Today was my last day at the national convention, and I wanted to make it count. I knew that I had spent most of my bankroll on yesterday’s awesome pickups, but I didnt want to waste everything I had left on wax I didnt need. I was hoping to find at least one Ponder or Peterson pickup for the show, but also grab something I wouldnt normally buy.
I started out at the Topps booth to get the Michael Pineda Heritage card that was being given out, and much to my suprise, the line was ridiculously long. People obviously like this guy, and werent afraid to show up in droves to get his card. I really think the card looks okay, only because the picture is kind of goofy. Because I am not a baseball collector, I am sure there is someone out there who will want it for themselves.
The cards actually sell quite well, check it out:
2011 Mike Moustakas Topps Heritage Giveaway
2011 Dustin Ackley Topps Heritage Giveaway
2011 Michael Pineda Topps Heritage Giveaway
After getting the day’s giveaways done, I went and checked on the Puckett 1985 Donruss signed rookie that I had dropped off with PSA on Friday afternoon. I was worried that it wouldnt come back real, even though I had gotten it signed myself, but everything worked out perfect. I got my blue slab, and all was right with the world. It really is pretty cool to have it authenticated like so many cards I saw at the show, as signed RC cards are coming back around, especially for deceased players.
Once my excitement had subsided some, I walked the floor a little bit to see if there was anything I missed, an obvious “well duh” moment. I found some cool stuff, but most was still overpriced compared to finding it on eBay. I did manage to score a Joe Namath autograph for really cheap, one that I wanted to add to my NFL greats autograph collection for a while. Because I didnt pay much, it wasnt that bad.
The thing about the national is that it is so overwhelming that you forget to eat and drink, and around 12:30, it really hit me that I hadnt eaten since early that morning. It wasnt half as bad as the feeling I had after paying nine bucks for a terrible lunch in the vastly overpriced cafeteria. The guys from FCB were ordering Gibson’s, a steak house near by, but I didnt want to spend THAT kind of money. Funny enough, after I was done, I probably should have splurged.
Afternoons at the convention were usually slow, but this afternoon was of a different breed. All weekend, Brian Gray had been publicizing the Joe Jackson drawing for the cut, and a TON of people showed up. More than at any other booth the entire weekend, and it was packed to the brim. Two collectors had won the opportunity to pick the clovers from the wall to get the Jackson, one a guy who pack pulled it from Tennessee I believe, and another who had the most complete checklist from his 50 cases that he bought since Sports Icons released. The chance to participate was valued at about 15K, and I could not understand why anyone would give up a guaranteed pay day like that, even if the 60-80K Jackson was the prize. Brian said he would give special cases of the new product next year if they didnt win, and keep the chance to win going if someone else found another redemption while at the show.
The drawing itself was amazing, as the two guys were definitely anxious as all hell. Brian completely freaked when the first guy pulled out the card exclaiming he had won the Jackson, and every one went nuts. Talk about an awesome experience. The second guy who chose second because of the rules of the game, was given three cases instead of one special one, but did not look like he wanted anything to do with it. They gave away wrapper redemption packs to the people who showed up, and luckily, I pulled a Cam Newton Parallel /70 out of my envelope. Others pulled Ali, Lombardi and Rose, which makes me that much more happy I got a more hobby friendly guy.
Here is a similar one I just saw posted:
2011 Leaf Cam Newton Giveaway Card /70
Right after the ruckus was done, I got a lead that Chris Gilmore from FCB had met the guy with the 1 of a kind Rookie Hat, signed by Christian Ponder. I gave the guy an awkward call on his cell phone and worked a deal with him at the Panini booth. We got the hat from his hotel, and I could not be happier with my pickup. After selling some Ryan Mathews cards to a guy in line for Panini packs, I had some extra cash, and was not hesitant to buy the hat. Its a keeper for sure.
