I'll post my pickups in the Show and Tell forum soon, but thought I'd share some thoughts here. Really in no particular order...
- I couldn't go to the past few expos due to a number of factors, so just being back was cool
- I don't mind having a few pops here and there, so I thought it was cool to see that you could buy beer and walk around the show with it. Credit to the cured meat guy setting up RIGHT BESIDE the beer vendor
- In general I really liked the selection. I found that similar to other shows it never hurts to ask...sometimes vendors might have what you want but don't have the space to showcase everything
- Was cool to see Quincy (again) and Ameet (first time). Jeremy - I swung by your tables but there were a lot of people there so I didn't want to interrupt (and it looked like you were in the middle of a deal)! Sorry to the other forum members who were there that I didn't say hi to...I didn't really follow that roll-call thread. Next time.
- I didn't talk to every vendor because, well, it would just take way too long. But the folks I did talk to were generally super cool. Shoutouts to some at the end of this thread
- I was trying to trade up/sell some things and when I'd show what I had and provided my asking price, I found a lot of times it would just be a "not interested". Was it that my price was too high? Was it that they wanted some and maybe not others? It's really hard to tell with that kind of response. I don't think I received a single counter-offer. I was not a fan of that
- I heard directly and indirectly (overheard) a number of vendors (and patrons to be honest) referencing historical offers on something. For example if a card was priced at $100 and someone offered $70, I don't know how many times I heard "Oh just last week someone offered me $95 and I declined it". I don't get the point. That was last week, or last year, or whatever, and this is now.
- We made it through Hall 4 in record timing and I really didn't see a lot of things there that were for me, but I saw some super cool stuff in the hallway.
- I personally find it hard to walk around with a bag that is somewhat organized. I've gotta find a better way to separate what I'd like to trade or sell, what I'm buying, etc.
-I did, though, walk around with a notebook and would write down notes about different booths, for example if there was something at the booth I liked I'd jot it down so I could come back to it (if it was still there!). The notebook will be back @ the next expo for sure.
Shoutouts:
Total Sports - I spent way too much time @ these booths. They just seemed to have stuff that I thought was super cool.
The guy on the 'north' side of Big Pete's booth. If you're on here, sorry I always forget your name. Always has some cool stuff and I'm pretty sure every expo we chat it up, but I've never pulled the trigger yet. Maybe one day I'll pick up that Mahovlich/Kelly dual scripted pucks 1/1...
Grant from A Wad of Cards - Super cool guy to chat with and we settled on a really smooth deal for a cool PC piece.
KC Collectibles - This guy helped me out with filling a lot of the holes I had/have in my Tim Horton's sets and for a reasonable price.
Bossa - Killer chat with this guy about his vintage cards. I have very few vintage cards but a few in his showcase jumped out at me and, well, you'll see perhaps in the Show and Tell forum what resulted.
MLSE - They don't care about this post, but I love looking through what they bring every year. I'm a Leafs fan so I think it is super neat to have them with all kinds of cool game used/player worn gear.
ONE QUESTION to all of you vendors: What do you do with your stuff at night? Like some of y'all have some super high end stuff. Do you bring some pieces home (hotel) with you? Wrap everything in barbed wire and hit the bar? I always wondered this!
Thestreak
PS if anyone picked up any cool "old-guy" Leafs hard autos, you know how to get a hold of me.
