A few notes and a local TV segment from Day 2 of the 2013 National Sports Collectors Convention.
- There’s an FBI agent in the building this week. The unit that has been investigating hobby wrongdoing and already made several arrests over the last few years (and led to some guilty pleas) is based in Chicago. The agent has been a regular at the National for awhile now but isn’t devoted completely to sports collecting fraud cases.
- Show traffic seemed strong for a Thursday. I can’t provide any numbers but I heard few complaints. That’s a good omen for Friday and Saturday when traffic is usually heaviest.
Among the top-selling items at the Heritage Auctions sale of Sam Snead memorabilia were several of his trophies from major championships. The same buyer won 13 of 14 lots and paid over $1.1 million. Snead’s 1946 Claret Jug from his British Open victory sold for $262,900. A Lou Gehrig worn cap brought $239,000 and a high grade Plows Candy Christy Mathewson from 1912 sold for $113,525. Total take was over $4.2 million.- Several new hobby businesses have been created and are debuting at the show including a Palm Springs, CA auction company we’ll introduce you to via video in the coming days.
- ESPN’s ‘Sports Guy’, Bill Simmons, who gave the hobby a huge lift with a painfully honest, yet incredibly funny… and lengthy… column on the NSCC and its inhabitants a few years ago, is at the show again. Anxious to see what he’s bought.
- The smartphone and tablet aren’t everywhere but many collectors and dealers are utilizing them for information while on the floor at a higher level now than even a year ago.
- The crowd is still predominantly male and predominantly over 35 which is frightening for the long-term future but there are still some youngsters around. This is the place to share the hobby with them and get them excited. How can you forget a place like this?
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