I was still very surprised at the make up of the dealers who came to the show. That didnt wear off the whole weekend. In fact, the amount of Football stuff there was minimal, and really most of the cards were vintage based, with TONS of game used stuff intermingled. You can see, from the pictures below, just how crazy it was at some of the booths, especially the autograph based booths. There were more Mantles and Ruths than you could imagine, and I can only guess at how many of them werent real. I even caught a dealer selling the patches that the fakers use in the cards, but the price was high enough on some of them that it didnt look like they were being bought by the wrong people.
Around 5pm I wanted to go meet up with some friends at Gibsons for a drink or two, and I was shocked when I walked into the bar and saw Joe Montana sitting there with his two PR guys having a drink. I went over and said I was a fan (definitely true) and shook his hand. He wasnt able to sign autographs because of his deal for the weekend, but was very nice about everything.
Overall, this weekend was definitely amazing. I wouldnt have traded it for the world. Chris Gilmore and the guys from Freedom Card Board are a complete awesome group of collectors, and I cannot say enough good things. If you havent gone and checked out the boards over there, do yourself a favor and look them up. You wont regret it.
I also got to talk a lot with Clay and Mark from Topps, Scott from Panini, and Gregg from UD, all of which had some great war stories about the industry. The things I learned were invaluable, and hopefully will show that things are on the up and up for the most part. I still dont like what I dont like, and I will not hesitate to say what I feel, but at least now, I know who I am ranting at, haha!
You had forgotten to eat? Really?
Wish I could have made it to meet ya.
Peace.
Yeah, it got crazy, but a year ago, that line would have never been typed. One of the reasons I was able to do what I did was because of all the weight I lost. I never would have been able to walk around as much weighing what I did.
Given that you’ve railed against the grading companies in the past, I have to say I’m a bit disappointed that you gave PSA some of your hard-earned $$$ to authenticate an autograph that you could have easily authenticated yourself with a little research.
And now it’s stuck in one of their butt-ugly holders to boot…
Heck, you’re probably smarter and know more about the hobby than their so called “expert” who authenticated you autograph….
Did it because I am going to sell it. Can’t do that without the slab.
Good post. Felt like I was there. I would like to hear/read more sometime on what the guys from Upper Deck, Panini and Topps had to say.
Here is my take on why there is so much vintage at The National:
Show Dealers are businessmen looking to turn a profit. There is a larger profit margin in vintage than in modern cards; therefore, many show dealers invest their money in vintage cards. However, because there are so many crooks on the internet, if a card is not graded, collectors assume there is something wrong with the card and will not bid very high. At the same time, many vintage collectors do not want to pay a premium for high graded cards, but they are willing to pay much more for a card they can inspect in-hand than for the same card scaned on the internet.
By selling the card face to face with the collector at shows, the vintage dealer can get much more for their cards. The vintage collector, knowing that vintage dealers will be setting up at shows, goes there with tons of cash in hand. Shows and card shops are the ideal venues for buying/selling vintage cards.
However, in the case of modern cards, all modern cards right out of the pack are in “good” shape. Box busters/collectors/dealers can sell modern cards on the internet because the buyer knows/expects the card he will receive is in “good” shape; and, the buyer is more willing to bid on raw modern cards. Therefore, modern card dealers don’t need to sell at shows, they can sell their cards via the internet, in the comfort of their home/business.
What? No story about running into R.S.? So much for complete coverage.
Thanks for the share and it just makes me want to be part of it next year.
Ryan was nice, only got to chat for a minute. We were both really busy, but have put the past behind us.
You most certainly can sell it without the slab.
It’s just that the grading companies have convinced you (and many others) that cards that have been slabbed will sell for more, even though that is not necessarily true. There are plenty of collectors out there like me who pay MORE for UNSLABBED cards because the holders look like crap and ruin the aesthetic appeal of the card.
Any autograph collector worth his salt should be able to tell a real autograph from a fake just by doing 10-15 minutes of online research.
When anything that has not been slabbed is automatically assumed to be suspect, that’s when you know the hobby has gone off the deep end, especially since most of the so-called experts working for the grading companies are anything but.
Try asking PSA about the qualifications of their graders (not the names on their website who do very little actual grading, but the peons who actually grade the cards), or the training process they go through, or the grading process itself. They won’t tell you a thing because they know it’s all a big charade…