The show circuit circa 1993 revisited …

It would probably be revisionist history to suggest that the summer of 1993 was a favorite, but my tour around much of the Northeast and Midwest pretending to be a…
By Tom Bartsch
MAY 22, 2009

It would probably be revisionist history to suggest that the summer of 1993 was a favorite, but my tour around much of the Northeast and Midwest pretending to be a card dealer was a heckuva lot of fun, and so I resume the recollection from a previous blog.

Before I returned to the Polish Community Center at the end of July, I stopped by Johnstown, N.Y., for my 25th high school reunion, which doesn’t sound too bad now, as long as you don’t dwell on the fact that I am talking 16 years ago.

Then it was back to the Polish Community Center in Albany, a show I always liked and set up at several times that summer. This one didn’t yield as much in terms of sales, but I did buy quite a bit of stuff, though as noted previously, I probably overpaid.

The Albany show was right at the beginning of the racing session at nearby Saratoga Race Track (if you ever get a chance, you must go to Saratoga), and so virtually all the hotel rooms were filled even down to Albany. I ended up staying at a, uh, somewhat rustic facility, call it POOR to FAIR. In my humble room, I found $150 cash stuffed underneath a seat cushion, a handsome sum that I suspect was planted there in the middle of some kind of monetary transaction that took place in the room.

You don’t even have to ask: Of course, I did the right thing.

Then it was on to Stratford, Conn., a couple of weeks later for Mike Riccio’s great show, where I sold a 1954 Topps Lasorda rookie and a super 1955 Topps Yogi Berra, gave some of the proceeds back in buying the two 1960 Mantle cards (regular and All-Star) and then finished it off by selling a 1956 Topps Mantle for about $400 bucks. I wish I had that last one back, for those of you scoring at home.

A couple of weeks later, back to Albany and the Polish Community Center, where I suppose the high point (low point?) was overpaying for a 1969 Topps Reggie Jackson rookie card.

I’ll take care of the final leg of the trip in the next blog posting: by way of preview, it entailed shows in New Hampshire, Connecticut and on Long Island, plus a side trip to watch the wales on Cape Cod and then on to Philadelphia for my last Philly Show as a civilian.

If it weren’t for the IRS, I wouldn’t be able to come up with all these specifics.