The Morning After

Yesterday was a pretty big letdown for Pirate fans.  There's a natural ebb and flow to sports, and Pittsburgh is undoubtedly a city that is crazy about its sports teams.   One of the fascinating things about living in Ohio was seeing just how different the sports culture there is.  In and around Pittsburgh you will rarely go more than a few moments without seeing something related to the sports teams in public.  Whether it's a car decal, Steelers tshirts hanging in a store that sells nothing related to apparel or sports, or a Lets Go Bucs sign out front of a business, the city's identity is linked to the way the city relates to its sports teams.

I like to consider myself a pretty smart guy, but there was something just dumbfounding about living in an area that wasn't "that" crazy about their sports teams.

It's been an interesting few years for Pittsburgh sports.  The Steelers have slipped into the middle of the pack after a pretty hearty loss to the Packers in the Super Bowl a few years back.  Expectations of reaching the Stanley Cup finals each and every year for the Pens are perhaps a bit unreasonable, but the team has continued to fall short in the postseason after stellar performances during the year.  And the Pirates finally turned things around, but have yet to bear fruit in the postseason.

 And that's where things sit today, following a blowout loss that kicked the Bucs out of the playoffs.  It'll probably be a few months until there is any substantial news about the Bucs.  For me this is the slow season - I might catch a most of the Steelers season, and I'll watch hockey here and there.  But nothing compares to my love of baseball.

 But that certainly won't stop me from collecting cards.

 All of the pickups in this post came from the National, mostly from one dealer's quarter boxes.  While I was mostly looking for Pirate cards to add, I didn't pass up a chance to snag numbered cards of Steelers for a quarter.  One box contained almost nothing but numbered inserts from 1998-2000 Donruss products.  Most of the stars were pulled, but it was a perfect chance to add about two dozen new cards to my Kordell Stewart collection.

 And of course I couldn't pass up the chance to add to my lesser collections as well.  I know OPC is a lower end hockey product, but this Stat Leaders card not only features two Pens, but also has some awesome old school foil.

 And despite being a proud Mountaineer, I still have a soft spot for my childhood favorite Pitt Panthers.  How many Curtis Martin cards are there featuring him in his college uni?  Not too many I'd imagine.

Is that...Kevin Greene chasing Gale Sayers?  Yes, why yes it is.  I don't think I need to explain why or how this card ended up in my pile.

 But of course there's always room for dime box digging as well.  One of the things I dislike most about the move out of Three Rivers was the coinciding destruction of old Pitt Stadium, with the Panthers and Steelers now sharing Heinz Field.  It's hell on the turf, but more importantly the Steelers awesome endzone logo has been replaced by generic white striping.

 Speaking of dime boxes, I found about half a dozen different Hines Ward rookie cards in dime boxes at the National.  That's something that would be almost impossible to imagine happening in the Steel City.  I didn't have any Hines cards aside from a UD Choice card I pulled as a kid, so they were welcomed additions.

 But then again so was this one.  This came as part of the large number of signed cards I picked up over the weekend.  Most of my pickups were baseball, but I couldn't say no to an autograph of the Steelers legend, even if the black signature is a bit lost on the card.

See, the perfect distraction to take my mind off my Bucs.

The National Box Breaks

I gave up my box breaking ways years ago, after realizing that I was throwing away money into $50 boxes without even getting any cards I was interested in.  I've been pretty successful at staying away from wax since 2005, with a short relapse into a box of 2007 SPx that quickly sent me scurrying back to no-wax land.  But...it's the National.  All the talk of discount wax, case breakers pavilion, and exclusive cards was going to make it tough to resist breaking something.

I've had a few close brushes with the Leaf Pete Rose set.  I saw a few boxes at Redsfest in Cincinnati two years ago for $20, and almost pulled the trigger.  But didn't.  I saw quite a few people finding blasters discounted at Target for $12 or $13.  But a search of about half a dozen local targets yielded zip.

I briefly toyed with just buying a Rose auto on ebay, but my bids always came up short and I really wanted some of the awesome base cards.

When I saw a box at the National, with a guaranteed Rose auto in each box, it was a no brainer.

As far as the autograph goes, I think I did pretty well.  The photo is a bit dark, but it's a nice action shot in a Reds uniform.  Not bad, considering many of the cards in the set are clubhouse shots.  The cards all feature a short blurb detailing where and when the photo was shot, which is a nice touch.  My auto is from a game in 1978 against the Phillies.

