Second Annual Midwest Sports Collectors Convention (Detroit Aug 20-22, 1971)
 

Picked this up a while back, finally got around to scanning it. A true blast from the past: Topps' black bordered cards were current, the US was still embroiled in Vietnam and Joe Torre was on his way to winning the NL MVP. And to really put it in perspective this was 42 years ago and 42 years prior to that the stock market was about to crash in 1929. Part 2 follows this due to image limitations on the forum. Enjoy!

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Part 2
 

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I see Bill Mastro in one of those photos. I wonder how he's doing now?

Yeah, He looked sorta like "The Fonz".
Also, thought I saw a net54 Goudey collector mentioned on there. The old hobby publications are cool.

Great stuff Dave. Thanks for sharing.

Completely off topic, but
 

the use of the phrase "Midwest" always makes me chuckle, especially when Detroit is not in the mid of anything (north, south, east or west) and especially not west of anything, except maybe New York.

Thanks for sharing Dave, very cool stuff. Did they eventually move the location to the Plymouth Hilton or was that a different show that I remember?

Not sure if this was the same show but it certainly seems possible it moved to the Hilton as noted. Also, is it possible was a gathering of Midwest collectors, or at least grew out of a Midwest group to make it seem like a regional show vs a local one? This show and the one before it really seem like the primordial version of the shows we know today (or used to know recently).

Thanks for sharing this! I do believe the Plymouth Hilton Shows were associated or a continuation of this. They were also called the Midwest Sports Collectors Convention and by the time I started attending around 1980. By then, I think the show was only run by Lloyd and Carol Toerpe.

This should would have been my first show...
 

Dave...

Thanks very much for sharing all this hobby memorabilia! The '71 Midwest Sports Collectors Convention was to be my first show. We pulled into Detroit a few hours early, checked the prices for remaining rooms at the host Downtown Hilton and, sadly, left for cheaper quarters with a thought to possibly returning later that evening or the next day. It was not to be. Once outside Metro Detroit, we decided to hit the road back to Seattle rather than make the 25-mile return trip. (Detroit was a planned stop on our return cross-country trip to native Maine.)

Fortunately, it was not a lifelong regret. Two years later I was able to attend that same show (relocated to the Troy Hilton, and later the Plymouth Hilton) and had a great time meeting a number of collectors I had known only by mail for up to ten years.

I'll enjoy looking over these old hobby pieces and get a better glimpse of what we missed 42 summers ago. Thanks again, Dave!

Steve Mitchell