Breathe it in and enjoy, collectors. It’s National time. If you’re familiar with SCD, you know all about the biggest sports collectibles convention in the U.S.

They always say if you attend one show a year, make it the National.
It’s the one show where every major dealer brings their best stuff to
sell because they know it can sell there. You see memorabilia that will
not be at any other show around the world. Collectors and dealers
converge from all points on the globe in one massive spot that simply
isn’t duplicated.

If you want something, it’s at the National. If you want to sell
something, you have a lineup of interested buyers. Plus, you can get up
close with all of the auction houses, authenticators and manufacturers
at the National because they are here all week, too.

This year’s event in Chicago is sure to bring out the local flavor of
the Cubs, White Sox, Bulls, Blackhawks and Bears, but there is so much
more.

The rarest of autographs will be at the ready. Trading cards? Every
sport and type is on display, from the 1869 Peck & Snyder Cincinnati
Red Stockings card to the latest autograph cards of Bryce Harper.

There is not another show on the planet with the depth and variety of
product – and none of the dealers want to take the items back home, if
you know what I mean.

The event is also a lot of fun because it allows for plenty of time to
get in touch with fellow collectors and fans. The show usually runs from
about 10-6 p.m. (public hours), which means you can have a blast at the
show all day and then have a nice dinner and still have time to chat
over drinks and dessert before getting a good night’s rest to do it all
over again the next day.

I know many of you have a routine with each National, acted out in
Chicago, Cleveland, Baltimore or wherever else the event might take
place. It’s those memories and relationships that provide the backbone
of this hobby.

There are plenty of things to keep you busy, from an autograph lineup
features dozens of Hall of Famers to receptions to live auctions, where
some of the rarest memorabilia will go on the block. If you really
wanted to, you could eat and breathe sports memorabilia for 16 hours a
day for five straight days.

I’ve been to a fair number of Nationals where a SCD reader will
swing by toward the end of the show and collapse into a chair. They are
loaded down with bags and albums, ready to show off their latest finds.
It’s a weary smile they flash, but the incessant chattering shows they
had the time of their lives and they can’t wait to go home and spreads
their “finds” across the kitchen table.

That’s what makes the National so much fun for me – seeing the great memorabilia and meeting readers who live the hobby through SCD when they aren’t at shows.

I hope to meet (or meet again) many of you at the show. It gives me a
chance to hear what you like and don’t like about the magazine and hear
your suggestions for feature stories in the future. And show me what
you bought. I’ll be happy to share your treasures with readers.

Let’s connect at the show. We’re at booth 1108P all week. Plus, look for
more coverage of events at the National, what the manufacturers will be
offering and what autograph guests have been added to the lineup on the
SCD website.