[kashley]

Went with my dad from Fort Lee, it was about a 2 hour drive. I was allotted $300 for spending, but I was trying to avoid spending that much. Let me start by emphasizing, that this was my first ever big time show, and as soon as I walked through the door with my dad, I was pretty petrified at the sheer number of sports stuff I was looking at. Took me about 5 minutes until I stopped being immobile and
started looking for cards.

1. First Table Ever, Wizards Style
Still overwhelmed by the sheer size of everything, I was drawn in by a table near the entrance that had a whole bunch of Washington teams cards. The people there saw my John Wall jersey, so they directed me to a couple row boxes of pure Wizards Autos/Game Used. A kid in a candy store basically. Lots of nice stuff, but I wasn’t looking to blow all my money on the first table I saw; I had to leave a few cards behind. I might’ve overpaid, especially considering the player choice (PJ Ramos?), but I think I came out well PC-wise.

$5 Cards
2004-05 SPx Rookie Jersey Autograph Peter John Ramos #ed/1999
2004-05 SP Signature Edition Rookie Graphiti Autograph Peter John Ramos #ed/200

$10 Cards
2003-04 Fleer Patchworks Licensed Apparel Patch Jerry Stackhouse #ed/150
2004-05 SP Signature Edition Inkorporated Autograph Peter John Ramos #ed/100

$15 Card
2007-08 Topps Echelon Rookie Autographs Quad Relics Gold Nick Young #ed 1/50 (Jersey #ed!!)

Total Money Spent: $45

2. Tons of Cheapie Basketball
Saw a table that had mostly baseball and football, but I saw that it had a row of basketball rookies that were all half off. So I went to work digging! Found a lot of set needs so overall a great find.

$.25 Cards
2003-04 Upper Deck Hardcourt Rookies #ed/1999
Nick Collison
Marcus Banks
Zoran Planinic

2005-06 SPx Rookies #ed/1499
Bracey Wright
Shavlik Randolph
Aaron Miles
Von Wafer
Yaroslav Korolev
Alex Acker


2004-05 SkyBox Premium Rookies #ed/999
Robert Swift

2005-06 Sweet Spot Rookies #ed/1599
Jarrett Jack
Alan Anderson
CJ Miles

2006-07 Sweet Shot Gold #ed/199
Antawn Jamison

2009-10 Prestige
Tyreke Evans
James Harden


$.50 Cards

2004-05 Bowman Gold Rookie Devin Harris
2004-05 Bowman Chrome Rookie Delonte West

2005-06 Sweet Shot Rookies #ed/1499
Louis Williams
Hakim Warrick


Total Money Spent: $6

3. Game Used on Sale
I kept moving on and saw a table with a big sign that showcased a blowout of game used and autographed cards in the range of $.75-$2.00. I checked it out and think I came out nicely.

$1.50 Cards
2002-03 UD Authentics Uniform Greatness Kevin Garnett
2003-04 SP Game Used Jersey Allen Iverson
2003-04 SPx Rookie Jersey Autograph Jason Kapono #ed/1999
2004-05 Topps Luxury Box Triple Threat Relics Antoine Walker/Antawn Jamison/Grant Hill #ed/450
2007-08 Ultra SE Jersey DeShawn Stevenson #ed/50
2009-10 SP Game Used 3 Star Swatches Caron Butler/Josh Howard/Paul Millsap #ed/299

Total Money Spent: $9

4. Box Busters!
Decided I wanted some wax to bust as well. Ran into a table headed by PittsburghSportsCards.com, and they had a alot of nice prices for their boxes. Still not willing to break my allowance on my first show, I walked off with 2 boxes of 10-11 Panini Season Update for $45 each. Busting them as soon as I’m done with this post!

