life in the afternoon. The aisles were very full with lots of people milling around today. I talked and talked to tons of folks, but only after a few hours did the sales finally start. It was a good day, but still nothing like sales from a year ago. And I finally moved that 1960 Topps baseball set to another dealer...just like I thought I would, only I thought it would be two days earlier. That's part of the National being so big, physically; it's just hard to get around and see everything. This morning I grabbed a few pics of the corporate area before the crowd arrived. 
I was behind the table most all day since there were so many customers around, but I made a couple purchases of card groups that walked up to the table. Of note was a 1954 Bowman Ted Williams PSA 2 and small group of stars from a gentleman. I also bought two shoeboxes - one baseball and one football - full of minor stars from the 70s...good stuff for $1 and $2 boxes. I immediately sorted through the baseball box, took out about 25 cards to keep, and put the rest out for $2 each or $100 for the box, which is what I paid. After selling $6, someone snatched it for $95. So, I netted $1 + 25 free cards in about an hour's time. Hooray. The word of the day is: Overwhelmed. Not me, but Atlantic City. Here are the things that can't be handled: 1) parking. See The National's Facebook page: 
2) wifi. This was killing everyone in the convention center today. It even nearly cost me a sale because I couldn't run a customer's credit card for a 1957 Topps Koufax PSA 5. Luckily, he had cash. 3) lunch. I didn't eat because the lines for food were too long. Don't worry, I survived on chips and Oreos. 4) traffic. This is BS. 
Positive note: I sold two 1989 Fleer Billy Ripken F-Face errors today. People love this card! Neutral note: There were tons of people wearing Mets gear. My thoughts: The investor class that attended Chicago last year isn't here. I'm not sure if this is a shift in the market, or a product of the location (my guess is the former), but there aren't people running around looking for big, blue-chip cards. I have a handful of graded Mantles + one Ruth + one Cobb, and only the Cobb is getting some admiration. That's surprising. I'll be sure to monitor what other dealers are saying about their sales. After the show, Joe and I grabbed dinner at a place called White House subs. Believe me, they were presidential in size. This is just a half: 
They must be uber-busy or suffer from true Washington gridlock, because they said our order (two half-subs) would take 40 minutes!! It was worth it though. This was good, but so filling that a third of it is still in my fridge. I should probably bring it to the show tomorrow for insurance against long lunch lines. Friday, July 29: Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? After a handful of people looked at it and couldn't pull the trigger, someone finally stepped up and purchased my 1938 Goudey Joe DiMaggio today.  He looks jacked! That was my big sale of the day. Although I didn't make many sales today, I made them count! In fact, I think this was my strongest sales day of The National thus far, not even counting the deal I flipped... That was a deal of around 150 very low-grade star cards that Joe bought from a customer, sold to me, and then I sold to another dealer less than an hour later for a quick $200 profit. I was also able to meet a couple more people in person that I've only known online so far. One was Jeff from a Venezuelan Topps Facebook group (I bought a 1967 Concepcion and 1962 Musial from him) and the other was Paul who collects T206 White Sox that I knew from Instagram. Being behind the table again most of the day, I didn't see or do too much out of the ordinary. But I do have news for 2023 ... Joe signed us up for two booths at The National in Chicago, and we'll be even closer to the entrance! I don't recall the booth numbers offhand, but I believe they are 905 and 907. Outside of the show, Atlantic City is starting to wear on me a little. If you ever have the chance to come visit, don't. I know the traffic is way elevated because there's a convention in town, but the streets are packed. Use your GPS, because street signage is hit and miss. Without looking at my own map, half the time I wouldn't know what crossroad I'm approaching. One of the wildest things I've encountered is how people roar through the parking garage. One or two cars would count as anomalies. But no, everyone not mired in a line is pulling a Daytona 500 around the curves and up and down the ramps. If you'll allow me one more quick disappointment, there is no dealer hospitality room. Thus, no donuts and coffee. *sigh* Onto good eating news, I went to a store tonight and grabbed salads/bananas for the next couple days. And to leave you for the night, here is your beachfront moment of Zen: 
Saturday, July 30: Before I get into today's action, I just want to point out that I wrote last night's entry while simultaneously keeping an eye on The Hangover. Now tonight, The Dundies episode of The Office is on. I don't know how I'm expected to focus in the presence of such high comedy, but somehow, some way, I manage. I've probably earned myself a Michael Scott-designed award. This is in direct opposition to my performance at the show today, which was not award-winning in any way. One highlight was selling a Roberto Clemente autograph on a Pirates matchbook, which was authenticated and holdered by PSA. I liked it, but I'd had it for a while and I received a nice offer on it. The gentlemen who bought that also looked at my inventory for a while and we discussed them buying all of my ungraded cards. We were a few thousand dollars off on the deal though, so it didn't work out. They also confirmed that there weren't many reasonable dealers in the room, so I think it's possible they might be back tomorrow. Then again, their budget was limited, so I think we would have to do a smaller deal. Other than the Clemente, I didn't sell much today. Despite the robust crowd, there weren't a lot of people stopping at our tables. These mediocre, "good but not great" results seem to be the standard with vintage dealers around the room, so I don't feel terrible. It's just a sign of the current market. I've sold big items and rare items, but not as much/many of the run of the mill cards. Toward the end of the day, I was able to get over to Tony Gordon's table and buy a small handful of cards. I'm always glad to see Tony, chat with him, and root around through his cases, even if today I had to hurry to get back to my table halfway across the room. If I would have had more time at night during this week, I would have grabbed dinner with him and his tablemates. But, these nights seem to go by quickly after we get out of the show, walk to the van, and fight through traffic. In any case, I'm looking forward to reading Tony's blog after the show. It's hard to believe this week and show are almost over. Now the drive home looms over us again. Ideally, we'll get in a few hours of driving tomorrow after packing up at the show tomorrow and leave "only" 9 or so hours of driving for Monday. Blech. And that's if things go smoothly. I've never been to this location before, so I'm not sure how the logistics of loading out will go. So until I put the final touches on this on Monday or Tuesday, here are a couple more pics from the show: 
