MY NATIONAL EXPERIENCE: SCD’s Tony Reid made some big deals, fond memories at National Sports Collectors Convention

CLEVELAND—We decided to make an entire week out of our trip to The National with a pitstop in Pittsburgh to visit my daughter, who attends Duquesne University, catch a Pirates game and do some fun stuff around the Steel City.

Unfortunately, our hand-drawn sign wishes were not granted as my daughter did not get a signed ball from Pittsburgh Pirates pitching phenom Paul Skenes. He actually took his first loss the very next day.

We made the trip bright and early Wednesday morning to Cleveland and the I-X Center for the early opening of the National Sports Collectors Convention.

PHOTOS: The coolest things we saw at The National 

I was in attendance on behalf of Greg Morris Cards, recording and documenting many of their big consigning and purchasing deals during the convention as well as compiling unique social media content all weekend long.

It didn't take long to get our first base knock. I met up with my boss, Drew Hester, who was completing a deal for a number of mid-1960s baseball sets with a purchase price in the low five figures. He cut a check and we were on to the next deal. That deal almost immediately led to another purchase of a number of vintage hockey sets in binders that the team happily took under consignment. This was also a large deal.

That great deal led to another one—the best one that I saw first-hand all week from the GMC crew.

A husband and wife made contact with our team and we went to see what they had waiting for us up at the CIA Auctions booth. We opened an old, brown, very non-descript binder. As we opened it, we saw pages and pages of bright, beautiful 1948 Leaf baseball cards staring back at us.Each flip offered more and more breathtaking cards.

Early on, we saw the classic Babe Ruth card on one page. We flipped to the next page and saw the unmistakable 1948 Leaf Jackie Robinson rookie card. Almost unbelievably, after flipping another page, we saw two, yes two, 1948 Leroy Satchell Paige cards back to back. It’s an astronomical feat to have two Satchel Paige rookie cards in that manner.

Owner Greg Morris came over to offer his expertise and the team took the cards in under consignment. The big three were immediately dropped off to PSA for grading. I'm sure they will be prominently featured in the very near future.

The Greg Morris team is a well-oiled machine with a handful of expert raw card graders on-site combing through box after box, binder after binder and showcase after showcase to secure the absolute best cards we could for the business and customers.

Also See: The art of making a deal at The National 

Morris and his team have built a business in which buyers happily pay a premium for raw cards simply based on his team's expert opinion, personal grading, and impeccable track record of vintage and modern cards.

Just when I thought I had seen it all, I caught up with Drew again on his way out the door and he was holding a box full of Mickey Mantle cards, including his 1951 Bowman rookie card on top of the pile. The team hired a driver to take important packages back and forth to the hotel and eventually to ship out west.

The team worked tirelessly to scour the entire building for cards and deals that made sense for the company.

I've been the social media manager for GMC for a few months now and it's been an absolute blast. I've learned so much. I've had to dig in and teach myself a new job, learning brand-new applications and programs. I've really developed my own skill set in new and unfamiliar areas and learned so much about vintage cards in my short time with the company. 

I've spent my life in the hobby, so I definitely had a great jumping off point, but it's always fun to learn and spread your wings. I enjoy the creative aspect of the job and pushing myself in that regard. I look forward to a long relationship with the crew.

There was a lot made of the parking situation at the I-X Center. Luckily, I did not see any of it first-hand. We got in pretty easily most days and we got out within a few minutes of closing our car doors. The last few days of the event I had my wife drop me off where the traffic started to back up and bottleneck near the entrance. I just walked the rest of the way through the parking lot, which was actually pretty convenient and eliminated some unnecessary stress.

My wife, Michelle, isn't new to the NSCC scene. We have attended shows in the past, but this was my daughter Isabella's first National.

PHOTOS: Kids steal the show at The National 

She has held my hand, opened my wallet and added to her own card collection at many local shows. She is a celebrity around home as we set up at a recent mall show and she is asking to do it again. I'm sure we will very soon but she had never experienced the hobby or a show on this scale.

