• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Get Sports Collectors Daily via EMail
    • Advertise with SC Daily
    • Write for Sports Collectors Daily
    • Write About Your Sports Collection
    • Where Can I Sell My Baseball Cards?
  • Hot on eBay
    • Most Watched Graded Rookies
    • Most Watched PSA 10 Cards
    • Most Watched BGS, BVG Cards
    • Most Watched SGC Cards
    • Most Watched CSG,CGC Cards
    • Most Watched Baseball Cards
      • Most Watched 2023 Baseball Cards
      • Most Watched 2022 Baseball Rookie Cards
      • Bowman Chrome Cards
      • Ronald Acuna Jr. Cards
      • Shohei Ohtani Cards
      • Mike Trout Cards
      • Fernando Tatis Jr. Cards
      • Babe Ruth Cards
      • Hank Aaron Cards
      • Jackie Robinson Cards:
      • Mickey Mantle Cards
      • Willie Mays Cards
      • Vintage Baseball Card Sets
      • T206 Cards
    • Most Watched Basketball
      • Top 100 Most Watched Basketball Rookie Cards
      • 100 Hottest 2022-23 NBA Rookie Cards
      • 100 Hottest 2021-22 NBA Rookie Cards
      • 100 Hottest 2020-21 NBA Rookie Cards
      • 100 Hottest 2019-20 NBA Rookie Cards
        • Zion Williamson Rookie Cards
        • Ja Morant Rookie Cards
      • Michael Jordan Cards
      • Kobe Bryant Cards
      • LeBron James Rookie Cards
      • Nikola Jokic Rookie Cards
      • Giannis Antetokounmpo Cards
      • Luka Doncic Rookie Cards
      • Prizm Basketball Cards
      • Panini National Treasures
    • Most Watched Football Cards
      • Most Watched NFL Rookie Cards
      • 2022 NFL Rookie Cards
        • Brock Purdy Rookie Cards
      • 2021 NFL Rookie Cards
      • 2020 NFL Rookie Cards
        • Joe Burrow Rookie Cards
        • Justin Herbert Rookie Cards
        • Jalen Hurts Rookie Cards
      • Josh Allen Rookie Cards
      • Patrick Mahomes Rookie Cards
      • Tom Brady Cards
    • Most Watched Hockey Cards
      • Top 100 Most Watched Hockey Rookie Cards
      • Most Watched 2021-22 NHL Rookie Cards
      • Most Watched 2020-21 Rookie Cards
      • Most Watched 2019-20 Rookie Cards
      • Connor McDavid Cards
      • Wayne Gretzky Cards
      • Bobby Orr Cards
    • Most Watched Soccer Cards
    • Most Watched UFC Cards
    • Most Watched Golf Cards
    • Most Watched 1 of 1 Cards
    • Most Watched Racing Cards
    • Top Sports Card Dealers on eBay
    • Most Watched Memorabilia
      • Vintage Sports Memorabilia
    • Vintage Sports Tickets, Stubs
    • Most Watched Autographs
  • Ending Soon on Ebay
    • Baseball Cards
    • Basketball Cards
    • Football Cards
    • Hockey Cards
    • Soccer Cards
    • Golf Cards
    • UFC Cards
  • Top - Ad

Sports Collectors Daily

Sports Collectors Daily

Sports collecting news - Sports cards and sports memorabilia industry news.

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network. 

  • Sports Memorabilia News
  • Sports Card News
    • Modern Sports Card News
      • New Sports Card Release Calendar
      • Shop Talk
    • Vintage Sports Card News
      • Affordable Vintage Cards, Collectibles
      • Old Baseball Card Sets
      • Old Basketball Card Sets
      • Old Football Card Sets
      • Old Hockey Card Sets
      • Vintage Pack Facts
  • Business/Industry News
    • Sports Memorabilia Business News
    • Sports Memorabilia Industry News
  • Around The Hobby
    • Editor’s Blog
    • David Cycleback’s Identification and Authentication Advice
  • Popular Stories
  • Sell Your Cards
You are here: Home / Business/Industry News / Sports Memorabilia Business News / Iron City Intern: Working a Shift At Steel City Collectibles at The National

Iron City Intern: Working a Shift At Steel City Collectibles at The National

July 31, 2022 By Tony Reid

They’re a familiar name in the hobby, especially to anyone who transacts business in the unopened box and case market.  Steel City Collectibles is one of the largest volume dealers in that arena.  Some collectors around the country may not realize it, but they also operate a retail shop.  Living within driving distance and in the same state, I’d been meaning to visit. After a family vacation to the Pittsburgh area earlier this summer, I stopped in.

