More Photos From The 2018 National + Cool Idea!

I can only speak for myself, but the 2018 National Sports Collectors Convention has got to be one of the best shows I’ve ever attended.  According to the National, it had the best attendance they’ve seen in the last twelve years.  PSA also mentioned that they had a record number of submissions during the show too.  Records were being broken all over the place.  It was quite the spectacle to see.

Cleveland continues to be my favorite location.  I’ve been to seven Nationals, and four of them have been at the I-X Center.  Its easy to get to, not in the city, and I usually can park near the entrance.  The National takes place in Chicago at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center next year July 31 to August 4, 2019.  As much as I enjoy the National, I don’t plan on going to Chicago.  I hate to miss it, but I do not enjoy the process of flying or driving twelve hours.  The next National I’m looking to attend is in Atlantic City in 2020.  I was there in 2016, and things worked out fairly well.  Given the attendance seen this year, once the Atlantic City show is over I wouldn’t be surprised if it just alternates between Chicago and Cleveland for awhile.

In my opinion, Leaf and Topps had the superior wrapper redemption programs.  I did nothing with Upper Deck or Panini.  Topps does a nice job with their exclusive Bowman Chrome refractors.  Leaf had a huge hit with their 2018 In The Game Used Sports boxes.  At the show, these were selling for $160-$165 per box.  Now they go for $270.  The Leaf Originals Metal promos that you’d receive for opening boxes at their booth have also gained a lot of traction on the secondary market.

I have a cool idea.  Wouldn’t it be fun to see a remote controlled blimp flying around the National?  I’ve seen them before at hockey games randomly dropping coupons.  It could fly over the crowd and drop packs to sports collectors below.  Each day a different manufacturer could sponsor the packs being dropped.  Who wouldn’t want some exclusive blimp parallels?  How about mounting a camera on it too?  I bet it would even have it’s own Twitter account.  I can see this idea really “taking off”.

Although the National has been over for a month, I’d like to share some photos I didn’t post on my Day #1, Day #2, and Day #3 coverage.  There are a few aerial shots.  Pictures like that always remind me of Where’s Waldo.  You never know what you might see.  Who knows?  You could be in there.

Bill Belichick 2002 Super Bowl XXXVI Game-Worn Headset.  You can hear everything with this.  I mean EVERYTHING.

Rob Bertrand of Go GTS Live handing out prizes.

Behind the TRISTAR curtain.

Panini’s Draft Idea Isn’t New

A lot of blogs have been praising Panini for capitalizing on the 2010 NFL Draft by making cards of recently drafted players.  It looks as if they plan on inserting them into boxes of 2010 Prestige too.  Take a look.

For those people that think this is a new idea, I’m sorry to say your wrong.  Donruss/Playoff did the exact same thing with last year’s draft class.  They look cool, but its nothing new.

Mobile App Idea For Graded Card Collectors

Love it or hate it, grading is part of The Hobby.  I for one am a collector that is torn down the middle about the whole thing.  I can see some good for having it, but then reading a book such as The Card shows you how corrupt and stupid it can be.  No grading company is perfect and its very possible for a fake card to make it into one of their sealed holders.  I do think they can help weed out counterfeit vintage cards.

Among all the graders, PSA, BGS, and SGC remain some of the most popular within the industry.  One thing I would do before purchasing a graded card is verify the card’s serial number.  If you can’t see the card’s serial number it was given by the grader, that may be a sign you don’t want to purchase the card.  By checking the serial number you can see if the card your looking at was actually graded by that company.  There are a ton of “look-a-like” holders out on the market that closely resemble some of the more popular graders.  Thats why its important to run the serial number.

I know I’ve stated this information before, but I think it bears repeating.  I once caught a scammer trying to pass off a Yogi Berra 1952 Bowman card graded by PSA a Mint 9.  He didn’t display the serial number in the photo and when I asked for it, none of the numbers he gave me came close to being that Berra.  He was also asking $10k for the card.

With the release of the Apple iPad, I had an idea for a mobile app that I would love to see put into production.  I’d like to see an app that allows collectors to verify graded card serial numbers straight from their mobile device.  I’m far from a computer programmer, but I think its one mobile app that could serve useful to The Hobby.  If there are any mobile app programmers reading, please contact me about creating the Sports Card Info Graded Card app!!  This app has to be more useful than that card flipping game made by Topps.

This Idea Might Be Strange

We’ve all seen them.  You open a pack, and you think there is a memorabilia card, but after shuffling through the pack all you find is a plain white card.  These filler cards have been around the hobby for awhile.  Ever since memorabilia cards became a standard, these filler cards have been placed in packs so it makes it harder for people to search for the ones with the game used cards in them.  Some collectors use fillers to separate cards in their boxes, but most people just throw them away.  They are a disposable item.  My question is this.  Is it possible for a filler card to be worth something in the very far future?  I know this may seem strange because its just a piece of cardboard with no picture on it, but listen to this.  Back in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s baseball cards were nothing more than a disposable item as well.  Thats why they are so valuable today.  Most people threw them out because they were used to make cigarette packs more sturdy.  Again, this idea is way out there, but if we could go back 100 years I’m sure that if you told someone that in the future people would spend thousands even millions on sports cards, they probably would think your crazy.