Critiquing  Cleveland  2009        

Recapping the sights, sounds and events that helped shape the 30th Annual National Sports Collectors Convention at the IX Center in Cleveland, Ohio (July 29 – August 2nd).

Early word out of Cleveland is that the 30th Annual Sports Collectors Convention was a rousing success.  Rick Haskins, a long-time pennant dealer from Dallas, Texas,  said "sales were brisk most of the weekend."  On the buying end, Haskins had the good fortune of acquiring lots of  new pennants to add to his already well-stocked inventory.  On the card scene, Ted Zandakis of Reflections of Youth Sports Cards, reported better than average sales on older Topps & Bowman issues.  As is always the case, not everyone was ready to sing the praises of the  30th National.  Speaking on condition of  anonymity , a handful of dealers that we contacted thought the show was “just okay, nothing special.”   

Corporate Presence - Corporate sponsors like: Topps, Press Pass and Upper Deck were popular with the younger crowd with their give-aways and redemption items.  Even if a youngster had not bought anything from one of the close to 600 dealers, they could still be assured of going home with a bag of “freebies” and special promotional items.  

Autograph Guests - With over 70+ autographs guests appearing throughout the week,  including recent Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees:  Rod Woodson and Bruce Smith; it’s little wonder that The 30th Annual National was the place to be for signature hunters.  If there is one  criticism that always seems to be levied against Tri-Star Productions (they handle all the bookings for autograph guests), it is that the autographs are just too expensive for the average person.  Actually, if a savvy person purchased a Super -Vip Pass for $159.00 that would entitle them to 18 VIP Autographs (figures out to $8.83 per autograph)in addition to admission for the week and a special parking pass.  Sweetening the pot were former Cleveland Browns players:  Greg Pruitt and Lee Suggs, signing free autographs on Sunday.  Not a bad deal. 

2010 National Sports Collectors Convention -  The 2010  31st Annual National Sports Collectors Convention  will be held for the 1st time in Baltimore, Maryland.   Happy to report that The Classic Corner  will be exhibiting.  Should be fun!

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Resurgence of Baseball Candy Strip Cards Posing Challenge for Collectors 

A Look at the: 1919 W514, 1919-21 W516 and 1923 W515 Baseball Candy Strip Cards.

It wasn’t all that long ago that Baseball Candy Strip Cards were pretty much left for dead by collectors. With their primitive artwork, garish color backgrounds and irregular borders, these blank-backed cardboard collectibles were just collecting dust on dealer’s tables.  Besides, many of the graded versions were only being given non-numerical grades like: “Authentic” and “Hand-Cut” due to the ever-present border problems.  That was then.   Within the last few years there has been a resurgence within the card collecting community, with collectors taking a 2^nd look at these often overlooked and mostly underappreciated gems from the late teens and 1920’s.  Why the sudden interest?  I think a lot of it can be attributed to the exorbitant prices that other issues, like Goudeys, American Caramels, etc., are now fetching.  A high graded 1933 Babe Ruth Goudey can be, and often is, out of the price range of most collectors.  In contrast, a 1923 W515 Candy Strip Card can be had for significantly less.  So much so, that many collectors are now focusing on Candy Strip Hall of Famers (Christy Mathewson, Ty Cobb, Eddie Collins, etc.), getting them graded and saving a bundle in the process.  Even the staunchest critics will concede that while the Candy Strip Cards may never approach the dollar value of  Goudeys, Caramels, etc., the graded versions (especially Hall of Famers) will be a viable collectible for years to come.

Some of the more popular Candy Strip Cards:

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