I’ve been in contact with Scott Nemeth, the sales account manager at SCC, pretty regularly over the past year and floated the idea out there about spending some time with the guys at The National Sports Collectors Convention where they always maintain a large and very busy booth. I thought it would be a good story–and educational, too, for someone who works in a hobby shop as I do during the week.

Scott as he said ran it up the flagpole and the owners Sean Bennett and Ken Amoroso were on board with the idea.


On day two of The NSCC and before things got really crazy, I wanted to hop behind the counter and be a fly on the preverbal wall to give our readers some insight as to exactly what the experience is like from the other side of the showcase for one of the biggest companies in the hobby at the biggest and best show of the year.

As I made my way through the growing crowd to booth #2220, the 50 by 50 mammoth Steel City Collectibles spot, nestled right next to Goldin Auctions; swanky green shrubbery, I spied Scott, then put my hardhat on and got to work.


Now, the first impression of the booth is that these guys have as much or more sealed product in cases, boxes and packs than just about anyone in the industry. It’s jaw dropping to see the amount of product–both sports and non sports– that they have in inventory at any given time. The entire center of their 50×50 foot space was made up of sealed cases stacked like an expensive cardboard mountain.

Whether it was done on purpose or out of necessity, it set the tone that these guys have product. Plain and simple. 

While boxes seemed to be everywhere, the space itself was actually very well organized. There were high end sealed sports boxes and packs lining the one line of tables and wrapping around the corner along with lower end retail style boxes and packs. The third corner of tables was a line that included a non-stop area of action reserved for NSCC exclusive redemptions. The fourth side of the square housed a lot of the lesser known/collected sports and all of the non-sports products that led back to the front tables of wax.

I hopped right in with Scott and we hit it off right off the bat. He was fielding questions about 2018-19 Prizm Basketball, modern football products, an array of the Flawless product inquires as well as some other general sports card questions. I helped with greeting people and keeping them engaged with some sports talk but when it came time to get a deal done, that was Scott’s territory. He was staying alert and involved in all aspects of the table, whether there were two customers looking or 10 with questions.

He gave me the quick tour around the tables and introduced me to many of the great people on staff (and my temporary co-workers).  It’s old hat to some members of the team that have been to multiple NSCCs over the years, but every year they know the card companies will be bringing them plenty of business with their wrapper redemption programs.  For the uninitiated, the redemption program involves SCC and other authorized retailers selling unopened boxes of product from Panini, Topps, Upper Deck, Leaf and others.  Buyers can then walk those purchased boxes to the appropriate company where they receive National exclusive redemption cards and packs.  

At one point early in my shift, owner Sean Bennett pulled me aside to show me how busy the redemption section can get. SCC had three to four guys manning that side of the table and it was literally nonstop traffic the entire time I was there. Most of the time there were multiple people being helped.  Having enough product to sell is vital or customers will go elsewhere. 

As I stood there taking it all in, there were also number of people coming up offering to sell their boxes, singles and any other product you can imagine. Not only do these guys have to be well informed about the products they have, they also have to be informed about pretty much any product on the market if they are looking to buy in order to see what makes sense for their store. Many of the unanswered questions and inquiries come back to Sean for answers. There was little time to breathe. He even noted that a customer came to SCC early in the week for Certified Football and he quickly realized it never made it on the transport trucks that hauled the inventory to Atlantic City but he knew exactly were it was in the warehouse. That’s rather impressive.


The more people I talked to the more I realized that to do what these guys do, you really have to have a passion for what you’re doing there. There were experts in non-sports on staff who were manning that area. The employees that were well versed on the releases for certain sports manned that area of the table. Everyone knew what they knew and where they needed to be to keep the well oiled machine running, especially at the biggest show of the year. There were 11 total SCC employees at The National, all specializing in certain areas of the business. I was told the company employs about 30 people in all.

