I have a good excuse,none in my area.There are sports card shows about a 2hr drive from me,but nothing of interest to me.
The problem with travling to shows,is the added costs of hotel,food,gas,etc...that has to be taken into consideration unfortunately.

A suggestion for both the Philly and Dee's shows would be to hold the shows on Saturday and Sunday as oppossed to the Friday - Saturday format they currently have. I'm sure many folks have trouble taking off from work, having two weekend days may help improve attendance. It's frustrating, I know Dee works very hard to promote her show and make it a nice experience for collectors, the facility is good, it's hard to imagine with the population base in that area that more people didn't show up. Philly has gone through a lot a changes over the years, and while it has a loyal following, seems to be getting smaller with each show. The current location, while nice, just isn't set up for a card show, with two different rooms in different parts of the building and having the manufacturers in the hallway. I have noticed that some of the regular past Philly dealers have not set up at the new location. It's a tough situation, and I agree that we need to come up ideas to help these shows grow and prosper. The only thing worse than not having people show up is not having a show to go to at all.

I have been thinking about this topic ever since my mother wrote about it and since it began being discussed here. I am wondering if there are some newer collectors out there who see no benefit of a card shows? You often hear "eBay is killing shows." Well, with eBay being what it is, are there some who began collecting during the age of eBay and see no reason to go out to a show?

Are there any Card Talk members who feel this way? Don't worry. We won't bite you . It would be interesting to hear your perspective.

Guilty as charged...

If you can't buy the cards at WalMart, there is not other place to get them in my rural area except off of Ebay. Thank God the post office will deliver to just about anywhere!!

I regret to admit I have never been to a card show - and I have no idea where any would be held close to me. I cannot afford the time [or expense] to travel to any that you all mention. To do so would necessitate vacation time.

Now, if someone could do a card show over the internet - then I cuuld much more easily particpate

I would LOVE to go to a show, but where I live it's hundreds of miles in all direction. I don't even have any card shops near me, so the only way I've been able to do anything with my collection is through mostly ebay, and if it don't require signing my life over I try to get it through other means....but without the internet I don't get anything that I need.

I wanted to come to San Diego this year because it's the closest one to me but...other obligations came up and I don't have the money...I'll try to get to another...but probably won't be until next year...who knows maybe sooner. I'm going to try beacause I want to meet those of whom I associate with here on card talk.

quote:

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Originally posted by Batman:
A suggestion for both the Philly and Dee's shows would be to hold the shows on Saturday and Sunday as oppossed to the Friday - Saturday format they currently have.

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I have another suggestion. Hold them in Utah.

Mark

I could go for that...it's a bit easier to get to Utah than California or Philly...but isn't going to happen.

Before I discoverd cardtalk...I collected by myself...I'm working up to the good stuff.

The strange thing is that there may be people collecting cards BECAUSE of e-bay as that is the only way they can purchase them!!!!

And when I finally get my copy of the magazine I can read all these great articles

I have made it a point to go to the Chicagoland card show the last two years and that's a 7+ hours driving one way, and I plan on to keep going. I take the whole family and make it apart of our vaction for the year. I'm looking to go the opposite direction of 7+ hours to the Philly show also this year. Shows have always been a good experience.

Tim

I've only been fortunate enough to attend one large show so far, the Midwest Expo in Chicago in 2003, and I really enjoyed myself. I was able to meet all 3 of the Tosers, spoke for quite a while with Kennywood (all extremely nice people), saw many celebrity guests, received some great promos at the door and from the Inkworks table (handed out in person by Uncle Alan, met some dealers that I had previously purchased from online, and found some great deals! The Midwest show is a long 4 hour drive one way for me and I didn't stay overnight. A long, but fun day.

I was able to take a day off that year and attended on Friday. I wanted to be there on Saturday, but every year I have a Purdue University football game to attend. I get season tickets every year and am very loyal to my Boilermakers! The Midwest show just happens to coincide with the early season games, which are always home games.

I'd love to attend the Card Talk gatherings, but I missed out that year. Last year I was so busy at work that I wasn't able to take Friday off so that I could attend.

Hopefully this year!

I wish there was a large show like Wizard World or the Midwest Expo in Indianapolis. That's much closer for me, an easy hour to 1 1/2 hour drive depending on location and Indy is much easier to get around than the Chicago area. Indy is growing, so maybe someday.

If you get a chance and can afford it, you should definitely attend a show!