Total Money Spent: $90

5. LeBron and Kobe Show
Saw a table that had a couple boxes filled with Kobe Bryant and LeBron James base and inserts for 50 cents for the most part, with the occasional big time inserts for $1-$3. There were some other big players as well.I needed some LeBron and Kobe to fill out some of my basketball sets, so I went to work.
$.50 Cards
2003-04 SPx Kobe Bryant
2003-04 Upper Deck Triple Dimensions Kobe Bryant
2004-05 Bowman LeBron James
2004-05 Bowman Chrome LeBron James
2005-06 Sweet Shot LeBron James
2007-08 Stadium Club Kobe Bryant
2007-08 Stadium Club LeBron James
2008-09 Topps Treasury Kobe Bryant
2009-10 Prestige Franchise Favorites LeBron James
2009-10 Prestige Stars of the NBA LeBron James


$2 Card
2009-10 Topps Gold LeBron James #ed/2009
$3 Card
2004-05 Fleer Genuine Legends Kareem Abdul Jabber #ed/500

Total Money Spent: $10

---

6. A Pair of SPx Rookies
It was about 4:20 PM; had maybe 40 minutes before the show closed and everyone started packing up. I started to scramble around in search of more basketball , and stumbled upon a table of UNC cards for $5 each or 5 for $20. I saw 2 SPx Rookies I needed so I quickly snagged them and moved on.

$5 Cards
2005-06 SPx Rookie Autograph Jerseys #ed/750
Marvin Williams
Rashad McCants

Total Money Spent: $10

7. Some Much-Needed Protection
One thing I severely lack from my card supply from home are toploaders, so what better place to buy them than here? Got a variety of sizes for my many needs.


Total Money Spent: $15

8. Support Our Troops
I mentioned that my dad was with me at the show. Well, where was he? My dad is active military, already 27 years in the Army. He has a talent of pointing out guys in a crowd as active or veterans and striking up conversations. So as I was finding bargains, my dad walked around and was just talking with the many interesting people at the show. I’d say it was about 4:35 PM, and I saw my dad talking with an older couple that had some cool pins and old school memorabilia for sale. The man was a Vietnam vet and was part of an Airborne unit, as my dad is. I thought that was really cool and I thanked the man for his service. I saw a Mike Flanagan Pin that he had for sale at $3, and I knew someone who could used it. I took out three $1 bills out of my pocket before I asked the man for the Flanagan. I was about to reach my bill-filled hand out when he said I could have it for free, which caught me completely off-guard. I thanked the man, while my dad bought a Ronald Reagan pin from him. Also got a Phillies Championship Cup and Keychain, which he discounted for me as well. That was a really cool experience for sure.


Total Money Spent: $10

Conclusion: For my first big-time show, I can confidently say that this is probably the greatest experience of my life in relation to the hobby. It was fun chatting with dealers and seeing that most of them are still hobbyists at heart, which is really cool. Would love to hit this show again next year.
Grand Total Spent: $195

BONUS STORY: James Worthy is Cool Dude
]A little backstory: a couple weeks ago (October 2nd exactly), my dad was in attendance at a military event, and as it happened, Mr. James Worthy was there as well. He took a couple pictures with him and texted me that night; I thought that was really awesome. As it turns out, Mr. Worthy was signing at this show today. Unfortunately, the schedule said he was signing at 11:00 AM-12:15 PM and we arrived at about 2:15 PM; too late for us. But as my dad was talking with other dealers, one let it slip that Mr. Worthy was still at the show signing stuff for memorabilia dealers. My dad, being a Sergeant Major and not willing to take orders from others, stepped into the back of the convention center which was Authorized People Only (Dealers I’m guessing), spotted Mr. Worthy and started talking with him. Mr. Worthy remembered him from the military event, and said he’d definitely sign something for him. So my dad raced out on the show floor and told me everything. I trailed behind him as he quickly got an 8x10 and an autograph ticket; the cashier and people around were confused as Worthy stopped signing at 12:15 PM. My dad pulled me into the Authorized People Only and I immediately felt awkward seeing all the people with their dealer lanyards. We walked to Mr. Worthy as he was in the middle of signing some Lakers and UNC jerseys, and the dealers over watching him gave us some icy glances. We waited for him to take a break; as soon as he saw us as he turned he gave us a warm greeting and was telling everyone about my dad at the military event. I was kind of, or rather very, star struck, and all I could muster was a “Hello Sir!” I shook his huge hand and took a picture with him, then he gave us a nice signature on the 8x10 we brought. Great way to start the day.

[libs021]

That picture is a beauty

[quavis]

Pretty cool!

[vgqv]

Sounds like an awesome time, wish I could've done stuff like that with my old man. That "Big Game" James is a real beauty. You seem like such a good kid, "Went with my dad from Fort Lee, it was about a 2 hour drive. I was allotted $300 for spending, but I was trying to avoid spending that much. Let me start by emphasizing, that this was my first ever big time show, and as soon as I walked through the door with my dad". Any other kid wouldn't have even thought like that. Hope you had a blast at your first show and happy with your cards. Gotta cherish doin' stuff like this with your old man. Nice thread.

