2025 National

[jprk31]

I got banned from watching a live whatnot of JoeHollywood since I said why are people paying $1300 for a pack of 2009-10 Topps Basketball pack and getting only $1 cards in return. Is this how the breakers in the Nationals? It’s a clown show!

[timber63401]

Heard of people waiting in line for 1 1/2 hours for there VIP passes. Do you not buy them and print them off a head of time? Or was that the wait to get in even with the pass in hand?

[hammerva]

Right now the top floor of the Hyatt is a huge unofficial trade night with lots of everything. On the bottom floor there is a horror convention and people are walking around in gimmick. Freaking wild

[byronscott4ever]

Originally Posted by hammerva

Right now the top floor of the Hyatt is a huge unofficial trade night with lots of everything. On the bottom floor there is a horror convention and people are walking around in gimmick. Freaking wild

Each group is probably eyeballing the other thinking they’re freaks

[longbomberz]

Originally Posted by timber63401

Heard of people waiting in line for 1 1/2 hours for there VIP passes. Do you not buy them and print them off a head of time? Or was that the wait to get in even with the pass in hand?

It was a line to get your QR code scanned in exchange for the actual physical pass you wear around your neck all week. They had 6 people total for both levels of VIP and the early access passes.

[Cracktoast]

Most videos I've watched while yes the crowds are insane seems like alot of window shopping and way more people standing in the buying lines trying to sell than buy. Several high profile influencers have stated there just isn't a lot of what they are looking for at the show. Most cases are crammed full of Kabooms and Downtowns or overly priced museum pieces that your average collector can't afford. Have even seen a couple who left and went home early because of the crowds and prices not being worth it.

[packman80]

Originally Posted by Cracktoast

Most videos I've watched while yes the crowds are insane seems like alot of window shopping and way more people standing in the buying lines trying to sell than buy. Several high profile influencers have stated there just isn't a lot of what they are looking for at the show. Most cases are crammed full of Kabooms and Downtowns or overly priced museum pieces that your average collector can't afford. Have even seen a couple who left and went home early because of the crowds and prices not being worth it.

Lot of these dealers at shows still refuse to admit they can't sell cards for covid prices and refuse to come down but yet if buying something they will low ball on comps saying sorry it's not covid pricing anymore.

[mrb842]

I thought yesterday was a lot lighter in terms of people. By the afternoon the main hall by the VIP entrance was very quiet. There were more staff at the booths of big guns like Leighton Sheldon and Steve Grad than there were customers.

Credit to ebay for bringing Gronk that was cool to see. The guy is an entertainer and knows how to work with kids. Also saw Frank the Tank getting recognized constantly and dwight gooden was out on the show floor.


The ac and wifi were great at least to me.

[glen87]

reading all of these just confirms my lack of desire to go

[Bob Ross]

For those that are going, how is it smelling in there? Are dealers showering prior to going?

Thanks!

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by packman80

Lot of these dealers at shows still refuse to admit they can't sell cards for covid prices and refuse to come down but yet if buying something they will low ball on comps saying sorry it's not covid pricing anymore.

This is precisely why I don't go to shows for cards. Other than the fact I'm six feet under.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

For those that are going, how is it smelling in there? Are dealers showering prior to going?

Thanks!

I didn't smell a single body odor the whole time. That's mostly a meme.

[Dacubs2]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

For those that are going, how is it smelling in there? Are dealers showering prior to going?

Thanks!

Actually, didn't notice any issues...maybe it was because it was a cooler day and the A/C was working

[solt0131]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

I didn't smell a single body odor the whole time. That's mostly a meme.

I can confirm this. The worst smell was upstairs at the trade night with all those guys crammed into a room

[messier2]

Now kids trying to sell the wristbands to trade night! Now I have seen it all! Lol

[notfast]

Originally Posted by Cracktoast

Most videos I've watched while yes the crowds are insane seems like alot of window shopping and way more people standing in the buying lines trying to sell than buy. Several high profile influencers have stated there just isn't a lot of what they are looking for at the show. Most cases are crammed full of Kabooms and Downtowns or overly priced museum pieces that your average collector can't afford. Have even seen a couple who left and went home early because of the crowds and prices not being worth it.

You shouldn’t base your opinions of anything off influencers.

[mrb842]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

For those that are going, how is it smelling in there? Are dealers showering prior to going?

Thanks!

I didn't do trade night but ac was great. Mild weather outside helped some but organizers did a good job there. Imagine 2 people standing back to back with backpacks an inch from each other and that was the upstairs mess. Entire massive upstairs area empty aside from the polite ladies selling one day wristbands but ac was still good up there.

[mrb842]

Originally Posted by messier2

Now kids trying to sell the wristbands to trade night! Now I have seen it all! Lol

the line for that when I left thursday long after the show ended was stretching to the highway and there were a lot of adults without kids and people with vip badges. This isn't 8 year olds and youtubers alone anymore.

As far as upstairs and who got the tables it was quite a few veteran dealers who either registered late/had set up at the national before and were now on their own/guys who set up at bigger regional shows as regulars. It was an interesting mix. The guy who is trying to collect a ticket from every michael jordan pro home or career game had a booth etc. Wasn't 12 year old hobbyist type things, some of these were serious people who have booths the same size at big regional shows that guys who were downstairs and had been set up for years.

[sonnyday]

**Ode to the 2nd Floor**
*at The National*

Oh, 2nd Floor—thou misfit maze of men and cards,
Cramped and crowded, loud with hope and hustle,
Where modern ruled but vintage whispered
from tucked-away corners like forgotten legends.

