OT a bit. The small town card show. Still worthwhile?
 

I attended a small card show in my hometown yesterday, thats been running for years, in conjunction w the school Athletic Dept. From when I used to be in the hobby more actively, it was GREAT seeing old friends, and some REALLY awesome stuff, old and new. I even spotted a ribbon and badge? that said 1894 Worlds champions and showed the champs on it, that someone had picked up and showed me.

My ? is. what do you guys think of the small show today? Finds are prob rare at those shows, but I think they still have their place in the hobby. Opinions?

Also, anyone ever get some great finds at the "local show"

Hi, I have been a sports collector for 25 years. I Started collecting Olympic items with my brother Mike and am now building a baseball collection. In all these years of going to shows, I found you might find something neat to buy, but the best thing is actually talking to someone and showing something to someone, who actually cares and appreciates what the item is. I have had some great items, and when you show someone that doesn't collect an item you might get a " thats neat ", but show it to a true collector and the " wow factor is the best feeling."

I'd like to get to more shows, local or bigger. I seem to miss them or have something come up. (Yes, just about every week)

There's usually something to find, and if not it's at least fun looking.

Don't rule out antique auctions or shows either.

A local antique auction I sometimes make it to is basically potluck. Dealers bring in stuff that day so there's no catalog. Cards usually go for decent prices, but some stuff hardly gets bid on.

One of the last times I went they had a jacket. During the preview it hung in a corner and I thought it was one of the workers jackets. About 3/4 of the way through they hold it up and say it's an old Braves warmup jacket supposedly Ernie Lombardis (Yea, sure it is....) Supposedly consigned by a guy whose family was friendly with him. And it's in rough condition, but an odd jacket. Red cloth outside Large ornate B sewn on, white leather inside Also with a big B sewn on. But the leather side has a big chunk roughly cut out, like a name was on the back but had been removed. So I took a chance. Bought it for a fairly small ammount. I'm pretty sure it's a real Braves warmup, late 30's early 40's. And it's huge! I'm right about 6 ft, and it's way too big for me. So maybe it is Lombardis. He did play one season in Boston, and the era is right for the jacket.

Even if it's not his I figure a beat up Braves warmup should be worth the 100 I paid.

Once I find the camera I'll get it out and post a couple pictures.

Steve B

Great story Steve! I think for a $100 it was worth the risk. always love hearing stories about finds like this....look forward to seeing pictures of the jacket. regards, brandon

The internet has changed the hobby dramatically. I remember when the yellow pages in my area had 2 pages of card shops in the late 80's. Right now there is only one card shop in my area. Even though it mostly sells all the shiny foil crap, I still took my daughter there (she collects too), so she can experience an actual card shop before they become extinct. For the same reason, I have taken her to a card show that is held monthly about 10 mils north of us. I think it's important we keep these things goign as long as possible so we can have that personal connection with people. IMO.

I actually enjoy the smaller shows as much as the larger shows. You have more time to talk to the dealers and other collectors about the hobby, sports, etc,... You can take the time to look thru the boxes & boxes of stuff that the dealers have to acquire things that are very inexpensive and will never be worth anything, but are enjoyable to collect/have (ie reprint cards, magazines, books, etc,..).

It's hard to forget the excitement that permeated the hobby in the late '80's to early 90's, when it seemed like there was no ceiling to the market for things like 50's Mantles, Aaron's and Mays'. A lot of that same fever (albeit speculative and transient) permeated the coin market in the 60's too (rolls of 1950D nickels, for example). The lasting benefit of those days was that they brought a lot of us back into collecting--we learned a lot after the bottom fell out of the new card market, and re-channeled our interests into vintage items.
And yes, I agree that it's still nice to get reaquainted with a few dealers, but find in my area that I hardly ever find anything worth purchasing at those shows these days. I think the last card I bought from a smaller dealer was a R 315 Foxx at one of those shows, although I did get a 1921 Exhibit Ruth from William Chappell in 2007 at our local Gibralter Trade Center show. His table often seems like an oasis in the sea of all of the new crap that's out there.

I do buy on the net and at auction but for over 45 years I have purchased most of my items from thrift stores, flea markets, garage sales and small shows, mall shows all within 10 miles of my house

Good replies so far all. I enjoy those type of places too, and antique malls. All of these are fun spots to look around. My only problem w the large shows, was often that some dealers priced stuff like they were owners of a museum, and didn't want to sell. That said, Back in the day, I did get to go to four nationals, and a couple large Northeast Regional shows multiple times, and always found some stuff reasonble, for resale or to keep.

I go to the Philly Shows and a National if it is close by but overall I stay away from the larger show for one reason.

Card and Memorabilia Dealer are not celebrities, no matter what they think