Austin Card Show

The trip started oddly. When we were about 30 minutes away, the Hyatt Regency called to say they didn't have our room. After a heated conversation that was similar to the Seinfeld car reservation skit, I made a quick pivot to the Hilton app and booked there — lifetime Diamond status — and they were a bit more welcoming. I've spent 2,000+ nights in hotels. This stuff happens, although it's rare that it happens to someone with status who e-checked in and is 30 minutes away.

After the Easter show, I had reached out to the promoter asking for a better spot if we were going to continue to sponsor. Yes, it's a 3 day show, and yes it does attract a more national audience than Houston, but it's not worth the extra $1,500 unless we're given an optimal booth location.

Much better spot this time near the door, and the early sales looked like this Austin would be better than the last. Traffic was strong, but it's fair to say the TCG fans made up a bulk of who walked in.

We did pick up a $30k lot of PSA 10-graded horizontal Downtowns — an entire case full — and that was the highlight of the weekend. There were a few national vendors who came in for the Knicks game in San Antonio, and after the Knicks took The Finals they were gone for Sunday. Selling wasn't quite as strong as our April run, but our new booth location made a slight difference for buying. Although if you remove the one $30k Downtown lot purchase, the buying was similar to Easter Weekend.

This is a show that while we enjoy vending, it is a solid investment in both vending and sponsorship money, time and travel. With it being a 3 day format, the January show starts when Grayson is in school (and likely has a game), so we may skip the next one and reevaluate for early summer.