Buy/Sell/Trade Forum

I traveled from Baltimore on vacation and part of the trip was to spend a day or maybe two at the  Burbank card  show this weekend. 
 

What a disappointment.   On Friday at early opening there were at least 40 tables with no one at them.  Just empty spaces, plus there were numerous tables where there were just closed up show bags on unattended tables.    
 

The crowd was strong, but most dealers were only selling graded cards in cases.    Lots of Pokémon and other flashy non-sports.   Very little memorabilia.    Virtually no ungraded vintage.
 

By no means should this show be considered a west coast National although at $30 for an hour early admission per day charge it was priced like the National.

Well more time to spend in LA .   

Thanks for sharing; that's interesting. Re: graded cards...were these graded cards primarily modern cards? Hard to imagine dealers have invested the amount to transition their vintage cards into plastic holders. Isn't that a huge expense??

The idea of this show as the "West Coast National" does not apply to the late Winter show in Ontario.

"Burbank Card Show" at this point does 2 shows per year.  This show in Ontario, around superbowl time, is a regional show, to reestablish large shows in Southern California, which had not really had a large show in 20 years, despite the many collectors in the area, and the region is the second largest population in the country.

The Burbank Card Show in late summer, 2023 was the first show, and was labor day weekend, they just announced this year 2024 to be the last weekend of August, at the Anaheim Convention Center adjacent to Disneyland - aims to be the "West Coast National."  Though that does not come from the show sponsors, that is something that some in the hobby on the west coast have labeled it .... and it is aspirational.

The Anaheim Convention Center Show is 750 tables, compared to the Ontario Convention Center show was 550 tables.

The "True National" is safe.  The True National offers something for everybody in the hobby. IMO.  High end cards, low end cards,  cards in the middle.  That's about 1/2 the show including memorabilia, and corporate sponsors IMO.  The breakers pavilion / zone is another area of the National and if is about 25%, and the autograph pavilion / zone is about 25%.

The Burbank Ontario / Anaheim shows are more similar to the Dallas shows than the National.  They do not have a large autograph schedule and do not have a dedicated breakers area.  They do not have a lot of memorabilia.

Here's what Ontario did have:

Modern Graded dealers.

Vintage Dealers

Wax dealers [though not the major dealers like Blow Out, Steel City, Dave & Adams etc.]

Small corporate booths representing the industry [as compared to booth size at the National]

A kid zone, as Rob Veres from the Burbank Card Shop, is passionate about making the hobby kid friendly and kid accessible. 

The Burbank Card Shop buyers, as another of Rob Veres philosophies is, card shops must provide hobby "liquidity." 

Most of the grading card companies have a small booth:  PSA, BGS, SGC, TAG, and a few more

Some of the "large" auction companies have a small booth:  Goldin, Heritage

Some of the other ususal suspects have a small booth:  E-bay, PWCC, COMC

Back to the idea of the "West Coast National."  There is a large show in New York, that some in the hobby call the "East Coast National," it's the biggest show of the year that is NOT the National, and not one of the Dallas shows.  The Anaheim Show as "West Coast National" is really  a reference to that NY show, and not the NSCC.

The Anaheim show being adjacent to Disneyland, was hoping to attract attendance for collectors with families. All the other tourist attractions of Southern California.  Attractive to people in the hobby that are also "foodies."  Closer to Japan, China, Korea, Australia, so possibly more attractive for Asian collectors to attend.  That did not seem to happen in 2023, for 2024 ... TBD