General Forum

I haven't been to a card show in at least 20 years. There is a show coming up im March in Saginaw, MI that I'm thinking of attending. My daughter expressed some interest in the hobby but hasn't acted on it. Maybe dragging her there would spark that interest a little more.

LOL I tried that exact same tactic two years ago, lead balloon!! We were there maybe an hour and I got that "Can we go!" look. Good luck randy!! =)

Depends on her mood that day lol

I did make it to the show with my son and as promised here is my report. I would guess that there were 15-20 table owners at the show. Not much has changed. A few had some games of chance. I meant to have my son roll the dice a couple of times but then we never got around to that. He seemed to enjoy digging through the discounted cards and picked up about $20 worth of Lions cards. He picked up some Barry Sanders and found a few outgraphs for a few bucks. I think he was most excited about getting a Darius Slay auto card for something like $2.50. There was one table run by a breaker who was doing some live breaks. That of course is a new concept from 30 years ago. I did not buy any individual cards. For one, I don't have my collection in order enough to know what I need and for two, I didn't see any great buys on individual cards. I think for the most part they wanted at or above what I can pick them up for on ebay a any time. Maybe I could have negotiated a price, I don't know but I didn't have anything specific I was targeting so I didn't bother. Lots of unopened boxes for sale of mostly cards from the last 3 years. Before we left I did spend some cash on myself but not much, I grabbed a couple of stacks of some junk era cards to have something to open for $.20 per pack. I then headed over to the shop in the mall and picked up a bunch of storage boxes for my collection. That was my greatest need and I paid something like $4.50 per 5000 count box and if I order them on line and have them shipped they cost me double. 

I could have probably added quite a few needs on some 1970s and 1980s sets I am building if I would have brought a list and had my collection in order but I'm not at that phase yet. I was a little surprised that there weren't more dealers busting open boxes and selling product by the pack. Many moons ago that was a great seller at the shows I went to. Many lookers might not want to drop $100-$200 on an unopened box but they might be willing to hand you $20 for some packs. I'm not sure if that is typical of the hobby now or it was unusual to only have 1 guy selling packs out of 1 box (the box had an auto in each pack of I think Momentum). All and all it's fun to dig through some bargain boxes and for me see some of the older cards. My son seemed to enjoy it as well. I think we may get to another show and I think they may be back in April. I hope there are more dealers selling some packs of current product because I think my son would have wanted to spend some more ripping some packs without having to buy a full box.

I used to love going out to the Chantilly Show when I was out there.  Lots of good deals to be had.  I've be a lot closer to VA again pretty soon, but it'll still be a while before I can make that one again.

I too got to my show and met up with my friend.  I bought cards from him and his 2 friends who also had tables set up with him.  Everything from1957 cards in Ex-NM condition to some mid-80s cards.  Did add 2 1970 and one 1972 OPC cards to my sets including the Munson RC.  I also got a second Munson RC for my PC.

The show was steady but not a huge flow of customers. There were probably about 30 sellers but mostly hockey.  One seller was solely non-sport. The plan is to have this show every 3-4 months so I should be able to see my friend that frequently.  He always has cards I need and his prices are probably the best I ever get.

How did the Cobourg show compare to the monthly Ottawa show? I know Canadian shows are mostly hockey, but did you see much football?

Football has to be the scarcest at these shows.  The Ottawa show is bigger but the ratiohockey:baseball:basketball:football is about the same.

Best bet for getting football is to get a dealer that has some at home, get his contact info and connect at the next show with his bringing what you are looking for.  Probably would get a good deal as there are very few buyers for it.  Not sure if my friend Chris has any but I could ask him and get him to bring some if you are planning to be there. Just let me know what you are looking for.

As I read these posts it gets me more excited about attending a show. I just realized the cool thing is when I go I can pull up what I have listed here so far and decide if it's something I need of not. My phone or tablet will be better than handwritten partial lists I carried around last time I went.

Forgot to comment on the use of the tablet.  The Center the show was in did not provide internet but I was able to access my files offline. It did take a couple of minutes for each file to download but it was easier than carrying a 3" binder with papers scratched all over in ink deleting the last of my purchases.  I did not update my files at the show but did that once I got home.

If you have patience with the downloading and the opening of files, I recommend the electronic spreadsheets on a tablet.