The 40th edition of the National Sports Collectors Convention came to an end late Sunday afternoon in Chicago with hundreds of dealers packing what’s left of their inventory and heading for home.
As usual, Sunday’s crowd of buyers was much lighter but overall the National proved to be a big draw with strong traffic throughout the show’s first four days. Show organizers don’t release attendance figures but the entire floor was busy for the majority of the show.
The NSCC announced that dealer booths were sold out for the 2020 National, which will return to Atlantic City, NJ, where it was held most recently in 2016.
The show will be back in Chicago in 2021.
As we’ve written before, the show casts a wide net, with everything from show dealers to companies that spend all day (and night) breaking open new products for their online customers.
It seems safe to say the market for vintage cards remains especially strong. Most dealers we spoke with reported excellent sales with customers at their booths almost non-stop.
On Sunday, Rick Harrison of Pawn Stars arrived with a production crew to tape an upcoming episode of the History Channel show normally based in Las Vegas.
Lights. Camera. Action. @pawnstars @nsccshow #NSCCshow #nscc19 pic.twitter.com/vtYva7rWmV
— Beckett Media (@beckettmedia) August 4, 2019
No word yet on an air date.
PSA gave away three higher grade Michael Jordan rookie cards during the show, with a Mint 9 worth about $4,000 awarded on Saturday.
Congratulations to Lawrence Shinevarre from Michigan, the Day 3 winner of PSA’s ‘Jordan a Day’ giveaway @nsccshow. His prize is a 1986 Fleer MJ #57 rookie card, graded PSA Mint 9. Special thanks to @OtiaSports. pic.twitter.com/XhXQFRz5pB
— PSAcard (@PSAcard) August 3, 2019
Mile High Card Company gave away a Babe Ruth single-signed baseball at the end of the show. Anyone who consigned an item to their upcoming auction could enter to win but you didn’t have to be present.
Jeff Williams was the winner.
“Dime to dollar boxes” have been a big hit at the National since we started writing about it 13 years ago, and this week’s event proved that hasn’t changed.
After debuting last year in Cleveland, a group of guys from the Upper Midwest were back with tens of thousands of cards–all priced at $1 each.
They closed up shop a bit early but not to load up for the long trip home.
They sold most of their remaining stock to Burbank Sports Cards’ Rob Veres, who we’re pretty sure wasn’t able to fit these in the overhead bin en route back to Southern California.
But that wasn’t all Veres bought to supplement the massive inventory they stock in the store and on eBay…
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What’s Hot, NSCC Edition: Top Selling Sports Card Boxes
Card Shop Q&A: Burbank’s Rob Veres Went from Coins to Cards and Never Looked Back
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