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

[solt0131]

I thought I might give a few observations on the current state of the hobby from what I see at the big Pittsburgh show this weekend. Seems like this has been a hot topic recently on the board, so I figure I'll give you guys an opinion on what I see this weekend:

Friday (yesterday) - dealer set up was at 8 am and I got there around 9:30 and got set up with just value boxes because I felt this is what would move here and I was right as cards moved very well for me. In walking around I looked at basically every dealer's setup and will again this morning too and noticed one thing - current pricing is EVERYTHING!!!

Here are my takes:

--Guys pricing modern stuff over comps. (higher end stuff)
--Vintage seemed to be the hottest stuff.
--Cheap graded cards were a big hit from a few dealers I saw ($10 range)
--Mid range stuff seemed to be priced from a month ago.
--Good attendance for a Friday with buyers generally looking for a good value.
--Lots of dealers talking about higher costs and inflation concerns, etc.

I'll be there all day today and give a breakdown as well.

[meucci67]

Thanks! I did not realize there was a show this weekend... I may run over for a bit...

Michael

[soey10]

Thanks for the insight.

I agree with you that value boxes are a good way to go. So many people bring high end stuff to set up, but so does everybody else. These people forget as collectors we like the hunt and search and above all we like finding good deals.


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[gododgersfan]

Thanks for the summary. As a buyer, I like the value boxes for PC and the search for hidden bargains. On the other end, I can understand the higher costs for dealers. Hotel, gas, grading, set-up/show fees and etc. have all increased. Margins are definitely tighter.

[gmarutiak]

I am currently standing outside the convention center about 75th in line to get in. The show opened 50 minutes ago. I take this as a good sign for the state of the hobby!

[ThoseBackPages]

enjoy it!

no such thing as a bad show imo

[hairysasquatch]

What's the body odor factor compared to pre-pandemic levels?

[roush16racing]

Originally Posted by hairysasquatch

What's the body odor factor compared to pre-pandemic levels?

The most important question has yet to be answered.

[jjcan]

Well as long as the hobby market tracker is not like 2013 pace of card shows.
If we were doing card show/market reports back then to gauge the hobby this page would be 10 pages back.

Progress is progress compared to then, I will take it.

Ever set up at a Friday night card show with 4 dealers and 15 attendees, that was advertised in Beckett pages? Felt so sad for the 4 people who drove 2 hours away and cried" this is it?" when they stepped in the room and we yelled yay the crowd is here.

[f2tornado]

Lots of dealers at the Maplewood, MN show but not so much for bargain bins. I did grab a handful from one dealer and upon going through my stack says, "That one is not a dollar" (some cheap Packers auto of a guy no longer on the team). Price your shmitt and this stuff doesn't happen. The most annoying show I've been to; crowded, lack of pricing, people unwilling to move a little to accommodate more eyes at the table, dealers BS-ing instead of taking my money, seals over all the card holders making it a pain the arse to inspect condition, one couple plopping their checklist book over a bunch of boxes, people taking four score and seven years to get through a box... I probably won't go out of my way to get back to that one. I then went to the Pokémon show 45 minutes away and spent more more money in 45 minutes than I did at the sports card show. I'd easily go back to the that one.

[KhalDrogo]

Bitcoin is going to $250k this year. Y’all better buckle up.

[whitmm]

Originally Posted by f2tornado

Lots of dealers at the Maplewood, MN show but not so much for bargain bins. I did grab a handful from one dealer and upon going through my stack says, "That one is not a dollar" (some cheap Packers auto of a guy no longer on the team). Price your shmitt and this stuff doesn't happen. The most annoying show I've been to; crowded, lack of pricing, people unwilling to move a little to accommodate more eyes at the table, dealers BS-ing instead of taking my money, seals over all the card holders making it a pain the arse to inspect condition, one couple plopping their checklist book over a bunch of boxes, people taking four score and seven years to get through a box... I probably won't go out of my way to get back to that one. I then went to the Pokémon show 45 minutes away and spent more more money in 45 minutes than I did at the sports card show. I'd easily go back to the that one.

I agree about the crowded part. It's tough when it's in the second floor of a mall. Tables take of half the walkway and then deal with regular mall traffic on a Saturday.

I'm a baseball bargain box guy as well, so it makes it easy to skip a lot of tables.

[meucci67]

I didn't notice any body odor... Kind of surprising considering the 30 min wait to get inside the door. Nice show, though!

Michael

[pewe]

How’s it compare to prior experiences at this show or others? Any differences?


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[panamamyers]

You forgot the one about everyone having a smallish Pelican brief case that they tote around with them.

[notfast]

Originally Posted by panamamyers

You forgot the one about everyone having a smallish Pelican brief case that they tote around with them.

As a Pelican elitist, this is incorrect. Everyone has the knockoff Apache cases

Also $1-10 boxes will always be the way to make $ at shows. I did a show last week and turned my $1500 invested “dollar boxes” into $3k selling out to another dealer 1 hr after show started.

Starting the cycle of making nice $1-3-5 boxes again as it’s the best way to cover expenses and make $

[gmarutiak]

Originally Posted by panamamyers

You forgot the one about everyone having a smallish Pelican brief case that they tote around with them.

I definitely noticed this (or the knockoffs) at the show today. Shockingly low body odor, considering it was 90 in Pittsburgh today. Hardly any sealed boxes at the show. Normally there are at least a couple big wax dealers there. Not today.

[Stifle]

Originally Posted by panamamyers

You forgot the one about everyone having a smallish Pelican brief case that they tote around with them.

Went to the Shipshewana show roughly a month ago with my lady. It was the first card show she has ever attended. She was asking why everyone had those and I had to tell her. She asked why I didn’t and that I should, NO.

A few shows coming up, May attend one of them.

[NYBBFAN]

Originally Posted by Stifle

Went to the Shipshewana show roughly a month ago with my lady. It was the first card show she has ever attended. She was asking why everyone had those and I had to tell her. She asked why I didn’t and that I should, NO.

A few shows coming up, May attend one of them.

I had a similar encounter with a lady at last year’s National. Her teenage son was there; he was new to the hobby. She said that "everyone who is serious about collecting seems to have one of these carrying cases". I just laughed and told her that I’m good with the cardboard box in my backpack.

[solt0131]

Picked this up today:

T206 Christy Mathewson Piedmont PSA 1

[Rememberthepast]

Originally Posted by solt0131

Picked this up today:

T206 Christy Mathewson Piedmont PSA 1

That’s seems like a very fair price for it.

[meucci67]

On the other end of the spectrum, I picked this up for $1.00...



Michael

[solt0131]

Here were my observations from the show today:

--Very few people bringing stuff around to sell.

--Did not sound like any high end was moving at all and it seemed like it was because the price was just too high / people did not have interest in buying or putting out the cash.

--Value stuff doing very well, not just as my table but from the other dealers that had value boxes as well. One dealer told me he did $1000 in just dimes and quarter cards.
Show traffic was strong thru the main hours of the show (11-3) on a Saturday.

--Heard more than one dealer say they are getting concerned about the costs of doing a show now (gas, tolls, hotel, table cost) and this will play a bigger role going forward.

--Cheap slabs selling very well....example: stuff in the $10 - $15 range.

Anyway, hope this helps shed some light on how things are out there.

[boxbuster7]

Seems like the market is crashing right before our eyes

[solt0131]

Originally Posted by boxbuster7

Seems like the market is crashing right before our eyes

Not a chance. The vintage market is hotter than ever and demand is super high. This show has always been considered 70% vintage but modern was gaining quickly. There are a lot of buyers out there, you just have to price your stuff to sell instead of trying to gouge people.