A Whirlwind Couple of Hours at the Chicago Sun-Times Show

Because we had other plans today, (all right, my wife had planned to do something else today), I only spent a couple of hours at the Chicago Sun-Times show being held in Rosemont. But let me tell you, they were probably the most productive couple of hours I've spent at a show in quite a while. Granted, if I had more money, or more cards worth trading, I'd have gotten more cards, but I was able to come away with 23 cards I needed to reduce my want lists.

First, I have to thank the fine people at Evolution Sports Marketing/Never Enough Cards. They were the first people I sought out once the show hit. And, quite frankly, where I spent the most time and money. They had many of the SP's I needed from the 2009 Topps and U&H sets. Including:

• Nolan Ryan
• Mike Schmidt
• Juan Marichal
• Bo Jackson
• Paul Molitor
• Rogers Hornsby
• Tris Speaker
• Christy Mathewson
• Cy Young
• Nolan Ryan CAL
• Reggie Jackson CAL
• Willie McCovey
• Rickey Henderson
• Frank Robinson

They also managed to have two of the Topps Red Backs that I needed: #13 Chipper Jones & #14 Cal Ripken.

But the big kicker was that I was able to save some money (lots of it) by trading a few cards that I didn't need that they thought they'd be able to use, including the Topps Silk Jimmy Rollins, the Washington & Lee University Stamp, and my 2006 Topps Mickey Mantle Gold /257, amongst others to net me 16 cards from the "Cards Your Mother Threw Out" Original backs.

I did get one 2010 SP card. And it was the one I would have given up all the others for just to get: The 2010 Ryne Sandberg SP card.

Along with stops at a couple of other dealers that also had these cards, I was able to acquire 22 cards total, bringing down the number of cards I need down to 24 (of 58), enough so that I can actually write a proper list (by decade, on the want list section of the blog).

The show itself was typical of other Sun-Times shows from the past. With many dealers selling vintage cards (StormSurge, I have to apologize, but with less than two hours before I had to leave the show, I wasn't able to spend time looking for your needs. Don't worry, I have other places where I can find what you need), and the usual junk wax sellers, new card sellers, lots of relics sellers. It wasn't as packed as in years past (who knew that there would be snow on the first day of spring???), but it's been like that with the economy and all. If I had more time, I'd have spent more time browsing some of the other booths for things that would have caught my eye. But alas, time was of the essence, and I had to hurry.

I didn't even buy the big Beckett book at the show. That's how much of a rush I was in. Oh well, I'll check the bookstore near the bakery next time around.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

P.S. I know I've been scanning the SP's to show them off, but we're in the midst of switching internet providers, so it's going to take a while before getting them on the blog. jba