Even with airbrushed logos, some of the photos just look great.  I still need to add a Rose Expos card to my collection.  Others...not as much.  This photo of Pete Rose reading a newspaper is just a bit bizarre, and a little too oddball even for my taste.  I might have been a bit bummed if that had been my auto.  But overall the box was a great value, and adds one of my most wanted autos at a fantastic price.

I also took a chance on a box of 2008 Upper Deck Documentary for a mere $10.  For that price, the chance to add a few more cards, maybe even a gold parallel, to my Pirates team set was welcomed.

Apparently the box had other ideas.  I went a solid 7 packs before hitting my first Pirate, and didn't get any Pirates gold cards in the box.  I did manage to pull 4 new cards for my Pirates set, as well as a couple others that fit into my various player or mini collections, like the Carlos Delgado card above featuring a photo at PNC Park.

One strange thing about this product is the collation.  I've noticed cards will come in short runs of certain games - for example my box yielded Pirates games 72, 74, 74, 75.  Not pulled in any order, or from any successive string of packs.  But throughout the box there they were, in not so random order.

This set had so much potential when it was announced.  Instead UD recycled photos repeatedly, loaded the product with junk autos, and left this product as one I just want to finish so I don't have to think about it anymore.  But for $10, I really can't complain.  The Josh Hamilton ASG card is fantastic with a beautiful design.  And all things considered, my auto could have been a lot worse.  At least Jerry Blevins is still playing baseball, which can't be said for all the players on the auto checklist.

Still, I think I would have come home much, much happier if I had found a box of 1993 Score.

The National - Dime Box Digs

I went into the National with dreams of finding loaded boxes filled with numbered cards and parallels.  I didn't quite reach that level, but I was perfectly happy to pick out...well...dime cards.  I scored some great new finds for my odds and ends collections.

A few years ago the idea of finding a Strasburg card in a dime box would have been crazy talk.  While he has turned out to be a very solid pitcher when healthy, he hasn't hit the Nolan Ryan eqsue levels that his hobby hype would have indicated.

Strasburg made his much anticipated big league debut against the Pirates, striking 14 Buccos in what was just a fantastic game to watch as a baseball fan, even if my team took a beating.  This card was an absolute must have when I saw it, and instantly becomes one of my favorite Nats cards from a team that I semi collect.

One of the best things about a dime box is the chance to hit random oddball sets.  You don't see many Lou Brock Cubs or Pilots cards, so these went straight into my pile.

One dime box held nearly a complete set of 1995 Topps Cyberstats parallels.  These were some of my favorite cards from my childhood collection. I picked up about two dozen cards, including a few Pirates I needed. But the small stack of cards like this Baerga were unfamiliar to me. A little research once I got home showed that they were a factory set exclusive. And a pretty cool looking one at that.

I also ripped three packs of Topps Series 2 in order to get the exclusive Albert Belle A&G mini card. The packs yielded a few Pirates I needed, and a pull of one of my new favorite players. I got a special offer for mlb.tv for the rest of the season for only $25, and have been making up for all the baseball I didn't watch earlier in the season. I have watched the White Sox a few times this week, and wow is Jose Abreu impressive. The guy just looks like a slugger, and the numbers certainly back that up.

I also picked up a few late career cards from 90's stars, including Nomar, Piazza, and Frank Thomas. My collecting tailed off pretty significantly from 2007-2009, so I missed out on adding cards of these former superstars. But I'm more than happy to make up for lost time for a dime.

Now I just need to order a fresh case of 9 pocket pages to fit all the cards...

The National, Day 2

My adventure to the National on Thursday ended on a bit of a down note, with a broken ATM machine putting a premature end to my day.  I had only planned to spend one day in Cleveland, but I woke up Friday morning jonesing for some cardboard.  I had taken Friday off to make a 4 day weekend, but I shot out of bed at 8:30 on Friday ready for another day at the show.  But at that point I would have arrived at around noon, and needed to restock on granola bars and snacks for the show.

Instead, I decided to plan to go Saturday, rather than rush out the door to go Friday.  I popped out of bed bright and early Saturday morning, and was on the road by 7:30; Kate decided to stay back to go to a family  reunion and peddle her homemade jam to unsuspecting relatives (she ended up selling 19 jars, which offset some of my expenses on the day).

