Observations on the current state of the hobby from a show this weekend

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by timber63401

I suggested the Nationals separate the dealers make for way better traffic flow.
All sports one side all Pokemon ect one side and dealers that do both one side.

I hope they do that. It’s such a distracting mess when everyone is mixed together.

[solt0131]

Originally Posted by tyrith

I don't know if there's a show in the US north of 100 tables that's 80% sports at this point.

Castle Shannon in Pittsburgh. Two day show coming up 1/17-/18 will be strictly sports and over 100 tables. Free admission as well.

PittsburghCardShow.com

[GuamWax]

Not sure how they're going to do it, but it's promoted as WCCS "Sports Edition". The fact that it's promoted as sports focused made me excited to attend.

I enjoyed the last WCCS as they had a designated space of Pokemon/TCG but still ran into some random TCG tables while browsing on the sports side.

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

Really? How are they able to enforce that?

I thought it was good enough that they tried to separate them into sections already, but there was still pokemon intermixed because some dealers do both.

[jmarascojr]

Better use of the 2nd floor space at The National would be to just put all the Pokemon stuff up there...

If you think about it, The National is pretty silo'ed already, minus Pokemon...

Right inside the front door, older/seniored dealers with older stuff...
Newer dealers are in the newer sections opened up over the last couple of years with their shiny new stuff...
Box breakers are with the box breakers...
Memorabilia is usually sprinkled throughout but also on the edges...
You have the corporate section...
And then all the big companies are together with their boxes to sell...

Originally Posted by timber63401

I suggested the Nationals separate the dealers make for way better traffic flow.
All sports one side all Pokemon ect one side and dealers that do both one side.

[mattsey9]

Originally Posted by tyrith

I don't know if there's a show in the US north of 100 tables that's 80% sports at this point.

The January 17th show in Sac has the fewest non-sports vendors I've seen in quite some time

[alpine]

Originally Posted by mattsey9

The January 17th show in Sac has the fewest non-sports vendors I've seen in quite some time

I found better vintage dealers & older non-sports wax here with better prices than I did at the WCCS. When I last went in July, I saw very few TCG / Pokemon tables.

It seems like the sports dealers here are stable & regularly attend the show. $1 entry fee & decent places to sit in the Wyndham lobby makes it nice.

Hope to be there in January if the road conditions are good. I live east of Reno so I have to contend with the Sierra's.

[ronzo]

Went to a show in Phoenix last weekend. Most crowded I've ever seen a card show before. Probably 75%+ TCG.

[majestik101]

Originally Posted by GuamWax

The West Coast Card show (formally Burbank) this February is sports only. I'm really looking forward to it.

I’d love to know how the show organizers/security officers plan to enforce that.

I’m sure some dealers, unable to resist, will sneak in TCGs even after being told not to. They’ll do it anyway, and their tables will end up drawing the most attention, frustrating plenty of dealers who followed the rules.

Could we see dealers being told to pack up their stuff and then escorted off the property?


As the sayings go, If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying or Rules are made to be broken

Especially when there's money to be made.

And that will be the end of that

[GuamWax]

One of my favorite shows to attend, always nice seeing the old-school sports collectors there.

Originally Posted by mattsey9

The January 17th show in Sac has the fewest non-sports vendors I've seen in quite some time

[eastbayak]

Originally Posted by mattsey9

The January 17th show in Sac has the fewest non-sports vendors I've seen in quite some time

Show details? Worth going? Would love to possibly check out.

[alpine]

https://www.trifectacollectibles.com...wyndham-hotel/

That is the age old question of if it is worth going to. Your results may vary. For me, the one time I was able to go, I found what I collect which is Sandy Koufax & older wax / not TCG-Pokemon
My days of going to the WCCS are over. I find better stuff that I collect at the smaller, regional shows & it is a heck of a lot cheaper.

[f2tornado]

Originally Posted by alpine

That is the age old question of if it is worth going to. Your results may vary... I find better stuff that I collect at the smaller, regional shows & it is a heck of a lot cheaper.

Really depends on what a person is looking for. I like shuffling through bargain bins, team boxes, player selections, etc. Have as good if not better luck at the 50-100 table shows than many of the 200+ table types. Big shows seem to attract more regional and national dealers, most of whom are not going to bother lugging a bunch of 50 cent boxes across the country.

One exception coming up next week in Sioux Falls. That's around 230 tables and has had a good mix the three times I've been there. Large enough facility to disperse the crowd. The only mild negative is lighting could be better. I'll make the long drive again if the weather is favorable. Never a guarantee this time of year in these parts.

[mikejones]

Went to a local card show. Tons of people. Mostly modern and Pokémon. Did find a guy that had some 90s griffey and Manning that I picked up.

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by mikejones

Went to a local card show. Tons of people. Mostly modern and Pokémon. Did find a guy that had some 90s griffey and Manning that I picked up.

right on!

[tyrith]

Austin card show - advertised at 375+ tables - felt like it was about 60% TCG. Which worked fine for us on this weekend, but for UM sports it was pretty slim pickings - felt like about a third of the sports vendors were vintage oriented.

