General Forum

I bet i haven't been to a card show in 15 years. My brother found one random show a few years ago, about 15 miles away, but I must have had to work that day.  He said the only other customer was some guy looking for Kent Tekulve cards, and nobody had any.  I used to set up at some of the weekly Chicago shows with my uncle, but they all turned into Beanie Baby shows, so that tells you it's been a while.  And of course, any cards I have left from that era are all stuck together like bricks. Stupid glossy finish.

There's only one show near me that I haven't been to in a while because of playing baseball. The case is the same there, almost everyone has memorabilia along with the cards. Some were even strictly memorabilia. I am also one who makes a living out of bargain bins. Especially guys who have 100 for $5 lots or things like that.

I'm planning to take an hour drive to go to a card show this weekend. I live in a rural area so this is close for me. They are saying there will be dealers from 5 states at the show. I'm also bringing my 17 year old son who has got into collecting some with me. I haven't been to a card show in 35 years! I'm not sure I will even be buying much I want to more introduce my son to what a card show is. What should I expect?

35 years without a card show? Yikes. I guess I should stop complaining that I have not been to one since 2005.

My last card show was in 1990.  I stopped going when they started charging an admission fee.

Expect to feel overwhelmed!

But seriously, no matter what you are looking for you should be able to find it. Dealers range from dime boxes to vintage to even selling wax. 

Crazy isn't it. I grew up in rural Western WI. I collected cards as did my cousin who lived in the Minneapolis area. I went to a couple back in the day when I would go visit him for a week in the summer. I even remembering buying a Terry Bradshaw rookie. It wasn't in great shape but as a kid I had a smaller budget and I believe I paid $2.50 for it. This may be one of my best investments because even in today's market of falling card prices I could at least profit on it. My top objectives of going after 35 yaers:

1- Enjoy the experience of bring my son to a show. I'm sure he will find some Lions cards and maybe a nice Matt Stafford to buy.

2-Try to find some card storage supplies. They just aren't in my area and shipping gets expensive.

3-Check out some cards from the per 80's. That is where my interests are at. I might find something that interests me.

4-Maybe find some unopened cheap stuff. Junk era boxes. Because it's always fun to rip some packs. Of course I didn't call it ripping in my wax pack days.

Columbus has three shows every two months.  I go to the biggest one that happens 6 times a year and lasts both Saturday and Sunday nearly every time it happens since it sets up about four minutes from my house.  The other two are smaller and 20 minutes away so sometimes I skip those.  I rarely spend more than about $20 myself, but they are well attended and most of the dealers are frequent repeat dealers that clearly see the value of selling there.  Probably 2/3 of the tables are primarily (or exclusively) vintage cards, and only about 10% or so have memorabilia or non sports stuff.  One guy has thousands of dollars of sealed boxes and supplies, but nearly everyone else has a few boxes and bins of singles to sort through.  One of these days I may set up a table; I have enough Buckeye duplicates that I could probably make about 2-3x the table fee on those alone if I set it up looking nice

I think the card shows very by what region of the country you are in.

I am kind of in a card desert in the south with one quarterly so so show.

I am very jealous of the folks in midwest and northeast that have regular good shows with lots of vintage

I read show reports from folks in another trading group and wish I was closer to that action  (but glad not much snow here!)

main objective to any show I think, is to have fun, regardless of what you buy or not buy.

mark 

I went to a card show 2 weeks  ago  and am going again this Sunday.    Bordentown New Jersey Card Show reminder  Sunday January 28th.      Ramada Inn,  Rte 206 north, just off NJ Turnpike exit 7.       9 AM to 2 PM     $2 admission.   See their notice under "card shows" on TCDB homepage - RK Sports Promotions.