When I got to the I-X Center right before 10:00, the line to pay for parking was backed up.  Still, the parking lot didn't look significantly more full than on Thursday.  I headed into the convention center sporting my early 90's Devil Rays white jersey.  I picked up the jersey a year or two back at a thrift store for $6, but haven't really had a good reason to wear it.  The jersey got me about a dozen compliments during the show, so I may need to try to find a matching hat at some point.

My day Saturday didn't hold nearly as much excitement as my big autograph haul from day.  But I took more time to dig through dime boxes, and also found quite a few dealers with quarter boxes that I hadn't spotted on my first day.  Finding cards was tough in most of the quarter boxes.  I managed to score a partial Pirates team set from last year's Bowman Mini boxed set, and a few numbered inserts and refractors.  But most of my time was spent picking up cards for my various non-Pirate collections from dime boxes.

I also took a little more time to walk the floor and taken in all that was for sale at the National.  From vintage memorabilia to what is probably the most complete Cleveland Browns collection known to man, the National had it all.

I also decided to give a little more attention to the box break area, with the big wax dealers displaying an assortment of new products.  I was almost tempted by a box of Panini Hometown Heroes for $40, but decided to pass.  Instead I came home with a box of Leaf Pete Rose, which includes a Rose auto in each box, for $10 and a box of 2008 Documentary for $10.  I combed every single dealer I could find in search of 1993 Studio with no luck, and decided to pass on a box of 2000 Topps for $30.  But there was an impressive selection of 90's and recent wax.  Not much from the 2000's though.

I also decided to open 3 packs of Topps Series 2 to get an exclusive A&G mini.  I decided to pass on the more popular minis of Trout and Jeter for Albert Belle, one of my favorites from the 90's and a cool keepsake from the National.  I still had money burning a hole in my pocket, but decided to pass on coming home with any more McFarlanes or buying a box or two of junk wax just for the hell of it.

I'm really glad I went back for a second day, and my haul was definitely more impressive in quantity, if not quality, on day two.  I'll show off some of the pickups from days one and two this week, as well as some more commentary on the show itself. But I can certainly see why this is a must-see event for any collector. I'll be anxiously awaiting 2018 when it's back in Cleveland.

The National, The Mini Collections

I'm still in National recovery mode. I did a rough count, and I think it's safe to say I probably sorted through at least 500,000 cards over the course of my two days in Cleveland. I'm usually pretty quick about flipping through boxes, but I needed to up my game even more for this show. Most dealers didn't take the time to sort cards by sport, so I had to get pretty adept at quickly skipping past the 5 or 10 basketball cards mixed into a handful of baseball.

I'm not sure what everybody else's dimebox strategy is, but I'm all about speed. When I walk away from a box, I rarely know what I actually have in my pile. As I'm flipping through, I grab anything that looks interesting and put it in the pile. When I get home and review the finds it's like Christmas all over again. It's not unheard of for me to come home with a few quarter cards I have zero recollection of picking up.

Even with thousanands and thousands of cards to flip through, it was difficult to find cards. I got to the show early Thursday. It's possible some other Pirates collector came through and stripped out all the Pirates. But Buccos haven't seen much love in sets for the better part of the insert/numbered boom over the past two decades, so it also makes sense that they aren't as common as other teams in the boxes.

Still I managed to find some cool cards to fit my various mini collections. The two Triple Threads cards feature photos from the 2006 All-Star game. They aren't all that exciting in and of themselves, but cards featuring the '06 All-Stars aren't particularly common, aside from a few in Topps and Upper Deck flagship sets, so I couldn't pass on the opportunity.

One nice thing about such a large show is that there were plenty of high end dealers blowing out the commons from sets well out of my price range, like Triple Threads or Tribute. My colored glove collection is another one that can be tough to add to, so any addition is welcomed. But the foil certainly makes the cards pop a little bit more.

And sometimes it's just worth the added cost to upgrade. I found a few cards that were already in my collection in the base version, but being able to add a Museum Collection Bullinger or refractor Lynn was worth the upgrade price.

Additions to some of my mini-mini collections like colored gloves of PNC Park/Three Rivers Stadium photos can be pretty tough to find additions for, so big shows are the perfect opportunity to make some new additions.

