As I am settling in after traveling to Dallas, I wanted to write this a lot earlier, but life happened and here it is a week later.
One week after the second Dallas Card Show of the year— I have some quick take-aways from the hobby.
First off— the staff and people running the Dallas Card Show are incredible and have treated me so well, I will always come back and have a presence there and help them grow their shows.
Much love.
On to the thoughts..
New Grading Kings?
As I was walking around shopping and looking for certain cards and players, I couldn’t help but notice how many SGC graded cards there were. I also felt like there were more high-end modern cards graded by SGC than I ever had before.
I was unsure if it was still a trickle back effect from 2020 and the log jam of PSA/Beckett and when SGC stepped up and made things affordable for collectors.
But, also heard plenty of people claim PSA as a “fraud” or “inconsistent” with their grading, and thought that maybe there was a trend here.
Time will tell I guess.
Pokemon Rules
One of the coolest things I think I noticed was how many kids were at the show, and what they were interested in.
As a 90’s kid, Pokemon is always close to my heart, and as a business owner, I understand the revenue generated from the franchise.
Naturally, I brought a ton of Pokemon cards, packs, blisters, etc and sure enough— every kid stopped and looked there first.
I love that Pokemon is bringing in new collectors into the hobby— after all, these kids grow up and have discretional income at some point, right?
Young Hustlers
Another trend I saw, was what I think is the YouTube/TikTok effect...
I saw so many kids wanting to rip packs and hold them like their favorite breakers, and even overheard a kid no older than 11 or 12 with some impeccable negotiating skills.
Also saw a kid walking around with $50,000.
Thats wild.
Grading
Another thing I couldn’t not see— the amount of graded items.
Not just sports cards either— comics, magazines, vinyl records, Funko POP….I mean it was absolutely wild.
I even saw a company who only grades vinyls, and was wondering if this would be a trend where new business pops up based off collectors grading niche items.
Made me feel confident in my graded video game speculation, at the least.
After spending over 25 hours at a collectibles/card show— I feel like the hobby is evolving, growing, and despite a down market, I think we are in a great place.
Can’t wait for the next Dallas show.