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Written: 7-28-14 Monday, July 28 Day 1 I get to say this is Day 1 even if it doesn't align with the actual show dates, because, well, for me it is the first of seven days of this journey. All of the organizational and prep work leading up to this year's National had to come together this morning before making the trip from Champaign to Cleveland. That includes wrangling up all the cards for retail, cards for wholesale, cards for PSA, extra supplies to accomodate purchases, clothes for six more days, and bunches of snacks. And before blasting off, with a tip of the cap to Future Me, I wanted to clean off as much table space and floor space in my office as I could to prepare for plopping/organizing/pricing all the purchases I'm geared up to make over the coming week. Although the set-up at the show won't start until tomorrow, I believe I've overcome the first hurdle: not forgetting anything. But I don't want to jinx that, so I won't speak any more about it right now. I also didn't get any speeding tickets on the drive over, which is a bonus. Yep, the drive went pretty smoothly. Some radio and some podcasts kept me occupied. Again, I'll give a big plug to my Twitter account (@monstercards) this week. The National is one of the few times I have reason to hit Twitter hard, and I did manage to tweet and drive a bit today. In the "I'm not 22 years old anymore" file, the first thing I did after checking in to my hotel this evening was to scout around and find a grocery store. I found one. (Another thing I found was a church with its digital display reading "Welcome home, LeBron James." It's fun traveling sometimes. I would have taken a pic, but it changed to the next graphic too quickly.) Anyway, although there are several tempting fast food options within a couple blocks of my hotel, it's just torture to put your body through a whole week of burgers, pop, pizza, beer, grease, sugar, etc. Delicious torture, but still. So, I now have sandwich ingredients for the week. That's for after the show each night. We'll see what the concession stands try to pass off as fuel during show hours. Damn straight I'm taking advantage of this hotel breakfast though. I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to update this blog again. Maybe during the show, but maybe not until next week when I'm back home and even the familiar sounds of dealers packing up (tables being moved and boxes being wrapped with packing tape) have come and gone. We'll see. But before the show, here are a few rules to stick to: #1 - Wear two pairs of socks. You're walking, walking, standing, walking on concrete floors all day. Even with the added protection of a second pair of socks, your feet will be pulsating by the end of the day. #2 - If you see a card or group of cards you like, but still want to shop around, WRITE DOWN the booth number. Six football fields is the size of the room. Don't trust that you'll remember where these cards were, who had them, or what their display looked like. #3 - Stay hydrated. This place is exciting. It's easy to forget to eat, but keep a bottle of water on you so you don't zonk out or get a headache from dehydration. And if not a bottle of water, chug whiskey all day. It will at the very least make your negotiations a lot more fun. To everyone coming to the show, fly or drive safely! Written: 7-29-14 Tuesday, July 29 Day 2 Day 2, of course being the 2nd day of my voyage, the 1st day dealers were allowed into the convention center, and T-minus one day until customers are let in. Are we all good with that? Good. Overall, this day was a disappointment. I hate to say that, but it's true. I was all hyped up with adrenaline and coffee and a B+ hotel breakfast, and I wanted big things to happen. Last year, I didn't attend the Tuesday "early set-up" day of The National. This year, I wanted to take advantage of a day of dealer-to-dealer buys and sells. But those barely materialized. The most fun part of the day was actually loading in to the I-X Center. Here's where you all get your money's worth reading this blog. Are you all familiar with the Copacabana scene from GoodFellas? If not, shame on you! If so, I felt like I was living that scene. You see, dealers are allowed to drive right up to their table to unload. Not seemingly miles away in a parking area, leaving you to walk cart after cart to your table. The picture below shows the glorified golf cart I got to follow to my tables for about 10 minutes, varying between 0-1 MPH while weaving in and out of rows, cars, displays, and people, all while I substituted Buffett's "Fruitcakes" for the Crystals' "And Then He Kissed Me" in the movie. Good times! 
