Philly Show

[ValKehl]

I drove up from No. VA and was at the Show nearly all day on Saturday (only because my wife had taken the car and gone shopping!). It appears to me that the Philly Show has declined to the point that it is now comparable to the Chantilly, VA, Show, which takes place only a few miles from where I live. Like other long-time collectors, I long for the Willow Grove and Ft. Washington Shows of the 1980's and 1990's. I have attended the Philly Show about once a year over recent years, but this may have been my last one. I was able to pick up my winnings from the recent LOTG and H&S Auctions, and I used the shipping costs I saved to help justify my going to the show. Al C., it's always great to chat with you! I also enjoyed chatting with DJ, Steve H., several dealers, and a few collectors I didn't know. I found next to nothing for my collection - only bought two very inexpensive cards, one of them from a collector who was trying to sell his stuff to dealers.
Val

[Jewish-collector]

I too have been going to this Philly show since the Motor Lodge days and followed the show to Ft. Washington and then Reading and now to Valley Forge. I used to stay overnight on occasion at the Ft. Washington show because I needed 2 days to get through the whole show.

For this past show, I was there most of Friday. The best part of the show was talking to Al of LOTG. The show really has substantially gone downhill. This particular day that I was there was probably the worst Friday I've ever been to at this show. The number of dealers was significantly down from previous shows there. There was a table with lounge chairs in the middle of the show where 2 or 3 tables could have been. Plus, there were tables with the dealer's name tag, but nothing there. I don't know if they were bringing their cards on Saturday and/or Sunday. It seemed that there was a lot of open space where tables had been in previous shows.

It might be the beginning of the end. I hope not, though.