Inside the Pack: 2021 National Sports Collectors Convention Wish List
This week is (finally!) the 41st National Sports Collectors Convention, a show two years in the making thanks to Covid-19. I was prepared to go last year before the pandemic struck, and the anticipation has been building for me ever since.
As always, I have a few things I hope to accomplish at the show. Next week, I’ll have a full rundown of how the show went and what things were like at my booth, but for now, I’ll let you know my wish list.
- Hold something really cool. It sounds weird, but there’s an awesome rush to hold a valuable holy grail type item. In 2018 I get to hold the Shohei Ohtani autograph superfractor, which was in incredibly high demand at the time and was about to hit the auction block. I’d love to be able to touch a similarly expensive card this time, or maybe even a memorabilia piece.
- Buy a new card for one of my core personal collections. This one seems like an obvious inclusion on anyone’s list, but it’s harder to achieve than it sounds. My core collections include Duke Snider, Sandy Koufax, and Jackie Robinson. The first one I have nearly every card of from his playing days, and the second and third are quite expensive. If not a card of one of them, I would love to be able to track down one of the five remaining autographs I need for my 2006 Greats of the Game Nickname Greats set, or maybe find a cool piece of Brooklyn Dodgers memorabilia I could add to my collection.
- Meet friends, old and new. Whether through Facebook, Twitter, or Net54, I have a lot of online hobby friends I converse with a lot throughout the year. I’ve never met most of them in person, though, and I’m looking forward to seeing a few of them in the flesh. I also have friends across the country who I’ve known for years and will be at the show. Some of them I haven’t seen since the last National I attended in 2018, and a few since even before that.
- Sell a bunch of cards. Obviously since I am going as a dealer this goal is a no-brainer. But it’s even more amplified by the fact that I’ve essentially been stockpiling cards for two years now given last year‘s cancellation. I’m very ready to make some sales.
If you’ll be at the show, come say hello to me! I will be somewhere at either booth 205 or 304, and I will be wearing a different Topps t-shirt every day.
