Walk into the doors of the National Sports Collectors Convention, and you'll see your first vendor: Dan Wulkan.
Wulkan, the auction director for Memory Lane Inc., has been there for the last 18 years, usually occupying the first spot on the floor, right inside the entrance.
If cards are your thing, he's not your guy. But if you want to see interesting memorabilia and documents, Wulkan is ready to blow your mind.
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Wulkan says he likes to keep the items he's bringing to the National a secret, so when they are in the hands of collectors, they seem that much more unique.
He won't offer any hints on what he's bringing this year, but if previous years serve as a good tell, expect a healthy mix of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, John Lennon and John Gotti.
"I love having something that someone has never seen before," Wulkan said.
Wulkan, 52, is not only very good at what he does, he's very good given the spot he's in.
Being first is an advantage because collectors are flush with cash and ready to spend it. But it's also a disadvantage because they know they need to save money for the rest of the room.
Wulkan is often aggressive with telling convention-goers that if they go around the room, by the time they get back, the item might not be there.
He prepares ahead of time with his price, and he doesn't waiver. He also knows that storytelling equals money. He has that down pat, too.
And he sells a lot, including many items to this author.
Wulkan, a native New Yorker, started collecting cards in 1979. However, things changed in 1992, when Wulkan acquired a shoebox of canceled checks from Greg Tucker, the original autograph chaser who went on to develop personal relationships with many in the sports world.
"I remember sitting in my room, spreading the checks out on the floor and looking at who they were paid to and just thinking this was as close as it would come to me hanging out with them," Wulkan said of the celebrities. "It ignited my appreciation for one-of-a-kind documents."
Wulkan says unique memorabilia and documents have better margins, but it's a tougher game to play because there are no comps to be found. In cards, something in the very same grade might have sold minutes before. Wulkan's stuff might have never sold before.
"I have to have a good sense of what someone would pay before throwing out a number," Wulkan said. "But it's not like there's nothing to go on. If it's an autograph, but it's on an album page, you have to figure out if it's a 3x or a 5x."
Wulkan rarely has regrets, but if there's one it's selling an autographed Pablo Escobar book for $40,000 that eventually was bought at a greater price, he says, by Drake.
There are also items he thinks will sell right away and, for some reason or another, he has to take them from show to show.
Two pieces come to mind currently.
Wulkan says he priced a signed Biggie Smalls signed tape cover at $25,000. "I'm actually shocked I haven't sold that," Wulkan said.
Making its appearance at the second straight National will be an early Elvis royalty payment for sheet music and his first album. The total royalty, in 1956, is for $874.94, with his first manager, Colonel Tom Parker, getting a 25 percent cut.
The document signed by Elvis is up for sale for $22,500, a discount of 0 percent off last year's price. Why? Because Wulkan thinks it's so good, he's eventually gonna get it.
Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct.com and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectibles market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.