The Kaboom Cards and Collectibles Show fills the Pan Asian Center in Maplewood across the weekend of Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27, 2026. Kaboom has carved out a niche in the east metro by running a genuinely two-day event at a venue that most collectors would never think to look at, and the payoff is a room that feels different from the mall shows and gym shows that make up much of the Minnesota circuit.
The inventory is intentionally wide. Sports card dealers bring baseball, basketball, football and hockey across every era, with vintage tobacco and gum cards occasionally surfacing alongside modern parallels and short prints. Trading card game vendors cover Pokemon, Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, One Piece and Lorcana with both singles and sealed product. Because this is a collectibles show and not strictly a card show, you will also find comics, action figures, Funko Pops, video games, sports memorabilia, autographed items and assorted pop culture ephemera. That mix is part of the appeal, since it gives non-card collectors in your group something to look at while you dig.
Saturday hours run 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday runs 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is free both days and there is no ticket to purchase. Free raffles run throughout the weekend, and the operators typically post the prize list ahead of time on the show calendar. Parking is free in the venue lot.
The Pan Asian Center is at 3001 White Bear Avenue in Maplewood, sharing an address with the Maplewood Mall complex just off Interstate 694 on the northeast side of Saint Paul. Getting there is straightforward from anywhere in the east or north metro, and it is roughly twenty-five minutes from downtown Minneapolis. The space is indoors, level and easy to navigate, with restrooms on site and a variety of dining options within a very short drive, including several well-regarded Asian restaurants in the immediate area that are worth building into your day.
Kaboom is a strong pick for collectors who like variety and dislike crowds. It is not a two hundred table mega-show, which means you can actually have a conversation with a dealer, ask about condition, and negotiate without three people waiting behind you. Families do well here because of the free admission, free parking and free raffles, and because the mix of comics, figures and games gives kids more to look at than cards alone. Serious buyers should not skip it either; the smaller shows in this market are frequently where undervalued vintage turns up because fewer eyes have been over it.
A few suggestions. Come Saturday morning for selection or Sunday afternoon for deals, since dealers running a two-day show are noticeably more flexible on price in the final hours. Bring cash. Bring a want list. Bring sleeves and top loaders for raw purchases. Ask each dealer whether they have anything in your collecting area that is not out on the table, because at a show this size much of the good material sits in boxes underneath.
Kaboom runs this show on a repeating schedule at the Pan Asian Center through the fall and winter. Check the CardSota calendar at cardsota.com for confirmed dates, vendor lists and raffle details.
