The Lawrence Sports Card Expo brings a full hotel ballroom of dealers to Lawrence, Kansas on Friday, August 28, 2026, and it has quietly become one of the best Friday-night hunting grounds in northeast Kansas. Sitting roughly forty minutes west of the Kansas City metro on K-10, the Expo pulls vendors from both Topeka and the Johnson County corridor, which means inventory you will not have already seen at the Saturday shows closer to the city.
The floor leans heavily toward sports. Expect deep MLB inventory with a strong Royals and Cardinals presence, NFL boxes and singles built around Chiefs rookies, NBA rookie patch autos, and a steady supply of NHL and college-issue Jayhawks memorabilia that reflects the local market. Graded slabs from PSA, BGS and SGC fill the center tables, and several dealers specialize in raw vintage — 1950s and 1960s Topps baseball, mid-century football, and oddball regional issues. A handful of TCG sellers round things out with Pokemon singles, sealed Magic: The Gathering product, Yu-Gi-Oh! staples, and a growing One Piece and Lorcana section.
Hours run from 10:00 a.m. through the evening on Friday, August 28. Because this is a single-day event, the room fills fast in the first ninety minutes and again after five o'clock as collectors arrive from work. Dealers typically begin negotiating more freely in the final hour.
Admission has historically been free or a nominal door fee, and no advance ticket is required — walk-ups are welcome throughout the day. Children accompanied by an adult are admitted at no charge. Confirm the current door price with the venue before you drive out, since the operator has not published a fixed rate for this date.
The DoubleTree by Hilton Lawrence sits just off Iowa Street with a large surface lot and free on-site parking. The hotel has a restaurant and bar attached, which makes it easy to break for lunch without losing your spot in the room, and there is a cluster of casual dining within a two-minute drive on 6th Street.
This show suits a wide range of collectors. Families find affordable dime boxes and complete sets, casual collectors can fill run gaps cheaply, and serious buyers appreciate that the vintage tables are less picked over than at the bigger metro shows. Dealers looking to buy inventory frequently do well here because a number of local collectors bring collections in to sell.
To get the most out of the day, arrive within the first hour with cash in mixed denominations — many vendors still prefer it and will discount for it. Bring a written want list and a penny sleeve supply, walk the entire room once before buying anything, then circle back. Ask about bulk pricing on commons; several dealers move partial boxes at steep discounts late in the evening.
For the current schedule, table availability and any change to hours, check the show listing on Treasure Hunter or contact the DoubleTree by Hilton Lawrence directly. Vendor inquiries are handled by the show operator, and the Kansas City metro collector groups on Facebook routinely post day-of updates and floor photos from this room.
