The National Sports Collectors Convention returned to Cleveland's I-X Center for 2024 and I spent five days there, 80% shopping, 10% hobnobbing, and 10% finding bathrooms without lines. Let's run through this year's experience and what to know should NSCC return here in future years.
Facility: The I-X Center! Danger, there be dragons!
NSCC last used this facility in 2018 when it still featured a ferris wheel and this piece of WWII aviation history. I stuck around after that show to get a photo, which shows the scale of this massive structure.
Facility owners later moved this plane to the parking lot, hoping to open a restaurant inside. It looked quiet during show week, so I bet their concept remains in a holding pattern.
Cleveland's adjacent Hopkins airport saddles the I-X Center with three issues, all hard to overcome for out-of-town visitors. First, every hotel sits miles to the north or east, so everyone drove and parked for 2024, with 95% exiting at the righthand circle and flowing into lots at the middle circle.
A minority of drivers, including my group, approached from the south and found that quicker left circle exit on day one, avoiding hour-plus delays each morning and evening. Convention organizers hoped to turn these choke points into parking revenue all week. By the end of day one, they fielded a litany of complaints that forced adjustments, in particular from VIP pass holders who discovered themselves trapped behind the hoi polloi when leaving. (General public lots sat further from show entrances and closer to parking lot exits.)
Everyone I heard express an opinion on I-X parking or logistics said they dreamed of returning to Chicago, or even Atlantic City, a sick burn given how few enjoy the latter.
My three recommendations for future Nationals in Cleveland.
- Stay in suburban Berea instead of near the airport. Avoids 95% of driving and parking pain.
- Arrive by 9AM, park near the exit, and walk to the entrance.
- Get cheap Taco Tuesday dinner at the Hydrant just south of I-X. Why drive further?
Attendees: Dealers, VIPs, and you!
The convention runs Monday to Monday for dealers, with collectors welcome Wednesday through Sunday. Banners list their dizzying number of activities with multiple typefaces and their "it's cool to collect" slogan. When did coolness become our hobby brand? I vote we copy Jimmy John's "FREE SMELLS."
Large operations like Tri-Star must need their whole week to setup and breakdown. Building a dozen different autograph lines out of metal poles takes hours of time and manpower.
We hunted cards before the show itself at a local shop (1of1 Sports Cards), where I found some low grade 1952 Topps and spotted these two wall displays. Griffey's swatches make total sense. Jeter's large white square is less clear, since it...should...have...pinstripes? Eh, not my circus, not my monkeys.
Our crew started day one on the show floor looking for people we knew in the corporate area, while company employees there still felt energetic.
My OBC friend Larry (left) sold his T205 baseball complete set, itself a hobby achievement, through Robert Edwards Auctions last year and we found his contact there, Calvin Arnold.
Gary Vee's VeeFriends trading cards will reappear when I talk about the particulars of NSCC's "VIP package." For now, all looked quiet.
Prewar researcher, writer, and dealer Tim Newcomb sold from this case of black and white beauties. Funny story, I picked up something on day one that he later realized also sold that day on eBay, so he reimbursed me with lagniappe for the trouble of returning it. Easiest five bucks I ever made!
Dealer Mike Peich let me hold this Old Judge of $10,000 Kelly for a photo. Still hunting for its sibling card that shows King Kelly posed to catch a fly ball. The #5 type collection holy grail!
This box of signed index cards defines "misc" better than one could imagine.
Day one purchases felt light. At least I helped one friend who needed Sport Hobbyist cards with the Bob Feller at far right.
We restocked on snacks after the show at a CVS with unique approaches to pricing.
80 cents more during show week!
OK, back to the "VIP package," a $199 advance outlay that covered show admission and a grab bag of additional cards and promotions. I already mentioned how its dedicated parking proved worse than lots for the general public. How did everything else play out?