Hall of a Haul

There aren't a lot of freebies when it comes to the National.  Not really, at least.  Sure, free packs or exclusives are nice if you already rip wax.  But they aren't really freeeeee.

But a couple weeks ago I got a semi-regular email update from Main Line Autographs.  They're the promoter who has taken over the annual Robert Morris show in Pittsburgh, as well as other events.  They bring in some decent autograph guests, and I picked up on the fact that their email list always sends out an email before the Robert Morris show saying "present a copy of this email and get a free signed 8x10."

Well my mamma didn't raise no fool, so sign up I did.  The Robert Morris freebie isn't usually anyone earth shattering - Bob Friend, Grant Jackson, or some other ex-Bucco who they have a ton of back-stock for.

Well I got the same email for the National.  Present this email, get a freebie.  Hey, why not.  So as my day slowed down, I made a point to hunt down their booth and present my email.  A fairly disinterested employee (did I mention how I'm kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel with my nickel and dime purchases while others are throwing around thousands) and said "go pick one of the 8x10's on that table, motioning to their side "wall" of their booth.

So over I went.  The 8x10's were broken down by sport and alphabetized.  I immediately locked in on a Carlos Baerga signed photo, since he has been near the top of my want list for a while, and I missed a free signing with him on Wednesday at the National.  But what the heck...I'll keep looking just to make sure there isn't a Bucco I need in here.

Call me a little crazy, but I did a double take when I saw a Monte Irvin folder, complete with about 20-30 signed photos.  A couple later, Fergie Jenkins.  My pick between two free HoF'ers?  Yes please.

But I kept going, just to be safe.  And boy am I glad I did.

Right in the middle of the N's was Don Newcombe.  Yeah, that one.

He may not have a plaque in upstate New York, but he's a Hall of Famer in my book.  I have an immense appreciation for former Negro League players, and I couldn't be happier to have this autograph in my collection.  For free.

The National, Part 1 - The Haul of a Lifetime

The National was an insane experience.  There was pretty much every sports-related piece imaginable available, from books to stadium seats.  I was able to do a complete walk-through of the event floor, but there wasn't nearly enough time to stop and really see everything.

While standing at one booth that had some incredible $.25 boxes, I heard the dealer talking with a guy at the booth next to me.  The dealer had high end memorabilia, and was trying to get the customer to buy a display with a World Series ticket, though I didn't catch the year.  The guy said he loved the piece, but he already dropped $15 grand today, so he would think it over.  And neither man even batted an eye at this statement.

It's another world.

My budget was a little more restrained.  But that didn't stop me from coming home with some amazing additions to my collection.  I'll be posting a more in depth show review (with pictures) later this afternoon.  Kate left the usb adapter at work, so the photos are stuck on my iPod until lunch time.

But that's alright.  Let's jump right into the good stuff.  I've come across some pretty good finds - a Jay Buhner Crusade Green for $1, a Vince Coleman auto for $.10, an awesome $.50 box of nothing but Pirate inserts and numbered cards.  But I feel pretty confident in saying that nothing in my collecting life will top my find at the National.

The second table I stopped at ate up half the cash I had with me.  I was making the rounds after spending the first hour and a half digging through $.25 boxes.  I wanted to get the lay of the land, and then pick out my targets.

A sign saying $2 autographs and game used caught my eye, though I would later find that about half the modern dealers had similar boxes.  But not like this.

The first row looked like a dud - lots of decent game used cards from the early 00's that were cool, but not worth $2.  And then I saw a Josh Hamilton ip autograph - after staring at it for a couple seconds, I flipped past it.  It looked like it could be real, but his autograph is so scribbly that it could also be easily forget.  Not worth the risk.  But I kept going through the box to see if there might be any other ip autos.
I was about to walk away when the dealer said "The box underneath is all autos, if you like that stuff."
  Do I like that stuff?  Sir, if you only knew.

I dug in - the autos looked good, but most were relatively common players.  But I found a few Pirates I needed, a couple Indians that I liked from the 90's.  And then I hit the jackpot.

Michael Jack Schmidt.  The auto looks good.   Spot on, really.

As the dealer and I got to talking, I found out he had recently bought the collection from a guy in his 90's who had been graphing at the stadium since at least the 80's, and the cards clearly showed that.

As I kept flipping through the rows, the star power was there.  HoF'ers, and lesser players.

