Will this year's National break 1991 Attendance Record?

[BBCgalaxee]

The 1991 National is probably the craziest show ever held with about 94,000 in attendance.

I ask you all if you think this year's will surpass that because of several reasons:

1. Obscene amount of new collectors have entered over the past year with an abundance of mainstream press about our hobby.

2. No show last year

3. EVERY VIP admission sold out, all of them.

4. In fact, the National just yesterday announced an early admission deal which is identical to the sold out VIP, minus all the freebies and autos, for the same price of $139

5. It was also just announced that SIXTY percent of the early admission deals have been sold in about a day.

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[finestkind]

I wish the national would come to Boston. But that will never happen because it would cost so much for someone to rent the whole big convention hall in Boston. The union that is used to set up and run the convention center charge to much. The hotels are expensive and there's no where to park around the convention center. And the state owns the place. They only do trade shows there. Sports card shows are not trade shows according to them.

 

[WizardofOz1982]

I wish it would come further west. Kansas City or Dallas would be great.

 

[magicpapa]

I wish the national would come to Boston. But that will never happen because it would cost so much for someone to rent the whole big convention hall in Boston. The union that is used to set up and run the convention center charge to much. The hotels are expensive and there's no where to park around the convention center. And the state owns the place. They only do trade shows there. Sports card shows are not trade shows according to them.

 

[thelesquad]

I wish it would come further west. Kansas City or Dallas would be great.

Yes!

 

[smapdi]

It'll never be in Texas again, sadly. The group that decides where it is is mostly based in the east, and they point to the time it was in Arlington and had relatively small attendance 30 years ago as the reason why. Also, there are considerations like the amount of contiguous space needed and the costs involved they say rule out any place except the small number of sites they've been rotating through, but who knows. Personally, as an Austin resident, I'd love for it to come back either to DFW or Houston (or Austin, why not), but I don't think that's in the cards for the next decade at least.

I think they will have very high attendance, but I'll go out on a sturdy limb and say I don't think they'll reach 100K like in 1991.

 

[Dilferules]

As a west coaster the only National I ever went to was 2006 in Anaheim. I can't justify the time and money to fly to Chicago or further just to go to a card show...it's a lot of fun but ultimately anything I can find there I can eventually find online with no travel time/expense/hassle. It'll never come to Seattle and evidently there are issues with booking the Anaheim convention center that mean it won't go there so I'm probably out of luck. The Bay Area seems like an expensive place to have it.

As to whether it'll break the attendance record this year...the hobby was far more widespread in 1991 and there was no internet, so I would doubt it. Plus I feel like the current interest in cards peaked about 3 or 4 months ago and is slowly dropping as the new people can get out more and go back to what they did for fun before. But hey who knows, maybe 95,000 baller vloggers will show up.

 

[maestracewslover]

I went to that one in Anaheim in the early 2000s and I gotta say it was boring. Nothing like 1991 which was a zoo. I say keep it on the east coast. I think the east draws more people and better guests for some reason. That last Anaheim one, the highlight of my day was seeing up close Greg Brady and the soup ****. Maybe the hobby at the time just stunk. Those days were really stagnant for the hobby. It would be taking a chance putting it out here.


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[zyceoa]

Will the show break the record for marked up retail? That's my biggest concern.

 

[Greg Cleveland]

My only National was in 1995, St. Louis. Went 3 days--with my wife one day, and friends the other two. Got so many promos and autographs then. St. Louis would be a good place to bring it back to, but I think they like cities that have a team from the big four sports. Hey--Twin Cities!!!

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[mrmopar]

I started to notice that a majority of my purchases come from the East Coast. Collectors are everywhere and I get plenty of stuff from other places, but I could check tracking on 10 items and I bet 6+ are east Coast, from Florida to Maine. Of course, it also adds wait time to all these packages too!

I live on the West Coast as well. I like the idea of the show and I'm sure attending one might have been enjoyable years ago. Now, I just feel I would not have the energy or patience to deal with the crowds, cost and all that walking. Especially with the rise in internet selling in the last 2 decades, I just don't see the need either. I still to this day have an issue with paying an entrance fee to attend an event that is designed for me to enter and give vendors money for stuff. It plays out like the promotor and vendors are giving the buyer this great opportunity to give them your money, so you should be happy to pay an entrance fee on top for that opportunity to spend more money. Nope, not for me.

I get that there are costs associated with a show like this and I also get that it is a convenience for everyone to be in one spot for buyers, but consider that buyers have to travel to the show already. I'd guess people are spending 3-4 figures easily BEFORE they even get in the door. Especially with the popularity of internet selling, nobody is holding items just to try to sell them there is my guess, besides maybe a few surprise reveals. Just about anything you'll find there is for sale online somewhere. I'm sure there are bargains to be uncovered in bargain boxes, but its just not worth it to me.

It is the promotors who seem to make out best. Rent, table fees, tickets, concessions, etc. Maybe I am wrong though, as I have not promoted or been involved in the promotion of a show before.

 

[theplasticman]

I've gone a couple times. The spectacle of it is fun but for my collecting pursuits, I found zippo.

 

[nevermore]

There were 64K attendees in 2019, will likely break 100K this year. There will be a ton of interest this year. Naturally from collectors, but more so from the new companies entering in the hobby space. The NSCC may evolve from being a show of simply dealers selling cards to what comic con has become for the entertainment industry, a marketing extravaganza for the sports world.

Beckett just posted the Industry Summit in September will be open to the public. In the past, the Summit appeared to be a room full of dealers attending PowerPoints presentations. We will have to wait and see what it will evolve into this year.
https://www.beckett.com/news/2021-i...red-by-fanatics-auctions-coming-to-las-vegas/

I went in Atlantic City a few years back which was blast. I would love to go, but it is not worth the time and travel expense to attend these in the Midwest. With limited vacation days, I'd rather take a weeklong trip with my family.

 

[Philip J. Fry]

My only National was in 1995, St. Louis. Went 3 days--with my wife one day, and friends the other two. Got so many promos and autographs then. St. Louis would be a good place to bring it back to, but I think they like cities that have a team from the big four sports. Hey--Twin Cities!!!

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Mine was Cleveland in 1997, same year the All-Star Game was played there.

 

[DeliciousBacon]

I bet half the tables are gonna have gigantic INVEST signs with the rising stock emoji plastered all over them.

 

[theplasticman]

I bet half the tables are gonna have gigantic INVEST signs with the rising stock emoji plastered all over them.

haha. I was at the Wisconsin Dells show last month. It was quite good for vintage and then prospects. Lots of wax. I saw a bit of the tacky "invest" stuff but not as much as I'd have assumed would be there.

 

[SecondToNone]

Yes!

I like it just where it is... 8 miles from my house! I plan on spending most of Friday there. Hope to see everyone there!

 

[Shaggy]

I wish it would come further west. Kansas City or Dallas would be great.

Vegas would work for me!

 

[Dilferules]

Vegas would work for me!

Vegas would be an obvious choice, too bad the dealers are worried buyers will blow all their card money gambling.

 

[WizardofOz1982]

Vegas would work for me!

Vegas is a nightmare. I hated having to go there when the International Jewelers tradeshow was there. We would literally fly in Friday night and leave Saturday night to avoid the headache.