Many NSCC VIP attendees knew its pre-2024 open secret: you could resell card exclusives to make more than the $199 you paid upfront. Paying $100 for general admission left money on the table! Many of these pack-ins went right from VIP envelopes to eBay on day one.
This tradition more-or-less ended for 2024, as VIPs received this same list of stuff, starting with a VeeFriends + CGC promo card.
...five-card Chinese Pokémon pack...
...10-card Panini pack...
...and VIP Upper Deck set.
I suspect NSCC's change in ownership influenced how they designed 2024 attendee promos. This approach fell flat with VIP buyers I asked, who enjoy ripping sealed exclusives more than receiving known quantities. This year's special NSCC packs appeared at corporate and media events instead of inside VIP bags. Contents of my rippable Chinese Pokémon pack include a silver foil Gengar. Which is...good? Who's to say.
If that sounds like sour grapes, also know that 2024 improved the actual VIP show experience. Larry made it clear how we obtained this all-you-can-pasta dinner.
VIPs gained access to I-X's lower floor, which offered better WiFi, carpeting, tables, less noise, and bathrooms without lines. Anytime I needed to make a phone or video call, it happened there. Wonder if this can repeat for 2025, given Chicago's non-Euclidian floor layout?
Many others bought this VIP access package, including some with niche fame. If you follow Paul Lesko, you know why his jersey says HOBBY LAWYER, which he tried to fill with friendly signatures.
Patient VIP attendees could get a Dwight Gooden, Benito Santiago, or Ellis Burks autograph on Wednesday evening. I am impatient and settled for this photo with Doc's guest placard on Thursday morning.
In short, the value of VIP tickets flipped on its head from reselling giveaways to overall show experience for 2024. I hope at least some of these good times return next year in Chicago.
OK, back to the vintage cards!
I brought unopened packs of 1978 Donruss "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" to Cleveland for friends who enjoy oddballs, as it contains the first trading cards for Aerosmith, who play villains in that film, and Steve Martin, who's Maxwell Edison of "silver hammer" fame. (George Burns, The Bee Gees, Peter Frampton, and Donald Pleasance also appear within its 66-card checklist.)
Sure enough, my OBC friend Sam found Martin's mad doctor in his pack.
Andrew Aronstein, son of TCMA founder Mike Aronstein, brought a pair of scarce stars from its archives, Luis Tiant as Portland Beaver pitcher and Sandy Koufax as Albuquerque Dukes coach, each from 1981 minor league sets. I bought the latter for $20.
Topps preceded their 1952 baseball set with 1951 Ringside boxing, a beautiful set packed with big names and HOFers. I grabbed a low-grade fistful for $2-3 each.
If you know collecting history, you might recognize the name Charles "Buck" Barker.
Well, look at the back of this $20 T206! Amazing to locate a piece of Buck's collection decades after he passed.
Where prewar collecting spirits bless you with Bucks, they can also curse you with counterfeits. I snapped this odd Johnny Evers & Germany Schaefer card photo at a dealer's table and asked around for more info. A friend felt intrigued and later paid $100 for it.
That $100 proved ill-fated, as other friends recognized this as one of many modern fantasy pieces first printed more than a decade ago by a disreputable dealer. His "Players Chew Cut Tobacco" stamp can dupe prewar collectors, even those with real hobby knowledge. Watch out for them!
Brian Marcy of Scottsdale Cards offered the first Boston Garter I'd ever seen outside an auction house, since they sell for thousands in any grade.
Garter backs offer its checklist, card number, and tell sellers to hang them in shop windows as marketing. This 1914 set catalogs as H813-2 and I wrote about it back in 2013.
Brian sold me several prewar O-Pee-Chee (baseball + hockey) cards and knows how to bomb your photo.
My 1937 O-Pee-Chee baseball buys include HOF pitcher Wes Ferrell and another "Buck," Bobo Newsom.
