The National Cleveland Ohio 2024
Excellent overall experience. This was my second National, and we actually applied to have a booth at the Chicago 2025 National. So, I hope to set up an interactive fun place for people to stop by and get a feel for our products in Chicago next year. A basketball hoop, some fun give aways are all in the works if we get guaranteed spot at the venue. I just really want to make the booth a place to remember. That should be the goal of every vendor at any show.
The logistics of this year’s National seemed alright. I have to admit, the access to fresh water needs an improvement for sure. It shouldn’t be a process just to get a bottle of water. Actually, that is something I should improve on my preparation side. Bring plenty of liquids to this type of venue. There were some issues with lines, bathrooms could have been cleaned up a bit more, and just overall needed more attention to detail. I guess that is how I would put it, more investment towards making people feel the event is special. That is the impression that Chicago left me with, something that Cleveland didn’t do as good as a job at. Make the event more special and part of that includes, creating a logistics system that is incredible. That requires money, and the event needs to dig deeper in their pockets to make sure that the logistics are up to par with other events that leave a memory of excellence.
Deals, deals, and more deals. There were deals to be had. I didn’t pick up much. A PSA 9 encased pack of 1988 Fleer Basketball, a Lillard Prizm RC Auto and handfuls of bargain box cards. I also left with a bunch of free T-shirts which the breakers and other vendors did an awesome job of providing. The custom hat I picked up from Black Jaded Wolf was by far the coolest piece of apparel in the whole building. Although, this show focused more on heavy hitting cards, there were quite a few vendors who made the bargain box hunting a fun experience. Even many of the vendors who have cards in the five and six figure digits for sale, made sure to have cards for a hundred bucks or so, very desirable cards, scattered amongst their grails to make it a show for everyone. Don’t get me wrong, it is fun to look at cards that are of insane value, but as a collector with a budget that isn’t in the market for grail cards, I had certain lower end stuff on my list when going to the show. Some of which were Lillard 2021 Prizm parallels, 2013-2014 Prizm Parallels, 2003 NBA Topps Chrome Black Refractors (the lower end value players) along with some other lower end stuff.
The overall scale of things seemed not quite as large as when I was in Chicago. The hotel, well, let’s just say I booked it too late. I would definitely recommend anyone looking to attend a major card show like The National, to book your hotel way, way, way in advance to ensure that you aren’t stuck with the type of hotel I was in. I’m just going to move along and not talk about that hotel anymore. Lyft was key to enjoying Cleveland during the few days I was there, the drivers were all awesome and talking with them really helped me get an overall assessment of Cleveland. What is my assessment of Cleveland as a city? Better than what I expected leaving Seattle to head out there. Pretty cool place actually.
It was exciting to meet new people in this hobby and continue to grow Game Time International, get our company on the board as a reputable card supply company in this industry. We made some deals as a company at the show and really got our product out in the open for everyone to see. That was my key focus with this trip, to allow GTi Card Supply to be seen and appreciated by those who want quality product.
I got a chance to attend the Panini VIP Party where 50 Cent came on stage and really put on a performance. What a guy! The Candy Shop, Just a lil bit, In Da Club. It was fun to listen to those songs from the early 2000’s. Those were my military days and we all really enjoyed his music back then and glad that 50 Cent is still doing his thing. Panini should definitely think about going a little deeper in the pockets for an event like this. I would recommend better food and more interaction with the celebrities. Perhaps even some fun raffles and such.
Thanks again Cleveland for hosting the event and hopefully next year my wife and I, along with our GTi team can all be in Chicago to put together a booth to remember. For sure, we will be at Burbank and hope to see you all there!
