2021 National Sports Collectors Convention - Chicago

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2021 National Sports Collectors Convention - Chicago

Postby vintagebrett » May 29th, 2021, 3:39 pm

Been holding off on posting this for a bit just to make sure but it finally appears that the 2021 National in Chicago will be happening! I'm very excited for this show to happen. Yes, I have quite a bit of inventory I need to sell but my main excitement is seeing friends in person and talking gloves face to face. It's been a while and it's time to get back out there. The show will be at the Donald Stephens convention center from July 28th to August 1st. I'll be in the same spot as the last show and hope to see lots of glove lovers coming through. Mr. Glovecrazy will be there, hanging out in the booth and trying to either buy or sell something. Can't wait to see everyone!
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Re: 2021 National Sports Collectors Convention - Chicago

Postby TigerFan » June 22nd, 2021, 10:02 pm

Would anyone be interested in a glover get-together after the show one night (e.g., Thursday)?
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Re: 2021 National Sports Collectors Convention - Chicago

Postby vintagebrett » June 28th, 2021, 2:29 pm

Always happy to get together with fellow collectors for some glove talk. Thursday night a few of us already have a reservation for Gibson's, which is right across the street from the convention center. If anyone else would like to join you are more than welcome - just let me know by July 15th so I can amend the reservation. The show is shaping up to be really fun - I've heard from quite a few people that will be attending. The pile of leather I'm bringing is looking pretty decent (and affordable!) and I know that GloveCrazy is bringing some doozies along with him. Should be a blast - if you are on the fence about going, GO!
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Re: 2021 National Sports Collectors Convention - Chicago

Postby Sarge6 » July 7th, 2021, 7:32 am

It's definitely on my Freedom Summer hope-to list, esp. since it's just a hop, skip & a jump down the road (as Chicagoland commutes go).
"So. It seems like you're in trouble."
"Yes, Babe Ruth signed that ball."
"George signed this?"
"George Herman Ruth? Yes."
"I take it back. You're not in trouble, you're dead where you stand."
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Re: 2021 National Sports Collectors Convention - Chicago

Postby vintagebrett » July 24th, 2021, 7:30 pm

Car is packed and ready to go. I'm really looking forward to the show and hope to see a bunch of people there. Inventory says I have 99 gloves and my booth mates will have some as well so there should be plenty of great leather to go around. Stop in and say hi if you are going - booth 613. I'll try to post some updates if time allows.

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Re: 2021 National Sports Collectors Convention - Chicago

Postby vintagebrett » August 5th, 2021, 7:18 am

Had a great time at the show in Chicago. It was great seeing lots of old friends and meeting new ones. The convention floor was packed with people each day the show was open - it was definitely the most crowded I've seen a National in the 15 that I've been to.

In terms of gloves on the floor I felt that this show was lacking compared to other ones. There used to be more dealers that had a variety of items in their booths. For the most part now, it's plastic slabs as far as the eye can see. For gloves, there are 5-6 booths you'll see a handful in but finding that random dealer that brought a couple doesn't seem to happen much anymore. Corey Leiby (Antique Athlete) and Keith Javic (Antique Sports.com) had some nice leather - lots of catchers mitts on the floor. Jon English (vintagesportsantiques.com) did not bring a lot of equipment to the show as he usually does - he did have a few nice items though. If you're focus is entirely gloves and equipment, one day at the show would be sufficient.

This year I decided to go about my booth a little differently. Usually I bring a group of bargain gloves ($10-$20) but decided to forgo that this year. My friend, and love time glove collector, Doug Wolk, puts items in my booth and he had that price point covered. He was able to see all but one of his bargain gloves - started with around 30 of them. I brought a group of 97 gloves that was wide ranging in age (1900-1980's) but all upper line models, well constructed with quality leather. Over the course of the show, I sold 56 of the gloves which I thought was a great number. A good majority of them went to familiar faces that I've seen at the shows before but there were quite a few impulse buys - people seeing old gloves for the first time and thinking they were cool. A few young couples bought a glove and bat because they wanted to display them at the their home - I hope this leads them to full on glove collecting. A lot of kids take an interest in the gloves - the parents always say "Don't touch" but I'm quick to retort "Please pick them up and put them on your hand." It's unusual to see a variety of vintage gloves in one setting and that is one reason I like setting up - helps promote our hobby to people unfamiliar.

Overall, selling went really well for me. My booth was pretty barren by Sunday. Besides the 56 gloves sold I also moved 11/15 bats, 15/17 trophies, 26/33 pieces of clothing and many other miscellaneous items. Although a smaller population than the card buyers, equipment and memorabilia sold well for me.

I didn't buy that much - a few walk in gloves one day was all the leather I bought. Did pick up a Wm.Read and D&M catalog for my own collection.

Thanks to all the glove collectors that stopped by the booth over the week. It was great seeing you all and talking vintage gloves. Thanks to Doug W. who, as always, was a great asset to the booth and brought along some great stuff. GloveCrazy (Rob) thanks for all your hard work and friendship over the course of the week. Rob is great at promoting gloves to people when they are looking at the booth - his passion for old leather is unparalled. The best part of the National is hanging out with friends I don't get to see in person that often.

Here is a picture of the booth - I have a video that I can't upload. If you'd like to see it (about 30 seconds long - video of the booth before it was decimated) email me at playokantiques@gmail.com

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Re: 2021 National Sports Collectors Convention - Chicago

Postby GloveCrazy » August 5th, 2021, 8:14 pm

I’ll probably post a couple of times because I’m still a little stimulus-overloaded from the trip. I had such a fun trip … really enjoyed all of it, from seeing and hanging with old friends (the best part), to the daily/hourly glove hunt, to working on some big side trades, talking glove model nuances, photographing the city one night with Brett, glove collector dinner at Gibson’s, Lou Malnotti’s deep dish and the hot dog place, and watching new collectors light up when they tried on an old glove for the first time. It really was great chatting with all of you who stopped by, especially this year which brought back the semblance of normalcy. Maybe the back to normal feeling was the best part (though we still have work to do).

It is great that old cards, new cards, and sports equipment are all hot right now. Every dealer I talked to was thrilled with how the show went in terms of sales and crowd enthusiasm. I was happy with the amount of available equipment, but that was in large part to Brett’s hard work over the last two years pulling all that stuff together. The booth was literally an advanced collection of available tough to get gloves, bats, football equipment, trophies, uniforms, and all kinds of interesting collectibles. I bought a lot — as you will see — but walked away from many that I’m second-guessing. Sing this next part to Johnny Cash’s “I’ve been everywhere.” Bretts’s booth had duck web, a double Rainey web, spider web, webless gloves (2), anchored webs, full webs, verticle tunnels, grommet flaps, Vance styles, 1” webs, trapezes, H webs, etc, and all keeper condition. Flat top, bat wings, ring bats, decal bats, huge trophies, small trophies, uniforms, World War I gloves, World War 2 gloves, personal models, modern gloves, and all kinds of interesting brands and cloth labels. Days in to working the booth and I was still literally noticing some stuff for the first time (as it sold to someone else, dang).

Thanks again, Brett and Doug, for the great time in the booth, Paul and Bob, Jeff Mann, TIm, Josh and Tom, Bills and Co, John and Jeff White, Corey, Dick, old-timers Jeff and David, Keith, John and all the rest I chatted gloves with and/or walked the show floor with. Another year of great memories!
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