O-Pee-Chee put bilingual backs on these 1930s baseball and hockey cards, honoring their French-speaking fans. I suspect they partnered on its die-cut design with National Chicle, given their similarity to 1934-36 Batter-Up baseball.
A surge of mid-1930s baseball success in Detroit earned them many Canadian fans and could explain why OPC added this set of 100% American League players, who you'd see play in Tigers games.
One of my favorite dealers specializes in autographs and this ball opened a debate. When Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis sign a baseball, are they Thelma & Louise? Or Bull Durham and A League of Their Own? You be the judge. (Bull Thelma! A Louise of Her Own!)
I complained to friends about failing to find any #5 type hits on Wednesday and Thursday, so they told me to "go buy one on eBay." Blame them for this 1976 Hawaii Islanders card from my watchlist.
My haul grew to almost 100 cards by the end of day two, with 1970s Kellogg's playing a large role.
Do you like hunting for "cheapest vintage Mantle" on show floors? I found this DIY card for $2 and declared myself a winner.
The original maker trimmed Mickey's mug off this 1961 Post Cereal card.
The esoteric end of my collection includes "less successful Seahawk QBs" and you know that means Dan McGwire.
This card goes so hard on the many life blessings Dan enjoyed, you might forget the Seahawks drafted him in 1991's first round with Brett Favre still on the board. Well, I do not forget!
My growing stack of Kellogg's hits included what I believed my last 1972 All-Time Great, #6 Ruth. Who else, right?
Once I returned home, close examination of Babe's back text showed © 1970 Rold Gold and not © 1972 Kellogg's ATGs. I discovered a mix of those two dates in my own "complete" set, so revised my wantlists to cover Rold Gold and Kellogg's, neither complete. Nuts!
Our hobby connections led to a dinner for prewar collectors, sponsored by the aforementioned Robert Edwards Auctions and some Net54baseball.com members. My OBC crew (Taylor, Doug, Larry) caught up with our buddy, the prewar expert Anson Whaley (@prewarcards). We've chatted many times and this evening went just as well.
In that prewar vein, Larry passed me this handful of trimmed Play Ball cards that feature new player names in block lettering above their original. They also show evidence of being erased and rewritten multiple times.
Some pencil names come from the fringes of pro ball. Mike Barbolla, from Carl Hubbell's card, spent 1938-41 in C- and D-league ball, what we now consider the low minors. One intriguing possibility: did their original collector meet these borderline guys while in the service, given baseball's prominence on military bases, and commit them to cardboard?
Tommy Warren hung around for many years in minor leagues following his time in the service. Chuck Medlar managed a pair of seasons for Detroit A-AA.
These cards also show stat-keeping on their backs, erased enough to lose paper in the process. A puzzle I hope to solve someday!
My pile of purchases grew by the end of Thursday and Kellogg's in particular towered over its friends.
By Friday morning, my tiring knees and ankles slowed things down. I spent the first two hours seated at dollar boxes, feeling the mixed emotions of Happy Feller here. This next run of pictures shows fun cards from those boxes.
That last photo shows everything I spent real money on. Pleased as punch to fish out all those 1950s, 1960s high numbers, and cool oddballs. How often does a 1953 Topps Yankee bubble up for a buck?
Friday night! Old timey baseball at a field stuffed with history!
The stars aligned for a perfect mid-70s evening of 19th century baseball at Cleveland's own League Park, co-sponsored by The Shoeless Podcast and Love of the Game Auctions. An entrance marker includes highlights seen there during its MLB days.
This YouTube video caught an in-between moment for League Park's history. Its modern restoration went so well that friends told me they thought pro ball should be back here on a regular basis.
League Park's significance to baseball deserves far more than one plaque, so I'm fortunate an onsite museum inside its old ticket office expands on that history. "The Jet," for example, starred for Cleveland's Buckeyes and won a Negro League World Series prior to his debut as a Boston Brave in 1950.
Every player who appeared at League Park, from Babe Ruth to Satchel Paige, walked these tunnel steps onto its original field.
