Desperately Seeking Pie: My 30 hour story of the National
 

It's been almost 30 years since I have been to the National. The last one I went to was also in Chicago, but two experiences that couldn't be any more different.

Regarding the title of the thread, I was looking for a Diamond Stars #99 Pie Traynor to complete my set. I thought that it would be a home run, slam dunk and easy one to close out. Either I was minutes behind someone who was snatching them up, or it is a much harder card to find than I thought it would be. I spoke with 30+ dealers, maybe more, saw some great stuff, but never found it, so that was a bummer.

My observations of the event, overall, I have never seen so many amazing cards in one place. That said, I have never seen so many BIG numbers on cards either. I was horribly underfunded, not that I was going in to tear it up and roll in there like an rockstar, but the state of the industry has totally passed me by. I picked up a couple of small things, but just wasn't in the ballpark on the prices that people were looking to get for cards.

Second thing I noticed is the amount of cash changing hands, not small sums either and there are a lot of younger guys wheeling and dealing, literally everyone seems to have a rolling case of cards or a suitcase full of unopened boxes. The shiny new stuff seems to be king, easy to walk by, but there is a TON of it out there. Brave new world for sure, but again, I couldn't tell you what's good or bad in the new stuff, but there are guys swapping tens of thousands of dollars over cases. Interesting to see, but not the kind of collector that I am.

Overall, it was fun, not sure that I will need to go back any time soon. I stayed at the Hyatt Regency across the street, super convenient, they were not prepared for influx of hungry people, their restaurant had a 45 minute wait to order and about an hour wait to get food according to a couple people that I spoke to as I was walking out, down to their grab and go for the classic Gatorade and popcorn dinner.

One last thing, if you are concerned about Covid, Delta variants etc, you might steer clear of this. There are a ton of people there and a very small amount of masks (the show does provide free masks to those who want them). I wore mine the whole time, but in a crowd that big, I am not sure that it would have helped even though I am fully vaccinated. Going from working at home to jumping into that setting was a little uncomfortable, but I masked up, and tried to be as careful as I could. If I didn't have to be there for a work project, I would have passed.

Hats off to the vendors, organizers, and all the fans, it was one to remember. I'm still looking for a reasonably price, low grade Pie Traynor, the hunt will continue online.

Thanks for the write up, Brian.
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Thanks Brian. I have never been to a National, but your write up confirmed pretty much what I expected. I am surprised you haven't been able to pick up the Traynor at one of the 1,000+ auctions that run every year.

I really hope we don't see articles in a month about how this shindig turned into some super spreader type event. That's a lot of people under one roof. Albeit a huge roof. Everyone is free to make their own choices based on their comfort levels. In speaking with a few friends who are connected with auction houses or card companies in recent months the reaction I heard from all three of the was the same: I really don't feel very comfortable going but feel like I need to for the sake of business.

I let one pass in March at a sale, convinced I could grab one on eBay for less. Since then, there have been a couple that have popped up, but out of my budget range. The one on eBay currently is a PSA 7, $17k, not sure I can sneak that one past the Mrs!

The hunt is the fun part, so I am good to keep looking!

Nice write up. Good luck with your search.

Moral to the story most old guys collect cards and most young guys collect cash.


Ask anyone of these wheel and dealer Johnny come lately backpack dudes what they collect they will say I flip dude.

I give PWCC and Goldin Credit, Why not try to exploit them with vault selling accounts they’ll buy it they don’t wanna own the card anyways.

This industry is changing its all about the Benjamin’s or Bitcoins Ether

No pie in Chicago
 

Thanks Brian for your post on Nationals. I live only 4 hours away and really wanted to make the trip, but the COVID situation kept me away. I was regretting not making the trip, but after reading your post I am happy that I stayed home.

Best of luck finding your Traynor.

Joe

DS hi #’s are a beast. The demand for collector grade is especially high. It took me a couple years to complete mine, and I was looking pretty aggressively. I did have some luck with WTB on the BST, so keep grinding there.

Also, I did have this experience, fwiw.
https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=254936

Thanks Conor, I'll definitely keep an eye out for those reprints. I've always got an eye on the BST boards, just in case. I think I stumbled into the high numbers in a "bull in a china shop" way, I got a batch of them for next to nothing all at one time from one collector. I will chalk that up to the hobby gods smiling on me! I'm always up for a good hunt, looks like I have one on my hands.

Card collectors' show hygiene has always been suspect...not even COVID changes that. I am always amused at the number of guys who look homeless but are carrying around five figures in cash. I too was feeling blue over missing the show (due to family commitments) but after seeing the crowd pictures, no regrets.