Steel City Collectibles booth 2022 National Sports Collectors Convention
Another point that was mentioned that really struck a chord was when I spoke to Billy Lesnak, the Marketing Coordinator for SCC. In our conversation he mentioned that Steel City is “run by collectors for collectors.”  In a time when some are in the hobby for a quick buck or strictly a money making business venture, the folks at SCC really do have a love for what they do and the area they cover.  There’s a pride in knowing your stuff and using it to help collectors. That fact was clear when I was behind the glass. 

Another area of the business that has by grown leaps and bounds over the past few years, not only for the industry in general but for Steel City, is the box breaking space. And speaking to one of the team members, they are only a few shifts away from being a 24/7 breaking company, which is the ultimate goal. Yes, you read that right. They will have someone on staff breaking 24 hours a day, seven days a week in the very near future.  I have no idea who wants to buy into a break at 4 AM on a Monday morning but they’re out there and soon SCC will be ready for them.

For an incredibly packed week that started on Sunday with the team driving two trucks to Atlantic City, it was important to put themselves in the position to have a great week at the show.  People, product and preparation were equally important to be ready for whatever the heck came their way.  Some boxes came in, a lot went out.  Luckily, I wasn’t in charge of anything but it was fascinating to see how one of the hobby’s stalwarts tackles the year’s biggest week.

For full coverage of the 2022 National, check out our special section.

Follow us on Twitter.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Facebook Messenger

Related Stories:

SGC President Peter Steinberg Talks Grading the 1952 Topps Mantle The National: Big Show Blind Spots, High End Variety, Famous Folks and Friends National Notes: 2 More PSA 10 Jordan Rookies; Vintage Sizzles; Redemption Packs; More Notes: National Trade Night; Topps All-Stars; Upper Deck Nabs Matthew Savoie Notes: NSCC Update; Teen Opens Shop “Up North”; Burdick Collection, Sean Casey’s Shop on TV; New Lelands Hire Notes: NSCC Autograph Lineup; Auction Results, Low Grade Icons; Rays Pitcher Was Autograph Hound Notes: 1/1 Curry Rookie; Jackie, Jack Photos Sell; Fenway Show; NSCC Dealer Alert National Sports Collectors Convention 2018 Cleveland show floor IX Center NSCCI-X Center, Scheduled to Host 2022 NSCC, Will Close

About Tony Reid

From the time he was a little kid, Tony has been a huge sports fan. If he could play sports, watch sports and talk about sports it was a great day. From as early as he was drawn to sports, Tony was drawn to collecting sports cards. Not much has changed over the years. He collects RCs of star players in baseball, basketball and football. He also has a soft spot for first autographs of MMA stars. If you want to talk to Tony about the greatness of Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson or Ken Griffey, Jr. you can reach him at [email protected] and @tonyreidwrites on social media.

Filed Under: National Sports Collectors Convention, Sports Memorabilia Business News Tagged With: 2022 National Sports Collectors Convention, Steel City Collectibles

Primary Sidebar

Our articles may contain affiliate links. When you click on links to merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network. 

Shop Sports Cards on Ebay
  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Baseball
  • Hockey

High End Cards and Memorabilia

  • BBCE Authenticated Boxes, Packs opens in a new window
  • Graded pre-War Card eBay Auctions
  • PWCC Premier Auction
  • PWCC Fixed Price Marketplace
  • Graded Rookie Cards on eBay opens in a new window
  • Authenticated Photos on eBay opens in a new window
  • Graded Tickets & Stubs opens in a new window

Bargain Corner

  • Michael Jordan cards $5 and less opens in a new window
  • Kobe Bryant cards $5 and less opens in a new window
  • Mickey Mantle Cards Under $150 opens in a new window
  • Graded T206 Cards Under $150 opens in a new window
  • Pre-War Cards Under $100 opens in a new window
  • Pre-1980 Graded Baseball Cards $10 and Less opens in a new window
  • Pre-1980 Graded Football Cards $10 and Less opens in a new window
  • Vintage Graded Basketball Cards $25 and less opens in a new window
  • Vintage Graded Hockey Cards $10 and Less opens in a new window
  • Complete Sets $20 and Less opens in a new window
  • Baseball Hall of Famers for $5 or Less opens in a new window
  • Football Hall of Famers for $5 or Less opens in a new window
  • Hobby Boxes Under $30 opens in a new window
  • Pre-1986 Rookie Cards Under $1 opens in a new window
  • Buy Boxes Directly from Topps opens in a new window