To reach you, one had to rise.
Up the escalator—a slow, creaking pilgrimage—
Past the curious, the clueless, and the already-regretting.
No signs. No guideposts. Just faith.
Faith that the top held treasure.

And what a reward awaited.
New dealers, bright-eyed and badge-wearing,
Jammed elbow-to-elbow, table-to-table,
As if the layout had been drafted by a blindfolded intern
with a ruler and a dream.

Three rows deep—tight as top loaders in a shoebox.
The middle row? A gauntlet.
A cruel passage where shoulders brushed,
Deals stalled, and frustration brewed.
Only the brave dared enter—and few returned the same.

It was, in the kindest terms,
a beautiful, chaotic *#@#@#@#@ show*.

And yet
Amid the madness, the shouting, the shimmer of slabs
There was joy.
The kind of joy found in first-time trades,
In haggled comps, in that one guy
selling PMGs next to \$2 Pokemon bulk.

All of it crammed into a sliver of a hall
while acres of open space loomed beyond,
quiet and useless
like a joke with no punchline.

But still we climbed.
And still we stayed.
Because for all its dysfunction,
The 2nd Floor had soul.
If you know, you know.

Oh glorious, sweat-slicked, slab-slinging second floor,
You weren’t perfect.
But you were ours.
And we loved your #@#@#@#@ show anyway.

[hammerva]

Originally Posted by messier2

Now kids trying to sell the wristbands to trade night! Now I have seen it all! Lol

The trade night to me was a perfect example of the major problem the National currently has. Either they have horrible communication with the convention center or literally has no idea what they are planning on doing until midnight the previous day.

On Thursday, I went up for the trade night and said you need a wristband. Fine when I found out I would have to wait outside that was wrapped around the street near the Hyatt I said NOPE and went back to my crappy Holiday Inn Express (side note you can do much better for a little bit ore). Looked online and people mentioned that you could have bought bands during the show. I never saw that info anywhere.

On Friday I plan on getting my wrist band. No real idea where to get the band but a bunch of people found. Get to the top floor somewhere and I am confused there are VIP and GA in the same line. I really wasn't sure I would get one. Again no communication. In talking to people in line, they were talking about not needing a wristband at all. What the hell did they just give up in the middle of the night? So now the trade night is about to start and we go to where the line was for trade night Wednesday. Nope you had to go somewhere else to get to the line. Probably about 20% of the people in the line didn't have wristbands and boy were they in for a surprise when they started checking.

[Imnottheonly]

Originally Posted by mrb842

I thought yesterday was a lot lighter in terms of people. By the afternoon the main hall by the VIP entrance was very quiet. There were more staff at the booths of big guns like Leighton Sheldon and Steve Grad than there were customers.

Credit to ebay for bringing Gronk that was cool to see. The guy is an entertainer and knows how to work with kids. Also saw Frank the Tank getting recognized constantly and dwight gooden was out on the show floor.


The ac and wifi were great at least to me.

I think that things started to quiet down as people started to lineup for trade night, because I also noticed a lull on Friday afternoon starting around 4:30-ish which I loved because it made it super easy to see booths without having to shimmy between bodies.

[csmtampa]

The trade nights are better than the show. Lots of fun incredible cards and people willing to move stuff at or below comps.

The random 2 am hotel trade nights are also awesome!!

[JPSportshack]

I had the AA VIP this year and it wasn't worth it. For starters, Tristar was a cluster#@#@#@#@ with a guy screaming into the mic so you could barely understand what he was saying and an asinine screen that you couldn't see because they stuck it on the ground. So the AA line priority was generally worthless. The parking pass was a nice way to avoid paying for it daily but we don't use the in/out privileges which is a big part of the value. Throw in the dysfunction of VIP pickup where they didn't give us everything we were supposed to get. We picked everything up on Wednesday before the line was longer than 10 people so there was no excuse for them to be so careless. Question... Did everyone who got a parking pass have a hole punched in their credential? I barely noticed anyone with holes in theirs but the lady insisted to show I had my parking pass.

We will be happy with the CSS and likely skip the National next year. I've made many more deals and seen much better inventory when Schwartz is running the show. And parents...have little Johnny go online and look at Kabooms and Downtowns. They are out of control. Some may think it's cute but it's a sad symptom of millennials who have no clue how to parent their own kids because they never experienced any consequential parenting done by their own parents.

Two years ago there was something at nearly every table. Now things are being set out to draw in these entitled KIDS who clog up the aisles with their personalized roller cases. There was MAYBE 25% of the show that had low-mid priced cards, 25% high dollar vintage cards, 10% "museum"/auction house, and 40% of the Kaboom/DT type of junk & places buying only that garbage. I made two fun deals in the area by the Autos and nothing aside from that. It all felt like the Fanatics[fest] disease is slowly making it's way in to kill off what the National's core has been since the beginning.

[ThoseBackPages]

what an amazing time!

Nothing like The National

[mrb842]

Celebrities I saw in person on the show floor thursday/friday I was there.

Gronk at Ebay, Doc Gooden walking towards something at the front of the main hall where Steve Grad et al were set up, John Calipari filming something at good guy Jimmy Mahan from Kentucky Cardshow booth, Dwight Howard walking through the hall that had becket to go to his signing. Didn't see the brady stuff. May have missed others. Rex Ryan shows up at the Sun Times show sometimes.