I picked up all of the HoF'ers I saw - I know I should flip them to recoup some of my investment.  But it's going to be hard to part with some of these new additions.

Apparently earlier in the day (and we're talking the show only being open about an hour and a half at this point), a dealer had come over and bought 400+ autographs.  I can only imagine what must have been in the box if this is what he left behind.

I was able to knock off a who's who of 90's autographs I wanted for a mere $2 each.  Sure beats paying $30+ for a Slammin' Sammy auto.

I ended up picking up 60 autos, ranging from superstars to guys like Erik Hinske and Enrique Wilson that I needed for my Pirates autograph collection.

I asked what it would take to buy out the whole collection, and the price was good.  Really good.  But I didn't want to be spending the next week on the couch.  And while I could have easily doubled my money just selling off the extras, the timing was terrible.

But I'm more than happy to tuck these additions into the collection.  I may sell a couple lesser players whose autos are fairly rare just to recoup a little cash.  But these beauties?  They're not going anywhere.

The National

I just got back home after my wild day at the National.  I'll hopefully be putting a post up later tonight/early tomorrow to recount the craziness.  But the teaser:  I think I probably picked up what will be the steal of my lifetime. 

The event was even larger than I imagined, but in other aspects it was a little underwhelming.  I tried to get a bunch of photos so those who didn't have the chance to go can see what it's like.  Even for a Thursday, traffic seemed pretty light compared to what I had expected. 

More to come soon. 

My National Wish List

I'm less than two days away from hitting my very first National.  I hope making the trip out on Thursday will give me a bit of a jump on the crowds and the deals.  I'm really trying to take the experience in stride, since I don't know what to expect.  Or I suppose I should say I expect to see pretty much everything.  But I'll be focusing in on a few specific area.

1) Cheap wax  I've heard that you can find overproduction era wax pretty cheap at the National.  And I'll be looking to do just that.  I'm not much of a set builder, but there have been a few sets that I've been interested in.  It's been a long, long while since I've opened a box (2007?), so just busting a full box will be worth the price.  I'll be keeping a sharp eye out for boxes of 1993 Studio, 2000 Topps, and 1996 Upper Deck Silver Collection football.  I'd also love to snag a box of 2013 Pinnacle, if I can find it on the cheap.

2) Jack Wilson  Ah, the life of the supercollector.  I have what I'm pretty confident is the most comprehensive Jumpin' Jack Flash collection out there.  But there are still hundreds of cards I'm missing - mostly stuff that is pretty hard to find, or insanely rare.  But the National seems like just the place to find them.  If I can come home with even one or two new Jacks, I'll be thrilled.
3) Dime boxes!   I love digging through dime boxes.  But the National my cramp my style a bit, so to speak.  Dime boxes take time to go through, even for the fastest card flipper.  I'll have to carefully weigh  whether the particular seller has their dime box filled with enough great finds to justify my precious National time.

4) Mid range hits With the number of upper-mid range products released in recent years, there seem to be dozens and dozens of hits each year for the select few players Topps decides to sign to autograph contracts. But more often than not those cards end up with high prices on sites like COMC from wax breakers that don't want to take a total financial bath, and on ebay the $2-3 shipping costs usually outweighs how much I actually bid on the cards.  I'm not expecting $1 steals, but I'm hoping to find some good deals on mid-range cards.

5) Quarter and Fifty-Cent Boxes The thing that makes or breaks a show for me is the ability to find cheap serial numbered cards.  If I can find them, I go home a happy camper.  If not, I typically find myself buying primarily vintage.  I'm hoping that a huge show like this should have more than a few big time wax breakers looking to dump their lesser "hits" for dirt cheap.  You may not want a Bowman Blue card of a prospect that topped out in A+ ball in 2009.  But guess what...I do!

6) Vintage  My vintage needs have been cut drastically in recent years, mostly thanks to some big time vintage dealers at the Robert Morris show.  But my recently updated checklist shows almost 200 vintage Pirate cards I still need between Bowman and Topps releases.  Most are high number or star cards.  Vintage won't be high on my priority list for the show, but if I can snag a couple nice (but affordable) Clemente cards, I'll be a happy camper.

