And now for the wrap up.
THE LAND and THE SHOW
I had never been to Cleveland before. In terms of the actual space and layout, I actually do prefer it over Chicago. The food choices are far superior inside the show, and I really preferred this layout versus Chicago where there are dealer tables on the side with all the corporate stuff in the middle. However, as others have noted the internet service was atrocious. Luckily for me, I didn't really experience the same issues as others (maybe my carrier was THE ONE that worked), but mine was still slow at times and in 2018 there's just no excuse for it being so bad. My hotel was a short Uber away, and there were some decent places to eat near me, but from the hotels and outside of show perspective I do prefer Chicago. I have a few more flight options to Chicago, Cleveland was somewhat limited but not terrible. Again, slight nod to Chicago if I had to choose. I have to believe Cleveland keeps it spot in the lineup because of economics somehow. I've heard that they give the space for free to get the show (and thus the hotels, etc.) - that would make sense to me if true but sounds almost too good to be true. Give me a choice, and I would vote Chicago, but that's mainly because of the non-show factors.
THE DEALERS and THE DOUGH
I've discussed the dealers a bit already, but I'll recap. Wednesday and Thursday felt like the dealers were trying to set a new record price for every graded card they had out to sell. That tactic is extremely irritating and I think very short sighted. As a guy who walks around with a fair amount of money to spend, and seemingly unlimited opportunities to spend it, pricing your cards more than 15-20% higher than going market as a starting ask costs you my business most of the time, because there's so much to see and I really don't want to waste time haggling when it's that far away. My REAL want list is pretty limited and those are the only things I'd even consider paying up that much for. However, I will buy just about anything that catches my eye and has a fair price. It took a couple days for dealers to loosen up IMO, but seemed like by Friday dealers were coming down to earth. Rare modern cards of Trout were the only real exception I saw, those were being feverishly sought and many were selling despite the jaw dropping prices. I do think money was flowing pretty freely every day I was there, although by Saturday it did feel like it had slowed down. I also haven't mentioned it in this post, but it's been discussed here before. I know there are a lot of people who feel like collecting is and will do very well, and I wouldn't necessarily dispute that. However, if you attend this show it's easy to see that there is a real lack of diversity in the attendees. I think there is definitely a demographic problem that will hold some of these markets back over time, but until the economy slows down I doubt we will see that impact.
WHAT TO KNOW and TIME TO GO
I didn't book this trip until late this year, but obviously I was very pleased I went. Probably my 2nd favorite of the past four Nationals, but it's close. Getting your #1 wish list card obviously plays a big factor, but I was able to stay pretty steadily engaged this time which wasn't necessarily the case in previous Nationals. Maybe the experience of going to several is helping. This is really the ONLY PLACE you have the opportunity to see things you can't other places and might not ever again. If you've ever thought about going, I'm hopeful that my write-ups will help push you over the edge to attend. As far as I'm concerned, the more the merrier. I really did enjoy the people this time, and I'm looking forward to developing more of these relationships, and ultimately hoping to do more connecting with those folks in person next time around. Working the tables at the show is certainly fun, but I'm that much more interested in talking to folks I primarily know electronically, and I'd really like to be able to do more meet ups for trading outside the show, when the time pressure and surroundings aren't as distracting. Inevitably, there's a sense and element of "competition" inside the arena, but that's not really there after the show ends each day. So to Ryan, James, Kurt, Adam, Mike, a couple Keiths, Patrick, a couple more Joes, and everyone else I'm forgetting - thanks for a great time and another great experience. I hope everyone can enjoy their collecting as much as I have been, and here's to hopefully another bright future of it between now and National 2019.
And thanks everyone for putting up with me this week. I'll try to behave as we move forward. :smile:
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