[xarchmadanx]

Originally Posted by solt0131

Castle Shannon in Pittsburgh. Two day show coming up 1/17-/18 will be strictly sports and over 100 tables. Free admission as well.

PittsburghCardShow.com

I went to December's. It was in 2 buildings, and it was about 60% sports / 40% pokemon. I thought it was supposed to be split with Sports on Saturday and TCG on Sunday. Wasn't the case.

[Cracktoast]

As for UM sports this time of year is always slow. Next summer I think is going to be off the chain with NFL and newer NBA stuff hitting right around Fanatics Fest and The National. Baseball has always been a really niche product card show wise, because by the time the big shows kick off baseball is almost half way done and 90% of the guys who had hype out of ST have either cooled down or leveled off. Baseball is a 3-4 player sport ( Ohtani, Judge, Acuna, Soto ) if you even consider the last 2 as upper elite status still.

NFL is going to be the hot thing everyone is going to want along woth TCG. Yes TCG can't sustain it's current level but it is stable and feels safe to people. Look at it like this sports cards are like the stock market big swings up and down where as TCG is more like the Bonds market where your investment is relatively safe. TCG doesn't have #'d cards or super duper rare chase parallels and even if every card isn't valuable from a money aspect they still have worth on the game play side. You can't say that about a 12th year Max Scherzer base card.

[dunquixote1]

I've been a to a few local Michigan shows and, for baseball, you can't even find any Ohtani cards at them - not even low end. It seems like dealers just move them online or hoard them. It's really strange.

I'm taking a break from going to shows though. The infiltration of Pokemon has been annoying. It's fine when I bring my oldest since he's into it, but if I go alone or with friends, I/we just breeze through the shows (even the mid size ones) so quickly it's hard to even kill any time at them.

[dcbaseballcards]

Originally Posted by majestik101

I’d love to know how the show organizers/security officers plan to enforce that.

I’m sure some dealers, unable to resist, will sneak in TCGs even after being told not to. They’ll do it anyway, and their tables will end up drawing the most attention, frustrating plenty of dealers who followed the rules.

Could we see dealers being told to pack up their stuff and then escorted off the property?


As the sayings go, If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying or Rules are made to be broken

Especially when there's money to be made.

And that will be the end of that

They will likely be given a warning, and then banned from future shows.

[kingofsnake]

I went to the Front Row Show at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas today. Arrived at 9:20 and there was already a huge line. Doors opened for VIP promptly at 10. Rushed over to BGS as I had an order to drop off. The wait was 30 minutes.

Regarding the show itself, was advertised as 600 tables and it seemed like a 60-40 split - TCG vs Sports. As seems the norm, lots of tables buying, people haggling with their phones out - mostly graded stuff in showcases.

I zoomed up and down every aisle glancing around, but nothing interested me. I have a small list of cards I'm looking for and they are mostly less popular players, and not looking for graded. I left by 11:15. May be my last card show.

[corockies]

Denver is a football town, so going to shows for baseball in the off season is kinda pointless. The big show they've been doing every couple of months has upgraded their venue from 250 to 400 tables. I imagine the extra tables will be mostly TCG.

[thepilluh]

I went to the Front Row show today in Las Vegas. It was definitely packed. I was there when the doors opened until about 2 and it was full the whole time. Sports cards were maybe 30% of the floor, then TCG 60%, and with misc making up the rest (comics, funkos, and just "other"). The amount of folks that like to put their pelican case and block dealer tables while selling still amazes me. So does the ones that won't put the price on their cards, but have it on the back. I picked up some lower end 80's baseball slabs and a few James Wood cards that were decently priced. There was definitely a lot of higher end modern cards available. I did not spend all of what I took, but that happens at some shows

[GuamWax]

Thanks for sharing, unfortunately, this percentage is what has kept me from attending Front Row card shows. TCG is just not my scene and that percentage is way too high for me to purchase a ticket and travel to the show, but to each their own.

Originally Posted by thepilluh

I went to the Front Row show today in Las Vegas. It was definitely packed. I was there when the doors opened until about 2 and it was full the whole time. Sports cards were maybe 30% of the floor, then TCG 60%, and with misc making up the rest (comics, funkos, and just "other"). The amount of folks that like to put their pelican case and block dealer tables while selling still amazes me. So does the ones that won't put the price on their cards, but have it on the back. I picked up some lower end 80's baseball slabs and a few James Wood cards that were decently priced. There was definitely a lot of higher end modern cards available. I did not spend all of what I took, but that happens at some shows

[mfw13]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

I hope they do that. It’s such a distracting mess when everyone is mixed together.

Agreed.

I refuse to go to any show that has both sports cards and Pokemon/TCG.....not worth the drive or hassle or admissions fee when only half the tables might have something I'm interested in.

Promoters need to realize that there isn't a whole lot of overlap between sports cards and Pokemon/TCG collectors and either create separate spaces or schedule separate shows for each group.

[ThoseBackPages]

good.