The National Returns
I’m thrilled that the National Sports Collectors Convention (NSCC) will happen later this month in the city where I live, Chicago. Last year it was cancelled because of Covid-19. Sure, it will be easy to get there. All I have to do is take the Blue Line train to the Rosemont stop and walk to the Rosemont Convention Center. But much more importantly, I’m looking forward to attending because it’s an experience that I know I’ll never forget.
Yes, it’s true that nowadays you can sit in your underwear in front of your laptop (or holding your Smart Phone) and buy cards, graded or raw, all day long. Thanks to the internet, of course. But when you go to a National it’s more than just walking up and down aisles, looking for sports cards to complete a set. It’s about seeing dealers you’ve bought many a card from over the years. Or bumping into a fellow collector and sharing what set you’re currently working on. And then he will tell you about a dealer you should visit because he has some really nice vintage baseball cards on display. I know it’s a cliché, but the NSCC really is all about people and hobby relationships.
With this as background, I recently printed out a list of all the past National locations. The first was held in 1980 in Los Angeles. My first National was in 1986 at the Arlington Convention Center in Texas. One of the enjoyable features at that one was attending hobby seminars on all kinds of subjects. So, in addition to buying cards and getting autographs a collector could get a bit of a card collecting education. I miss those seminars.
In 1987 I flew to San Francisco for the convention at the Moscone Center. While there I attended the MLB All-Star Game in Oakland and also sat in on Bob Costas’ “Costas Coast to Coast” radio program, which was being held live at the Four Seasons Hotel on a Sunday evening. Costas was interviewing Hall of Famers (including Joe Morgan, Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson) who were in town for the game. That was a fond memory I’ll never forget.
I’ll also never forget the 1991 National for one reason: the amazingly large crowds at the Anaheim Convention Center and the frenzy over those cartoon baseball cards given away each day.
One of the pleasures of attending these annual events is buying a ticket to get a baseball autographed by a Hall of Famer that I enjoyed watching when I was a kid growing up in New Jersey. On top of that list would be Mickey Mantle and Hank Aaron. A few years ago, I sold all my autographed baseballs (about 90 altogether) through an auction house. Why? They were sitting in my closet in those plastic ball cubes, gathering dust. But what will never gather dust are the memories I’ll always have of asking these men a quick question about their careers and then shaking their hands. For me that alone was worth any amount of money I paid (Joe DiMaggio was $300!) for the autographed ball. That’s just one of the many reasons I enjoy going to the National.
You also get to see some amazing baseball memorabilia. In addition to seeing some absolutely gorgeous vintage baseball cards (many of them graded PSA 10), I’ve seen bats, baseball gloves and uniforms of some of the all-time greats, including Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. At a Chicago National a number of years ago (at the Memory Lane auction house booth) I even got to put on white gloves and swing a genuine Babe Ruth bat.
I stopped actively collecting a few years ago. But I’m still pumped about attending this upcoming show if for no other reason than to say hello to some dealers that I’ve not seen in a couple of years. And who knows, I just might see a baseball artifact that I’ve never seen before in my life. One that couldn’t be seen even if I visited the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. That’s when I will say to myself, “Wow. Thank goodness I came to this year’s National.”