B Y R O S S F O R M A N
P
riest Holmes clearly is the hometown hero
in Kansas City — on and off the field.
He’s a rushing sensation for the
Chiefs, with touchdowns seem-
ingly around every turn. And
he’s a signing machine as well, with a smile for
cameras too.
Holmes, the former University of Texas running
back who also has played for the Baltimore Ravens,
signed autographs at the Tri-Star Productions
Kansas City Collectors Show held
Oct. 18-20 at the Overland Park
International Trade Center.
Holmes, who appeared Friday,
which traditionally is the slowest
day of a weekend show, silenced
proponents for that theory. The
Friday crowd for Holmes, along with
teammate Dante Hall and former
Kansas City Royals superstar Frank
White, both signing free autographs,
was as solid as any past Friday
guest, and equal to, or even better
than, some Saturday or Sunday
draws.
More than 1,500 collectors
attended Friday, with Holmes sign-
ing more than 1,000 autographs.
“Friday night was a bang, probably
the biggest Friday night crowd in
some time,” said Tri-Star President
Jeff Rosenberg. “Kansas City always
is a great show market — a lot of
sports fans, a lot of sports memora-
bilia collectors.”
Also appearing at the three-day show: Pete Rose,
Barry Sanders, Lou Brock, Roberto Duran, Dick
Butkus, Gaylord Perry, Bobby Richardson, Len
Dawson, Art Still, Steve Owens, Orlando Cepeda,
Dave Winfield, Bo Jackson, Jim Palmer and Richard
Dent.
About 4,500 collectors attended.
“The show definitely was better than we antici-
pated in terms of the crowd and the fact that the
crowd wasn’t just here to get autographs. They actu-
ally were at the dealers’ tables and were spending
money,” said Janyce Mabra, director of hobby sales
for Donruss Playoff. The Arlington, Texas-based card
maker was set up on site, promoting several current
issues. It was Donruss Playoff’s first appearance at
the Kansas City show in five years, and its first
regional show in several years.
“We saw a lot of our products opened, especially
Absolute Memorabilia Baseball and Football,” said
Mabra. “We talked to several dealers who sold out of
those products, several cases each. That’s very
encouraging, especially being such a high-priced set.
“After the National being as successful as it was, it
was encouraging to see a regional show still have
good attendance and money being spent. We defi-
nitely want to be a part of future shows.”
Rosenberg, on Sunday afternoon, added: “I thought
it was a great show. I’m very tired, and usually when
my feet are aching, that means we had a great week-
end.”
The Kansas City show offered a
unique challenge for Tri-Star:
What to do to keep collectors
at the show when area football teams were
playing?
Obviously, the solution is big-screen TVs
on site, a Tri-Star first and they even had
a couch in front of one of two TVs.
“The feel in the room was
that it always was busy, a
buzz. I talked to several
dealers and they were very
pleased,” Rosenberg said.
“We really had a loaded
lineup, and that no doubt
helped. We were very
pleased with most of the
autograph numbers, espe-
cially for Priest Holmes
(more than 1,000), Bo Jack-
son (about 700) and Barry
Sanders (about 700).
“We’ve always said that
we’re only going to promote a
show in a city if we can bring
a great show. Instead of coming to KC
with two good shows, we decided to go
once in 2002, with one great show. We’re
gonna do the same thing in 2003 —
return with a great show in October.
“Perhaps that’s a sign of the times.
The market is saying that one great
show in a market is best.”
Jack Hegwood of J&J Sports Cards (Rock Spring,
Ga.) noted “solid sales,” though no “record sales.” He
said Playoff Piece of the Game ($79 per box) was the
biggest weekend seller, followed by Leaf 2002 Certi-
fied Football ($125), Leaf 2002 Certified Baseball
($125) and Playoff Absolute Memorabilia (baseball
and football, $125).
“It’s been a good show. I did OK,” said Roger
Neufeldt of Sports Memories (Norman, Okla.), which
sells vintage cards and publications. “There was a
good crowd and I had some real nice-sized sales.”
He sold 1957 and 1962 Topps sets for about $4,000
and $2,000, respectively.
Hank Greenberg and Ted Williams were popular
past players among vintage collectors, Neufeldt said.
Plus, complete sets “seem to be hot now,” he said.
Neufeldt had several requests in Kansas City for
the 1959 Fleer set and the 1962 Topps Rookie
Parades set.
Mike Williamson of Bryan’s Collectibles (Raymore,
Mo.), which has a large variety of wax boxes and sets
for all sports and non-sports, said the show was
“truly better than we expected.” Football was the best
seller, he said.
“I sold a little of everything, not one main thing.
That’s why I bring so much stuff,” Williamson said.
Bobby Miller of Miller Sports Cards (Katy, Texas),
which sold supplies such as card and ball holders,
wasn’t just happy with the Kansas City show, he was
thrilled. “Saturday was the single-best day I’ve ever
had in 10 years of doing shows,” he said. “It was a
tremendous show overall. Tri-Star
really brought in the people.”
Miller on Saturday sold out of
football holders and had to get
more from an area friend.
“The traffic has been great,”
said Kyle Boetel of Kyle’s Sports-
cards, which sells vintage cards
and autographed items. “Tri-Star
put together an incredible auto-
graph lineup, and that brought
the collectors out.”
He noted strong sales among
“set builders” from the ’50s, ’60s
and ’70s, especially late-1970s
cards due to George Brett’s local
popularity.
Also in high demand in KC:
Roger Maris. “Over the past six
months, he’s been one of the most
popular players,” Boetel said.
Rosenberg added, “One of the
big things we focused on this year,
and will continue next year to, is
to bring in the fan. Turn them into a collector. That’s
a goal of ours; turn fans into collectors. We had some
great shows in 2002. Kansas City definitely ranks
right up there. We had some incredible athletes at
our shows in 2002, such as members of the New
England Patriots at a Boston-area show right after
they won the Super Bowl. The lineup roster in
Kansas City was as solid.”
So what’s on tap for 2003?
New markets and theme-oriented shows, Rosen-
berg said, though he would not say where or what
themes.
“We do what the customers want. And the
customers are telling us that they want a particular
show, or in a particular market, that’s what we try to
do,” he said.
Tri-Star opens its 2003 show schedule with a home
date: January 10-12 at the George R. Brown Conven-
tion Center in Houston, where the company is based,
for the 17th-annual Houston Collectors Showcase.
Mike Schmidt, Dave Winfield, Adam Dunn, Earl
Campbell, Ron Yary and Major Applewhite already
have been confirmed to appear.
Holmes also scores at Tri-Star KC show
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