[jpleazme805]

glad to hear you had a good time. Especially with your dad. I used to try to get my dad to go to shows with me, but he was like hurry up & lets go. He would always let me go to card shops, but he'd wait in the card. or he'd give me a few dollars to run into the liquor store on the way to our favorite swimming hole (REDROCK, near Santa Barbara, Ca). There was a store that used to sale sports cards.. when I first bought cards was 87-88, I was 7/8 years old & would ride my bike, or walk to the local 711 to buy packs of cards & candy... those are my memories as a kid. You can't walk to the store being that young anymore.. too dangerous.. the 711 was about a mile & half from where we lived.

I've only been to one huge card show, which was awesome. forgot what town it was in, but it was in SOCAL. entry fee was $10 & you got one of three people's autos for free. I think you were able to get two items signed.. after that you had to pay for their signatures. kinda sucks having to pay for signatures, but usually the money goes to charity, well most of the time. I would hope to think so...

the local card shows in Santa Barbara, Ca were awesome when I first started going to them... 92-93, around the end of 94, they were less & less dealers & collectors.. turned into mostly magic the gathering... I finished a complete set of Magic (beta) around 93.. that is my pride & joy of non-sports. still have the set.. never been played with, since I hated magic. I just collected them, because that was the thing to do.. everybody was into it at that time..

now, there are no card shows, that I know of back in my home town. Just found out the very last card shop up there is trying to sale out.. that sucks!! nobody in Santa Barbara will know about collecting cards.. especially, since there is no wallmart there & the only Kmart never has any boxes of cards.. Santa Barbara is a small town.

I've been living in San Diego for the last 12 years. Serving in the US Navy. Loving the big city so much!! don't think I'd move home until I retire.. but more likely stay in Sun Daygo.. I've been to a few shows in San Diego, but every was a waste of time. The first two I went to around 2000-01 were pretty good, in my opinion. Bought a few boxes of Finest basketball... had a good time, but only collected for a short period in 2000-02, then stopped until 2007. Now that I've tried to go to the show again in recent years... I had to pay a few dollars to get in.. & find out there were no boxes.. just a few singles. Hardly any dealers.. they all had the same stuff.. either high price cards or a bunch of cards for a few dollars. I went to the few dollar boxes & picked up a few lebrons, kobe, & MJ's... plus a few HOF's for cheap.. spent less than $20 & walked out to go grab a beer. Unsatisfied with San Diego card shows..

I was told there are two different shows in San Diego area.. I don't know which one is which, but one of them is the first tuesday of every month. Having a show every month gets old pretty fast, especially since the amount of people that collect cardboard has almost vanished... it is very hard to find other collectors that collect. even harder to find people that collect basketball cards. i just recently tried to locate people using youtube, since that is the new media to show off your cards. I still want to try & do a few videos myself... saving up to buy a few boxes... more likely older boxes, since the new stuff costs so much!! & would not be very fun to spend hundreds of dollars for a few cards... I would love to buy another case of Chronology 07-08. That product was so much fun to bust open!!

kashley , I liked your story. It was very interesting & well written. I liked how you broke it down step by step. Felt like I was at the card show with you. Good luck on your wax. Can't wait to see those hits.

Tell your dad thank you for his Service. From one Sailor to a Soldier. United States Navy.

[pingbling23]

jpleaze, to late on wishing him luck, he hit a durant oncard auto /24 from season update, awesome pull!!!!!

[kashley]

Thanks for all the comments guys! It's already my senior year in high school so I wanna do as much stuff as I can with my dad before we split off (My parents are stationed at Fort Carson,CO starting next fall, and i'll of course be at a college somewhere.) He's supported me in this hobby and whatever else i've been doing; my mom as well but to a lesser extent lol, but I have some awesome parents.

jpleazme805-Thank you for your service sir. I agree that the hobby has started to be thin with collectors, especially with basketball. I'm just hoping basketball can somehow pick up steam in the next few years, that'd be great.

[pingbling23]

spend as much time as you can with the people that are important to you!!!!!! we are not promised tomorrow on this earth.

[taffster74]

would be interested in the Garnett Uniform Greatness if it's for trade. I'm certain I can pull out some washington players for you.