But then, after setting up quickly (oh, and following up from above, I still believe I didn't forget anything), the day took on a much slower pace than anticipated. One logical thing I failed to consider: early set-up means most dealers aren't set up yet. Boooo. I was ready to buy cards! Others were, ummmm, thinking about maybe, someday, getting some of their cards out of boxes. Maybe it would have helped if the lights were on. Instead, they were at about 50% all day. I loathe poor lighting at card shows. I probably stuck around my booth longer than I should have because I intended on selling a wholesale lot of 70s/80s cards to a certain dealer. When he finally came around, he only had the energy to look through about 20% of the lot before putting it off. Hopefully another day this week he will bite. As for actual business, I bought one set today - an Ex/ExMt 1972 Topps baseball. Sales = two cards and two sets, including that very '72 set. So, no big whoop there. Last note: Does anyone realize there is a fucking ferris wheel right in the middle of the I-X Center? If there's a reason for that, I'm going to be curious what that reason is. Tomorrow is the longest day of the show - 8AM-9PM - so I'm gonna predict no blog update! Written: 8-8-14 The rest of the days... Hello again, and thanks for reading. By now it should be no surprise that I survived Cleveland, avoided the algae-filled water, and made it back home in one piece. Warning: the rest of this will not be chronological. Just a mish-mash of stories and thoughts... Following up on a couple things from above, I continued to enjoy a breakfast at the Residence Inn every morning before the show. The staff was very friendly there as well. That was a solid base to fuel me every day. During the show, I didn't eat much; every day I tried something different - hot dog, burger, nachos, pizza slice - but there must have been a day or two in there I didn't eat anything except maybe a few snacks. Heck, the show was busy. The remainder of the week, I was pretty much stuck behind the table helping people and selling cards. And hey, that's fine. I intended on buying more, but that never did come to fruition. Also, I did end up selling the wholesale deal I mentioned above to the intended dealer. And about that '72 set I bought and then sold... There's a brief story to go with that. (As you'll note, I'm not always going to use dealer names or specific dollar figures...sorry if that takes a little punch out of some of these stories.) In any case, the dealer I bought that set from - for $650 - had just sold another '72 set for the exact same price, and the buyer of that first one (another dealer) was standing right next to me when I bought mine. He indicated that he "didn't need two" of them. ??? I don't understand that. Here's why: I sold mine while it was just hanging out behind the table maybe two hours later. I didn't even have it officially for sale when I sold it. In fact, I had to peel the last dealer's price off of it...and then when someone (dealer someone) asked about it, I shot them a price of $850 and he bought it without hesitation. So the other dealer who didn't want two - why not when they're that cheap? Whatever. His lack of skills allowed me to make a quick couple Benjamins. Another buy I marveled at was when I walked the show on Wednesday - one of my first trips out hunting. I stumbled across a box full of mixed vintage/new (pics of the Ripken RCs and '61 Yaz cards, etc. are on Facebook) cards...really a horrible excuse for a display. But I don't which was more odd, the fact that everything was crammed in there, unorganized, or that they had $10 cards in their display cases while bunches of $50-$100 cards were in this box that everyone would be oblivious to, or that all their prices were the same on every like card regardless of condition. Or this tidbit - when I asked what they would accept for the box, either as a flat price or a percentage off, they said they would take 5% off the total price. Wow! You have to be pretty confident in your pricing to stick to your guns that hardcore if someone is offering to buy an entire box. So, I stood there and sorted out the good stuff and spent just over $1000. The kicker is that they were talking about how they had already sold around $3000 out of that box. I wonder what those first guys bought! As it was, I got a Tiffany Clemens rookie for $3 that they obviously didn't know was the Tiffany version. Silly. Again, I'm happy for other dealers to leave plenty on the table for me to scoop up. As I told Joe, I guess I overestimate other dealers sometimes. And I realize that's a snotty, elitist thing to say, but I see it over and over. Speaking of Joe, I failed to mention I was sharing two booths with him. We set that up at last year's National. It worked out quite well, as more people manning the booth wards off theft, and I can also absorb various pieces of knowledge he drops. I did mention that theives can be a problem at this show, but I only heard one third-hand account of some cards (nothing specific) being stolen. That's a good thing. Kudos again to Clevelanders. Again this year I saw The Sports Guy, Bill Simmons, walking around. This time I saw him Wednesday and Thursday, instead of just the VIP-only Wednesday. Both time, Grantland's "Jacoby" was also roaming the floor. I didn't stop either of them for a handshake or conversation this year as I did with Bill last year. A couple more buying adventures: First, I made a 'friend' this show, as happens sometimes at larger shows. A dealer/hustler (in a good way) came over to my table almost