Thoughts on the National

Some of you may be wondering why we are here for the duration of the show considering that it is really just a giant card show. But, what you don't know is that each vendor has hundreds of cards, memorabilia items, autographed items, pictures, etc. that it would be impossible to do all in one day.

For example, the show opened at 10am yesterday and we arrived around 11am to start the day. The line for the Strasburg exclusive started at 1pm and took until 3pm. Topps panel was at 5pm, so all we did was wait for that card grab food and sit in the panel and do the meet and greet. Day over. That would have been a terrible waste of a day if you only were here one day. Being here for a few days allows you to accomplish many things, not just stand in line for a card that you want to put on eBay before he slips on a banana peel.

The other great (read:nerdy) aspect of spending time at the National is that you get to meet many of the people you talk to on a daily basis through your own blog, message boards or emails for trades and the like. Sooz and I are here with Freedom Cardboard and we now know every moderator on their message boards and are enjoying spending time people who share our passion, so to speak. We have also had the pleasure of meeting Tracy Hackler from Beckett who is, contrary to popular belief, extremely nice and fun to talk to.

We are both (I now speak for all) enjoying hanging out with people who like baseball cards and the industry and don't bash it and find every negative aspect like we sometimes run across online. I will try and post some pictures tomorrow or tonight, and maybe some video.

If you want to see what is going on live here you can go to FreedomCardboard.com and there is a live stream all day of what is happening at the booth. Who knows, you may even find me or Sooz on camera.