Thursday at the National

[ClementeFanOh]

Okay gang, sideline reportage from Cleveland-

1) TONS of attendees, elbow to elbow.

2) There was painfully slow traffic coming in to the venue at 9:30 am. If
anyone can find parking at, say, a mile out, it's likely worth it just to
walk. Plenty of folks were doing exactly that as I sat still in traffic. Food
for thought... Leave early if you plan to wait it out in your car.

3) Plenty of sport variety, memorabilia, and non sport to go around.

4) The SGC submission was smooth as silk. I got prompt service, $15 a card
and $15 shipping.

TLDR- It's a lot of fun, leave early to have a prayer of getting there on time!

Trent King

[jmarascojr]

Definitely saw A LOT of passengers getting out of their rides and walking a good chunk of the way to the I-X Center...

Nice thing was, they just let us drive in to the regular parking for free, not sure how it was for others throughout the day...

Cleveland knows they fugged up with access to this place and parking, they need to get their shiz together before 2026...

[keithsky]

Bathroom lines were 50 deep. Food court lines were about the same. To many people crammed into one building. Traffic backed up. It was insane. Been to about 25 Nationals never seen it like this

[uniship]

Hard to comprehend that after all these years problems like the bathroom access still exist. How hard is it to provide ample bathrooms / ac / WiFi / security/ sitting areas / concessions etc? I mean - all of those basics above - that basically IS the job.

Limited bathroom availability is inexcusable. Now get off of my lawn!

[Scott6043]

Not having the west entrance open and making people walk all the way around to the east entrance was inexcusable.

[Bobbycee]

Thanks for the report Trent.

Can anybody give an update on Ashish? Is he back in good spirits and thriving at the Show??

[Hankphenom]

Sounds like there must tons more people at this Cleveland Natty than at the many previous ones there.

[DeanH3]

Thanks for the report, Trent. Keep them coming. Pictures too!

[IndyDave]

Originally Posted by Scott6043

Not having the west entrance open and making people walk all the way around to the east entrance was inexcusable.

West entrance is not accessible to the convention hall. It has been repurposed in to permanent space for tenants as industrial or warehouse space.

[ClementeFanOh]

Dean and BobbyCee-

You are welcome, it's my pleasure. Thursday was my only day, but I've got
friends attending Friday and Saturday. I will pass along anything noteworthy.
A couple points:

1) The bathroom line moved very fast, wasn't an issue for me. Can't
comment on concessions, that's a line I didn't budget for time

2) The IX Center is massive. I have to believe the crowd numbers were
simply overwhelming. It was my 5th Cleveland National at IX, never
seen it this way. The wait outside the venue was the one vexing moment
for me. The short version is that people were left to fend for themselves,
so proceeding into the venue and parking had a "Lord of the Flies" vibe.
It clearly needs improvement and I'm curious if it's better Friday.

Trent King

[Scott6043]

Originally Posted by IndyDave

West entrance is not accessible to the convention hall. It has been repurposed in to permanent space for tenants as industrial or warehouse space.

Thanks for the update, they should have made some sort of plan for that. I was unprepared for that.

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

Originally Posted by Bobbycee

Thanks for the report Trent.

Can anybody give an update on Ashish? Is he back in good spirits and thriving at the Show??

Purchased 3 cards from Ash on Thursday. His booth was slammed. Theft doesn't seemed to have slowed him down at all. Pretty sure he hired some extra security for the show and had at least 5 people working his tables.

[Bobbycee]

Thanks A.J. That's good to hear.