7) Pirates memorabilia  It won't be anything I'm actively looking for, but I'll have my eye out for some rare Pirates memorabilia.  Whether it's game used jerseys, or a 1960 World Series ash-tray, I'm hoping to have the budget flexibility if I see something cool that is in my price range.  Note: I don't expect to be coming home with a Honus Wagner gamer jersey.  But I'd certainly settle for Steve Cooke.

8) Show exclusives  This is at the very bottom of the priority list for the day.  I don't like ripping wax, and the prospect of standing in line for an hour or more just to do so and get some exclusive cards isn't that exciting to me.  But I may try to go for the rip 3 packs of Topps product and get a A&G exclusive mini.  I'll leave Jose Abreu to the dealers.  I'll be perfectly happy with the Albert Belle mini as a 90's memento of my National trip.

I'm giddy as a school girl for the National weekend to begin, and I'm expecting the work day to drag by tomorrow.  This should be a great experience, and I'm looking to just have a good time and enjoy the experience.  If there is anything special, big or small, that anyone wants me to keep an eye out for, feel free to leave a comment or drop me an email.  I'd be happy to help anyone out if I can.

Prepping for the National

At this point, I consider myself a seasoned card show vet.  I've been going to shows since I was 10 or 11, and in that time have seen everything from a 4 table hotel show to the 100-200 table extravaganzas.  But this week will be my first National.


I've been drooling over the concept of attending a National since seeing the annual writeups and photos in Becketts growing up.  In recent years I had a few chances to make the trip, but balked at the last second.  Cleveland and Baltimore were both within driving distance in recent years, but I decided against both trips.  With the National not scheduled to be near me again until 2018 in Cleveland, I can't pass up this chance.

But from what I've seen and read online, the National is definitely a different beast from my usual show prep.  I'm expecting to see more modern cards, more mid-end, and hopefully some great deals.  The National is definitely the place for high rolling collectors.  Online posts talk about people dropping a few grand, a feat that can be easily accomplished with some mid to high grade pre-war vintage.  But my budget will have a few zeroes knocked off of it from those figures.  And there isn't much online about the low end collector experience at the National.  Understandable I suppose when there are literally millions of dollars of cards and memorabilia changing hands.  My stack of dime cards isn't all that exciting in comparison.

Any tips, advice, or anecdotes from those who have been in years past would certainly be appreciated.  Tomorrow I'll be writing about my targets for the day.  But today, it's all about the show survival guide.

1) Food!  When prepping for a show, it's easy to overlook the non-cardboard necessities.  But any big show inevitably requires loading up one of the small compartments of my backpack with some granola bars, a bottle of water, and maybe a sandwich or two.

I want to maximize my card browsing time, particularly when I have a two hour plus drive each way.  And any chance to save money frees up some extra cash for the card budget.  Packing food kills two birds with one stone, allowing me to take a quick bite while walking between tables.

2) Checklists I admit I'm a little more disorganized than most.  Luckily having a photography memory has allowed me to get by without the most up to date checklists for years.  But at almost 13,000 Pirate cards, the photographic memory bank seems to be on overload, and I've accidentally bought more than a few doubles over the last year.  I'll be going fully equipped with paper checklist for my vintage needs, and an electronic copy of my master Pirates checklist.

I'm quite possibly the only person under 30 without a smart phone, so it does add a little challenge for the day.  But Kate's iPod touch should allow me to access wifi in the building.  I updated my website to have the most recent version of my master Pirates checklist, with scans for about 75% of the cards.  That should provide a nice backup option and visual checklist if I need it, though it will undoubtedly be a huge pain to get the pages to load at the convention center.

3) Trade bait   I'm usually not one to do trades at shows, but I have a Bowman Chrome autos from Mike Stanton and Evan Longoria that I pulled from blasters years ago that have just been sitting in boxes ever since.  I won't be actively looking to trade them, but having some extra bargaining chips in case I come across any must-have Pirates cards will be nice.

4) Comfortable shoes  A long day of walking, standing, and flipping through boxes on far from cushioned floors means a comfy pair of shoes is a must.

5) Notepad, pens, and venue map I've never been to a show that had a map before.  And I'm assuming that map is there for a reason.  I've read that having somewhere to jot down table number, isles, and anything else you want to come back and take a look at is a must.

I made a major dent in my vintage needs at the last Robert Morris show, and have already come pretty close to meeting my collecting goals for the year.  I'm hoping to just sit back and enjoy my experience at the National, without getting too stressed over what I do or don't find.