BBCE National Report, Part 1: What did we buy? Of course, just about anything vintage unopened that walked in the room made its way to us. Dealers came over during set up to show us product they had bought recently with the hopes of flipping it for a quick profit. We looked at two 1986/87 Fleer Basketball boxes for dealers, but both were determined not to be authentic untampered boxes, but rather mixed boxes with clean packs. Heres a list (from memory so I may have forgot a few or several items) of what we bought during the show. Keep in mind some items were flipped immediately to those hanging around the booth (yet another reason to come to The National) and until these items pop up on our website, I personally have no idea what we do or dont have: Football 1989 Score wax boxes, 1986 Topps wax boxes, 1986 Topps rack box, 1987 Topps wax boxes Basketball 1987/88 Fleer wax boxes, 1988/89 Fleer wax boxes, 1976/77 Topps wax box Baseball 1973 Topps 4th series wax box, 1980 Topps rack box, 1980 Topps vending case, 1980 OPC wax box, 1981 OPC wax box, 1989 Topps Heads-Up Test Issue wax box, 1976 OPC wax box, 1975 OPC wax packs, 1984 Donruss wax boxes, 1978 Topps vending case, 1979 Topps vending case, 1980 Topps vending case, 1981-85 Topps vending cases, 1981-85 Fleer vending cases Hockey 1986/87 OPC wax boxes, 1984/85 OPC wax boxes, 1982/83 OPC wax boxes, 1983/84 OPC wax boxes, 1979/80 Topps wax boxes, 1980/81 Topps wax box, 1977/78 Topps wax box Misc 1965 Philly War Bulletin wax packs, 1953 Bowman TV & Radio Stars cello packs, 1976 Topps Star Trek wax box, 1988 Maxx Racing Graded Cards 1939 Play Ball PSA 5-7s including Williams, DiMaggio, Greenberg, etc. PSA graded T206 HOFs including Cobb, Mathewson, Chance, Evers, Brown, Keeler, Tinker, Cicotte (yes, I know hes not a HOF but still cool) BGS OPC and Topps Gretzky rookies PSA graded T205s and T201s What were the most popular items? 1970s and 1980s loose racks of all sports - if you cant find or afford a full box, these are a great alternative. They are fun to open, and display much better than a boring Topps rack box. Vintage complete sets - we probably had 40 mainstream sets in baseball, football, and basketball, and sold 37 of them. None of them were NM condition; most of them were VG-EX. Year after year we sell the living daylights out of complete sets, and I believe the reason why is like everything else we have, we are reasonably priced. Lower grade PSA graded cards of HOFs from the 1950s and 1960s - in previous years, weve had these buried underneath the PSA 7s, 8s, and 9s in the showcases. This year, we gave these card their own section, and they were moving all show long. Collectors love mid-grade vintage! Baseball HOF Plaques - once again, if you are priced reasonably, collectors are going to line up to shop at your booth. My mistake was not bringing a larger supply as quite a few players sold out. Id say we sold about 40% of what we brought, which is an incredible percentage for a specific type of item at a week long show. PSA graded commons - Finishing a graded set can be tough, because high grade commons arent easily found, especially at a reasonable price. We sold about 150-170 cards through Thursday afternoon before a dealer bought out the entire showcase. 1980s Unopened Product - Baby boomers still have the buying power, but many who grew up in the 1980s are starting to hit their stride financially, and are buying up the cards of their youth. Of course, this is just my observation, but Ive heard enough stories from collectors about recapturing their youth to know this is absolutely the case. What did you see that was cool at The National? For the third year in a row, the only times I left the booth were to use the bathroom or get some food. Having attended the last 17 Nationals in a row, I can tell you that this part of my week long experience sucks. I only know what two or three aisles of the show looks like all set up. The rest of the show I can only recognize with sheets covering the tables - from my stroll in the morning before the floor opens, and my stroll in the afternoon as Im heading back to the hotel. Being busy at The National is a good problem to have, but it does have its drawbacks. How is the hobby, with regards to new cards as well as old cards? Other than stocking our retail store, we dont deal in unopened product that has been released over the past couple years. The market it quite volatile, and do we really want to compete head-to-head with the likes of Blowout Cards and Dave & Adams Card World for market share and thin margins? Still, their booths and many others were busy all weekend long, because if an athlete keeps showing up on Sportscenter, there will be collectors out there who want to have his/her cards. The modern card market is also quite strong, as our employee Darren spent over $25,000 in modern singles at our booth, despite not having any similar type of product on display. Vintage product, whether it be unopened, graded cards, or autographs, is simply on fire. Its been documented here on Facebook that we cant keep up with the demand or the work involved in processing our buys and bringing them to market. I cant speak for all the dealers in the hobby, as quite a few reported less than desirable results in Cleveland, but Steve and I have discussed taking the next few weeks off from buying trips just so we can catch up on what we already have in house.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 16:27:45 +0000
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