I guess they feel safer looking homeless if they are carrying that kind of cash to feel safe. Thinking nobody would bother them looking the way they are.
Or perhaps they have the cash since they save on Soap and Shampoo

If there is NOT a superspreader from this then Covid is OVER! So I will anxiously await that. I was there Weds night for 4 hours and the place is massive. Spilled over into ajoining rooms. And during that 4 hours walking around can't remember 5-10 minutes when I didn't have someone a foot in front of me, or a foot behind me, or next to me when I was looking at stuff. Just people on top of people

So good news or bad news is coming.

show
 

Brian,
well written

I often feel that way just at a major show, trying to focus on picking up a few hard to find things, and just getting floored by the asking price..just so far out of bounds..you dont even consider it

Great write-up, Brian. Sounds like it's a (much) larger scale version of what my local show has become. I thought about making the trip since we have a daughter in the area but we decided against it for a lot of reasons.

When I first saw this thread title, I thought you were just looking for the best pizza in Chicago.

HA! I wish, in cruel twist of irony, my favorite food is off the menu as I am now an old man (45) who is lactose intolerant and have a gluten allergy. WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS FATE!!

Old man at 45? Hmmm This forum is full of guys in their 70s! :D

I figure stomach issues were at the front door of the Old Man club. I'm on the left side of the bell curve.

Nice review. The shows I attend I see more younger folks with cash and product. The millennials have the cash it seems..

I went to a three-day conference in St. Louis a month ago. Over 2000 people attended. Maybe 2% wore masks.

Less than 10 have reported testing positive for covid.

So that's something.

I was there Wednesday and Thursday and was actually surprised how many people were wearing masks. To each their own, but the term 'super spreader' never crossed my mind.

Besides the huge crowd of collectors waiting in the lobby and the 'holding pen' to get in each day, the extremely humid weather outside and the body heat inside was too much for the a/c system to keep up with. It was like a sauna in there. Overall a great time and definitely the busiest I've seen that convention center. Two days was enough for me.

If you referred to pizza as "pie" in Chicago, nobody would have any idea what you were talking about.

If you tried to sell what passes for pizza in Chicago in NY or LA everyone would think it is a pie.

I was there Friday until about 200 and it was a lot more comfortable in the hall - the big drop in temperature and humidity was the reason I'm sure.

LOL sorry we don't have any broccoli and brie pizzas on quinoa crust for you California boy.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

exhibitman ain’t eating much broccoli unless it’s deep fried in chocolate sauce

Thanks, Ronnie. Mario Batali says if you have an ingredient you don't quite like, deep fry the sucker.

Born & raised in NYC, Al; I know my pizza. Entirely too well, according to my wife.

pie
 

Come on !, deep dish CHI style pizza....its very good

Yeah, LA is the last place on earth I'd expect to find even decent pizza.
It reminds me of an Entourage episode where the main character Vince cringes over "California" pizza with guacamole 🤢 lol

Deep dish soup maybe. That stuff is not even pizza in my book. Been to the supposed best places in Chicago. Soup.

I think wherever you’re from that’s where the best pizza is! Being from the East Coast there is no question New York style pizza is the best. Now I live in Minnesota and they cheese the shit out of everything… even when I ask for light cheese it’s way too much cheese. Chicago style pizza is disgusting it’s cheese soup in a breadbowl!!

We ordered a pizza here on Wednesday not sure from who now but it was just horrible. Someone local close to the convention center.
Rick

Great Deep Dish....
 

Giordano's right down the street from the Convention center has great deep dish pizza. I think I have been there every single time I (and groups of friends) have gone to the show there.

https://giordanos.com/

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My apologies to the OP for unintentionally hijacking this thread with pizza talk.

I would just add that the alleged home of the pizza since 1889 is Naples, Italy. When visiting there, you have to have a real Naples pizza. If you want the real deal you order Pizza Margherita. I got to slide my own pizza into the oven in Naples. The waiter and the chef were entertaining.

The experience was fun, but the pizza was quite a disappointment. If I lived in Naples, I would never order another pizza.

Think of Disney World on one of it's most crowded days. Everyone was having a great time. Some even brought lawn chairs to rest and just hang out. People were sitting in the middle of the floor just to rest and wait. (I was one of them). The crowds just walked kindly around them. Everyone was nice! I did some 'pay it forward'. A guy in line didn't have anything for the player to sign except his ticket. I offered him a baseball free, and he surprised me by giving me a couple autograph tickets free. The only less than happy experience was finding a Norm Larker BB Buck for $45. I told the guy I could get it for that on ebay. He didn't even want to bargain. Here's a couple photos....I know, not pre-war - but I've wanted meet these guys.

Oops. Here's the other one. Another issue I had was finding postcards. I have a list of JD McCarthy post cards needed. dealers didn't know what those were. Tried to geta Colt .45s pennant, but know body had one (even the pennant guys). And yet I can find them on ebay occasionally).

