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It should read FOUR days at the National but its so bad Im just sitting around in Baltimore because I cant drag myself down to the show anymore.
This is my 8th national in the last 9 years (missed Atlanta) and by far the worst one Ive been to.
Obviously, each person has their own need list and what not but from my standpoint, I have always had sucess finding massive amounts of game used, auto cards in everyones discount boxes. Not this show.
Ive never had problems finding GU stuff of Cano, Wright, Reyes, HOfers, stars etc in $2-$5 boxes. This show, the only players in those boxes are Cliff Floyd, Mark Prior and Ben Grieve. EVERY SINGLE GU BOX WAS LIKE THIS.
Hope no one came here for prospects, there maybe five dealers with them and if you go to the White Plains show, you know them.
I really dont go to the Nationals to get cards I can easily find online, I love to dig through discount boxes and find hidden gems. Outside of a few finds (2 '94 Super Star Sampler Bonds, 2 01 Heritage Chrome cards etc) its really dead.
I took a list of 1952 Topps from a customer (psa 6) and thought Id have no problem finding many of them as they are all commons but only ONE DEALER had any. Well except one who had them at 2-3x ebay.
Theres a really nice "joke" showcase with a guy trying to sell 1984 Ralston Nolan Ryan cards for $40 each and 1988 Donruss Eddie Murrays for $20 per. Or a table with a bunch of 1985 Topps jumbo cards lined up as if they were worth more than the table cloth they are sitting on.
And I cant recall ever seeing so many empty tables. Seriously, just open tables in the show and once you get to the back, theres a bunch of them just lined together. A delaer I know just took a whole booth extra...FOR FREE.
Now I hope every dealer does well, everyone of them, but the crowds were dead the first three days although today looks really crowded.
Theres always a ton of vintage and old collectibles at the National and this one is no different.
The lines for the Stras Heritage card are insane. Youd think they were autograped and numbered to 10. I heard that they had to shut down the line because of safety. Its like 1991 revisited almost.
And I was even let down by a place I read so many incredible reviews for and was kind of looking foward to eating at, Five Guys Burgers. To me nothing special. I mean, they are good (wasnt expecitng two burgers in one) and the fries are ok but the two diners by me have much better bugers and fries.
If it was up to me, eventhough Im an east coast guy, the National should always be in either Cleveland or Chicago. In my opinion, the last two times it was on the east coast they were the two worst ones Ive been to.
This is my 8th national in the last 9 years (missed Atlanta) and by far the worst one Ive been to.
Obviously, each person has their own need list and what not but from my standpoint, I have always had sucess finding massive amounts of game used, auto cards in everyones discount boxes. Not this show.
Ive never had problems finding GU stuff of Cano, Wright, Reyes, HOfers, stars etc in $2-$5 boxes. This show, the only players in those boxes are Cliff Floyd, Mark Prior and Ben Grieve. EVERY SINGLE GU BOX WAS LIKE THIS.
Hope no one came here for prospects, there maybe five dealers with them and if you go to the White Plains show, you know them.
I really dont go to the Nationals to get cards I can easily find online, I love to dig through discount boxes and find hidden gems. Outside of a few finds (2 '94 Super Star Sampler Bonds, 2 01 Heritage Chrome cards etc) its really dead.
I took a list of 1952 Topps from a customer (psa 6) and thought Id have no problem finding many of them as they are all commons but only ONE DEALER had any. Well except one who had them at 2-3x ebay.
Theres a really nice "joke" showcase with a guy trying to sell 1984 Ralston Nolan Ryan cards for $40 each and 1988 Donruss Eddie Murrays for $20 per. Or a table with a bunch of 1985 Topps jumbo cards lined up as if they were worth more than the table cloth they are sitting on.
And I cant recall ever seeing so many empty tables. Seriously, just open tables in the show and once you get to the back, theres a bunch of them just lined together. A delaer I know just took a whole booth extra...FOR FREE.
Now I hope every dealer does well, everyone of them, but the crowds were dead the first three days although today looks really crowded.
Theres always a ton of vintage and old collectibles at the National and this one is no different.
The lines for the Stras Heritage card are insane. Youd think they were autograped and numbered to 10. I heard that they had to shut down the line because of safety. Its like 1991 revisited almost.
And I was even let down by a place I read so many incredible reviews for and was kind of looking foward to eating at, Five Guys Burgers. To me nothing special. I mean, they are good (wasnt expecitng two burgers in one) and the fries are ok but the two diners by me have much better bugers and fries.
If it was up to me, eventhough Im an east coast guy, the National should always be in either Cleveland or Chicago. In my opinion, the last two times it was on the east coast they were the two worst ones Ive been to.
