May Dallas Card Show Recap!

[messier2]

First, my apologies for the late recap. Life happened.

Anyway, here we go:

This is my sixth or seventh (I think?) Dallas Card Show ever. This was also a very "dangerous" one for me as I had recently disconnected from being up-to-date on the hobby due to work and taking a really cool "off the grid" vacation no cell service for a week!

So, I knew the market overall was not doing well, but did not know about specific players, sets, teams, etc. So, I told myself on the plane to be super conservative in what I bought and to check comps (like really check comps) for things I was not sure about.

This was also the first time I did the All-Access VIP ticket (9 am entrance on Friday as opposed to 2 pm for the general public...that was the big benefit for me).

* I arrived at 9 am on Friday to collect my badge and it didn't seem like there were a lot of people that bought the All-Access pass. There was one person in front of me.

* It actually was really cool to walk the floor in relative peace at 9 am. Just me, some dealers, and a few other VIP people. I totally see the advantage of this if you can swing the $90 price tag.

* My bulk-dealer was there, so I went to him directly. It was just me and mounds and mounds of 1000 count boxes ready for me to pick through. No competition from others. Sadly, could not find anything that I wanted, so I spent 45-minutes and just walked away.

* I went to the smaller room and bought some low end stuff. Nothing crazy but, $5 for autos were decent.

* Bought a few more things and then I realized that it close to 2 pm and just went to lunch while everyone else started rushing in.

* The show was a typical DCS, BUT I felt a "lesser buzz" than before. Dealers were shy about buying. Usually when people ask them, they would answer "Sure, whatcha got?" or some variation of that. Now, I heard more along the lines of "Not really buying, but I'll look" or "I'm buying, but you have to give me a good deal". So, that's telling me that dealers are being cautious and only want to get stuff they can move quickly.

* The kids were there, card carrying cases of various sizes and colors were all there, people were happy, but not early in 2022 or all of 2020/21 happy.

* The first row in the main room is what I call "Museum row". Super high end cards that only .1% of the attendees can afford. Just good eye candy, but nothing for me!

* Trade night was "low-key". Sure there were people, I walked around and the cards people were trying to sell were...I don't know what to say...difficult? Lots of low end stuff on those trade night tables. I'm not sure if they got any takers, but overall pretty dull selection (compared to previous trade nights).

* So, that tells me a lot about the state of the hobby now. It's what I call "cautious excitement". People not looking to buy, but are trying to sell off their lower end cards.

Overall, still a good show. Less hollering and screaming and $100 bills being pilled up on showcases and more selective buying/selling.

Oh, and my flight got cancelled going back home on Sunday. AA sucks big time!!!

Thanks for the read!

[RogerGodahell]

"AA sucks big time!!!"

Yes they do. I went to Florida a couple weeks ago and before our flight they canceled our tickets like 5 times.

[elontusk1119]

AA sucks giant balls

concur

[Lone Wulf]

Thanks for the recap, I always enjoy reading these. The state of the hobby, or atmosphere at the show, is always interesting to here about these days. I’m local but decided not to go this time, had some other stuff going on, and was trying to save some money. I was mainly bummed about missing the trade night, but sounds like I didn’t miss much there. I’m sure I’ll hit up the next one.

Sorry to hear about your flight!

[bdrr]

This was the best selling show I've ever had. When people flee to safe cards with inherent value I'm the guy who has them. My second best show was the massive slump a year ago July.

[jstephens24]

always enjoy your recaps

[Derekbauer]

Originally Posted by bdrr

This was the best selling show I've ever had. When people flee to safe cards with inherent value I'm the guy who has them. My second best show was the massive slump a year ago July.

Are you talking mainly basketball stuff or just safe cards in general?

I was at the big Pittsburgh show this weekend and vintage baseball was really holding strong.

[nera20]

Originally Posted by bdrr

This was the best selling show I've ever had. When people flee to safe cards with inherent value I'm the guy who has them. My second best show was the massive slump a year ago July.

Exactly stuff that actually has value will always have value. You always have awesome stuff so you will always do fine. Its the people that are selling/buying retail junk, base stuff, and anything thats in abundance also if you stick with established brands and players you will do fine.

[auctionjmm]

United Airlines has never let me down. Higher priced and less direct flights (at least from Cleveland) but I can't say I've ever experienced a cancellation or delay other than the usual stuff. I use the UA Chase credit card for rewards and frequently upgrade to first class and united club. That's my go to.

