Posted By:
mikeI was interested in the Fort purchases and equally interested in the appearance comments, so I figured, why not start a new thread, so the Fort comments appear there and the appearance comments appear here.
When I was a teen in the mid-80's, I went to many metro Chicago shows. Back then, Chicago was run by Chicagoland Sport Collectors and alternatives were scarce and actively discouraged. There had to be an antitrust violation in there somewhere, sometime. Anyways, the same dealers set up every show, so those became relatively known to active attenders like me and my friend. Appearance matters. Mike Gidwitz and his brother introduced a buddy and me to a number of other folks, including Bill Mastro, and those persons were much nicer after the intro than before (even though we purchased very little, if anything, and nothing from Mastro - too much $$$). So if you're going to look poor, then at least have something akin to a business card - introductions from someone relevant.
Conversely, when I sold off my collection during a later time period, I wasn't looking for a customer list, just better prices and moving larger quantities than what other dealers offered me on only the good stuff. I couldn't believe the BS I had to put up with from people who were basically trying to steal me blind. Makes sense: dealer no know you, dealer no trust you. The worst problems came from teens looking to cheat me, and from 50-ish slobs with sob stories.
I do not know if vintage has these problems since I don't go to shows anymore.