She really cleaned up all weekend. Someone threw her a repack box from Flamethrower Breaks, as we were sitting taking a break. We got back to the hotel that night and opened it and were surprised when she pulled a 2023 Prizm Gold Vinyl Tee Higgins numbered #2/5 in a PSA 10 slab. She was more than happy to say that she had a PSA 10 card. I told many of our card collecting buddies and they were really excited for her, which I passed on to her and that made her excitement level ramp up even more.

My wife and Izzy sat through one of the exhibits at the eBay booth and she even won a card case after getting the answer right to a question that was asked during the presentation. (Full disclosure, a rep whispered the answer in her ear and made sure she took this cool case home.) She has had nothing but positive experiences in the hobby locally and nationally, and I sincerely thank everyone who has done their part to make her feel like a part of the community.

As mentioned earlier, she is a big fan of Paul Skenes, so I think we picked up every single $1 or $2 Skenes card we saw throughout the showroom floor. I recently introduced her to 1980s pro wrestling, and she is a huge Hulkamaniac. We tracked down the only Hulk Hogan action figure in the place and grabbed that for her as well.

Izzy has a must-stop requirement at Rick Romito's Starting Lineup booth. This is a hit every single time. That's most likely her favorite stop at every show everywhere we go, whether it's The National, The Philly Show or anywhere else.

It's such a beautiful thing to be able to share my passion and hobby with those closest to me. My daughter is a true fan and true collector and for her to experience her first National at only 5 years old was pretty spectacular. 

Although the girls showed up a few hours after I did each day, Michelle's Fitbit still showed that they logged at least five to six miles walking each day. My young daughter did every bit of that walking. Not one complaint, not one issue. She was just in the moment, appreciating all the great sports and non-sports items on display.

As far as my want list, my number one mission was finding a low-grade 1954 Topps Hank Aaron rookie card with eye appeal in a PSA slab. After making the rounds a number of times it was becoming difficult to find this card. The only one I found was overpriced. I was beginning to lose hope. Each dealer I spoke to said these were indeed hard to come by; as the higher-priced and high-grade copies increase, so do the lower-end copies. Like myself, many collectors just want a real, true Henry Aaron RC that looks respectable.

Also See: Babe Ruth's ‘Called Shot’ jersey generates big buzz at The National 

Later in the week while working with Kody Zurek from GMC, I asked for the card in passing at the table we were working. We were searching for some high-grade vintage cards. I asked the woman if they happened to have a low-grade PSA Aaron. The other dealer at the table, a young man, reached over and grabbed one for me and, when I saw it, I knew I had to have it. 

Also See: The National Supercharged with cards and stars 

It was exactly what I wanted and more. The card had incredible centering, bright colors on the front and back, crisp imagery and just looked great. Aside from a surface crease or two that I can look past, it had amazing eye appeal for a PSA 1. It had a price tag of $2,000 but after some negotiation I got the seller down to $1,800 and happily paid a premium for a PSA 1. That bad boy is going straight to the PC.

I also collect signed and slabbed rookie cards and I managed to find a few to add to my collection, including a 1966 Topps Fergie Jenkins rookie, a signed and slabbed 1957 Topps Bill Mazeroski rookie and more. I found my honey hole as this dealer had showcases full cards that had me salivating, questioning my budget restraints and making more than one trip back to the table.

I was lucky enough to interview Brooks Robinson not long before his passing but I had never owned a 1957 Topps Brooks Robinson rookie, so I made it a point to track down a raw low-grade copy at the show. I coupled that with his teammate and fellow '57 RC with a 1957 Topps Frank Robinson rookie, and made a nice deal on two great raw cards.

My final personal deal of the week came when I saw social media influencer and well-known sports card collector Gary Vee at his VeeFriends booth. I have met and spoken with Gary at a past card show or three. I went up to say hello, as we are working on scheduling an interview for SCD. 