Rich

I would love to visit the Philly or San Diego show someday just to experience it but alas I will have to save a lot of money, but 1 day I will be there.
(Hopefully so will the show)

I would like to go to a show but there are few shows in Denver and I am forced to go to Ebay for most of my sets. The one Con that is in town has only one non-sport dealer I and others spend at least 100 bucks with him over the weekend, but he says he may not be back next year.

I think no shows in our area is a common problem. I would love to go to a show sometime, but there are none where I live. I barely have a dealer and he doesn't have many cards. He says there is just no market any more. I suspect that given between spending a large sum to travel to a show and buying cards on ebay for the same amount, most would choose Ebay. But I still think it would be nice to go to a show someday.

I agree with you woodeye. It would be nice to go to a show. You get to trade and talk to a lot of great people on this forum, it would be nice to see a face with the name and it would be great to get to know people even better.

Interesting discussion.

Meaningful incentives are the key to increasing attendance. I've attended the Chicago show the last three years. Travel by car, hotel, meals and tolls about $150. I'm thinking about trying out the Philly show this April. Estimated cost for airfare, hotel, rental car, and meals is $400-500. All that expense before I walk in the door.
I will reap some of that back by saving on shipping cost that usually accompanies ebay purchases. But, I doubt seriously I will save enough, even with trades, to break even. What incentives do the shows offer to help make the effort financially justifiable? Maybe a few dollars off my admission ticket at best.
Some sellers are willing to negotiate, and that helps, but they've got a lot of overhead to contend with as well. I always enjoy meeting the dealers and collectors, and have struck up some trading friendships that continue beyond the show, and that too is helpful. Exclusive promos make a good incentive, until somebody posts an ad on Cardtalk willing to give away the extras for a SASE.
The idea I have often proposed is a SERIOUS live auction. Imagine an all day auction. Why not two days? I can dream. I know, time to wake up and smell the coffee!
I also want to see the shows succeed. However, common business sense suggests that unless the promoters, manufacturers and dealers/sellers work together and develop creative collector-centered shows they will unfortunately decline in number and attendance over time.
My two cents.

Today is the first show of the year in my neck of the woods and i,m not there.
I put this down to 2 reasons. We have another show in 2 weeks time which i will be at and Ebay.

I think of the 2 reasons Ebay is the biggest and has killed off the small show to a great extent.
The larger shows are killing themselves off with the price of attending and so we are left with Ebay.
Where else can you get good cards cheap without even leaving the house.

Shows have to fight back but how they do it is open to debate and i,m sure everyone has their own opinions.

quote:

What incentives do the shows offer to help make the effort financially justifiable?

Some shows have guests, others offer door prizes, some a chance to meet with other collectors, such as the Card Talk Gatherings, free promos from manufacturers, etc.

Show promoters, in general, use whatever tools they have at their disposal to lure collectors to their shows. Sometimes, no matter what they try, people just don't come.

Me - I like going to shows. Am seriously depressed that there's not one for me until April (Philly Show), but then the Con Season kicks off really so I'll come out of my gloom.

If anything ever came back to Vegas I would go. I had a lot of fun meeting Harris, XTC and others.

Here is something everyone is missing. The fact of the matter is that unfortunately some of the dealers continually bring the same old stuff show after show and it scares collectors away, especially if all they have to do is "click & buy". When I do the show, we try our best to always to have a fair mix of new and old items so we can appeal to all collectors and keep them interested. Speaking as a collector too, we know it is getting harder these days due to the rising cost of product and the fact that ebay is a brick wall, but we are there and we will continue to go so that this hobby has a chance to survive. I know it is hard for many of you to come because of time, distance and cost, but try it once. If even 1/3 of the 1,600 members came to the Philly show in April, could you imagine the fun trading and selling we would all have! Just like back in the 90's! I can remember going to Philly and having 11 or 12 people that just met for the very first time sleeping in one room! One person would book the room and we would all sneak up and find a corner of the room to sleep in. And for about $10.00 each or less, it allowed you to have more $$$ to spend on cards! And we would be up all night showing off our great finds and even doing some trading! We REALLY NEED new faces, more product back in the mix and who knows. We could start a revival like never before. So let's dig into the couch cushions or the back seat of the car and scrape the pennies and even if we all have to pick someone up or share a room we should really try to make this April the best show we can. Let's try to set up a transportation page on CARD TALK so we can hook up with collectors who REALLY want to go to ANY show, but need help getting there. Maybe by doing this, we can get this hobby fired up and help those who really want to go, get there and enjoy the hobby again!!!!