I recently attended the National Sports Collectors Convention (NSCC) in Rosemont, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. This was the largest National Sports Collectors Convention show ever. The Donald E. Stephens Convention Center was set up with 600,000 square feet of dealers, exhibitors and corporate business presence. For reference, a football field is nearly 60,000 square feet and an acre of land is approximately 44,000 square feet.
This was no ordinary baseball card show. It was the highest-attended sports card show in history! The total attendance was not announced, but the NSCC did say it was a record crowd. The previous record was believed to be the 1991 show in Anaheim, which had a total attendance of approximately 100,000 people. So for a rough gauge, this year’s “National” had enough attendees to fill both Oriole Park and M&T Bank Stadium at the same time.
Is it a baseball card show? Well, maybe that’s not a fair term anymore. When I grew up going to card shows in the ’90s and even working as a dealer, I remember card shows at Owings Mills Mall or the local VFW. It wasn’t until my first National that I saw a card show that I would never forget. This year, I made the drive to Chicago and shared a room with John Newman, host of the successful “Sports Card Nation Podcast.” Chicago has hosted the show before and will again in two years. (Cleveland will host next year.) It’s a great host, and there were many unbelievable things that I experienced that I wanted to share from my trip.
There is an expression about The National: “If you can’t find it here, you won’t find it anywhere.” While I can’t prove that, I can say that there did seem to be every sports card, every piece of memorabilia and all other related items that you could possibly imagine.
That included a rather rare card that I was looking to possibly purchase — a 1933 Goudey Moe Berg. At most card shows, there might not be one copy of this card available from any dealer. Before I left for Chicago, I looked online and only found seven copies for sale across all major card platforms. But there were no fewer than 12 copies of this card at The National. And, yes I did buy a very low-grade version! I use this to illustrate why the show is not just pomp and circumstance but a truly great card show.
The National is also known for bringing in big-name autograph signers from the world of sports. This year there were hundreds of current and former athletes whose autograph you could purchase and receive directly from the player. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Reggie Jackson, Joe Montana, Angel Reese, Barry Sanders and many more were signing this year. Derek Jeter even showed up as an ambassador for The Arena Club, one of the corporate booths.
For many people, the autographs are the highlight of The National. It is an amazing opportunity to meet your childhood or current heroes. However, the autographs are not the best part of the show for me.
Collecting cards and memorabilia is all about memories and being a fan. The National provides one time of year when I know I will see some of my closest friends in person. There is nothing more fun than sharing The National with a like-minded friend. But remember, you are walking around 600,000 square feet!
Now what exactly is filling up the 600,000 square feet? How about hundreds of dealers, industry companies, live shows being filmed and much more?
The main stage was for panel discussions and presentations. I was honored to sit in for two of those and discuss “The Hobby.” Hearing from the other panel groups was very interesting as well. One specific group, “Women in the Hobby,” highlighted female cards, collectors and sports. It was very enlightening.
I personally love vintage baseball cards. There is no larger collection of vintage card dealers at any other show in the country. But there were also booths for the following: presidential artifacts and autographs; collectible Garbage Pail Kids cards; Roberto Clemente cards and memorabilia, and current quarterback cards worth more than $5,000.
For the most part, you could easily find a Jackson Holliday or Adley Rutschman rookie card for some local flavor. When I would tell people I was from Baltimore, they would immediately get a smile and show me Gunnar Henderson, Jim Palmer and, yes, even Johnny Unitas rookies. There’s a real camaraderie among sports fans.
How about the corporate presence? If you wanted to get a card graded, every major card grading company (PSA, SGC, CGC and BGS) was there. Dozens of start-up companies like MASCOT (@withmascot on Twitter) and even specialty companies like Card Ladder had their top employees ready to answer questions and show off their products. The show also did well to cater to children. Some of the corporate booths went above and beyond, as was the case for CGC, which had a mini-carnival right in the middle of the convention center!
The show opened to the public on July 26 and continued through July 30. Interestingly, many of the largest sales were made between dealers while the show was setting up shop prior to opening to the public. This is a little secret: If you ever have the opportunity to talk to a dealer, touch base early in the show even though a deal may not be consummated right away. But most importantly, there were lots of deals going on everywhere. This includes trade nights.
A trade night is an official or unofficial gathering of collectors to trade, buy and sell with each other instead of dealers. These have become increasingly more popular. On any given night you will find hotel lobbies all around the convention center full of card traders spread out along the floors. It’s a weird phenomenon, but it is also card collecting in a very true form. The National has started to sponsor one official trade night, and the convention center had a line out the door and down the street when I was leaving the show that day. Clearly, these are here to stay.
If you get the chance in the future, I hope you will attend a National. There is truly something for everyone. And if you can’t find it there, you won’t find it anywhere! See you next year in Cleveland.
Have you had cards since you were a kid and now you want to sell them? Please email any questions to Danny@SPORTSBALT.com or visit SportsBalt.com.
Pictured L-R: Danny Black, “Sports Card Nation Podcast” host John Newman and renowned artist Graig Kreindler (Photo Courtesy of Danny Black)