2025 National

[ThoseBackPages]

The National this year had...

Breakers
Sellers
Buyers
Collectors
Poke-Fans
Flippers
‘Packers
Non-Sporters
Observers
Others as well!

They were all there this year. ALL of them intermingled with each other intentionally or not, it happened.

We as a Hobby are better for it.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by 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.

What an old man yelling at clouds take.

I don't like it because those kids are the future of our hobby. Kids like the hot new thing, and that's ok. They're kids. Quit blaming kids being kids on parents and generations and embrace the fact that our hobby is once again attractive to the younger generation. They will eventually mature into avid collectors and acquire tastes for truly good cards. Be patient with kids and usher them along in their collectiing journey. Don't just write them off because they collect differently than you.

[Redbirdgrad]

Originally Posted by 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.

With all due respect, I hope you don't return to the National. The over-generalization in your post does more bad for the hobby than anything you just complained about.

It's probably best to start looking at coin collecting or maybe doing puzzles...

Everyone's allowed to collect what they want to collect and should be encouraged to do so. It's a shared hobby. No disrespect here, but if you don't like the vibe of the show, that's on you to decide whether or not to return.

[auctionjmm]

Originally Posted by JPSportshack

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.

What??? Thank God you are skipping next year. That show doesn't need someone like you lurking around with steam coming out of your ears.

[regionrat]

I was at the National for 3 days. Lots of Walking. I had fun. The layout could be better. The layout of the new upstairs area of the show was very bad. The upstairs aisles were very narrow and they had a bunch of unused space that could have been used to make those aisles much wider.

[jjrpilot]

This was my 3rd National in a row. It was the first time that I was able to sell everything that I wanted to sell which was nice. I picked up 2 cards this year, a nice, early auto of Ichiro and a nice rookie that I've wanted to add to my PC for awhile now.

Body odor was absolutely horrible in the skywalk on Wednesday as the VIP line stretched forever long. It took me almost 2 hours to get the badge.

Other than that it was quiet enjoyable. I got to meet up with some great hobby friends etc. I hope to be able to go again next year but we'll see. Apparently I'm going to some golf course in April somewhere in Georgia next year so we'll see if I'm able to sneak the National in again...

[Gatorsmld]

As someone who has never been to a National but would really like it to come to Atlanta or Nashville(wishful thinking), I have some questions I hope can be answered.

1. Do you have to buy one pass every day, or can you buy one pass for the whole thing?
2. Would everyone recommend the VIP for early access?
3. I tend to stay more in the $1-$20 range of cards. Are there lots of those boxes/tables to go through or is this a more high end show?

Thanks for any help!

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by Gatorsmld

As someone who has never been to a National but would really like it to come to Atlanta or Nashville(wishful thinking), I have some questions I hope can be answered.

1. Do you have to buy one pass every day, or can you buy one pass for the whole thing?
2. Would everyone recommend the VIP for early access?
3. I tend to stay more in the $1-$20 range of cards. Are there lots of those boxes/tables to go through or is this a more high end show?

Thanks for any help!

1. You can buy daily passes, a 5-day pass, or one of the VIP passes that includes admission every day. Whatever you want.

2. If you are going more than 2 days, I recommend the VIP passes. The swag you get can be sold to recoup some of the costs, the early entry is nice, and the VIP lounge is a major benefit for a nice place to sit down and relax during a long day on the show floor. (and in Cleveland the VIP bathrooms were a HUGE benefit given the long lines on the show floor).

3. There are enough $1-$20 boxes to keep you busy the whole week.

[JuniorDandy]

Originally Posted by Gatorsmld

As someone who has never been to a National but would really like it to come to Atlanta or Nashville(wishful thinking), I have some questions I hope can be answered.

1. Do you have to buy one pass every day, or can you buy one pass for the whole thing?
2. Would everyone recommend the VIP for early access?
3. I tend to stay more in the $1-$20 range of cards. Are there lots of those boxes/tables to go through or is this a more high end show?

Thanks for any help!

1. You can either buy a GA ticket for the individual days you choose or a VIP/Early Entry pass for all 5 days, depends on how many days you want to be there.
2. Honestly, I would say no. I have done VIP for the last several years. The included "gifts" have steadily declined in quality and now most are just ads for companies. The main benefit in my opinion is to be able to be on the floor earlier to avoid the chaos of the large crowd however the last 2 years they have really struggled with getting the badges to people in advance to be able to get on the floor early Wednesday. I also noticed this year they randomly decided to start letting GA on the floor at 9:30 instead of the advertised 10. I just don't see the value in doing VIP anymore.
3. Yes, there are many tables for all price ranges. Some booths are nothing but lower value and some are higher.

