My 2011 National Experience - a real doozy! :)

My 2011 National Experience

Well, where to begin.  I want to thank everyone that I had the pleasure of meeting. Meeting other people that share the same passion for cardboard that I do is not all that easy to do.  At The National, it's simple!

This was my second National, but I really feel this was my first.  I attended last years in Baltimore, but that was just for one day.  Although that was a great experience, it was just one day, and not nearly enough time to see everything, meet a lot of people, and get the complete experience.

This year I turned 40 and I wanted to do something special for myself.
I wanted to experience The National in all it's glory.  I've read all about Nationals of the past, as I've been into this hobby of ours for a long long time.

So I decided that the 2011 National would be where I would let it all go and just do something that I've never done before, and in all likelihood would never be doing again.

I made a major dent in my Post War Baseball HOF Graded Rookie Card Collection:
(group pics will have to do for now, as ive yet to scan them individually)






Also added to my Hockey RC Collection as well as my Brett Slabs...



Here's the wax that I ripped from Steve...

Two packs of 75 OPC, struck out twice.
Five packs of 78 OPC, nada
Ten packs or so of 79 OPC, landed the Ozzie (mentioned below)
Three boxes of 86 OPC
Two boxes of 87 leaf
One box of 86 leaf

Fun stuff to rip!

I also signed up as a member of PSA. I handed in my 15 card submission on Sunday morning expecting them to mail them to me.  I was pleasantly surprised when they told me that they would most likely be ready later in the afternoon if I happened to still be around.  I told them I had to leave around three, and they said that that shouldn't be a problem.

The 15 cards comprised of eight hockey rookies that I pack pulled myself back in the 80s, one free vintage HOF rc, five cards that I pulled from boxes that I opened while hanging out with friends in the hotel room Friday night, and one HOF rc that I pulled from an OPC pack that Sunday morning.

Here are the results:



Sadly the Ozzie suffered the dreaded "min size requirement". i will be getting a free grading for it, but id rather have a slabbed Ozzie OPC RC

I then spent 13 hours getting home (gotta love that weather they have in Chicago!)

Well, there you have it, my 2011 National Experience.
While I'm sad that it's over, my memories remain...