Chicago Sun-Times Sports Collectible Convention
Chicago, IL - 11/19/2005
This was a guys convention for Dan and Greg. We headed for Chicago on Saturday, November 19, 2005 at 5:30am to attend the Sun-Times show. After a few wrong turns at O'Hare we arrived at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, parked and walked through the sky ways to get to the convention center at 10:30am. Greg had slept a bit and I drove.
Our goal was to learn more about the sports collectibles business, check prices, spread the word about CollectingResources.com, meet some dealers, find some contacts to buy replacement inventory from, get some autographs to create some "product", and meet with the staff of the grading services.
We had some success on all accounts. After we paid our $10 admission fees, we purchased our autograph tickets. We had some sticker shock! More than 15 players were on hand during the day to sign autographs. We had decided to get autographs from Ryne Sandberg and Tom Seaver. We hadn't seen the price list! A Sandberg autograph was $79 on a flat item plus $20 for a short inscription. We settled on one of his autographs. Seaver was $59 so again one autograph only. We weren't sure we would have much demand for autographs at those price levels.
For those unfamiliar with American baseball both Sandberg and Seaver are Baseball Hall of Fame members and hence retired "stars". Ryne Sandberg joined the Chicago Cubs from the Phillies in a January 1982 trade. He then played second base for the Cubs for 16 seasons. Sandberg won the 1984 National League Most Valuable Player Award, batting .314 with 200 hits, 114 runs, 19 homers and 84 RBIs. Also, Sandberg won nine Gold Gloves. Tom Seaver won 311 games with a 2.86 ERA over 20 seasons with 3,272 strikeouts which set a National League career record. Seaver fanned 19 batters in a single game once. He was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1967 and a three-time Cy Young Award winner. Both Ryne and Tom were gracious and let us take pictures for CollectingResources.com.
Greg Power with Ryne Sandberg at Sun-Times show Saturday, November 19, 2005
Greg Power with Tom Seaver at Sun-Times show Saturday, November 19, 2005
Johnny Washington, Greg Power and Carl Long (L-R) at Sun-Times show
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Greg and I enjoyed chatting with three players from the "Negro League" who were at the show. They were NOT making the "big" money from autographs, but they were having a good time. Carl Long played with the Birmingham Black Barons 1952-1953 and was inducted in the Negro League Hall of Fame in 2003. He was a teammate of Willie Mays. Johnny Washington played with the Chicago American Giants and New Orleans Eagles 1950-1951. Thanks guys and thanks to Charles Johnson as well.
Greg Power with Mike Rea, the "King of Cards" at Sun-Times show
Saturday, November 19, 2005
We visited with many dealers at the show, but we got friendly advice and help and had the most fun with the "King of Cards" Mike Rea of A To Z Cards & Comics. Mike and Richard Rea operate the business in Garden City, MI. Thanks Mike and Richard and we look forward to doing business with you in the future. Check their website at www.youratoz.com.
We had a great show, learned a lot and we are already planning for the spring Sun-Times show March 24-26, 2006. Check www.sportsnewsshows.com. If you want coverage at CollectingResources.com, then invite us to your show, convention or collecting meeting. We are based in Iowa, but you never know where we might go to report on collecting.
Dan Power