by Rickybulldog » August 5th, 2011, 11:49 pm
Yep, Joel and Richie got to experience "Now you see me...Now you don't"
Day one:
Since my first National was in Anaheim (which turned out to be the last one) I was a little overwhelmed and not as prepared as I should have been. This time around I was more prepared and had a blast.
My plane flew in on Wednesday and Joel picked me up around 4:30. We had a bite to eat and he informed me that Richie (Boswell) was heading out to the convention center that day. We didn't plan on going until Thursday together, but Joel and I decided to go. Fortunately, the hotel I was staying at runs a shuttle back and forth, so we didn't have to pay the $13 for parking (that turned out to be a blessing since we went multiple days). Once we got there we realized we only had about an hour to search the area. Luckily, we bumped into Ryan Simms who told us the best places to look.
We first saw the gloves that John Graham had up for auction and were commenting on the fingerless pair. Both Joel and I were surprised by how large they were. Very interesting and neat to see in person.
When we got to Brett's booth, we noticed that Richie was already there. I met Brett, William, Richie, and Travis all for the first time. The booth looked great! That huge buckle back fielder's glove William made is AWESOME! Inside Brett's booth was a nice assortment of bats, balls, jerseys, sweaters, pictures, and gloves. I saw some ring bats and odd knob ones as well. The gloves they had were all types and condition. William had an interesting Goldsmith Carl Mays full web that I constantly kept picking up. Brett also had a white Schmeltzers buckle back full web available. They also had a bargain bin of gloves which was great for the kiddos and the newbies who were thinking about getting into the hobby. On my second day, I noticed a boy, age 8-9, walking around with a Trapper model mitt which was fantastic to observe. I ended up leaving Brett's booth the first day with a solid, 34", decal bat and a killer Alex Taylor basemitt. Thanks for the great deal!
We then split up and we did a quick skim of the rest of the area. I did notice a sweet-looking complete uniform for $350, but I didn't pull the trigger. I wish I did because it was gone the next day (Darn it!).
After they did the final call, I asked Joel if he saw the old, trophy helmet at the front, but when he got there everything was closed up. Maybe tomorrow we thought. As a whole we had high hopes going in. I didn't see too many figurals or coin op stuff, but the equipment had promise. That was day one! More when I return. Good day all and Go CUBS GO!
Notable gloves I saw besides Brett's booth:
Dizzy Dean Reach (pristine) $1,400
Pie Trayor in photo box $1,250
Mantle in the box $2,450
Crescent Spalding with red patch $1,800
Spalding and reach Babe Ruth
Nice Alexander Speed model
Some salesman sample gloves
3 finger Lutzke type (fixed strap)
Couple nice Mantles (MM series)
Peter's shoes glove w/ box
Rawlings Playmaker model with box
D&M Phil Todt model $150
Pristine Wilson Rogers Hornsby deluxe model
Wilson Ted Williams with wilson store display $1,000
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