BALTIMORE NATIONAL SPORTS CARD CONVENTION 2010 LOOK BACK

                      Today I am going to look back at the 2010 National Sports Card Convention that took place in Baltimore, Maryland the home state of my pal Greg a blogger of  The Collective Mind. Let the truth be told that looking back to this show I have a great deal of respect that my friend Greg in how its been 14 years since he attended his very 1st National in how he hasn't killed me yet for enlarging his scope of collecting.

This card shown here was a give away during the 2010 National Convention by the Topps booth all 1 had to do was crack open any Topps Product that was purchased at the show Stephen Strasburg was the hottest card to get that summer with a limited of 999 copies being distributed people went crazy soon as the doors were opened to the those that had VIP passes (both Greg & I had them) they rushed to the Topps booth. We stayed clear thinking we had until the end of the show to get our card. Both Greg & I walked into the show me about a few steps behind cause I was awaiting to see how long it would take Greg to be amazed in how big of a show this was compared to previous card shows that he been to it took him 45 seconds to turn to me & say "......Man is Chicago anything like this I want to see what that's like there." Taking by how huge as well the sites and sounds of groups of collectors going crazy for the hobby Greg was in shock. I told him ".....Yeah I figured that you might want to check out next years show in Chicago & it took ya a long 45 seconds to tell me that." I had a small pep talk to him prior to the show what to expect & see & do there.

Needless to say Greg & I during the course of the show never got to get the Strasburg card cause of the crowds at the Topps booth were overwelming that 1st night Topps had put a hault to collectors saying they were going to limit the amount of people to get it 100 people per day 2 times during the whole 5 days & it would be announced first come first served on the announcing the giveaway so people would be like lurking hourly waiting to hear that Strasburg was going live again so they could rush over to get it. 1 of the best highlights of the show besides the Topps giveaway was we ran into an Asian-American collector his name was Michael (He never gave us his last name so if you know Michael tell him he was a legend between Greg & I by mentioning this blog LOL) but he befriended the 2 of us he said call him Mikey. Mikey would bounce all around taking it all in as well since it was his first National as well, going from table to table asking to see what all the fuss about at this dealers table or what did this guy get etc.... So near the end of the opening night Mikey was asking if we would give a ride so he could head back to where he was from via bus which we did.  

Now Greg learned 2 things during the time at show that packing a lunch and having a couple snacks come in handy especially if you don't want to spend astronomical prices of food that was sold in the convention hall that includes bottled drinks like Gatorade,water etc....the 2nd thing we both learned where to park to avoid high prices for parking in the ramps (Later the NSCC descided to offer parking passes to the VIP holders). So we ended up parking & walking 2 blocks away posing as Med Students attending nearby John Hopkins University while others had to park further. Both Greg & I now pack lunches as well snacks we even offer sandwhiches to people who watch our lunch bags mainly dealers whom we learn to become friends with. 

So looking back at this National did I enjoy myself & the answer is a resounding yes indeed I did. Now Greg & I never did get that exclusive Strasburg card not until 2011 when I was back home attending a rare local show at the time I found a guy selling Strasburg RCs & he had 2 of them available for a great reasonable price of $2.00 a piece cause Strasburg was coming off his first injury of his career & the dealer was thinking he might turn to a bust of a star. So I picked them up mailed 1 to my pal when recieved he was surprised I was able to get it so he & I can say here's a memory of the 1st National we attended together as friends (I will do a future post on how we met so stay tuned!!!!). Until then I am reminded by what Rogers Hornsby once said about giving autographs to kids '....Any ballplayer who doesn't sign for little kids ain't an American, hes a Communist."