I thought the show was good even though it was smaller than I thought it would be. It was advertised as 140 dealers on the website, but there were more like 50-75 dealers there. There was minimal "shiny new stuff" so that was good (to me) and there were tons of framed pictures and other memorabilia dealers there. Nice stuff to look at but not my thing at those prices.
I met Bobby and Jim, had a nice chat, and picked up a couple of post hockey sticks (thanks Bobby!). The Toronto Maple Leaf's 1930-31 photograph on display by the Black & White Gallery was really cool, as is the story behind it.
I'm not much of a Leafs fan (except I collect Ace Bailey stuff so figure that one out), so I wasn't interested in the autograph guests (plus I find it hard to justify spending $10-60 per autograph). So for a show who's main focus was on autos, it wasn't bad at all.
One more thing I'd like someone to explain to me: why does KSA bother showing up to these things? And who is keeping them in business? I was there for a good portion of Saturday afternoon and I did not see one person at the KSA booth. Further, due to their loose grading standards, I would never consider them for grading my stuff!
Overall not much in the 1910-1930 range of cards but there was a decent amount of vintage (depending on your definition of vintage of course). I would have liked to see more card accessories (especially off-sized top loaders), but now I'm getting picky. Anyway, those are my thoughts, I would love to hear from others.
Ray, it was great meeting you and look forward to meeting more guys from the Forum at the shows.
It was really cool sitting down with Johnny Bower going over my book as he signed it everywhere there was a picture of him, hehe, he loved the book so much and complimented me on it, it was a cool weekend. And I heard the dinner was awesome, you were right beside all the stars, you could talk to them, laugh with them and joke with them, an awesome event, really!!
I agree with Paul with how the show was and if people expected this to be like the Expo, of course they would be disappointed. Although, Len Pottie, A.J., were there, plus a bunch of others toting vintage...picked up a nice nrmt Faulkner RC from Len, 75 bux...so some people missed out on some cool cards I guess.
As for the booths, there were well over 100 booths but allot of dealers had more than one booth, so that cuts down the dealer count but the booth count was fine.
Even though the location was tough for parking and finding, the promoter was terrific and made sure everything was done.
Most of all the timing was perfect, this is the right time of year to have a show and not in May. Last show in the Spring, the leafs were out of the playoffs, first time in a long time and the Expo was dreadful for dealers, but what can you do when there is only one show and one promoter...now we have two and I will gladly go back to his next show.
There will be a new location and it will be in Late October and not a month before Christmas. Timing is everything!!
The show didn't have as many dealers because they were scheduled to go to the show next month, if the leafs are out, then it will be a very slow show as a dealer, which I am really not, I just sell the book and show alot of things off at the table and sell some nickle and dime things, so the stuff I bring to sell doesn't make my show, people make the show and we need more people coming to the shows. If the leafs are out, the show drops about 1/3 and it hurts the dealers there because they don't make extra sales from the casual visitor/buyer. May is most certainly not the time to have a sports card show, look how many teams will be out of the playoffs at that time, man, its (20 degree Canadian) out here, (70 degree USA), start packing for the cottage not the show, you know.....!
was there all day saturday,had fun hanging loose with bobby all day at his table.got to meet some great people and some of the weirdos that come out once in awhile,you know the type i mean. thanks bobby for getting that faulkner rc for me from len, that was nice of you. really wanted to meet jim but he wasn't there on saturday. all in all it was fun,also picked up a bobby orr puzzle from fresher sports and some great under priced oddball stuff. took me an hour to find the damn place though. show will do a lot better where a building is out on its own. the annex show had the sky walk closed so i had to walk around the convention centre to the back which was not easy at all. also walked to legends sports shop to check it out and bought some needed supplys.
The venue was pleasant--clean and large enough to comfortably accomodate those dealers in attendance--and I actually didn't mind the downtown location. While parking becomes an additional cost, public transit is available, and going across the 401 is generally more of a headache than the DVP.
As for the show itself....
If a person was there to pick up autographs of former Leaf greats and not-so-greats then this show would have been very enjoyable for you. The line-ups weren't too bad and there were plenty of signers to chose from.
However, as a card show it was not very good (trying to be as diplomatic as possible). There were only a handful of true card dealers at the show--and AJ really had limited offerings didn't he? There was really nothing for '60s/'70s set builders like me. Nobody sold supplies either--couldn't even find a pack of card savers.
It seemed like most dealers were trying to cater to the non-collecting hockey fan. In other words, the guy who enjoys hockey and might want a "souvenir" or two to take home, but not the guy who really collects hockey cards. Thus, magazines, bears, jerseys, programs, photos of every size and shape, etc. were plentiful. It was not a card show!
In short, I was very disappointed and doubt very much that I would return to an October show unless there is some serious change in the format. Perhaps I stand alone.
By the way, there were weekend shows in Leaside, Cambridge and Hamilton. Scheduling a new show opposite these well-established shows was not a bright idea. I am sure it kept away dealers and collectors alike.
This message has been edited by eyebone on Mar 29, 2007 6:20 PM
first off I want to thank Jim for the heads up on Friday. I gave it careful consideration and drove the three plus hours anyway. I had made the plans and was seeing some friends so what the heck...gas is only 1.09 per litre!!!
I digress, too much shiny stuff, not enough vintage and dont really need the autographs. for that reason I would say it was a disapointment.
However, since one of my hobbies is collecting tickets, seeing the Ticketime guy there was awesome!! picked up lots and also made contact with a chap who collects stubs as do I. that was worth the trip. Looking forward to May. Stopped by Queensway Sportscards which was cool.
someone made the comment about no supplies...I found that odd.
Having heard many mixed reviews from many people about this show, please keep in mind this was an Autograph and Memrobilia show and I don't think it was advertised as a Sports Card show!!
I truly expected exactly what was presented. We knew what dealers were going to be there, so there really shouldn't have been any surprises, except for finding the location which was difficult if you don't know the Metro Convention Center.
I stand by what I have said about the show, it was what it was supposed to be. I truly had a great time, sold a bunch of books and allot of memrobilia and surely didn't expect it to be like the sports card expo.
Yeah Bobby, that is why I did not attend. I collect post war hockey vintage cards. I do have a feeling that I will regret my decision as this was probably the last time to see such a gathering of hockey heros, especially being a born and bred Leaf fan. " GOOD GRIEF "
