Finally have a chance to post about my trip to the 2008 National in Chicago. This is one of my favorite events to attend each year and I was quite excited to travel my old home (IL) for the 2008 edition. We arrived on Tuesday so I could visit some of my old haunts, favorite antique stores, etc. I was dismayed to find that 6 of the 8 stores I used to frequent had gone out of business since last June. Since I didn't come across anything, I hoped that the National would not be the same. And it wasn't!
Before we entered the show on Wednesday night, my brother and I prepared our route based on where certain dealers were. When the doors opened for the VIP customers, my brother and I were the first ones in and made a beeline to Herb Thomas' booth. He has always been a great guy to deal with and has quality items. This year was no exception. I was able to pick up a mint Sonnett trapeeze glove and a mint Sonnett Bob Grim as well. He had some other great gloves and bats that I'm sure will be gone by weekend's end. For you modern guys, he had a great Pro-Preferred that my brother almost bought for $160. I don't know the prices of that stuff but it looked like a good deal.
After Herb's booth, we literally ran to John Kanuit's booth. He usually has the best booth at the National and this year was no exception. There were quite a few nice gloves that piqued my interest but I wasn't ready to pull the trigger on any. He had a great Stall and Dean Speediest model that was very large and super clean. There was a crescent, a webless and many other early gloves. I did purchase a Victor Sporting Goods glove box from him that I am very please with. If I had more money I definitely would have spent it at this booth.
One of our next stops was at Pat Armstrong's booth. He always has a nice selection of gloves and I found my favorite deal here. I was able to purchase an OK MFG model JD Charlie Keller with a double button wrist strap - the strap itself is about 3 inches tall. I've seen Ken-Wel's like this but never an OK. Since this is my brand, it made it even better. It also has a really interesting web that I haven't seen before.
I picked up a nice Stall and Dean professional model 1B mitt from David Hunt of Hunt's Auctions for my dad. It's a great mitt - top of the line and very clean.
My only other pickup was my most expensive but I think I got a great deal. It is a Raywill glove with it's box. The company was based out of Napa, CA and I've only seen a handful of this companies gloves, never a box. I had seen this glove last year at the National and was intriqued by it because it looks identical to a 1920's Rawlings Doak model. The best part is the price was significantly reduced from last year and I was happy to be bringing it home.
Dave Bushing had a nice selection of equipment as well and I had a very nice conversation with him on Wednesday evening. Over the course of the 2 days I was able to meet up with some other glove collectors including Mike Hoevet, Robbie Leonhardi, Ryan Sims, Paul Montesano, John Kanuit and Herbert Thomas. It's always a pleasure to meet fellow collectors.
Overall, the number of gloves at the National was numerous but the number of quality gloves wasn't too high. I was hoping to see more early 20th century gloves, but besides Dave Bushing and John Kanuit, there wasn't much to be had. If you were a figural collector, there were tons of great pieces to be had if you could afford them. I've never seen so many Spalding trophies in my life. One guy had a set of 5 and wanted 19 grand for it. There were some nice bats at many booths as well.
I'll be posting some pictures tomorrow after I get home and organized. Well, hopefully tomorrow!
That would be cool to attend one of the big conventions. Sounds like you did your homework to get the finds fast! LOL
