The 2016 National Has Begun!!!

I made it to the National!!!  This is the sixth one I’ve attended.  While picking up my media credentials I was greeted by Nate Berkus, one of the sons of National co-founder Mike Berkus who passed away last year.  He looked very familiar, and it turned out to be the same Nate Berkus who has been seen on T.V. a lot.  He is a really popular interior designer.  It was a fun little Easter egg to start off the National.

During the VIP Party sponsored by Topps, I was able to get former Phillies pitcher Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams to sign my bat.  Art Shamsky, Roy White, and Eddie Giacomin were also signing autographs.  Steve Garvey was suppose to be there, but canceled due to a family medical emergency.  The food is really good.  Convention center pizza is the best.  It doesn’t flop around which makes it easy to eat and look around at stuff.

The show opened at 3:30 p.m. for VIPs.  I handed out a bunch of Sports Card Info pins to various people.  Topps allows you to get your own card made right there on the spot.  Ultra-Pro gave me some free top loaders and penny sleeves which I needed to protect my card.

From what I can tell, Marty’s Sports Card Exchange has the best prices on wax boxes.  He usually does.  Before leaving for the night, I picked-up some packs and a box of 2016 Bowman Baseball to break at the Topps booth tomorrow.  Based on what I saw tonight, it looks like there will be a wait at the Topps booth in order to get your promo packs.  This is because they just can’t break the seal on a box and call it a day.  Topps needs to see each pack ripped open.  When you have people show up with cases, it can take awhile.  If they just broke the seal on a box, people could come back with the packs from the same box and double-dip.

It was a great start to the 2016 National.  Who knows what will happen tomorrow.

Former Phillies pitcher Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams (left)

Got my own Topps card made.  Its an extreme SP.