Break Time Card Show brings its traveling two-day format to the Oak Lawn Pavilion on Saturday, September 12 and Sunday, September 13, 2026. Break Time has become one of the more reliable names in the south and west Chicago suburbs, rotating through La Grange, McCook, Glendale Heights and now Oak Lawn with a consistent recipe: a real dealer floor, honest table pricing, and a two-day window that gives collectors a second chance at anything they walked away from on Saturday.
Both days run 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. That is a genuinely long window by suburban card show standards, and it changes how you should attack the room. Saturday morning is when the deepest inventory is on the tables and when dealer-to-dealer trading is at its loudest. Sunday afternoon is when prices soften, because vendors would rather move a card than pack it. Collectors who can make both days often buy their must-haves early and save their negotiating for the back half of Sunday.
The floor mix leans sports but is genuinely broad. Look for MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL singles from vintage through current-year product, plus boxing and UFC at a handful of tables. Graded slabs are well represented — PSA and SGC dominate the cases — and raw vintage runs deep in dime, dollar and five-dollar boxes. Trading card game dealers bring Pokemon, Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, One Piece, Lorcana and Dragon Ball singles and sealed product. Around the edges you will find memorabilia, autographed baseballs and pucks, unopened wax, Funko Pops, comics and card supplies. Several breakers typically run live rips on site.
Admission at Break Time dates has historically been low-cost or free at the door, with children admitted free alongside a paying adult; confirm the current door price with the promoter, since it varies by venue. The Oak Lawn Pavilion sits in a residential-commercial pocket of southwest suburban Cook County with a free on-site lot, and it is a straightforward drive from I-294, Cicero Avenue or 95th Street. Metra's Southwest Service and the CTA Orange Line terminal at Midway put the show within reach for collectors coming from the city without a car.
Who should go: this is a good first card show. The room is large enough to be worth the trip but small enough that you can walk every aisle twice in an afternoon, and Break Time vendors have a reputation for being patient with new collectors and kids. Set builders and vintage hunters should bring a printed want list. Players building competitive Pokemon or Magic decks will find singles tables, though the sports side is bigger.
Bring cash. Most tables take Venmo, Zelle or a card reader, but cash is still the fastest way to close a deal and the only way some dealers will discount. Bring a rigid case or a small binder for your pickups, sleeves and top loaders for anything raw, and a bottle of water — the Pavilion gets warm once the room fills. Follow Break Time Card Show on Facebook and Instagram for the vendor list and any schedule updates before the weekend.