Labor Day Weekend Has Four Real Card Shows: Dallas, Pembroke Pines, Pasadena and Vancouver
Card Party takes over the Gaylord Texan in Dallas September 4-6, Florida Trading Card Shows runs Pembroke Pines the 5th and 6th, Front Row hits Pasadena the same weekend, and Trading Card Con runs three days in Vancouver. Four shows, four very different collectors.
Labor Day weekend is usually a dead zone on the card show calendar. Not this year. Four substantial shows run Friday through Sunday across four different time zones, and they are aimed at four genuinely different collectors.
Card Party - Gaylord Texan, Dallas, September 4-6
Card Party is the Pokemon creator and collector show, and Dallas is its marquee stop. Holding it at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center matters more than it sounds like it should: an all-under-one-roof resort venue means the show effectively runs from Friday afternoon through Sunday night, including everything that happens in the hotel lobby after the floor closes.
If you collect Pokemon and you have never been to a show built specifically around Pokemon rather than one with a Pokemon section, the difference in dealer depth is substantial. Sports shows carry Pokemon. Pokemon shows carry Pokemon you cannot find anywhere else.
Florida Trading Card Shows - Pembroke Pines, September 5-6
The Charles F. Dodge Center hosts the Labor Day weekend edition in Pembroke Pines. South Florida shows have a specific character worth knowing about: heavy vintage baseball, a strong soccer and international presence you will not find in the Midwest, and a dealer base that turns over inventory fast.
This is the show on the list most likely to reward a collector who arrives with cards to sell rather than cards to buy.
Front Row Card Show - Pasadena, September 5-6
Front Row runs Pasadena over Saturday and Sunday. Southern California show density means Front Row competes against a crowded local calendar, which historically has kept table prices and therefore card prices honest. It is a good weekend show for modern sports and a reasonable one-day trip for anyone in the LA basin.
Trading Card Con - Vancouver, September 4-6
The Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre Hotel hosts Trading Card Con from Friday through Sunday. This is the one on the list worth flagging for American collectors near the border: Pacific Northwest collectors are frequently closer to Vancouver than to the nearest major US show, and Canadian shows tend to run deeper on hockey than anything you will find south of the line.
Bring your passport, and know the customs rules on declaring collectibles before you cross with a box of cards in either direction.
Working a Holiday Weekend Show
Holiday shows behave differently than regular weekend shows. Four things to plan around:
- Attendance skews later. People travel Friday and arrive Saturday afternoon. If you want first look at fresh inventory, Friday afternoon and Saturday morning are the strongest windows of the entire weekend.
- Sunday afternoon is the best time to buy. Dealers who drove in do not want to drive out with the same inventory. The last two hours of a three-day show is when negotiating room appears.
- Bring cash and know your numbers. Card payments are near universal now, but cash still moves a price at the table, and holiday-weekend dealers who have been on the floor for three days are motivated.
- Check show hours before you drive. Holiday shows publish adjusted hours more often than regular shows, and posted times change close to the date.
If You Are Not Near Any of These
Local single-day shows run in dozens of cities on Saturday, September 5 alone, and those smaller rooms are frequently where the better deals live. A twenty-table show in a VFW hall has less selection than a convention floor and considerably less competition for the good stuff on the table. Search your metro before you assume the weekend is a wash.