Starting this week, you will start to see coverage from the National Sports Collector Convention, which is running from Wednesday through Sunday in Chicago. I will be at the show starting on Thursday with live reports, exclusive content and interviews, as well as photos/videos galore. Be sure to check back frequently for your one stop shop for show coverage if you cant actually make it to the windy city. You can follow me on Twitter at @SCUncensored or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SCUblog.

For those of you who have read this site for a long time, my general opinion on card shows is not favorable. I have said in the past that the era of the card show is long over with, and I stand by that statement now. However, I don’t think the National is really JUST a card show. The NSCC is more about the people than the cards, and I want to discuss my list of what is worth checking out and what should be left to every other weekend of the year.

The Gathering

If you are like me and this is your first time at the show, its definitely going to be a trip from what I have been told. The convention becomes a swarming sea of collectors moving from booth to booth in a way that is unavailable anywhere else. In this case, I think this convention is worth going just to be around an atmosphere where so many hobby enthusiasts are in attendance. In a time where many card shops have closed due to disinterest and lack of sales, this is the last frontier of hobby gatherings.

When one goes to the NSCC they are going to see thousands upon thousands of people, including some mainstream news outlets roaming the floors, a great situation for a people watching lover like myself. I also think it’s a great place to observe parts of the hobby that many of us are not accostomed to seeing when tooling around on the hobby sites. Whether its case breaking, pack wars, autograph seeking, or set building, there is going to be more of it in Chicago than anywhere this year. Im more interested in seeing the mass case breaks that so many people discussed last year, as I will watch anyone break any pack from any product. The higher end the better. Because I live vicariously through other collector’s excitement, its like getting a room buzz when someone at a party starts lighting up the gange.

Also, Freedom Card Board, Topps and surely everyone else will be having meet and greet nights, usually on Thursday, and I would definitely believe that it is a worth your time to attend. FCB’s party will have appearances by the gurus from all the manufacturers, and Topps will most likely devulge some juicy info about the upcoming card year at theirs, which means that you should get there early to get your ticket.

The Vintage Wonderland

If you are a collector who specializes in vintage cards, this is your graceland. I very much appreciate older cards from all sports, even though I don’t collect them, and I am quite excited to see some big iconic representations of the hobby’s past at this show. From what coverage depicted in Baltimore last year, there was more vintage than any other type of card, something I attribute to the timeless value of antique items. This year, although Football should be a huge focus, vintage will always be a factor because of the makeup of the hobby. I am going to be taking in the 52 Mantles and the Ruth Goudeys like nobody’s business, so I will be sure to tweet some photos if I see any ridiculous ones.

The Manufacturer Presence

It’s a rare opportunity to be able to go and voice your opinions directly to the people who produce the cards. Because the NSCC is the biggest gathering of collectors for the year, each of the card companies will be there, from Topps to Leaf. Each of them will have booths with their teams, giveaways, and other events, and this is the part of the show I will be delving deep into. The exhibitor space is not just about talking to the brass from Topps and UD, its about learning and networking, something I hope to do a lot of this weekend. The giveaways don’t hurt, as all the companies will be giving away exclusive cards and autographs that are created just for the show. Hell, Panini even figured out how shitty the Elite rookies looked and are offering a special “make good” with the rookie cards oriented the right way.

For this specific part of the show, it’s a MUST for all attendees to stop by all the booths, if not just to talk to people. It’s a great experience, and should be a great opportunity for everyone to see much of what is coming down the pipeline for the companies

The Wax

Blowout, DA, and all the other internet superstores will be in Chicago, and it will be a great opportunity to not only meet the people behind your favorite stores, but also to buy some boxes cheap. Unlike other shows where you have a jumble of trustworthy and untrustworthy dealers mixed together with varying prices, these guys will be on site to satisfy your wax buying in a very helpful way. Yeah, that guy at booth 114 has Topps Jumbos for 60 bucks, but how do you know the boxes arent just leftovers from a case where the good hits have already been pulled? This is exactly why I wouldn’t touch any non-sealed cases from anywhere but the big dealers like the ones mentioned above, and after seeing some of the specials they will have, it should be great pricing as well. Im not saying that I am 100% sure that every box from these guys is completely the way it seems, but I trust them a million times more than most of the other people that will be at this show.

The Singles

There are two groups of cards that a collector will buy during the course of their hobby career, the easy to find and the hard to find. When it comes to the easy to find, don’t come to the national looking to buy. Its one thing if they are .10 cent commons, but its another if it’s a relatively non-rare rookie auto you can find on eBay. In fact, when it comes to set building, the National may be one of the best places to do it, but outside of cheaper bargain bin cards, its not going to be a place to buy. As for the rarer cards, this is a good way to check off your want list. I am talking about those 1/1s and other rare hits that hardly show up on ebay. Because there are so many dealers, its just the law of probability that someone might have what you are looking for. You will end up paying through the nose for it, but when you cant find it anywhere else, you are willing to pay more to get your fix. The bad thing is that many of the dealers understand this fact, and will break out their pricing bible to screw you a little harder if they feel they can make an extra buck or two.

The Autographs

I have said it a hundred times, but I will say it again. I am an autograph collector more than a card collector, and the National is a great place to get them. Whether its actually meeting players like Joe Montana or Jim Brown at the autograph pavillion, or the apartment sized booths filled with authenticated signed pieces, this show will be amazing. I am still debating who I want to get from the player list of people who will be signing, but I am more interested in getting some signatures I wouldn’t normally chase. I am in the market for a Sandy Koufax autograph, one that should be readliy available this weekend, and I hope that isnt it. You never know what you are going to find, and I know there will be at least one autograph I will buy that I didn’t go into Chicago looking for. Because of the proximity to Minnesota, there could be more Twins and Vikings items than other shows I have been to, so I am excited at the possibility of what MAY be there.

The Fakes

You all know my feelings on the people who take advantage of the uninformed in this hobby. That is my biggest fear for this experience, as there have been shows I have gone to where there were more fakes than I ever could have imagined. I get that there are lots of fakes no matter where you go, but I am expecting an overload. Not necessarily just fake autos, but fake patch cards, and definitely fake people. When I went to the Tristar Houston show, I was acutally surprised at how few tables that were overwhelmed with fakes, but there were a presence of a scattered few that I saw. When you multiply the dealers, you multiply the fakes, and it is probably the main reason why the FBI chose this opportunity in previous years to investigate its targets.

The Experience

Overall, this weekend should be a blast. I will be happy to see any readers of the site who see me walking the floor or hanging with the guys from Freedom Card Board. Stop by and get your high fives/handshakes/opportunities to punch me in the face, I am always up to meeting new people or people I have met through the site’s comment system. I hope this is as much of a great situation to see what everyone has been raving about as it is to grow the readership of this blog. See you all there!