Preparing for the National Sports Collectors Convention

It's been a hot moment, hasn't it?

Catching up to all the work that was on my desk when I returned from Texas took a bit (and I'm still digging through). But it also means I haven't posted in more than a week, and while there was so much material I had for writing (more trading adventures), there just wasn't enough time in the day.

But tomorrow is an important day. 

First, my wife and I will have been married for 28 years tomorrow. I love my wife. Through good and bad (and there has been a lot of both), our marriage has remained strong. And while we've gotten older (and are feeling this, trust me), it has evolved to something that is...not going through the motions per se...but because the kids are now adults (mind-blown), the adventures we had when they were younger are now memories and we look forward to time at home instead of running around following either or both of their schedules.

Now that doesn't mean that we've stopped that...heck no. But we can now be a bit more selective as to when, where, and how quickly we can get ready than before.

Back to the point.

So while tomorrow morning, my wife and I will have breakfast somewhere, after that is done, she is dropping me off...

AT THE NATIONAL!!!

The National Sports Collectors Convention that is. For the second year in a row, the convention is down the street from the house. And I took the day off, not just to spend time with my wife, but to go to see the sites, sounds, and atmosphere of what is the biggest event of the Hobby.

I do plan on buying cards at the show as I still have 65 insert cards left on my wantlist for 2026 Topps Series 2:

• 17 1991 Topps
• 13 1991 Topps All-Stars
• 10 Crooked Numbers
• 3 First Pitch
• 22 Glove Work

And then there are any other cards that catch my eye, but are not high on the priority list. The chances of finding any of those are not the best as many vendors at the National don't focus on current stuff unless it's still sealed and the few that do have their cards thrown in random places. Maybe a handful of booths will separate their cards by year, but good luck finding them in the chaos.

I do plan on stopping by the Topps booth (I have to...) along with the "Museum" that I happened to see on a YouTube (or was it Facebook) video. I love that kind of stuff and will take pics of those displays. But beyond eBay, I might steer clear of the corporate area. 

I will be there wearing the black Topps 75 shirt so I fit in with the crowd. If I can find my old Topps baseball cap, I'll throw that on too (although the last I saw it, the thing needed a wash). 

Before, I'd carry a bag with boxes of recent year base cards. But the bag was always heavy, and any plans of trading at the show would come up empty. So this year, I'll probably pack lightly, bringing a small binder with just the insert sets so I can add new cards to it right away. Maybe bring this year's extras in the event I am able to find people willing to trade (or buy...I'm not picky). Maybe I'll bring in the box that has all my relic and auto cards to see if I can unload some of them. Maybe I'll bring along my box full of unopened 2018 packs...maybe not...

I can't wait for the show. I do plan on live-blogging the experience. 

And maybe...just maybe...I'll find everything I need to complete Series 2. 

Wish me luck.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Did You All Have Fun at the National???

Did you find those cards that have been burning a hole in your want lists?

Did you meet and mingle with the top names in the Hobby industry?

Did you gather with your online friends at parties after (or maybe even before) the convention?

Did you meet your favorite Hobby bloggers at the convention?

Was the convention a blast?

For me, the answer to the first four questions is no. And for the fifth, I couldn't tell you.

Because I didn't get to go.

Before you break out the tiny violins, it wasn't all that big a deal...even if the show was down the street from my house.

There was a weekend fair in a town here in the northern suburbs of Chicago that the family bakery got to go to and sell cupcakes, cookies, mini apple pies, and the like. Our kids and their cousins worked their tails off selling and grabbing things out of the cooler to keep up with the demand. Somebody had to watch the booth even with the kids pretty much running the show. That's where I come in. So instead of perusing the aisles upon aisles of card nirvana, and rubbing elbows with the Hobby Industry, I was perusing the aisles of food stands and carnival rides, serving pastries to the crowds.

In my downtime, I did keep up with Hobby events. I read twitter feeds from those who attended the show and kept tabs on the Hobby forums to see what people were able to find. I also was finally able to put away my 2013 Topps Series II cards into the big binder. Ditto for the Topps Pro Debut set from 2013. Tell me, do you think I should go after the SP card of the guy that won that "Be a Minor Leaguer for a Day" contest (Tim Kane, right?) I also have the 2013 Topps Archives set in a binder so until Allen and Ginter's comes out this week (why did Topps not push the "street date" to the week of the National??!), I'm up to date on my card collecting this year (now, if I could only finish the team sets from earlier this year, I'd be all set).

On an unrelated note, my daughter tells me that two Topps employees even stopped by the bakery on Thursday. She even told them that her dad was such a big collector that he even writes a humble, little blog about it.

So I leave with a little request to anybody from Topps who might actually reads this blog, remembers finding their way to Park Ridge, and stopped by a little bakery called Mrs. A's Cupcakes @ the Pickwick, please do me a favor: Come back in 2015 when the National comes back to the Windy City. Or heck, come on by anytime you are in town. Or order online. We can ship it out to you.

