Dave & Adam’s remembers Mike Berkus

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Everyone at Dave & Adam’s is saddened to hear of the unexpected passing of the executive director and founder of the National Sports Collectors Convention, Mike Berkus, at the age of 69.

Mike was a visionary in the industry as “The National” has become the must-attend event of the year for collectors. He was the face of the show, and took a personal involvement in many aspects to ensure vendors and attendees had an enjoyable time. The first show took place in Los Angeles in 1980 with the cost of $50 for a vendor table and $1.00 admission. It has since expanded with a Corporate area for manufacturers and distributors, an autograph pavilion and, more recently, the Case Break Pavilion.

Dave & Adam’s has been part of the National for over 20 years, and our CEO Adam Martin was a personal friend of Berkus.

“The National won’t be the same without him,” said Martin, “we would go for drinks every year on the Monday leading up to the show. I’ll miss his bad jokes, and the occasional good one.”

The friendship Adam had with Mike went beyond The National as well.

“I had the privilege to spend time hanging out with him in Hawaii going back to the mid 1990s, and spent time with his family. The one thing people didn’t know about Mike is that he was a big comic book collector, and he was instrumental in helping Dave & Adam’s expand our business in to buying and selling vintage comic books.”

Dave & Adam’s would like to extend our deepest condolences to the Berkus family.