Will anyone be giving a blow-by-blow account from the National this year?

[Snapolit1]

SGC did a great job for me. Only very minor complaint is the very nice guy helping me didn't know much about grading. But his job was to take submissions.

PSA line was nuts today ten minutes after the gates opened.

Bought nothing after 6 hours on Thursday and today bought an expensive card 5 minutes in the room.

Really have to wonder about the guy with half a table of Trump paraphernalia. I am not violating Leon's rule in that I'd make the same exact comment if it as Clinton stuff. Who would want to see political stuff when they are here to buy cards. I guess some people are just incapable of turning it off.

Al at LOTG had to be the busiest guy in the room. I stopped by a dozen times to say hello and every single time he was reviewing a consignment. Once was being interviewed.

White House sub shop is a ten minute walk. A nice walk. I pity people who are the dreck in the hall. The Tun Tavern right across from the center is a nice place. Was buzzing at lunch today. When you need to step out and get a beer it's a stones throw.

Was really amazed about all the youngsters. Roving 10 and 15 year olds. Was really cool to see. Collecting is not dead!

[Stonepony]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

SGC did a great job for me. Only very minor complaint is the very nice guy helping me didn't know much about grading. But his job was to take submissions.

PSA line was nuts today ten minutes after the gates opened.

Bought nothing after 6 hours on Thursday and today bought an expensive card 5 minutes in the room.

Really have to wonder about the guy with half a table of Trump paraphernalia. I am not violating Leon's rule in that I'd make the same exact comment if it as Clinton stuff. Who would want to see political stuff when they are here to buy cards. I guess some people are just incapable of turning it off.

Al at LOTG had to be the busiest guy in the room. I stopped by a dozen times to say hello and every single time he was reviewing a consignment. Once was being interviewed.

White House sub shop is a ten minute walk. A nice walk. I pity people who are the dreck in the hall. The Tun Tavern right across from the center is a nice place. Was buzzing at lunch today. When you need to step out and get a beer it's a stones throw.

Was really amazed about all the youngsters. Roving 10 and 15 year olds. Was really cool to see. Collecting is not dead!

What did you buy, if you don't mind?

[Vintagecatcher]

Just returned from 2016 Atlantic City National.

I drove down from Maine. Took a relaxing antiquing trip across New Hampshire to Vermont starting early on Wednesday. Was excited about how relaxing a trip it was taking this route. Unfortunately the 2nd half of the trip was a nightmare. New Jersey has the worst road signs in the country, and the traffic was bad including seeing the wreck of a smoldering 18 wheeler just prior to leaving NJ headed for Interstate 87 North on my trip home on Thursday afternoon. Lucky for me, I was headed North and the wreck was Southbound.

I reached the Atlantic City Convention Center a few hours before the opening on Thursday, and was excited about what surprises might lie ahead.

Here's my impression of the show.

I have been to Nationals in Cleveland, Atlanta, the original Atlantic City show, and Baltimore, and this show had a lot of open area at both the ends. Found the layout of dealers to be very fragmented with larger displays in the middle that broke up the flow of going row to row.

No doubt I was agitated from a crappy drive through New Jersey, but I viewed the entire show in only about 2 1/2 hours. Keep in mind, I had no interest in any autographs, new products, grading services, card breaks, auction houses...strictly an interest in 1905-1920 cards and memorabilia.

Of all the Nationals I have been to, I have never seen such a small amount of memorabilia. I also never recall seeing so many tables not ready to receive customers at the 10 opening at previous Nationals. I also noticed that prices were much higher compared to other Nationals I had been to in years past.

On a positive note, however, the show did have some nice T202s, T204s, T205s, T206s, T207s and T210s. One dealer had a display case full of nice 1909 Obaks. Don Hontz of Portand, Maine had a really nice selection of 1914 Cracker Jacks, 1915 Crack Jacks, and T205s at his table.

There also seemed to be a decent selection of nice postcards such as: Rose Co., Novelty Cutlery, Sepia, Ullmans, Sporting News etc.

Lucky for me, I did see one rare item that I was interested in acquiring in one of the tables at the far end opposite from the card break end.

As luck would have it, I was able to strike a trade deal with Tim N. from the board, and acquired this 1913 Ira Thomas cravats. That purchase was the lone saving grace from a disappointing show.


Patrick

[x2drich2000]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Bought nothing after 6 hours on Thursday and today bought an expensive card 5 minutes in the room.

I did almost the exact same thing. Wed I went searching for any e92 Nadjas I could find but came up completely empty. Thursday I tried to just find something different/unique but nothing really stood out. I did meet and complete a trade with ValKehl that netted me a e92 Nadja Schaeffer. This morning I ended up picking up a great looking t3 Johnson for a very reasonable price.

Overall I thought the show was pretty good and everyone who was complaining about the location missed out. I was able to Meet a ton of folks from the board (too many to name) while hanging out at Al's booth and just as many while roaming the floor. I think this was probably the highlight of the show for me. Below are a few of my other thoughts.

1) Dealers seemed to be doing well. Observed several deals being completed for over $1k. None of the dealers I spoke to were complaining about the amount of business they were getting.

2) Tons of 52 Topps Mantles available. I would say at least 30-40 were qavailable with several dealers having multiples in different grades available. Prices were all over the place, but I think the cheapest I saw priced was $10k. I did hear multiple discussions for the 51 bowman from attendees either looking to buy or sell.

3) Lots of T206s available including several dealers with rare backs. I know I saw red Hindu, Drum, multiple Uzits, etc. One dealer had a number of different oddities and another had cases filled with Cobbs, Youngs, Mathewsons, etc. The same dealer also had quantities of Goudey Ruth's, Gehrigs, etc. In general, caramels seemed to be in short supply.

4) AC - I thought the convention center was good enough. but about 1/4 of the convention center was reserved for the case break area. Every time I went pasta this area it seemed to be empty. This kind of made me wonder if the case break was smaller, would that open up the possiblity of different locations being considered for the future. At the same time, I spoke with several people that expressed confusion over the whole case break ideas.

Walking the streets seemed safe enough in the morning. Granted, I did not walk back in the evening. I could see how the streets outside the convention centers/outlet area could be less than friendly when the sun goes down.

That's all I can think of at the moment.
DJ