Okay, Mom. Free plug for the store is in.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

P.S. If anybody has a Yasiel Puig card that they'd like to sell or trade for, I'm all ears. Send me an offer. Thanks jba

Is Your 2013 Topps Gypsy Queen Set Complete?

By Wednesday, unless you plan on dropping $135 plus on a box Topps Tribute WBC edition at the National, being held down the street in beautiful Rosemont, IL, it no longer will be.

Why you ask?

Because one of the pack/box break promotions Topps is throwing (literally) is that if you buy and break a box of Topps' WBC Tribute product, you can get,

THIS!!!

That's right. A 2013 Topps Gypsy Queen card of Dodgers phenom (and ESPN darling) Yasiel Puig. The plan is to distribute 100 of these cards per day, 500 cards total, during the National's five-day run in the Chicago area.

If I was a certain gum enthusiast, I'd be swearing up and down a storm, on my blog, or on a certain radio program. But I'm not. It looks really nice on the computer. I'd love to get my hands on this card. But I think I'll wait. I can be patient. I can even put this on my want list on the sidebar of this humble little blog, to remind me of cards that are for now, impossible dreams to add to my collection.

One question though...

Is this card #351?

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

I Finally Have It! My Carabao!

After a year of searching, it only took less than 15 minutes at the National Sports Card Show before I finally found the one card I needed...no...WANTED from the 2010 Topps Allen & Ginter.

That's right, ladies and gentlemen. I don't have the master set of 2010 A&G yet (and if you've looked them up on the Bay, they're getting pretty cheap), but I do have this beauty.  It goes well with the rest of my "Topps Loves the Philippines" mini-card insert set collection (which includes the Flag from 2007, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from 2008, and National Hero José Rizal in the 2009 A&G product).

Now I heard there was a 2011 mini card featuring another animal from the Philippines, this time from the Animals in Peril insert set:

This is card #AP15, the Philippine Eagle.  I actually would have called it by the name I knew it as, the "monkey-eating eagle," but this works too, I guess.  And although it's not part of some National/Country kind of insert set, it is something I would have wanted...if I could have found it!!!

My daughter, who did come to the show with me on Friday, did snag the Giant Panda card that is now proudly on display on her front door (she has one of those picture hanging things...it's okay, she didn't glue it on or anything).  But I didn't find this card.  And now I want it.

So if anybody has it, please let me know.  Thanks.

Later on this week, I'll put on my review of the show.  With pictures.  I promise.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

To All Those Going to the 2011 National Sports Card Convention Next Week:

If you haven't been inundated with information about the National Sports Card Convention being held in my hometown (literally down the street from my house), let me just throw in a few more bits of information about the show.

On Thursday, August 4, Topps will be throwing a Q & A session with 100 collectors at the show at 4:00 p.m.  Now, I would be excited about this normally...and don't get me wrong, I am...

But...

I WON'T BE ABLE TO BE THERE!!!

And needless to say, I'm totally depressed.

Now don't get me wrong, I will be at the show.  Come heck or high water, I am going to be there on Friday and Saturday (possibly Sunday, I'm not sure).  Along with my trusty Topps cap and my black Topps gym bag, I plan on taking in the atmosphere, the sights, and possibly meeting many of the esteemed Hobby Bloggers attending the convention. 

There's just so much to see and do that I don't think even two days will cover the entire show.  I don't plan on doing any major buying on the first day (unless something really grabs my attention), but definitely on the second day, I plan on shrinking down the want list.  There are lots of free samples (auction catalogs), business cards, and other things I want to gather besides cards.  But most importantly, I just want to be there.

So to my fellow Sports Card Hobbyists, I look forward to meeting you all in my backyard (well, not literally, but did I mention that I live up the street from the show???).

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

As Promised, Pictures from the National

Okay, these may not be the best, but I'll each try and describe each one as best I can.

The above four pictures are from Dmitri Young's PSA Gem Mint 10 Rookie Card collection.

The crowd on Saturday looked a lot larger than this...

The center of the show floor, where Topps, UD, Donruss, Press Pass, and Beckett held court...

View from the lunch line...

The Donruss booth, with an elevated office area.

The Upper Deck booth. Busy with pack breakers. It looks like they stole Topps booth last year (as this is what it looked like in 2005).

The eTopps/Topps Vault Booth. Plenty of ToppsTown cards that they let my daughter (and me) have. And if you're asking for codes, I'm sorry, they're all entered.

This is not closing time, I forgot the flash.

Well that's it. The rest were either too blurry, or were pictures of me (and trust me, those didn't turn out well).

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Day Two of the National Review...Why You Should Bring the Kids

The Saturday show was a lot busier than Thursday like I thought. More of a crowd, and definitely lots of kids. I brought my daughter along this time, and she had fun as well.

