How long has your town been without a card show?

wallyscards · Jan 25, 2015

I know card shows are pretty much a thing of the past for a lot of locations and was wondering how long those of you that no longer have shows in your town how long have you been without? Our town is going on about 3 years since we've had one. We do have flea markets in the fall and winter but most of the dealers there are the ones that are still trying to unload the garage full on 1988 Donruss they bought back then. We do have 2 card shops but no shows. I would have to drive almost 3 hours to go to the closest one and that one isn't worth it all.

gamecockfanatic · Jan 25, 2015

one ambitious guy put one on here back in either 2008 or 2009....he wanted me to set up but i wasn't able at the time....he later told me the show was an utter disaster ..... he went on to tell me that i should have been there because literally NO ONE had any south carolina game**** (or even any other instate schools like sc state or clemson) material which was pretty much what all the customers were looking for (fwiw , i've been told i have one of the top 2-3 usc collections and that even a handful of my excess items would have been enough to steal the show).....aside from that one show , the last one i recall HERE was one of the interstate exit-ramp hotel shows WAAAAAAY back around 1997 or 1998....if our re-entry in the market/show circuit is successful , i'd love to try to help get a monthly or at least bi-monthly show going somewhere here in town....

mrmopar · Jan 25, 2015

South Dakota…is there even a card store in your State? Just kidding, of course.

I am not aware of any card stores in the actual City I live in, nor has there been one since I moved here in 2001 (maybe it's waiting for me to open one), but there are still a few in the surrounding areas within anywhere from 5-6 miles to 25+ miles. Living within 30-45 minutes of Seattle helps, I'm sure.

mrmopar · Jan 25, 2015

I guess I misread show as shop. Same difference these days almost.

wallyscards · Jan 25, 2015

The one we had was one of the best ones we had in a long time. It was held on a Sunday in a really nice new hotel meeting room and the rent was cheap. The promoter was originally from here but had moved a few hours away so it was kind of hard for him to get back very often.I'm somewhat at fault for the show stopping. I was talking to the promoter and he was saying how he really liked doing the show and that he sold out on tables really fast but when he saw I was interested in several things he had and I ended up buying out his along with three other dealers entire inventory. I emailed him a few times but never heard back from him again. There has been talk but no one has ever brought a show back.

wallyscards · Jan 25, 2015

mrmopar said:
South Dakota…is there even a card store in your State? Just kidding, of course.

I am not aware of any card stores in the actual City I live in, nor has there been one since I moved here in 2001 (maybe it's waiting for me to open one), but there are still a few in the surrounding areas within anywhere from 5-6 miles to 25+ miles. Living within 30-45 minutes of Seattle helps, I'm sure.

Being from South Dakota I get that a lot but we have a ton of collectors here. Just a few years ago we had 5 shops along with a few that were part of a grocery store chain. I rent some space in local antique malls and sell a ton of cards that way. It's not like it was back in the "good ol' days" but nothing ever is.

CollectorsCorner · Jan 25, 2015

One of the better shops I have ever been apart of is in South Dakota. I used to go to the show when it was held at the fair grounds.

I am lucky here in WA I can go to 1-3 shows a month if I am willing to do a bit of driving.

wallyscards · Jan 25, 2015

CollectorsCorner said:
One of the better shops I have ever been apart of is in South Dakota. I used to go to the show when it was held at the fair grounds.

I am lucky here in WA I can go to 1-3 shows a month if I am willing to do a bit of driving.

What shop was it? They have the flea market in one building at the fairgrounds and the card shows were in another. The last one I remember there was on a Saturday when a major snow storm hit a couple hours before the show opened. I think 5 dealers showed up and for a couple of hours I was the only customer there. I got some great deals that day. lol

BiggioBrooks755 · Jan 25, 2015

Ummmm...The closest one is/was in Milwaukee about 5 years ago...None in my city that I am aware of

Anyone have a link that would show potential card shows? I know there was a really good one but I cant remember the name

CollectorsCorner · Jan 25, 2015

Triple Play it's still there and still thriving

wallyscards · Jan 25, 2015

You worked there? When was that? I used to go there from time to time and I've known Dennis for years way before he started Triple Play. He's a great guy. I spent most of my time buying collections, going to shows and selling online so I didn't get to spend as much time at shops as I would have liked.

wallyscards · Jan 25, 2015

Then you might remember Jay from Rainbow. He just died on the 13th of this month. That was the first shop I ever went to back in 1985. As far as I know they are going to keep it open. http://www.heartlandfunerals.com/jay-andrew-johnson/

CollectorsCorner · Jan 26, 2015

2003-2006 maybe can't remember when I moved. Didn't hear about Jay that sucks.

u2me57 · Jan 26, 2015

wallyscards said:
Then you might remember Jay from Rainbow. He just died on the 13th of this month. That was the first shop I ever went to back in 1985. As far as I know they are going to keep it open. http://www.heartlandfunerals.com/jay-andrew-johnson/

Thanks for this thread and the link about Jay. I am sorry about your loss. From what I read he seemed like a great person. He died way too young.

It's been about 12 years since we had a show or a shop here. That was the only show I have been to. It only had 1 or 2 tables and maybe 4 or 5 people were there. I bought my 1st Jim Thome game used card there. I think Beckett magazine used to list upcoming shows but the grocery stores here have quit selling them. Really sad to see the shows and shops fading away.

BBCgalaxee · Jan 26, 2015

Probably close to a decade for the Bronx and that's ridiculous.

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Keyser Soze · Jan 26, 2015

Houston has 2 Tri-Star shows a year. Now some new guys, GT Sports Marketing, are trying to compete with Tri-Star and are also having 2 shows a year. I haven't made one of their shows yet, but I hear it's really slow. They have great autograph guests so maybe some traffic will follow. TriStar coming in less than 3 weeks!!

MojoDan · Jan 26, 2015

BBCgalaxee said:
Probably close to a decade for the Bronx and that's ridiculous.

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Is that right? I would've thought there'd be card shows all over New York considering the loyalty they seem to have to their teams.

smapdi · Jan 26, 2015

NYC has the most expensive hotel space. I heard a guy a couple years ago saying he'd have to charge something like $300 per table in addition to hoping 250 people would pay $7 admission to put on a 50-table show. Not sure where in the city he was talking about, or what amount of profit would have been "worth it" but at those numbers it sounds prohibitive. As I understand the economics of these things, table fees generally cover the room/table/chairs, etc., and admission fees are the promoter's profit. This would be an ordinary hotel show with no autograph guests or anything fancy.

Austin went the same way. There's a guy who basically inherited the monthly show from the guy who ran them for years, but he gave it up because hotel space was going up geometrically in the last decade, and the price he had to charge for tables was prohibitive for the weekend warrior type dealers around the area. I guess the last show I know of that would be considered a real show was in the summer of 2010, about 30 tables in a hotel. I had hopes that that would turn into a regular thing, but it was 1-and-done.

phillyfan0417 · Jan 26, 2015

I guess i'm lucky since milwaukee has two every month.

they arent great but we do have at least a good selection of sellers and various niches. One has a really cool odd-ball auction which you can pick up stuff fairly cheap...

BBCgalaxee · Jan 26, 2015

MojoDan said:
Is that right? I would've thought there'd be card shows all over New York considering the loyalty they seem to have to their teams.

Until the mid 90s, there was a monthly show which was popular.

There's been two shows in the Bronx over the last 17 years, one in '98 and the last within the past ten years, both by the same promoter.

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