Lastly. Ty Cobb autos were more expensive than ebay (photos and checks). I was hoping to find a check for maybe $900. Instead they were $1900. Cheaper on ebay. I also wanted a Nellie fox signed 'giant' card. Found one, but dealer wanted $250. Again, I can get it cheaper on ebay.
There was a lot of cool memorabilia. Although I have trouble paying good money for a 1900s photo (generic team) when it could be a copy. One awesome original negro player photo from '20s!! About 18" by 24" in an antique oval frame. Very rare. I didn't ask price....I knew I couldn't afford it.

pizza
 

and cant go wrong with Lou Malnatti ...known as top CHI deep dish pizza

Ill be in Atlantic City have my beach house near by..and please don’t film me lol

My sister flew out here to see me a year after I moved to the pizza hell hole known as California, and she had secreted a whole pie from Little Vincent's (in Huntington on Long Island), what we call 'heroin pizza,' in one of her suitcases. Those eight individually wrapped slices was the best meal(s) I ever had in my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I call California pizza 'bread,' because that's all it is, a thick slice of bread with a whisper of sauce on top of it. Truly terrible (although CostCo has something that it getting more and more passable). I can't tell you how many times I walked into pizza parlors out here with "New York Style!!!" emblazoned on the windows and after eating a slice, told the owners/clerks, "Are you kidding me with this????!!!!!" Funnier still is the usual explanation that since the water is different on this coast, the pizza will never truly be like New York. My reply is, "It's not the water, it's the fact your crust is two inches thick (so it doesn't even flop, it's as stiff as a board) and the cheese is so scant I can see the crust through it."

On a side note, although this state is only a stone's throw away from Asia, there are no Chinese take-out restaurants like you find every seven feet in New York. You want to grab Chinese food out here (in NorCal at least), you have to sit in a restaurant and dine. No cheap, quick menus with a million different numbers to choose from and take home. Wish I had some venture capital so I could start a string of Elm's Chinese Take-Out joints.

But I digress...

Pizza!
 

As a pizza restaurant owner in Denver CO, I will firmly stand by the notion that great pizza or pie can be found in any corner of this country. Read American Pie, fun book by a "pizza guy" looking for the best pizza in the country. He settled on a place in Phoenix, which I've had, and is excellent. I've also had pizza from NY (I was born there), Chicago, Detroit, LA and many other places, and once again, I will stand by the notion that great pizza is everywhere.

Thanks for all the National updates!!

As a Rhode Islander, we have great pizza here and it’s tough to beat New Haven style pizza in Connecticut, home of the first US pizza supposedly… I do love NY pizza too.

Lou's
 

I love Malnati's pizza. Some Chicago locals tell me Giordano's is at least as good, if not better. Unfortunately, I haven't had the pleasure.
If you like/love pizza, I don't know how you can knock any pizza. As far as I'm concerned, it's all good, none is bad. Some is just better.
New York Pizza is also great, with the the thin crust that you told over to eat.
I also love the Sicilian Pizza, which you mainly seem to find only on the East Coast - New York, New Jersey, Miami. It's big rectangular thick crust pizza. The slices are cut into squares.
As you can tell, I am definitely a pizza fan.

Detroit style pizza is quite interesting. Seems to be spreading in popularity. Small, square, a few kinds of cheese. Have had some lately even in NY NJ area.

I have travelled the country far and wide like many of you. Had amazing pizza in Laramie Wyoming and Walla Walla WA. The one place I have never had great pizza is Chicago.


QUOTE=Jeff_cvc;2128917]As a pizza restaurant owner in Denver CO, I will firmly stand by the notion that great pizza or pie can be found in any corner of this country. Read American Pie, fun book by a "pizza guy" looking for the best pizza in the country. He settled on a place in Phoenix, which I've had, and is excellent. I've also had pizza from NY (I was born there), Chicago, Detroit, LA and many other places, and once again, I will stand by the notion that great pizza is everywhere.

Thanks for all the National updates!![/QUOTE]

Yowza!!! I just realized I've never seen Sicilian slices offered anywhere out here. i totally forgot that in every NY pizza parlor regular slices sat side by side with the Sicilians.

At least one if not two Detroit style pizzerias have opened here I have yet to try them… i’m also lactose intolerant so I’m very careful about what pizza I eat.

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I lived in the Chicago area for quite a few years. I don't think I ever had a bad pizza there. And there's all kinds of pizza in Chicago, not just the deep dish. You've got thin crust, thick crust , etc.
I am native of New Orleans. I would say you can't find bad pizza in Chicago, like you can't find bad Mexican food in Texas, or bad seafood in New Orleans.
Of course everyone has there own tastes, so to each his own.