The Philly Show Is Dying

Hunt Auctions is the owner of The Philly Show, and they are down right killing it.  Ever since the show moved to the Valley Forge Convention Center fewer dealers have been coming.  They keep raising the price for booth space, and the facility the show is held in is falling apart.  This doesn’t take into account that the bathrooms look like a crime scene from CSI and they didn’t have the air conditioning on.  The dealers and visitors weren’t warned about any of the construction that is currently taking place either.  To get to the show, you had to take such a long walk through the hotel.  They could have had more tables to sit at too.  Upper Deck, Hunt Auctions owner should be ashamed.  I miss the days when The Philly Show was held at The Fort Washington Expo Center and The Greater Reading Expo Center.

Since there were such few dealers it didn’t take long to browse through most of the tables.  As usual there were a lot of vintage cards, but I did find some dealers that carried modern stuff.  I didn’t purchase any single cards for my collection.  Instead I bought two boxes of 2011 Topps Finest Football from Marty’s Sports Card Exchange, a few supplies from Eddie of ESE Supplies, and an autograph ticket for Pat Gillick.  MAB Celebrity does a great job when it comes to organizing and bring in the athletes.  That still is a big draw for collectors.

This may have been the last time I attend The Philly Show for awhile until they shape up.  That’s what I heard from a lot of dealers.  I might give the show at The Greater Philadelphia Expo Center a shot.  Many dealers had positive things to say about it.  I hear its run by the same group that does the Chantilly show.

Tomorrow I will reveal what I pulled from my two boxes of 2011 Topps Finest Football.

Pat Gillick – 2011 member of the Baseball HOF.  Gillick was the General Manager of the Phillies when they won the 2008 World Series.  He was very nice to come out from behind the table for a photo.

Gillick’s signature can be seen on the right

Bill Mazeroski

Julius Erving – “Dr. J”

Former Phillies shortstop Dickie Thon

Former Phillies second baseman/shortstop Mariano Duncan

Former Phillies Outfielder Ollie Brown

Tyrell Biggs – 1984 Olympic Boxing Gold Medalist

Dec. ’09 Philly Show Is Heating Up

One of my favorite shows to attend is The Philly Show which is held at The Valley Forge Convention Center in Valley Forge, PA.  Before Hunt Auctions purchased the show last year they would only get one or two autograph guest to come over the whole weekend.  After Hunt Auctions acquired The Philly Show they have been able to bring in a bunch of big ticket athletes for collectors to meet ranging from Willie Mays to Frank Robinson.  The next Philly Show takes place on Dec. 4-6 and is a must for any Phillies fan.  Check out the lineup of athletes scheduled to attend.

Saturday 12-5:

• Pete Rose
• Mike Schmidt
• Todd Pratt

Sunday 12-6:

• Steve Carlton
• Scott Eyre
• Keith Moreland
• Shane Victorino
• Cliff Lee

I enjoy getting in person autographs, because you can obtain cards almost anywhere you live.  It doesn’t matter if you have a hometown card shop or not.  Collectors can always go to the internet.  Meeting athletes like this can’t be done all the time.  The dealers must do well at these shows if Hunt Auctions continues to bring in big celebrities like this.  I plan to attend Saturday and hope to get some great autographs and photos to share.  I might also bust a box or two 🙂  You can learn more about the show from MAB Celebrity and The Philly Show’s site.  More autograph guests could possibly be added in the future.

Autograph Lineup For The Sept. ’09 Philly Show

According to show Manager Paul Kutch, this will be the autograph lineup for The Philly Show that takes place on Sept. 25-27 at the Valley Forge Convention Center.

Sat. 9-26-09

• Johnny Bench
• Carlton Fisk
• Joe Frazier
• Angelo Dundee
• Dave “The Hammer” Schultz – This will be the FREE one that comes with your ticket

Sun. 9-27-09

• Whitey Ford
• Bob Boone
• Ric Flair
• Greg Gross – this will be the FREE autograph that comes with your ticket

The show’s website states that Yogi Berra is coming but he wasn’t on the list that the Manager just sent to me.  It looks as if they replaced Berra with Frazier.  I wasn’t planning on paying the high price for Berra, but it would have been cool to see him.