It's been a few months since I've went to a card show, so I was really looking forward to JP's Sports & Rock Solid Promotions show in White Plains - about 45 minutes from my place. I posted earlier on this blog when I went to a show at this location in October when I got Gaylord Perry to sign. Even on a freezing cold day and with the football playoffs later that day, I expected them to have a pretty nice crowd with members from the 1986 Mets team as autograph guests and 300 tables.

So I woke early, hit the ATM, and picked up Mike D. by 9:15. He mentioned how the show should be great to take his mind off the Giants game coming up at 6:00. Last time we got horribly lost (damn confusing directions from Google), so this time I tried Yahoo Maps and we had my GPS. Once again the directions were wrong, but we followed the GPS and got there by 10:05.

Usually I spend about 2-3 hours at these things, but we agreed we had to be out by 1:30 so we could make it back for the Pats-Chargers game at 3:00.

There were about 50-75 people on line to pay the $7 admission, but it went pretty quick once they opened 2 windows. I was pretty psyched, because (in addition to 300 tables) the admission included:

• an issue of Sports Collectors Digest (now down to a paltry 46 pages of fluff)
• one free autograph from for slugger Dave Kingman - who I needed for my 1986 Topps set

So Mike D. and I walked around, browsing for about 45 minutes on the left side of the room. Saw some decent items, but I usually try to walk the room before I start buying - a strategy that has both helped and hurt me over the years.

I had planned to meet up with devlisfan15 (Mike), so we found one another when he arrived. He's a vintage baseball/hockey collector and is certainly knowledgeable. Even though he's a Yankee fan, showed me a nice 1986 Mets litho that he is working on that he was getting signed by Ed Hearn, Keith Hernandez, Rafael Santana, and Tim Teufel (other guests at the show). So the three of us walked around for bit and BS'd a lot.

At 11:00ish, we found this table where a guy had nice condition 1963-67 baseball commons in top loaders for 2 for $1. So we stopped (so much for my strategy of walking the whole thing first) and looked. I wound going through his box of 4 for $1 cards and I pulled a bunch of 1994 Action Packed Basketball HOFers (the gold bordered ones). As I thumb through the box, I see a stack of 1988 Fleer Basketball and I do a double take when I see the John Stockton (a card I have always wanted and never got around to getting).

While I was distracted with my find, Mike D. picked up a 1957 Topps Jack Twyman in Ex condition for $10 - an amazing deal. I was happy to pay that for one in poor condition at the last show. He would later pick more - including Slater Martin and Harry Gallatin from another dealer.

So we walk around a bit more. I heard the announcement that Kingman was signing, so I jumped on line (behind 100-150 people). After a few minutes the two Mikes find me on line. Mike D. shows me his bag with a bunch of cards in top loaders (as we had split up), and he tells me that he saw a few interesting things:

• There was a dealer with a load of 70's basketball commons fro 3 for $1. I had made it through about 2/3 of the room at this point, and he was moving faster than I was.
• There was a guy sitting in front of a box 1970 Topps baseball cards with Harvey's 2008 list.

Mike D. was nice enough to wait on line and get Kingman for me, as I hadn't made it through the whole show.

So I walk down the aisle and saw the guys with Harvey's list looking over a box of 60's and 70's baseball card. I asked them if they knew of SportsCollectors.Net, and they seemed pretty surprised. Then I introduced myself and told them I created the site, and they seemed pretty psyched as they have both been members for a while. One said, "you're jaygross"? I probably spent another 30 minutes with them talking about the site and collecting. tp4ham was a big fan of the team functionality I recently added.

It was almost 1pm and I had found the table Mike D. was talking about a little bit further down in the row. I bought 24 cards from 1970's NBA and NHL for $8 - loads of stars/HOFers who all are pretty good signers. I noticed the same guy had about 10 monster boxes full of dime cards in top loaders on table. So as I dig through the boxes, I mentioned to another dealer I knew previously that I ran an autograph community. As luck would have it, another long time member (sumosid) was standing next to me and introduced himself. So we chatted a bunch about collecting and he told me how much he enjoys SCN. I grabbed another 100 or so cards from NBA, NHL, and NFL in this deal.

I then got to the last row, and it was 1:30 - so much for us leaving on time. I hit a table where the dealer has another 10 monster boxes of vintage cards for $1 each divided by sport. I scored big time on 1970's basketball. Loads of 1971-78 HOFers and multi player leaders cards I love so much. Also picked up a few 70's NFL and 2 Luis Tiant cards.

The dealer and other customers were all commenting on how much easier it is when all the cards are the same price. It makes me want to go to that dealer's table more often.

It's past 2:10, and I should be finding Mike D. to be going (he was waiting for me). Now that all the autograph signings are over and the game is on soon, the show is starting to wind down.

In the last row, I find a college aged dealer with a really nice variety of stuff. He had about 15 monster boxes of dime cards, picked up about 50 various cards as I rushed to get through a few NFL boxes. He had 6 monster boxes of insert jersey and autograph cards for $2 each which I would have loved to have went through.

By 2:40, we're out the door. As we are sitting in the car (waiting for it to warm up on a freezing cold day), and Mike D. shows me his haul. He got some great cards, but then he takes out an envelope of autographed photos. For $5 each, he got 10 signed FB HOFers on signed 8x10's  - Jim Ringo, Might Train Lane, Sam Huff, et.c, etc. I wish I saw that table.

We spent the ride home commenting how much fun we had at this show. As much as I love getting an autographed card I need and some great cards, it was so much more fulfilling to meet 4 members and hear how much they like SportsCollectors.Net. It really is such a small world.

Now that both the Pats and Giants won and will meet in the Super Bowl, I am a happy camper.

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