[Gatorsmld]

Originally Posted by JuniorDandy

1. You can either buy a GA ticket for the individual days you choose or a VIP/Early Entry pass for all 5 days, depends on how many days you want to be there.
2. Honestly, I would say no. I have done VIP for the last several years. The included "gifts" have steadily declined in quality and now most are just ads for companies. The main benefit in my opinion is to be able to be on the floor earlier to avoid the chaos of the large crowd however the last 2 years they have really struggled with getting the badges to people in advance to be able to get on the floor early Wednesday. I also noticed this year they randomly decided to start letting GA on the floor at 9:30 instead of the advertised 10. I just don't see the value in doing VIP anymore.
3. Yes, there are many tables for all price ranges. Some booths are nothing but lower value and some are higher.

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

1. You can buy daily passes, a 5-day pass, or one of the VIP passes that includes admission every day. Whatever you want.

2. If you are going more than 2 days, I recommend the VIP passes. The swag you get can be sold to recoup some of the costs, the early entry is nice, and the VIP lounge is a major benefit for a nice place to sit down and relax during a long day on the show floor. (and in Cleveland the VIP bathrooms were a HUGE benefit given the long lines on the show floor).

3. There are enough $1-$20 boxes to keep you busy the whole week.

Appreciate you both taking the time to respond. Lots to consider.

[notfast]

The early entry pass is what people should be buying if they are going for 4-5 days of the show.

Get in an hour before general admission and not have to worry about getting a wristband each day.

[thepilluh]

Badge Pickup was available Tuesday from 1-4. I didn't make it then, but I went over at around 9:00am Wednesday to get mine and there was no line at all. It looked like everyone showed up around 2 or so to pickup their badge and thus the long waits. Just proving other options for people next year.

[JPSportshack]

I picked up our VIP badges Wednesday at 1 after waiting only a few minutes in line. Things from the '23 National informed a lot of my timing decisions in the leadup to the main floor opening. The autograph lines at the party weren't bad if you got in line 15 minutes before they started to sign.

I do agree with others about AA VIP/VIP/Early Entry. AA VIP's only benefit was the parking pass. In action, there wasn't any line priority with Tristar and they got rid of the double gifts. VIP Autos are pretty useless and as others have said, the bags they give out are filled with junk. They also do not give entry priority to either VIP package over the EE passholders. So unless this changes, EE is the way to go. The AA VIP felt like a complete waste of money.

[messier2]

Binge watching National videos on YouTube now...man, that was fun! Wish it lasted longer!

Anyone else watching these vids?

[Seahawks fan]

I'm finally ready financially/collector focused to go to a National so I paid attention more than ever this year watching videos, looking at social media posts, and in the main Seahawks group we had everyone posting pics of what they saw (basically anything Seahawks). All I have to say is I didn't see a single reason to go. All of the cards were astronomically marked up, maybe 2 actual rare/unseen 1/1s, WAAAAAAYYYY too much graded stuff, Hawks fans leaving basically empty handed/with barely anything, too much of the usual 2020+ mass produced stuff you see at any and all card shows like Downtowns/Kabooms/Pokemon/junk you can pull from retail, the jersey shore looking influencer/breaker bunch, and the usual ancient Vintage/Brand New stuff/Unlicensed stuff that doesn't suit any interests of mine.

So I ask for the ones that were there a few questions...

Was there a good amount of Hockey?
Was there lots of unopened Wax from 2002-2012 in Football?
Were there lots of boxes to dig through of cards that weren't junk of cards pre 2020 (mainly 98-2012 in football).
How is the Non Sports/Wrestling pre 2020 represented?
How easy is it to find a table to sit down at and trade/bust wax?

Would love to go some day but if the emphasis is on Star Wars cards attached to Gold chains, Jelly Roll 1/1s, Repacks galore, Vee Friends, and insane prices for no reason. I will probably only go if it's very close.

[JuniorDandy]

Originally Posted by Seahawks fan

Was there a good amount of Hockey?

I have been to about 20 or so and felt this was the most I had seen at one. I was especially encouraged by the amount of people I saw walking the floor trying to sell to the hockey dealers (it was essentially constant at their tables) and the effort from GP to have a hockey trade night (which was just a few tables in the massive regular trade night but it was the first representation I had seen at one) and I am hoping they continue to expand the upstairs area next year which might allow more.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by Seahawks fan

I'm finally ready financially/collector focused to go to a National so I paid attention more than ever this year watching videos, looking at social media posts, and in the main Seahawks group we had everyone posting pics of what they saw (basically anything Seahawks). All I have to say is I didn't see a single reason to go. All of the cards were astronomically marked up, maybe 2 actual rare/unseen 1/1s, WAAAAAAYYYY too much graded stuff, Hawks fans leaving basically empty handed/with barely anything, too much of the usual 2020+ mass produced stuff you see at any and all card shows like Downtowns/Kabooms/Pokemon/junk you can pull from retail, the jersey shore looking influencer/breaker bunch, and the usual ancient Vintage/Brand New stuff/Unlicensed stuff that doesn't suit any interests of mine.

