Well, day one has come and gone, and I must say, my first experience at the NSCC here in Chicago has definitely been a good one. Not only did I get to put faces to names for people like the guys from Freedom Card Board, but also guys like Chris from Stale Gum, Marie and Sooz from Cardboard Problem, and Rob and Doug from Cardboard Connection. I wish I had pictures, but unfortunately 3 hours of Angry Birds during the flight did not agree with my phone. I will definitely have some tomorrow.

I got off the plane about 3pm and rushed over to the Stephens Center as fast as possible for the Topps meeting at 4pm. I met up with Chris Gilmore and walked the floor for a few minutes, getting to talk to a bunch of people. I spoke with Gregg Kohn from Upper Deck for the first time face to face, and I must say, the guy lives up to his reputation and then some. Gregg, since I know you are reading, that’s a good thing. The passion for the products was definitely there, and though I dont always agree with the latest stuff, at least he has a good take.  I also got to talk with Thomas Fish, whose Blowout Booth is right across the floor from UD, and again, I was impressed by how much he had into his setup at the show. The wax tables are definitely a sight I will not forget, as they are close to the size of a small apartment.

We made our way over to the Topps meeting, which was nicely put together with an awesome raffle and some well needed refreshments. I got to speak with Clay Luraschi who I had wanted to meet face to face for a long time. Each of the members of the team were absolutely amazingly helpful and willing to answer anything I threw at them, which was something I was happy to see. It wasnt company line on anything I wanted to know. When the Q&A got going, it was easy to see that it was going to be a tough room. People were angry about everything from Checklists to redemptions, and they were not going to take any BS about the answers. Although they didnt always have the popular answer, they definitely were not afraid to admit where they had come up short. They talked about how the website is not everything it should be, nor is their social media presence, but they did say that they were going to try to work with the established internet base to get it going to a better level.

The most interesting question of the night came on the addtion of a national patch database to prevent fraud and fake patches. They basically said it was just too expensive to do, and even threw out a figure of 3 mil to get it going. It was shocking, and yet somewhat expected after what I had heard previously from Upper Deck during the course of 2009 and the rampant Exquisite/SPA fakes.

After the meeting, we headed over to the FCB meetup where many of the big exhibitors of the show were making appearances. I spoke for a while with Brian Gray of Leaf, and heard some of the terribly unfortunate stories of their signing with a rapidly deteriorating Muhammad Ali. We also discussed the recent exclusive deal with Ichiro, and after his explanation, it looks like it is going to be just as awesome as the Ali product.

I also got to talk with Scott Prusha of Panini, who to my surprise was great towards me. I approached him expecting the cold shoulder, but he took no hesitation starting up a conversation. We talked for a while and though its obvious we are never going to see eye to eye, it was much better than my previous experience at the 2010 rookie premiere. I have to commend him for his civility for sure, hopefully it was mutual.

Then, I got to talk with Gregg Kohn again, and it was definitely worth every minute I spent with him. The guy is a ridiculous resource of hobby info, and definitely challenged me to break outside the box I have built for myself here. He also talked a lot about the state of Upper Deck, and I could tell that it was hugely different from the last time I got to talk to him, not just in terms of content and staff, but in terms of atmosphere. A lot of the stuff we want from them, isnt always possible because of how many people have left, and I completely understand it. I do also understand that they are making due, through products like Basketball All Time Greats, with what they have, and I have to give it to Gregg for not giving up. Yeah, I do get that I am blowing a lot of smoke up people’s asses here, but it was too good of a time to say anything bad what-so-ever. Gregg knew exactly what UD needs to do, but also understands that he cant always do what needs to be done.

Overall, tonight made me that much more excited about the National’s prospects tomorrow. Im going to make the rounds and get all the swag, and I will definitely post pics on Twitter all day. Check back early and often.