35th National Sports Collectors Convention

I made the mistake or hobby of deciding to collect baseball cards a little over a year and 1/2 ago.   I think that it has taken over a part of my life.   I would say that I'm now a serious collector of sports cards and baseball memorabilia in general.   I like most of you collected sports cards (in my case baseball cards) while growing up in the 1960's.   In the early 1980's I decided to get rid of my small collection when a sports card show came to town.  

Fast forward to early November 2012 when I made the decision to start collecting Detroit Tiger baseball cards again.   Boy have I gone full tilt since then.   I've become a regular member of the sports card circuit here in Michigan attending the shows all around the state.   I have seen my collection grow and grow since then with me gaining my goal of collecting all of the Topps Detroit Tiger baseball cards since 1952.  

I have moved into other sports lightly but still focus on baseball cards.   Last summer the dealers that I would come in contact with would tell me about "The National."   It is a once a year National Convention of  Sports Collectors Convention that is hosted in a large city that can handle the large crowds that it draws each year.  Well I attended the 2013 National in Chicago for 3 1/2 days and was totally blown away by the size of this hobby.   Fast forward to 2014 and The National which is being held in Cleveland, Ohio at the I-X Convention Center located next to the Cleveland International airport. 

The 35th National Convention would be held over 4 1/2 days from July 30- August 3, 2014 at the I-X Convention Center in Cleveland, Ohio.   It is one of the largest convention halls that I have ever been in.   The National would attract over 750 dealers from all over the United States setting up for the show.   The National would have over 45,000 people in attendance during this time.   Many corporate sponsors and national sports talk shows would broadcast from the National. 

One part of the National that I'm glad that I didn't get involved in was the autograph madness that has swept the sports collecting industry.  There would be well over 120 famous sports personalities signing during the National.   I have always had a hard time with the concept of paying someone for their autograph.   But you would not believe the number of people that were paying top dollar to get their sports legends autographs on their bats, balls, photos, ticket stubs and other sports items.   I'm glad again that I haven't gotten into that craze. 

Collectors from across the country came to Cleveland to look for items to finish their collection of whatever they might be collecting.   All sports were covered at this convention from Boxing to Baseball, Football, Hockey, Basketball, Golf, Racing and even the Olympics.   I seen items priced from 10 cents to thousands of dollars for that rare item that you would find only at the National.   Well I have been to 2 National's now and they are time consuming and tiring.   You are like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for the doors to open and then it's Christmas Day with all looking for special item.