Cow Palace Show a Harbinger? TRI-STAR Productions' Jeff Rosenberg is on the move again. Rosenberg is splitting his twice-a-year Bay Area sports collectors shows. His February show will remain at the Cow Palace, but he is shifting his Labor Day show to the Concourse in San Francisco. "We've signed a multiyear contract with the Concourse management that locks us in past 2000," Rosenberg said. "We think the Bay Area market is really primed for two good, solid shows every six months now. Of course, if we see that changing, we'll make a move either way, up or down." Rosenberg was delighted with the way last month's show went at the Cow Palace, where crowds were large and trading brisk all three days. "If this show was any indication," he said, "the future looks bright. I'm not sure it was an indicator for the entire hobby. I wish it was, frankly." It's no secret that memorabilia shows and shops across the country have been in trouble the last couple of years. Opinions about the health of the hobby remain pretty much a matter of whom you talk to. But Rosenberg, who stages shows throughout the country, examines the business more closely than most. "I think what we're seeing is an industry contracting and maturing," he said. "There are a lot fewer shows and shops. But you're finding that the quality shows are staying good, and in cases like the one at the Cow Palace, getting better." Rosenberg has noticed a change in dealer demographics. "A lot of the people who quit their jobs to do this full-time are back to doing it part-time, and I think having more fun," he said. "And I believe we have the true collectors now. We're not getting the speculators anymore." Rosenberg was most pleased that an item he devised as "kind of a loss leader," specially produced "Heroes by the Bay" lithographs featuring photographs and autographs of seven 49er Hall of Famers who signed at the show, proved very popular. The lithos were available in a $49 "super ticket" offer. "I've heard that some already have been sold to people in art galleries, who are putting them into frames and pricing them at $299," Rosenberg said. Well, maybe the speculators are entirely gone from the hobby. |