Innholdsfortegnelse for September 1, 2025 i Sports Collectors Digest

When I attended my first National Sports Collectors Convention in 2021, I was astonished at the lineup of legendary athletes scheduled to sign autographs at the five-day show. Wait ’til Saturday, I was told. When I checked out the TRISTAR Autograph Pavilion on Wednesday, I looked at the big board listing all the athletes scheduled to appear and I was in awe. Day after day, some of the biggest names in sports history, including dozens of Hall of Famers, were scheduled to sign in Chicago. Wait ’til Saturday, I was told. When the doors opened on Thursday, a hoard of autograph seekers flooded the autograph pavilion, creating long lines of ambitious fans and collectors looking to grab sigs from their sports heroes. I couldn’t believe the lines for such big…

When Willie Mays passed away at age 93 last year, he left behind a legacy as one of the greatest baseball players of all time. But the legacy Mays wanted to be remembered for most was as a caring professional athlete who always tried to help others, especially kids who looked up to him. “For all of his extraordinary achievements as a baseball player, Willie Mays wanted his enduring legacy to be helping children,” said Jeff Bleich, Mays’ friend and the chair of the Say Hey! Foundation. “Willie believed that every child deserves the chance to make the most of their talents. He was always looking out for kids, often taking time to play stickball with neighborhood children even when he was playing major league ball for the Giants.” Mays…

NOTE: If you have a show listing, follow the style below and send to jowens@aimmedia.com. ALABAMA Aug 23-24 AL, Huntsville. The Flip Sports Card & Collectibles Trade Show, Von Braun Center, 700 Monroe St. SW, Huntsville, AL 35801. SH: Sat 10am-5pm; Sun 11am-4pm. T: 225+ ($145-175). A: $7. Contact: Daniel TheFlipTradeshow.com Aug 29-31 AL, Florence. Sports Card & Collectibles Show, Florence Coliseum, 702 Veterans Dr., Florence, AL 35630. SH: Fri.10am-5pm; Sat 10am-5pm; Sun 10am-4pm. T: 80 ($175). A: Free. Contact: Josh Johnson 256-607-7020; facebook.com/collectorsworldalabama ARKANSAS Aug 22-23 AR, Bentonville. GG2 Sports Cards Show, Four Points Hotel, 211 SE Walton Blvd., Bentonville, AR. SH: Fri: 11am-6pm; Sat: 9am-5pm. T: 145 A: Free. Contact: Matt Canaday gg2sportscards@gmail.com CALIFORNIA Aug 29 CA, Anaheim. OC Card Show (Sports Only Show), Brookhurst Community Center 2271…

The 2025 National Sports Collectors Convention is over and I hope you acquired some of the targets on your card list. There are plenty of shows to attend before the next National and I wanted to share some show buying tips from the perspective of a hobbyist who wears both the collector and dealer hats. Most of these you've probably heard before as they are based on common sense, but I wanted to expand upon a few. Cash is king. It will go further in negotiations for a card than PayPal, Venmo or other online money accounts. Mr. Mint Alan Rosen procured many great deals because he showed up with a briefcase full of cash and the sight and scent was too much to resist. As a dealer, I love…

The repacking segment of the sports cards and memorabilia space is taking a giant step in the right direction. A collaboration between third-party authentication giant PSA and CardsHQ card shop is expected to make the popular trend of repacking safer for buyers. On July 23, CardsHQ launched Graded Grails, the first PSA-certified repack, while PSA launched the PSA Repack Certification service. Repacking is when a business or individual creates a pack containing a number of cards or a single card and sells it at a set price. A buyer is gambling to either pull a chase card, which will be worth more than the price they paid for the pack, or a lesser value card. CardsHQ and Sports Card Investor founder Geoff Wilson has watched with dismay over the years…

It’s quite possibly every collector’s worst nightmare: losing part, if not all, of their coveted collection due to a catastrophic event. For David DiClemente, he recently lived this great fear. The Wheeling, WV resident had a significant chunk of his baseball card collection ruined as Mother Nature guided a flash flood through town on June 15. He had to throw away over 30,000 waterlogged cards. Now, DiClemente is sharing his story and hoping a similar, devastating situation doesn’t happen to any of his fellow collectors. FLASH FLOOD WARNING DiClemente, who takes care of his 93-year-old mother, was home on a Saturday night when he started receiving flash flood warning alerts on his phone. “I looked outside and it wasn’t even raining,” he said. “It rained like five inches in a…

II first met Neil Bowman when I was an assistant store manager at Walmart in State College, Pa. Eventually one of the departments I oversaw was the photo lab, and Neil was our lab manager. We became fast friends—as much as a supervisor could with an employee—but on a personal level, I never saw our interactions like that. We talked about sports endlessly, and we chased sports cards, taking breaks and lunch to run up and check our register area every day for the newest card releases. We knew our rep by name (Sally), and not for work-related reasons. Looking back about 20 years, we were ripping packs looking for LeBron James rookies and other fun cards from the early 2000s. We purchased every last pack of any Bowman baseball,…