cmcdonald1
Retired Mod,
Well the long awaited show has begun and the doors officially opened at 1pm to allow the mass of crazy hobbyist in search of their gems. There is lots of variety at the tables from memorabilia to cards to waffle makers! The crowds seem to have been large in number so I hope for the dealers that it came with sufficient spending. I know it has damaged my wallet a fair amount on day one.
Many thanks to Bruce Almighty for obtaining a Hobby Insider booth. It has allowed many of the participants of this site to meet in person and it provided a resting point for those of us who were there from start to finish. It is always nice to have that little cozy spot with a chair and an enthusiastic collector to speak with as you open your recently purchased wax.
ITG has put on an amazing them with lots of activity and free signings. Very impressive really and nice to see one of the companies provide something nice for its customers. Pretty neat when a player from the Leafs is made available to fans for a free signing. In fact, you are given a card of the player (Joey Crabb in this case) and he signs the card in front of you. I was very impressed with the idea and it will be a memory that I will take from the show for sure. Well done to to the ITG staff for this!
UM11 redemptions were pretty good. I purchased a case through HI which was the best price around and pulled some very nice cards. I will scan and post them when I return home as there are too many to post here this morning. Buying a special box of Decades gets you a memorabilia card and a ticket for a free autograph from Wendle Clark. I am seriously looking a purchasing a full size goalie mask similar to the one worn by Raycroft when he was with the Leafs and having most of the players depicted on the mask sign it for me. Need to move some cards today to help pay for this or find a bullet proof vest for my arrival home!
Upper Deck Redemptions are a pain in the butt to say the least. Only diamond dealers can sell and the prices are fixed so no bartering whatsoever. Long lineups as UD is forcing people to break every wrapper on every pack and of course there are the selected few who just stand there admiring every card in every pack when there is a long lineup behind them (pet peeve of mine). My redemption was a Malkin 25/71 auto. gspell pulled the RNH out of 25 which was a very nice card.
From the dealer tables there are many deals to be had. For the most part they realistic pricings. Of course there are the millionaire dealers who have the only cards worth anything but the majority are will to listen to offers an most have already reduced the common cards that sell cheaply on ebay for example. I have found the majority of the tables to be very honest and willing to work with the customer.
From the HI perspective there were over 20 folks who met for dinner at the Lonestar on Thursday evening. Very nice to see folks walk around the table and introduce themselves as they walked into the restaurant. Shows the class of the participants that we have on this site. After dinner several of us retired to the poker room (no names no pack drills as they say). A great night and an excellent intro into the show. I would recommend that if you plan on coming to a future show that you take a serious look at arriving in time for this get together.
Will take pictures during the visit today. Hopefully there will be others doing the same am maybe we can start a post of just pictures at the end of the weekend.
Looking forward to meeting more HI folks today. Plan on opening my second box of Dominion today ($310-$320 here at the show) as I had lots of luck in the box yesterday (Suitman19 may wish to look for my post when I get the scans up!!!)
Bottom line is that we are having fun and the HI booth has been a real blessing!
Many thanks to Bruce Almighty for obtaining a Hobby Insider booth. It has allowed many of the participants of this site to meet in person and it provided a resting point for those of us who were there from start to finish. It is always nice to have that little cozy spot with a chair and an enthusiastic collector to speak with as you open your recently purchased wax.
ITG has put on an amazing them with lots of activity and free signings. Very impressive really and nice to see one of the companies provide something nice for its customers. Pretty neat when a player from the Leafs is made available to fans for a free signing. In fact, you are given a card of the player (Joey Crabb in this case) and he signs the card in front of you. I was very impressed with the idea and it will be a memory that I will take from the show for sure. Well done to to the ITG staff for this!
UM11 redemptions were pretty good. I purchased a case through HI which was the best price around and pulled some very nice cards. I will scan and post them when I return home as there are too many to post here this morning. Buying a special box of Decades gets you a memorabilia card and a ticket for a free autograph from Wendle Clark. I am seriously looking a purchasing a full size goalie mask similar to the one worn by Raycroft when he was with the Leafs and having most of the players depicted on the mask sign it for me. Need to move some cards today to help pay for this or find a bullet proof vest for my arrival home!
Upper Deck Redemptions are a pain in the butt to say the least. Only diamond dealers can sell and the prices are fixed so no bartering whatsoever. Long lineups as UD is forcing people to break every wrapper on every pack and of course there are the selected few who just stand there admiring every card in every pack when there is a long lineup behind them (pet peeve of mine). My redemption was a Malkin 25/71 auto. gspell pulled the RNH out of 25 which was a very nice card.
From the dealer tables there are many deals to be had. For the most part they realistic pricings. Of course there are the millionaire dealers who have the only cards worth anything but the majority are will to listen to offers an most have already reduced the common cards that sell cheaply on ebay for example. I have found the majority of the tables to be very honest and willing to work with the customer.
From the HI perspective there were over 20 folks who met for dinner at the Lonestar on Thursday evening. Very nice to see folks walk around the table and introduce themselves as they walked into the restaurant. Shows the class of the participants that we have on this site. After dinner several of us retired to the poker room (no names no pack drills as they say). A great night and an excellent intro into the show. I would recommend that if you plan on coming to a future show that you take a serious look at arriving in time for this get together.
Will take pictures during the visit today. Hopefully there will be others doing the same am maybe we can start a post of just pictures at the end of the weekend.
Looking forward to meeting more HI folks today. Plan on opening my second box of Dominion today ($310-$320 here at the show) as I had lots of luck in the box yesterday (Suitman19 may wish to look for my post when I get the scans up!!!)
Bottom line is that we are having fun and the HI booth has been a real blessing!