Our doubleheader left time between games one and two for fans to visit the onsite Baseball Heritage Museum. Dozens of artifacts from League Park teams, games, and players fill its floor and walls.
Andrew Aronstein took its mound for the nightcap and this shot from his warmup tosses also shows League Park's excellent modern field conditions. Playing ball at League Park makes its own argument for returning a future National to Cleveland.
Read more about 1860s baseball rules and then check out what they look like in action.
By the end of Friday, my card haul filled out to include 1957 Topps, 1960 Leaf, and HOF postcards.
We spent a night at our friend Sam's nearby and his basement includes best-ever displays like these framed Kellogg's sets, complete with bowls and boxes.
Late in the show, I added this batch of $5 Japanese cards, each numbered 5 for various reasons. Many of their surviving sets helped kids play card-flipping or rock-paper-scissors style games with rules now obscure to American collectors.
Happy to report all my cards fit into carry on bags for their return flight. How many similar bags must the TSA see roll through their scanners after NSCC shows?
I know from experience a thumb bandage prevents cuticle damage when pulling hundreds of cards from holders. You might wonder, where does one buy a 1972 Kellogg's Clemente for $2? In fact, an OBC friend passed this along for free, so zero dollars is more accurate!
I enjoy the vast variety of variations in some sets, including 1960s Post Cereal. Small shifts of blue ink on these 1963 #5 Killer cards change his whole expression from "what's that overhead" to "locked in."
Once home, I attacked a bunch of OBC donations to my 1957 Topps "Worst Set Ever" project with simple soaking.
60 seconds in lukewarm tap water removed much of their stuck-on paper and helped me enjoy more of their backs, even when earlier attempts to pull them out of scrapbooks yanked off patches of paper. (Cards along the top row used chemical glue and soaking fails to break down something that serious.)
I found five more Vern Law cards to send out for autographs. He remains one of our few living connections to the 1952 Topps set.
I'll leave you with this one-act play.
Card shop boss: "Hey pal, did you prep all those cards for grading?"
Intern: "Sure did boss, labeled everything in Sharpie, you can't miss 'em."
Boss: "...what."
Already looking forward to next year!
9 comments:
Lot of all cool stuff there - I hope to make it out to the National with y'all someday. I especially love the T206 Buck Barker - what a piece of a collecting history.
Great writeup! Going to a national seems like a cool idea but for someone like me I think it would be overwhelming.
Hard to believe there is no public transportation there.
Agree that the Barker stamp is great. I love any card with a stamp with an old-style postal code or phone number.
I looked up Dan and Dana - the marriage did not last. She was the daughter of an NFL player.
I went and looked at my '63 Jello (not Post!) Killebrew - locked in!
That '57 that I sent you would probably fall apart in seconds if it got soaked.
👍
Oh no, that "Players Chew Cut Tobacco"! Looking at your photo it's clearly modern. Text is nowhere near crisp enough and the line screen is a multicolor rosette.
True and true! Bummer that people still fall for them after all this time.
Great summary of the show. I've been enjoying reading and watching different collector's experiences this year. The issue of parking and bathrooms is enough to keep me away. Sounds like I'd need to buy a VIP pass to access the lower floor. As for parking... I think I'd just Uber it every day.
This is certainly one of the better National summaries I have seen this year. I hope to one day make it out to the show and seeing your pictures with price stickers rooted in reality is very refreshing after the sticker shock of most of what I have seen posted. Excellent pickups!
Great write-up! Sounds like you had a great time (ignoring the parking lot, although seems like you made the best of that as well!)
Just a quick correction - OPC was a London, Ontario company and the bilingual backs were a result of federal legislation in the early 70s, which was just after the arrival of the Expos
Thanks, I corrected the Quebec to Ontario and clarified that my bilingual comment relates to 1930s sets, where OPC included French backs well ahead of some other card makers.
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