One Day National Recap on a budget w/pics

[scotthenrichs]

Went to my 12th National yesterday (10th in Chicago, 2 in Cleveland). Unlike it seems most people there, even the kids, i don't have a budget of thousands. I go there one day and bring a few hundred bucks and in the past, it was plenty to do some nice promo redemptions, but I'm pretty much priced out of that market with the price baked into the boxes these days and the lines of VIP case breakers taking all the packs by 10:30.

Although it did help getting there early, we left Madison, WI at 6:15am and got in around 8:30. Only a ten minute wait for the parking garage when in past years it was 45+ an hour later. Got a wristband from the National attendants walking around about 9am and they let GA in early like I had read happened previous days at about 9:30.

So, I got the Leaf redemption which luckily had no lines and plenty of product (for obvious reasons). $105 box and a couple of free goodies. Unfortunately I was stupid with the soccer card and historic card and forgot to throw them in a box and they got tossed about my backpack and creased, haha. No huge loss, they're $5 each on eBay I see.


As a Brewer fan, I'm happy the Made made it out better after coming in a toploader.


Leaf promo pack wasn't bad, was hoping to get an Auto but to no avail. Dr. J /3, Artis /4, Arnold /15.



On a budget, my favorite things are dumpster diving the value boxes and seeing the high end stuff. High end stuff seemed to be missing this year, or I wasn't looking in the right places. Saw the Honus walking in, and all the fun stuff over at Heritage. But where was rows of 52 Mantles I've seen in the past?

One Meeeelion dollars!!



Jordan Converse!



Lots of Hogan stuff at the show this year



Lil' Penny!! Stop the car, that was Tyra Banks, fool!



Batman Villans




Value boxes mostly consisted of 2020 or later Prizm and refractors. I've gotten a bit tired of that stuff, so I was on the lookout for pre-2020 value boxes which, other than vintage commons, were few and far between. Found a decent one here and got a few cards.



Walked around looking at the cases and cases of graded stuff and high end boxes. Where do people get the money for this stuff? Had to show off the Pokémon to my 10 year old.




Grabbed a cheap Curry jersey for the kid, too.



Finally, made my "big" purchases for the show, $55 total. Who would have thought at a sports card convention my big buys would be Wresting and Star Trek? I'm pretty happy getting the Sheik, was looking for one at last year's show too and went away empty handed, not only was an 80's wresting fan but loved following him on Twitter, he was hilarious.



Naturally, 20 minutes after we left, my brother gets a call from Tristar saying he's won a pick from the grab bag, alas we were headed out and had no way of re-parking. But we ended the day well with the best pizza in the world at Pequoud's.


Will be back in 2026 and 2027! (but not 2028)

[yoyosh]

Strong recap, and as a Chicagoan I’m thrilled to see someone get the pizza choice 100% correct!

[vintg]

my daughter will NOT let me go without taking her, even though i
work remotely close to drive.

the NATIONAL was GREAT !!! '51 mantle rookie, psa1, on a budget, lol

[Dacubs2]

Bummer on the TriStar raffle win...I know they have some nice stuff but also some duds. At 20 min away, I would have asked you to drive back, stop me off and circle a few times.

[Tea10]

Jesus how many SpX's did that guy have?

[scotthenrichs]

Originally Posted by Dacubs2

Bummer on the TriStar raffle win...I know they have some nice stuff but also some duds. At 20 min away, I would have asked you to drive back, stop me off and circle a few times.

I totally offered to do just that, he didn’t want to mess around with running all the way back in after spending all day walking around.

[scotthenrichs]

Originally Posted by Tea10

Jesus how many SpX's did that guy have?

All of them, lol

In all seriousness, I blew up the original picture I took and counted around 50.

[Pollard7]

Awesome recap man. Looks like you had a great time!

[Cousin Jethroe]

Originally Posted by yoyosh

Strong recap, and as a Chicagoan I’m thrilled to see someone get the pizza choice 100% correct!

Lou Malnati's ! ??

[JPSportshack]

Where did you find that Sheik Auto!?? I've had that on my list since the '23 National.

[JPSportshack]

Originally Posted by Cousin Jethroe

Lou Malnati's ! ??

[Dacubs2]

Originally Posted by scotthenrichs

I totally offered to do just that, he didn’t want to mess around with running all the way back in after spending all day walking around.

You're a good guy for offering

[scotthenrichs]

Originally Posted by JPSportshack

Where did you find that Sheik Auto!?? I've had that on my list since the '23 National.

I think it was Omaha Sports cards iirc, kind of over near the Tristar area.

[scotthenrichs]

Originally Posted by Cousin Jethroe

Lou Malnati's ! ??

I’ve had Lou’s a bunch of times as well as Giordanos, both are great as well, but I gotta go with Pequods for the goat status, that crispy charred crust on the back of the slice is just heavenly and puts them over the top. Wish their place had a bit more elbow room, however, a bit tight in the Morton’s Grove location.