I will skip the explanation as to what was at the show (that was done on Thursday). So I will just note some observations not covered previously:

• Again, disappointed that Topps did not make an appearance, although they were covered by their eTopps and Topps Vault programs. I do wish that they had a bigger presence.
• The Benchwarmers booth was noticably close to the "Family Area" (no neither I nor my daughter went to visit it...on both days!!!)
• Kids are free!!! And they got stuff for free too!!! Can't stop with the exclamation points!!!
• At the eTopps booth, we did get a TON of Toppstown codes cards (and no, we are dividing them up between ourselves and my son who didn't go, so don't ask me for any).
• The box wars took place by the Blowout Cards booth. Loud, but not as insane as when Topps had three years ago.
• Absent because of his boycott was everybody's good friend Alan "Mr. Mint" Rosen.

Both my daughter and I did some spending. What did we get???

My daughter is now the proud owner of the following items:

• One 55-card 2008 Topps Chicago Cubs gift set
• One deck of Northside Chicago Heroes playing cards
• One 2008 Upper Deck (she's gone to the dark side...hope to save her) Kosuke Fukudome Rookie Card (with the rookie card logo)
• One Topps Finest Shawn Merriman autograph card (from the eTopps promo. Thanks to the guy that let her spin the wheel).
• One Chicago Cubs Teddy Bear that she has named Marco (don't ask...)

As for me:

• One 55-card 2008 Topps NY Yankees gift set
• One 55-card 2008 Topps NY Mets gift set (without the auto, I didn't need it, and they lowered the price if I offered to go ahead and let them keep the card...Davey Johnson MGR card)
• One 2008 Topps Hobby Factory set with the ten bonus rookie variation cards (and the Kosuke Fukudome Topps card)
• One 2008 Topps All-Star Game Factory set with the five bonus Yankee cards in it.

It may not look like I got a lot of stuff or that I spent too much on cards that I already have, but I wanted the bonus cards, and will be glad to sell the sets on the Bay at a later time.

Overall, I was very happy with the show. I would have bought more again, had it not been for the fact that I already bought the Allen and Ginter set beforehand. The next show that comes to Rosemont will be the Chicago Sun-Times show that comes in November. Having my daughter there allowed me to share with her my insane Hobby. She asked lots of questions, most of them I was able to answer. She didn't mind running around the aisles with her madman of a father.

The show next year is in Cleveland, and may not come back to Chicago for another three years. But when it does, I'll be making sure to go, and I'll bring my son this time.

Pictures will be coming soon. Took some decent shots of the show and of Dmitri Young's PSA 10 collection of Rookie Cards.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

2008 National Sports Card Convention Review

The Big Show is down the street from my house...literally. I'm so glad I took the week off so I could make the effort to go to the National being held in Rosemont, Illinois. The plan this week is to go today (I just left the show) and Saturday. Today is the, "let's go see what everyone has to offer day." Saturday will be, "Spend everything you have day!!!"

Lots of stuff on sale, lots of booths selling everything from early tobacco cards to the latest product causing mass hysteria, Topps Allen & Ginter. Junk packs? There are at least three booths selling it. Insert sets and singles from 2007 backwards? At least four to five booths.

Tons of sellers with "vintage" meaning 1950's to 1970's cards and earlier.

All the big brands were there...Topps (or more like it, eTopps was there), so was UD, and Donruss had this nice huge area too. In The Game, and Press Pass were there too. Probably the biggest buzz was to be found in the Razor booth. I'm sure that the two men there answered the same questions over and over by collectors as to what they were going to do with their recently signed draft picks and when to expect a set. They were even giving out these Razor Tim Beckham promotion cards that Stale Gum was talking about today. You fill out a survey, you get a free Beckham card. Now, I'm no prospector, but I'm not about to say no to a free card. So needless to say, gasp, I have a non Topps card in my possession. And I'm sure the Bay will be happy to get rid of it for me rather quickly.

It was disappointing that the Topps company didn't have a prescence at the National, it was a decent consolation that their eTopps brand was there promoting their site. Their deal was that if you sign up as a new eTopps customer, you can get free stuff. Sadly, I signed up back in 2000, but I've never taken advantage of the program. All the same, they considered me an old member, so I didn't qualify for the free stuff.

Today was also the day that Bartman was supposed to show up, pick up that $25,000 bounty, and sign his name on a picture of that infamous foul ball. As expected, he didn't show up. But the people running the spectacle sure made it interesting.

I'm not really into autographs, but while I was there, they had the '85 Bears in the autograph booths. William Perry (I didn't know he was in a wheelchair), Dennis McKinnon, and Dan Hampton were among the athletes at the booths when I passed by.

The Dmitri Young PSA Gem Mint 10 rookie card collection took up three displays at the PSA booth. Needless to say, he has quite the collection. Even has the only PSA Gem Mint 10 1969 Topps Reggie Jackson RC.

The crowd was all right I guess for a Thursday. Not too many people compared to the Saturday show that I went to a few years back. I think that the weekend will bring heavier crowds to the show for sure. I can't wait to go back. Until then.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama