Where have all the card shows gone?

There are a lot of things I miss about the 90's.  One of the things at the top of the list is the plethora of card shows.  Collectors in my area had so many to choose from, I never had time to attend them all.  There were the hotel shows at the Le Baron and Holiday Inn in downtown San Jose.  You had bi-monthly weekend shows at Branham High School.  If big shows were your cup of tea, you had the stamp, coin, and card show at the Santa Clara Convention Center, the antique collectibles show at the Santa Clara County Fair Grounds, and of course the annual show at the Moscone Center.  There were even shows during the week.  Arena Showcase had card shows at their shop on game nights and on the weekends too.  And to top it off... there were a bunch of different card shows at various shopping malls.

Good times.  Good times, indeed.

These days there are only a handful of shows for me to choose from.  There are five or six mall shows each year, along with the semi-annual vintage show in San Leandro, the two GTSM shows, and of course the annual TriStar show which I happened to attend last weekend.

I had a great time checking out vintage cards I'll never be able to afford, as well as hanging with friends who share my passion for the hobby.  And of course I picked up a few pieces of cardboard for my collection... plus a huge addition to my Tony Gwynn collection.

Here's a quick rundown of my purchases:

Purchase #1:  1981 Donruss Baseball Card Set $10

I already own the 1981 Fleer and Topps baseball card sets, so I figured I'd round out the trifecta with this one.  There aren't any high end cards in this set, but for the price I just couldn't pass it up.


Purchase #2:  Stack of Dollar Cards $16

This stack of cards was actually made from three separate purchases, but it was easier for me to combine them for the purpose of this post.  I was pretty disappointed at the lack of deals at this show.  Dime boxes were nearly non-existent, but at least I found a few cards for my PC in some dollar bins.  My favorite is this oversized Ken Griffey Jr. card from the mid 90's:

1997 Bleachers #MVP1

Purchase #3:  More Expensive Cardboard $16

This lot was purchased from three different vendors as well.  The Dave Stieb autograph set me back three bucks, the McBride cost me two bucks, and the other six cards I purchased off of my friend for eleven dollars.

Purchase #4:  Five Autographed 8x10's $22

I typically avoid purchasing autographs that aren't certified by a major authenticator or signed by the athlete in front of me or my buddy.  But after speaking with a couple of my friends who deal with autographs for a living, they assured me that the two vendors I purchased these from are legit.

The first four photos were purchased from Hall of Fame Sports and Collectibles who are known for their signing sessions at the Frank and Son Shows in Southern California.  They were blowing out some of their inventory, so I grabbed these four for $20.

I also picked up this Douglas Murray for two dollars:

The guy who sold it to me is a "regular" at Sharks practices and a friend of a friend.  Murray hasn't played with San Jose for a couple of seasons, but once upon a time... he was my favorite Shark.

Purchase #5:  2004 Topps Originals Signature #BM11 $5

Bill Madlock is one of my favorite third basemen of all-time and there was no way I was going to pass up the opportunity to grab a hard signed autographed of him for the mere price of five bucks.  This is a huge addition to my collection... but not quite as big as the final purchase I made on Saturday.


Purchase #6:  Tony Gwynn Autographed Bat $70

One of my friends had Gwynn sign a bat before one of the SJSU vs. SDSU games last season, so I bought it off of him.  Unfortunately... the bat currently isn't in my possession.  Part of the purchase involved him getting it authenticated by PSA since they were at the show.  It passed.  Now I just need to wait until the next time I see him to pick it up.

In terms of card shows... that's it for now.  Not exactly sure when or where the next card show hits my area.  I'd love to make it out to Cleveland this summer for the National Sports Collectors Convention, but that's probably not going to happen.  I'm way too cheap to drop that kind of cash on airfare and a hotel room... and that's not even counting admission and spending money.

What about you?

Anyone planning on going to the NSCC this summer?  Have you ever attended the National?

Happy Wednesday and sayonara!