And some buys from "other Tony" 
Sunday, July 28: (written Tuesday...I'm home and unpacked, etc.) RIP Bill Russell and RIP to the big crowds of the past few days. The attendance noticeably thinned out today; the show aisles are maybe around 50% as full as the first few days. By 10:30, I wanted to pack up and leave. With very few prospects for sales, leaving before noon meant the possibility of getting home before midnight, but that was a real long shot. The load out procedure (more on that in a sec) is never simple or quick. So most of the day, I stood there and pondered what I was doing there (87% physically and 13% existentially). As I was thinking about moving out, I noticed behind us that Rick Giddins/Gizmo was actually moving out. Unfortunately, he told us he had been robbed and handed us a sheet of paper detailing some ungraded Mantles that were stolen with a note that two people perfomed a bait and switch on him on Saturday afternooon. He was quickly on his way out, so I didn't get more of the story. I did sell just a couple cards, including a 1954 Topps Jackie Robinson. No buys. (I've previously discussed how thinking you can get good deals on Sunday is a fallacy.) So paying approximately $340 to stay the night at Ceasar's on Saturday was NOT a good investment. Now that we're all checked out, I feel comfortable discussing where we stayed. If you're ever forced to go to Atlantic City, that's not the place to be (unless you want an awesome towel). I only walked through some of the slot machine areas and never saw their table games, but I expected that casino smell and never found it. I'm not sure how to describe a smell, but it's something like cigarette smoke, perfume, and static electricity all rolled into a surprisingly pleasing nose package. Whatever they had going on was just blah - mild salty sea air. There was one first at the show for Joe and I. A customer asked if we had an Adolf Hitler cards! I've heard there were a few issued at the time, but I've never looked into them much. While this guy wasn't exactly a skinhead, his head was 98% shaved, and he was wearing a pink and purple backpack that said " Dare to Dream" with four princesses on it. Couldn't tell if it was from Frozen or what. Very strange. The load-out procedure for big shows usually involves a trade-off: You can either start wheeling stuff out earlier in the day while walking to whatever far away planet your van is parked on, or you can wait (and wait and wait) and get in line and wait some more and finally get your vehicle into the building (like load-in, but without designated time slots) and pull up next to your table and not strain your back and not work up a major sweat. Well, we opted for strain and sweat. At 2:45, I started my first trip down to the van. ... This involved the following: wheeling your goods out the entrance of the show, waiting in line for one of two elevators so you could go down a level to the parking garage, going out one set of doors, down a ramp, out another set of doors into the parking garage, and then over to your van. Then, of course, walking back up to your tables. I lost count of the trips I made (approximately 8), but we finally left at 5:05 with an aching, sweaty back, and the van as full as we came with. This is soooo the part of being a card dealer people don't see. Between the driving, horrible eating, and labor, there's a lot of non-glamourous activities involved in getting our inventory in front of people to buy. So Sunday at 5:05 Eastern Time, we officially started our drive back to Illinois. I manned the wheel for the busy traffic along the Atlantic City Expressway and through downtown Philly. I gotta say, it was impressive how many people were going back home after a weekend in AC or the Jersey Shore. Three lanes were packed the whole way. The AC Expressway is like the world's longest driveway. Going east, it really built the expectation of what we would finally see once we arrived. Sorry to say the final product was quite a disappointment! Our stop for gas near Hershey, PA doubled as our resting place for the night. On Monday, we left at 7AM Eastern and had a relatively uneventful trip (listened mostly to 80s music and Buffett) home, finally arriving at 5PM Central - 11 more hours of driving. As I sit here on Tuesday evening, I haven't even priced any cards I bought yet or opened any packages I received in mail during my absence. Can't wait to tear into a bunch of new inventory. So ready for next year's National in Chicago/Rosemont! 
Good-bye, Atlantic City!  Here's a pic Jeff Copeland snapped of me at the table. Check out his stories at The Wrapper! Misc notes Didn't, didn't, didn't: I didn't market as expected. I'd need a clone to stand behind the table, another to walk around trying to buy, and another to discuss collaborating with other dealers. (And another to stand in line for sandwiches!) I didn't gamble. I didn't see the ocean. (Yes, we walked the boardwalk, but the dunes were too high to see any water.) I didn't jog. (...though I did stretch and do crunches several days.) I didn't think it appropriate to get a picture of the guy in the men's room who walked to the sink with TP stuck to his foot, no matter how badly I wanted to. I thought that only happened in movies. I didn't hit up Dunkin' or McDonald's at the show. (But we did while driving home.) A surprising amount of people asked us where the entrance/exit was. I was surprised zero people asked us for Aaron Judge cards, considering the tear he's on. One final thought. To summarize Atlantic City, I'll utilize the 4 Ts: Tanning, Tattoos, and Tight T-shirts. Have fun! -T |
Inside My Brain