First Card Show
My 9 year old son and I just finished our first card show as vendors. Made a silly logo, bought some display stands and other misc materials. Put out all the cards he doesn’t PC, a few from my collection and some consignment stuff for friends.
After the cost of the show and our materials we cleared $900 plus $350 in cards we bought. Very happy with that outcome.
I honestly don’t know if I love the hobby more or less now. I know I’m exhausted.
The good
- seeing my son gain confidence and negotiate his own deals.
- making people happy: I gave away a $2 Ethan Salas card because the guy said it was the one card he’d been looking for, gave a mom a shohei base card and she was so happy she danced, sold a Jung hoo lee to a guy who got a little emotional telling me how much he loved having a fellow Korean to root for and snuck a pack of Japanese pokemon cards into our “free pack” tray for a little girl who wanted one but didn’t have any money.
- made a few ridiculous trades that were fun just for the absurdity.
- this generation of kids gets so much shit but every single one I dealt with was cool as hell and respectful.
The bad
- it can be frustrating to KNOW you have a good card at a good price and have it go nowhere.
- live-streaming. I know it helps grow the hobby and all but man I can’t handle it. I’ve never been more convinced everything on the internet is fake. Watched a guy next to who had barely said a word to anyone turn it on and become a morning radio DJ for five minutes when the cameras were on. Maybe I’m just old.
- there are scammers and scumbags out there. Probably true for every hobby.
- most people were buying singles but there were a few people who sure seemed to have issues with ripping packs and breaks. I hated being a part of that (even peripherally).