As we parted ways, he asked if I would take a look at his son's cards at his showcase at the end of Gary's booth. I happily went down there and, of course, one of the first cards I saw was a 1931 Will's Cigarettes Cinema Stars Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse rookie card, which was also on my short list. I made a deal with Gary's son to also add that card to my collection. That's pretty cool provenance on that one!

The main floor of the crowded I-X Center was a beautiful display of endless vintage sports and non-sports cards, as you could find Mickey Mantle or Mickey Mouse, Mays after beautiful Mays, tobacco cards, and so much more.

Of course, the big auction houses all had amazing displays. from Goldin to Heritage, Leland's, and beyond. It was almost like walking into a museum or a popup sports hall of fame, which is always a really fun addition to the already stacked National floor.

Collectors could find tickets and ticket stubs, autographs in every variety, including checks, check stubs, bobbleheads, oddball items and holy grails. There were plenty of vintage and modern graded photographs and all kinds of amazing collectibles that would tempt you to start collecting an entirely new category of the hobby.

We joked that the main floor consisted of fathers and grandfathers, while the breakers pavilion was where all the young kids were hanging out as it was much louder and, in some ways, more exciting back in that corner of the event.

That being said, the breakers pavilion also held even more vintage cards. There was a solid selection of modern and ultra-modern cards there, too. I noticed a lot of basketball and football cards with baseball mixed in.

One of the highlights of the show for many is seeing friends and fellow collectors. I saw a few people from my hometown and people I know from within the community but, hands down, my favorite friend sighting was my friend Jon-Michael, whom I worked with in retail management nearly 20 years ago. Back then, we were huge card collectors. We bought boxes and packs, traveled to distant card shops and shows, and made the hobby a huge part of our lives. Those were the days. We both continued collecting, but he did so from Canada, as I continued from Pennsylvania.

My wife, daughter and I were taking a break and having a snack when I looked up and who did I see? None other than JM. I immediately got up and we gave each other a big hug and we sat and talked for the better part of an hour. We rehashed old retail management war stories, spoke about our families and our current place in the hobby. We shared old card stories and ran through a never-ending list of great stories and memories from our time together from over two decades ago. That, my friends, is what makes this collecting community so great.

For my final day at the show, I put my media credential to full use and spent a good bit of time at the TRISTAR Autograph Pavilion. My childhood hero, Bo Jackson, was signing so I wanted to get some great images of him. No matter how many times I'm that up close and personal with these great athletes, it never, ever gets old.

I was on hand to see Manny Ramirez sign. His interactions, jokes and big personality went far with all of the fans in his line. Everyone I saw him interact with was entertaining. He was giving fist-bumps and pounds and joking with the people around him almost non-stop. It was really fun seeing Manny being Manny.

My wife was a little jealous that I got to say hello to Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame safety Troy Polamalu. He had a smile on his face almost the entire time he was signing, and it was refreshing to see his interactions with fans. I walked by at one point and a young lady was having him sign a bottle of the Head & Shoulders shampoo, which I thought was pretty hilarious.

Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa made his first National appearance ever and a rare public appearance in general. I was lucky enough to say hello to him after his session. I think we booked a big interview that you'll hopefully see in the near future.

Also See: Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez, Reggie Jackson entertain fans at The National 

I also was on hand for Mariano Rivera's signing. I saw Jim Thome interacting with fans. I snapped pics of football legends Barry Sanders, Dan Marino and Larry Csonka to name a few. There was an incredible fan turnout for each and every legend in attendance. The autograph pavilion was elbow to elbow the entire time, and I would imagine it was a huge success for the venue and collectors alike.

That wraps up my four-day stretch at The National. I was hearing rumors of people coming home sick and I must say, I had a bit of a cough and the sniffles, but nothing that my new Hank Aaron rookie couldn't fix.

— Tony Reid has written about sports collectibles for such publications as Beckett and Sports Collectors Daily. He collects RCs of star players in baseball, basketball and football. You can reach him at @tonyreidwrites on all social media platforms.