The other day I got an email from Kyle at JABO asking me if I thought getting the VIP pass for the National was worth it in the end. At the end of June I did a blog post pondering the question as to whether or not to get the VIP pass. Four days later, I finally pulled the trigger and got the thing.
After replying to Kyle I thought that this topic would make a decent blog post, so I asked him if he wouldn't mind if I "borrowed" his question as a topic for a blog post. So give him all the credit for this idea!
So anyway, I hedged for a long time on the VIP thing, as you can see from the few blog post links above. But in the end it made the most sense for a few reasons. First, I knew I was going to all five days of the show, and it was $20 per day to get into the show anyway, so there's $100 bucks right off the bat. The VIP thing cost $129.99, so for the extra $29.99 I got 12 autographs, and all the promo cards, a VIP party with food and giveaways, and use of the VIP lounge where I could get away from the masses of people, eat lunch or sort cards or charge my phone. The other cool part about it was that you got to wear a VIP hang tag and it kind of said to vendors that you are a legit collector. One of the cool kids.
You could also go in and out of the show as you pleased. Non VIPs needed a hand stamp. VIPs were able to get into the show a half hour early too, which was a big benefit if you wanted to get redemption packs and not wait for hours in line.
When all was said and done, I didn't get any VIP autographs except for Jack Morris the first day I was there. The lines were so long and I didn't want to spend hours waiting to get an autograph of someone I really didn't care too much about. I could have sold the tickets but didn't really have time for that either, so I left with a whole sheet of unused autograph tickets. A waste? Maybe, but only if you are someone who really cares about autographs. I feel that if there was someone I really wanted to get, I would have made time for it. The only reason I got Jack Morris is because the line was really short, and I spent a good amount of time going through junk wax to find a card to get signed!
What didn't really make sense to me was the Super VIP ticket. It seemed the only additional benefits were two promo packs of each giveaway, a bag, and 6 more autographs. That package was $169.99 and I am glad I didn't go that route. But all collectors are different in what their interests are, so I'm sure there were others that felt they got great value out of it.
So yes, the VIP pass was very much worth it--to me. I'm certain I will do it again for Chicago next year.
I agree with the VIP package being a no brainer if you are going every day. I did the same thing but upped to the Super VIP package. I did that because I was looking for specific VIP signers and this guaranteed I had a ticket. The regular VIP had wild cards that could be used if time allowed, all my Redskins did not allow wild cards. I was also able to sell my unwanted autograph tickets and unwanted promos. All told, to attend the National, I paid $5. A buck a day, not bad. I too will always go the VIP route in future trips to the National.
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