Klein’s Korner: Patiently waiting for the NSCC to return – For, oh, nearly the past 40 years this is my favorite week of the year. No, it’s not Chanukah where if you follow some of the traditions, the presents are supposed to be better for eight consecutive nights.
Can you imagine getting better stuff each and every day for more than a week? Well, I feel like that when I attend the NSCC (AKA The National) each year as the week is a smorgasbord of seeing friends old and new, doing corporate work (when I’ve been working for a hobby company), finding cards to buy, receiving donations for my Adat Chaverim show and generally just taking in the greatness of the event each year.
Sadly, 2020 has given us many gut punches and one of them is the delay of the NSCC until December. On a personal note the 
pushback to December, although a wise decision was a blow to my personal plans as I have not been to New Jersey since my father passed in 2006 and was going to spend a couple of extra days in the area catching up with family and friends, many of whom I had not seen since then. While through the magic of social media I’ve been able to keep up with many of them and their successes and down times, there is nothing like actual, physical, face-to-face greetings.
As hot as the hobby is, the 2020 NSCC was shaping up as one of the best Nationals ever which would have been a pretty impressive show since Cleveland in 2018 was superb and 2019 in Chicago was even better. With Atlantic City being so accessible to people in the ACELA corridor, which has always been a hobby hotspot, this could have been the best AC National ever.
However, the news about possible vaccines and treatments seem to be positive and we can all hope things return to something like normal in the near future. From the one reasonably big show we had in Allen, Texas in June there is pent-up energy. In fact, Brian Gray of Leaf suggested we skip a 2020 NSCC and have two events in 2021. His idea was, assuming all goes well, to be in Atlantic City in March or April and then in Chicago as currently scheduled. Sounds like a possible working plan for me as long as things clear up and the Atlantic City Convention Center is opened.
So yes, I’m a little depressed I won’t see friends old and new but that is a small price to pay, I’m also fortunate in my office set-up, thankfully located just 10 minutes from my house has a camera and Zoom and other ways of face to face communicating works real well. While Zoom has been a blessing, I can’t wait to see everyone in person again; and the sooner, the better!
Photo credits: The NSCC, Rich Mueller of Sports Collectors Daily and all the people who willingly post their photos of the NSCC.
Rich’s vast experience and knowledge of the hobby has been well documented through the years. GTS is happy to feature his thoughts on collecting in Klein’s Korner. The opinions expressed are his and do not necessarily reflect those of GTS Distribution.
Klein’s Korner: Patiently waiting for the NSCC to return
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