I Went to the Sun Times Show and Took a Trip Down Memory Lane

Today I ventured out to the Chicago Sun Times collectibles convention with a few goals in mind. I haven't been to the show in a couple of years and figured I would check it out because some friends would be there as well as some sponsors of the Cardboard Connection Radio show.

My first stop of the day was to the Memory Lane Inc booth. I wanted to stop by and not only see J.P. and thank him for his support, but I wanted to see some of the items in their upcoming auction that we discussed on our radio show.

Here's a quick clip with J.P from the Memory Lane booth:

Seeing some of the cards like the Plank, the Mantles and the Gibson blew my mind. That tin? Not my cup of tea, but it is in incredible condition and is an extremely rare and unique collectible that MANY people were in awe of at the show.

After I left J.P., I ran into Brian Gray from Leaf and checked out their setup. It was pretty quiet at the show, but they had an awesome display of the Muhammad Ali autos and cards. To quote Darth Vader, "Impressive, most impressive".

I decided only to bring $100 cash and see if I could pick up some of the items I wanted. If you follow our radio show, you'd know I have been looking for a particular Upper Deck SP Authentic auto of future NFL Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. I have struck out at the National for many years looking for it and have had an extremely difficult time even finding a Warner auto at the show.

My drought ended today when I found the card I was looking for. I got it for a price I was willing to pay and it will no doubt be a future SIGnificant Cards entry.

I also mentioned on our show that it might be a good time to pick up Kyle Busch autographed cards. I had been looking for a Kyle Busch auto from my favorite Press Pass product -- Showcase. I haven't pulled an auto of Busch and have been scouting listings to find the one I want and I have continuously been sniped at the last minute on many. Again, I got what I wanted at the price I wanted to pay.

Today was a good day.

If you think I spent the entire $100 on just those two cards, you'd be wrong. I also picked up some more items.

I needed some supplies, so I grabbed some extra thick and regular top loaders and sleeves. Always good prices at the show, that's a no-brainer.

I picked up a box of 91-92 Kayo for $10 and can't wait to open it. Sure it's not worth much these days, but its 36 packs of pure greatness. Hopefully I will find a hologram or auto. Worst case, I can use them for through the mail or in-person autos.

I also wanted to find another box for me to open with my kids. This time I chose a winner for a whopping $3! It's 1988 Topps Big Baseball Series 2. They can shred through those packs and I don't have to worry about condition or value, just pure fun-factor!

Just as I was getting ready to call it a day, I saw one of the most original ideas for displaying items that I have seen since the ball cube. Z-Access has a new entry for collectors to display items from cards, to balls to action figures in a snazzy 3D frame. They had a few different displays set up at the show including a couple of custom ones and I stopped in my tracks to check it out. I had a brief conversation with them and am hopeful that they will appear on an upcoming edition of Cardboard Connection radio. For now, trust me when I say it is pretty cool and you can check them out for yourself at www.displayit3d.com.

My haul, all for just under $100. I think I did pretty good.

There wasn't a whole lot of wax at the show. What was there could be had for a song and dance. Even the most recent Tier One baseball boxes were marked down about $20 and could be yours for around $60. The last thing I grabbed was as I was walking out the door. I passed Dave & Adams booth and saw they had retail boxes of 2009 Upper Deck SP Signature Football for $9. I grabbed one and headed out.

 I look forward to discussing the show a bit more on the Wednesday, November 23 edition of Cardboard Connection Radio.