[jimmyjam1973]

Two of my buddies who always set up there said it was their worst Allen show ever. They said they did well on Thursday and absolutely terrible on Friday and Saturday. I've been wanting to set up again, but will probably wait since it's big commitment in time and $$. One big reason could be this show is happening too often. It used to be 3-4 times a year, and now it's every other month.

[swerve]

Was anyone promoting for the new Bastrop, Tx show in June?

[DajuanWagner]

I've heard this as most show recaps now:


TONS of people walking around

TONS of people setting up and selling their cards that they overpaid for in 20/21

TONS of kids walking around trying to sell their cards out of their Apache douchebag clamshell cases

TONS of people trying to trade their cards

Not much actual money spent at shows because the economy is in the toilet and cards are tanking


That pretty much sum it up???

[losangelesfan]

Originally Posted by messier2

First, my apologies for the late recap. Life happened.

Anyway, here we go:

This is my sixth or seventh (I think?) Dallas Card Show ever. This was also a very "dangerous" one for me as I had recently disconnected from being up-to-date on the hobby due to work and taking a really cool "off the grid" vacation no cell service for a week!

So, I knew the market overall was not doing well, but did not know about specific players, sets, teams, etc. So, I told myself on the plane to be super conservative in what I bought and to check comps (like really check comps) for things I was not sure about.

This was also the first time I did the All-Access VIP ticket (9 am entrance on Friday as opposed to 2 pm for the general public...that was the big benefit for me).

* I arrived at 9 am on Friday to collect my badge and it didn't seem like there were a lot of people that bought the All-Access pass. There was one person in front of me.

* It actually was really cool to walk the floor in relative peace at 9 am. Just me, some dealers, and a few other VIP people. I totally see the advantage of this if you can swing the $90 price tag.

* My bulk-dealer was there, so I went to him directly. It was just me and mounds and mounds of 1000 count boxes ready for me to pick through. No competition from others. Sadly, could not find anything that I wanted, so I spent 45-minutes and just walked away.

* I went to the smaller room and bought some low end stuff. Nothing crazy but, $5 for autos were decent.

* Bought a few more things and then I realized that it close to 2 pm and just went to lunch while everyone else started rushing in.

* The show was a typical DCS, BUT I felt a "lesser buzz" than before. Dealers were shy about buying. Usually when people ask them, they would answer "Sure, whatcha got?" or some variation of that. Now, I heard more along the lines of "Not really buying, but I'll look" or "I'm buying, but you have to give me a good deal". So, that's telling me that dealers are being cautious and only want to get stuff they can move quickly.

* The kids were there, card carrying cases of various sizes and colors were all there, people were happy, but not early in 2022 or all of 2020/21 happy.

* The first row in the main room is what I call "Museum row". Super high end cards that only .1% of the attendees can afford. Just good eye candy, but nothing for me!

* Trade night was "low-key". Sure there were people, I walked around and the cards people were trying to sell were...I don't know what to say...difficult? Lots of low end stuff on those trade night tables. I'm not sure if they got any takers, but overall pretty dull selection (compared to previous trade nights).

* So, that tells me a lot about the state of the hobby now. It's what I call "cautious excitement". People not looking to buy, but are trying to sell off their lower end cards.

Overall, still a good show. Less hollering and screaming and $100 bills being pilled up on showcases and more selective buying/selling.

Oh, and my flight got cancelled going back home on Sunday. AA sucks big time!!!

Thanks for the read!

Awesome read, hope to go to Dallas one day. Strange not having one of these on the west coast.

[threefromthetee]

Originally Posted by jimmyjam1973

Two of my buddies who always set up there said it was their worst Allen show ever. They said they did well on Thursday and absolutely terrible on Friday and Saturday. I've been wanting to set up again, but will probably wait since it's big commitment in time and $$. One big reason could be this show is happening too often. It used to be 3-4 times a year, and now it's every other month.

This. I believe the every other month waters down the show. Make it once a quarter and it might have more juice. I’m local and don’t even worry about missing a show as I know another if just a couple months out. I’d probably prioritize being there for a day or two if it was less frequent.

