Card Show Weekend Preview May 15 to 17: Tri-Star Houston, Collect-A-Con Phoenix, Trading Card Con New Orleans, and Middle Tennessee

It is one of the busier card show weekends of the spring. From Friday, May 15 through Sunday, May 17, four major events anchor the calendar across Texas, Arizona, Louisiana, and Tennessee, with smaller regional shows running in nearly every state across the country.

If you are within driving distance of any of the four anchors below, this is a weekend worth planning around.

Tri-Star Collectors Show — Houston, TX (May 15-17)

The Tri-Star Collectors Show returns to NRG Center in Houston for a three-day run from Friday through Sunday. Produced by Tri-Star Productions, the Houston-based promoter that has shaped the Texas sports collectibles scene for more than four decades, this is the flagship spring show for the region.

Expect a large dealer floor heavy on vintage baseball and basketball, a steady stream of athlete autograph signings, and a noticeable concentration of Houston-area shops working their own booths. Tri-Star shows historically draw breakers and graders looking to move fresh PSA returns ahead of the next batch of releases.

Collect-A-Con Phoenix — WestWorld of Scottsdale, AZ (May 16-17)

Collect-A-Con's Phoenix stop runs Saturday and Sunday at WestWorld of Scottsdale. Collect-A-Con shows in 2026 have been packed with TCG content — Pokemon, One Piece, MTG, Lorcana — alongside sports cards and the usual lineup of athlete signings.

For collectors based in the Southwest, this is the biggest single TCG-friendly event of the spring. The Phoenix venue is large enough to comfortably handle the two-day footprint, and there is consistent food, parking, and overflow space.

Trading Card Con — New Orleans, LA (May 15-17)

Trading Card Con's New Orleans event runs Friday through Sunday with vendor check-in starting at 1:00 PM on Friday and a kickoff party that night. The show is built around a healthy mix of sports cards and TCG content, with a strong contingent of Gulf Coast dealers and breakers.

Trading Card Con has been steadily growing its regional footprint in 2026 and the New Orleans stop has built a reputation for a relaxed, dealer-friendly atmosphere rather than the high-volume aisles you see at the largest national shows.

Middle Tennessee Sports Spectacular — Lebanon, TN (May 15-16)

The Middle Tennessee Sports Spectacular & Collectibles Show returns to the James E. Ward Agricultural Center on Friday and Saturday. The show has run reliably as a spring fixture for the greater Nashville area and pulls in a strong dealer base from Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, and Georgia.

Expect a heavier mix of vintage sports and signed memorabilia than you find at the bigger national shows, with a notably collegial atmosphere — Middle Tennessee is the kind of show where regulars greet each other by name and prices are negotiable in person.

Smaller Shows Worth Knowing About

Beyond the four anchor events, a long list of regional shows run alongside them:

• Woodbridge Card Show — Saturday, May 16, 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM at Woodbridge Center, Woodbridge, NJ.
• Sunday, May 17 shows in Albany, NY; Arlington, TX; Babylon, NY; Beaverton, OR; and dozens of other cities.

For a complete and continuously updated list, browse The Card Shop Finder's events page filtered by your state.

Tips for the Weekend

• Bring cash. Most dealer tables offer 3 to 5 percent off for cash and avoid card-processing fees on big-ticket items.
• Arrive on Friday or early Saturday. The best inventory at multi-day shows turns over in the first six hours.
• Have your wants list ready on your phone. Dealer floors with 200+ tables go faster than you expect.
• Bring graded slabs you want to sell. With #NoPSAMay still pressuring the secondary market, dealers are paying competitive cash for clean PSA 10s on the spot.

Four anchor events, a packed regional calendar, and a Sunday slate that stretches coast to coast. If May 15 to 17 is not a card show weekend for you this year, it almost certainly is for someone within an hour's drive.