The Hidden Treasures Sports & Pokemon Card Show runs Saturday, October 24, 2026 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago-Carol Stream, and admission is free. A free-entry hotel show in DuPage County on a fall Saturday is about as easy a card outing as the Chicago market offers — no ticket to buy, no parking fee, no early-entry upcharge, and six hours to work the room.
The name tells you the shape of the floor: sports and Pokemon, side by side. On the sports side, expect baseball, football, basketball and hockey across vintage, junk-wax and modern eras — Topps and Bowman vintage, complete and partial sets, current-year Panini and Topps inserts, numbered parallels and star rookies. Chicago team material drives demand, so Cubs, White Sox, Bears, Bulls and Blackhawks singles are stocked heavily, and a late-October date catches football, basketball and hockey all in season. Graded slabs from PSA, SGC and BGS sit in locked showcases, and raw material fills dime, quarter and dollar boxes for set builders.
On the Pokemon and TCG side, expect singles from vintage sets through current releases, graded slabs, sealed booster boxes and elite trainer boxes, plus One Piece and a general mixed-collectibles contingent. The listing's announced mix covers Pokemon, sports cards, One Piece and other mixed categories, which makes this a practical stop for a household that collects in more than one direction. Additional tables typically carry memorabilia, autographs, unopened wax, Funko Pops, comics and card supplies.
Hours are a single clean block: 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Admission is free, with no VIP tier, no advance ticket and no early-entry window, so everyone hits the tables together at nine. Bring your budget instead of an entry fee.
The Holiday Inn & Suites sits in Carol Stream, on the Wheaton side of DuPage County, with free parking in the hotel's own surface lot. It is an easy run from North Avenue, Army Trail Road, Route 59 and I-355, drawing from Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Bloomingdale, Glendale Heights, Winfield, West Chicago and Bartlett. Hotel ballroom venues mean climate control, real restrooms and a lobby to regroup in, and there is usually a coffee or breakfast option on site.
Who should go: casual collectors and families get a lot out of a free-entry show — there is no sunk cost pressuring you to spend. Set builders and vintage hunters should bring want lists. Pokemon collectors get a real TCG presence rather than a token table. Serious buyers should ask dealers what is behind the table, since a mid-sized hotel show keeps its best material out of the boxes. Sellers will find several dealers in buying mode.
Tips: arrive at 9:00 AM. Free-entry shows draw walk-up traffic, and the sharp raw material moves inside the first ninety minutes. Come back around 2:00 PM if you want negotiating leverage. Bring cash in mixed bills plus a payment app, penny sleeves and top loaders, and a rigid case for slabs. Write your want list down with set names and card numbers before you go.