So I ask for the ones that were there a few questions...

Was there a good amount of Hockey? Yes. More hockey than I've ever seen at a show.
Was there lots of unopened Wax from 2002-2012 in Football? Yes.
Were there lots of boxes to dig through of cards that weren't junk of cards pre 2020 (mainly 98-2012 in football). A TON of those types of boxes. You could spend more than one day digging through them. I spent 2 hours alone digging in Greenie's booth (I was digging through baseball, but they had just as much football).
How is the Non Sports/Wrestling pre 2020 represented? more than I've ever seen. Unsurprisingly, Hulk Hogan stuff was everywhere, which brought out lots of wrestling stuff.
How easy is it to find a table to sit down at and trade/bust wax? Hard. That's where the VIP pass shines. Unless you have access to the VIP lounge, tables are hard to come by. One wall had a bunch of chairs that no one seemed to sit in as they were out of the way, but the tables in the lobby were always full.

Would love to go some day but if the emphasis is on Star Wars cards attached to Gold chains, Jelly Roll 1/1s, Repacks galore, Vee Friends, and insane prices for no reason. I will probably only go if it's very close.

See bolded answers above.

I think you are watching the wrong videos. This show is so large that content creators are really only able to scratch the surface of what is there and focus on their own interests.

As for prices, just like every show ever, stickers are high. However, my experience was that most dealers would negotiate prices to levels that actually resulted in some really nice deals.

[mrb842]

the hockey was mostly .10/.25 cent insert cards priced up to $1-$3 of 3/4th line guys. If you thought you were going to find $100 young guns at $5-$25 you were sol.

there was football everywhere.

non sports was very tricky to find and tended to be 90s junk. I don't do wrestling so no comment. RBIcru7 sells a ton of it.

There were areas to sit down in the corporate side of things but the upper deck booth had signs that they only wanted upper deck products opened there. A lot of show veterans bring mobile 3 legged chairs to sit down that you can unfold and some booths were actually selling them. You could also just walk into the lobby which was massive and there were tons of tables by the coffee shop. Walmart had a really nice booth with nice couches to sit down. It's the national, if you want something it's there. There was one booth that was even dedicated to selling Japanese cards and memorabilia and was selling an Ohatani ad from 2016.

[dcbaseballcards]

Originally Posted by Gatorsmld

Appreciate you both taking the time to respond. Lots to consider.

I would add that the VIP early access is worth it, especially after selling some of the freebies. But non-VIPs can use the random spots upstairs in the convention center to sit on couches/chairs or the floor. Those areas are much quieter than the VIP lounge which was always hectic.

[Super32]

VIP was easily worth it.

Cost $200

Sold roughly $100 out of it - Auto sheet $25, Gary Vee Sticker Pack $30, Panini Set $25, UD Set $10, Leaf Set $8

and I didn't have to wait in the long lines!

Also, if you left on Friday or Saturday you could sell your badge for $25-$50 fairly easily.

Originally Posted by dcbaseballcards

I would add that the VIP early access is worth it, especially after selling some of the freebies. But non-VIPs can use the random spots upstairs in the convention center to sit on couches/chairs or the floor. Those areas are much quieter than the VIP lounge which was always hectic.

[ThoseBackPages]

part of the fun at The National is haggling

[Seahawks fan]

Appreciate all of the responses. I asked about tables because I saw a video of trade night and it was a bunch of people sitting on the floor which I thought was very odd.

[JuniorDandy]

Originally Posted by Seahawks fan

Appreciate all of the responses. I asked about tables because I saw a video of trade night and it was a bunch of people sitting on the floor which I thought was very odd.

The trade night is always overflowing with people so they will be sitting wherever there is space. Hallways, hotel lobbies, anything where there is room to lay out cards. During the actual show, the trade room is the VIP lounge and it still has some people laying out stuff on the tables but its less crowded and there is room to eat/open wax/sit and relax. They clear the room with about an hour left in the show to start the trade night at 6.

[dcbaseballcards]

Originally Posted by thepilluh

Badge Pickup was available Tuesday from 1-4. I didn't make it then, but I went over at around 9:00am Wednesday to get mine and there was no line at all. It looked like everyone showed up around 2 or so to pickup their badge and thus the long waits. Just proving other options for people next year.

Absolutely correct. I showed up around 1:00 on Wednesday and the line took 10 minutes or so. With the VIP lounge open, I just waited in there until the mad rush when the doors opened for the show

[Cracktoast]

Saw SCI posted a video about several big thefts that took place at The National and that they even had to put up cameras at their kid zone area after several kids had cards taken from their cases.