RSS Auction Report

  • Consignments Wanted – Meet Huggins & Scott at the Philly Show This Weekend
  • Heritage Auctions Icons Photography Auction Ends October 12, 2023
  • Steve Novella Offers PSA Baseball, Football & Non-Sport Cards Auction Ending Sept. 28, 2023

Footer

Categories

  • Around the Hobby
  • Business/Industry News
    • Sports Memorabilia Business News
    • Sports Memorabilia Industry News
  • David Cycleback's Identification and Authentication Advice
  • Editor's Blog
  • Featured Articles
  • Hobby Shop Talk
  • National Sports Collectors Convention
  • Popular Stories
  • Rich Klein's Ramblings
  • Sports Card News
    • Modern Sports Card News
      • New Sports Card Release Calendar
    • Vintage Sports Card News
      • Old Baseball Card Sets
      • Old Basketball Card Sets
      • Old Football Card Sets
      • Old Hockey Card Sets
      • Vintage Pack Facts
  • Sports Memorabilia News
  • Uncategorized

Sponsor Links

  • Sports Card Forumopens in a new window
  • Buying Vintage Sports Cardsopens in a new window
  • Game Used Jerseysopens in a new window
  • Championship Rings For Saleopens in a new window
  • Vintage Basketball Cardsopens in a new window
  • NBA Signed Itemsopens in a new window
  • Autographed Baseballsopens in a new window
  • NASCAR Autographsopens in a new window
  • Vintage Graded Baseball Cardsopens in a new window
  • Player Picturesopens in a new window
  • Vintage Football Cardsopens in a new window
  • Sports Collectors Storeopens in a new window

Pages

Ending on eBay Soon
  • Baseball Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Basketball Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Football Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Hockey Card Auctions Ending Soon on eBay
  • Vintage Sports Memorabilia on eBay Ending Soon
Top 100 on Ebay
  • Top 100 Most Watched Baseball Rookie Cards on eBay
  • Top 100 Most Watched Basketball Rookie Cards for Sale on eBay
  • Top 100 Most Watched Hockey Rookie Card Auctions
  • Top Authenticated Vintage Unopened Sports Card Boxes, Packs on eBay
Most Watched on eBay
  • 100 Most Watched Graded Rookie Cards for Sale on eBay
  • 100 Most Watched Tom Brady Card Auctions on eBay
  • 50 Hottest Hobby Boxes at Auction on eBay
  • 50 Most Watched Golf Trading Cards on eBay
  • 50 Most Watched Wrestling Trading Cards on eBay
  • 75 Most Watched Bowman Chrome Cards
  • Most Popular Bobbleheads on eBay
  • Most Watched 1/1 Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Basketball Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Complete Baseball Card Sets at Auction on eBay
  • Most Watched Football Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Football Rookie Card Auctions
  • Most Watched Goudey Baseball Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Hockey Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Racing Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Soccer Cards for Sale on eBay
  • Most Watched Sports Autographs on eBay
  • Most Watched Sports Jerseys on eBay
  • Most Watched Unopened Sports Card Boxes, Packs on eBay
  • Most Watched Vintage Sports Memorabilia on eBay
  • Hottest Panini National Treasures Cards on eBay
  • Hottest PSA 10 Cards for Sale on eBay
  • What’s Hot on eBay
Sports Memorabilia
  • Sports Card Bargain Bin
  • Sports Memorabilia Auctions Ending Soon on eBay
About Sports Collectors Daily
  • Advertise with SC Daily
  • Contact Us
  • Get Sports Collectors Daily via EMail
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
Sell Your Cards
  • What’s It Worth
  • Where Can I Sell My Baseball Cards?

Copyright © 2023 SportsCollectorsDaily.com | Web Design by Wickam Groupopens in a new window