My experience at first card show since 2018

[campyfan39]

Leon, if this is in the wrong place I apologize and please move

I haven't been to a card show since 2018 because of health problems and the bills that came with them. I have lived vicariously through you guys on net54. I have gone to the shows in Raleigh at the fairgrounds since I was 12 in 1985 with my father. He passed away in 2004. I did go to one "Toy, Hobby and Card Show" a couple years ago but it was mostly vintage toys and comics etc. This show was a real treat. Here are a few observations:

I was stunned at how much vintage was there. Lots of pre war cards. I saw things I had not ever seen in person. There were Ruths, Gehrigs, Cobbs, Jacksons, etc. everywhere. One guy had 7 red Cobbs! (I have not ever been to the National or any "huge" show so this was like being in a museum). Definitely the most I have ever seen in Raleigh. And the conditions were off the chart.

Almost everything was graded. I was really surprised to see how many of the cards were graded. As someone who dislikes grading and busts out any I buy encased, I was taken aback by the sheer percentage. The grading companies are making a fortune!

Sticker shock! It was nuts how much people were asking for cards graded 2-3. Even ungraded cards like 60's Mantle's had prices on them of 2-3x what I have seen on here and on ebay. I would think cards would be less at shows because of less fees etc.? So much for a "crash" in the market.

Finally, I only own one t206, (Eddie Cicotte because "Field of Dreams" was my Dad's favorite movie) but you can bet I looked through every T206 common there today and not even ONE Steve Evans!!!! I was hoping t get my wife something really nice for Christmas. Oh well.

Thanks for reading and don't take for granted owning any of these gems or just being able to walk around a show for a few hours and see so many beautiful pieces of history! I din't buy a thing but had a wonderful time.

[JollyElm]

That's a great post (with all sorts of heart bubbling to the surface). Well done! If you can afford the stuff or not (I can't), walking around a card show is like sniffing a brand new Rawlings mitt in the springtime. Love, adoration and nostalgia all wonderfully mixed together to make everything right in the world.

I'm hitting a show this weekend, so hopefully it'll be as rife with the vintage stuff as your show was!!