every morning with a stack of vintage he had either bought or traded for the day before. Apparently, he only was familiar with new cards and didn't want vintage. Somehow, we formed a rapport during that first transaction, and he kept coming back with any vintage cards he happened to pick up. I think we reached agreements on three deals over the course of the show. Oddly enough, that has happened to me at each of the last three Nationals. I guess that's the randomness of life. Maybe it's because I treat people fairly. Or maybe because I have cash in my pocket. Whatever it is, I'll take it. Another funny deal I mentioned on Twitter (again, sorry for the lack of updates via that addictive service - after about four "your Tweet failed to post" messages from the show, I gave up) was from a gentleman who approached me in a normal way, asking if I buy cards. He then pulled out a crumpled paper sack, like the lunch bags I give customers for their purchases...and inside were three stacks of 70s cards (all stars) in rubber bands and no holders. Inside my brain, I rolled my eyes and appoximated that this deal had a 5% chance of happening. Surprisingly, these cards were in good shape (Ex/Ex+) for their lack of protection, but we were a little bit apart on the price. He wanted $175 and I came in at $100. Sure enough, smash cut to a couple hours later and he was back for that $100. Even better was later that same day when someone came to my table asking for a mini Yount RC. I knew there was one in that deal, so I found that bag, pulled out the Yount from the middle of the stack like a magician (I knew it was the bottom card in the stack of '75 Minis, and sold it for the bargain price of $25. Too coincidental! The last specific buying story I have is a deal that didn't pan out. There was a dealer only two rows away from us who really wasn't doing much business despite having good cards in his inventory. His prices were just too high. I tested the waters to see if he would sell everything and he wowed me with a price of $50K. He realistically had about half that much value. I next asked if he would allow me to pick out of his cases at a certain percentage off. At least he said 30% off instead of 5%, but that wasn't enough for me to feel comfortable about buying anything...and he had pretty much all the rookies and a good assortment of stars from the '60s and late '50s. That tells you how high his prices were. At the end of the show, another dealer offered him $28K and he rejected that offer, but reduced his asking price to $32K. Still, we weren't close enough to make it work. Bummer. Joe packed up on Saturday and blasted off for home early Sunday morning, skipping that final day of the show. And he was right to do so. It was dead in there. I gave some cards to PSA (oh right, I have a story about them too) early on and then decided to leave my cards and display zipped/locked up while I took the opportunity to finally walk around the room to try to buy properly. Turns out, I was just wasting my time. For reasons explained here, if anyone reads the Net54 Message Boards. I put my two cents on that message board as well, but my complaints mirror those of most of those collectors - a lot of dealers have their cards priced way too high, which is especially glaring when they're selling graded cards. While it's their prerogative to slap whatever prices they like on their cards, people do have a great resource in the internet to find out if prices being asked are above/below what the market currently dictates. Following up on that point, I think other dealers having high prices only helps me out. Maybe that's why I was able to sell so much. Markets are dynamic, and at the granular level, they are just comprised of one person at a time making up their mind what to purchase and where. If people find crappy prices elsewhere and then good prices with me, then after one purchase, they will proabably make another. And then maybe they will even tell a friend, like John from St Louis or Harry from Orland Park, who each made the trek to Cleveland and pointed a friend in my direction. Good times. Thanks guys! In addition to some high prices and dealers who refused to budge on bulk purchases, there are more and more auction houses popping up at these shows. The competition for them to scratch up consignments is getting pretty fierce. But that's not my gig, and I'm not going to waste time explaining what I think of that hobby niche right now. What that does at an event like The National is the effect of actually making it a smaller show for dealers like me...dealers who actually have cards for sale. I can't find the link right now, but news crews were there all week, and one reported on Memory Lane, who was right inside the entrance. They had a Babe Ruth game-used bat. Not for sale immediately, but for sale in their next auction, as is the style of most auction houses. You can look, and you can even touch (with gloves in this case - no joke), but you can't buy! It's sad, in a way. The merchandise is fantastic at some of these booths, but serves as no more than a museum for collectors. In any case, although I generally buy/sell cards that are 50-100 years old, the market and landscape are always changing in this hobby. I left The National pretty psyched about the hobby and about my sales totals. Overall, it was quite a successful show and experience. Have fun! -T You can now find me all over the web:  Like Monster Cards on Facebook (Frequent updates and scans of new inventory - graded and ungraded!)
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Inside My Brain