[gomiamigo]

[boxbuster7]

Sounds like things are coming to a halt

[discodanman45]

Originally Posted by boxbuster7

Sounds like things are coming to a halt

Let's be real. Once Formula 1 and Dr Dre rookie cards were pumped, the flippers ran out of ideas. We still have a major correction left to go.

[boxbuster7]

[QUOTE=discodanman45;18206996]Let's be real. Once Formula 1 and Dr Dre rookie cards were pumped, the flippers ran out of ideas. We still have a major correction left to go.[/QUOTE]

Oh, I 100% agree. We haven't seen anything yet.

[SearchPatrol]

Originally Posted by DajuanWagner

I've heard this as most show recaps now:


TONS of people walking around

TONS of people setting up and selling their cards that they overpaid for in 20/21

TONS of kids walking around trying to sell their cards out of their Apache douchebag clamshell cases

TONS of people trying to trade their cards

Not much actual money spent at shows because the economy is in the toilet and cards are tanking


That pretty much sum it up???

So you have issues with "kids" in the hobby?
Somebody can't have a case to hold their cards?


What's with the name calling and bullying?

[anusinha]

Sounds like people are heading out of the denial phase and into the realization phase. At some point, there will be a major capitulation, even worse than we've seen on some things already.

[mc1]

Originally Posted by SearchPatrol

So you have issues with "kids" in the hobby?
Somebody can't have a case to hold their cards?


What's with the name calling and bullying?

Theres many bitter old men around here.

[discodanman45]

Originally Posted by anusinha

Sounds like people are heading out of the denial phase and into the realization phase. At some point, there will be a major capitulation, even worse than we've seen on some things already.

What puzzles me is that every company is doubling down on trading cards. PSA/SGC/BGS/CSG will be open to 1.5 million submissions a month available in late 2022. There are still start-up grading companies making a push. Can't anyone comprehend PSA is almost done with their backlog and huge 800,000 cards a month will be ready for them soon?

eBay, PSA, BGS, and others are trying to start Vault services. With the current trends of prices, each company is overestimating the need for these services.

NFT's are collapsing and there is big crossover between this and physical product collectors. Panini, Topps, Dapper, Candy, and every athlete/celebrity is producing their own NFT's. Market will continue to weaken with every release with the same 1000 collectors being bleed dry.

How people are still optimistic in this hobby is beyond me. I am still buying PC stuff and what I feel is undervalued vintage. However, I stopped buying a lot of things because of the pumps in vintage. Low pops, GOATS, blah blah blah. Nothing is safe right now. People just trying to justify purchases and pumping things to get out.

I think things will eventually return to 2020 levels and won't get back to 2019. The money people make from YouTube/Social Media from sportscards won't allow it to completely crash. However, we still need to get back to early 2020 cards before the market corrects itself IMO.

[BeastMode27]

Hope you got receipts for all your purchases!

[bloodwings19]

Originally Posted by jimmyjam1973

It used to be 3-4 times a year, and now it's every other month.

Another factor is there are other card shows popping up around the country. Gas prices at around $4 and staple food going up (except eggs are going down). Another factor is baseball hasn't had any must have young players for 2022. Some of them getting burned having Harden, CP3, Durant and Lebron RCs.

[AbraCalabro]

Originally Posted by gomiamigo

LMAO!!!

Originally Posted by discodanman45

What puzzles me is that every company is doubling down on trading cards. PSA/SGC/BGS/CSG will be open to 1.5 million submissions a month available in late 2022. There are still start-up grading companies making a push. Can't anyone comprehend PSA is almost done with their backlog and huge 800,000 cards a month will be ready for them soon?

eBay, PSA, BGS, and others are trying to start Vault services. With the current trends of prices, each company is overestimating the need for these services.

I think things will eventually return to 2020 levels and won't get back to 2019. The money people make from YouTube/Social Media from sportscards won't allow it to completely crash. However, we still need to get back to early 2020 cards before the market corrects itself IMO.

Those companies are playing the "crisis averted" game, the market is just fine folks, nothing to see here, keep buying and keep using our services! Pretending there is no end to the good times, it's damage control.

As for the social media people, hype men and every other flavor of parasite, if things get critical enough, all the hype they can desperately muster isn't going to save them.

Eventually when the tide goes out you're going to see those same circle jerking taste makers playing grab-ass with each other in the wet sand. Maybe more people will wake up to this crap, finally.