A large one-day sports card show is coming to Pennsylvania this spring. Fourteen autograph guests are slated to appear at the event, scheduled to be held at the BucksMont Indoor Sports Center in Hatfield, north of Philadelphia.
Promoter Joe Reid has partnered with Poppel Sports and Autographs, which is scheduled for May 14 from 10 AM-6 PM. Admission will be free with 125 dealer tables available at $35 each.
“I have been running BucksMont Indoor Sports Center since 2012 and realized we had an opportunity a couple years ago in that there are down times for the facility that match perfectly with the idea of a large sports card and memorabilia show,” Reid told Sports Collectors Daily. “Partnering with Adam Poppel of Poppel Sports & Autographs on this venture just made sense, as they have more than 20 years’ experience 
running shows. We recognized running a show at the facility allows us the ability to keep costs down so we can offer things like low vendor cost, low autograph costs, including free signers and of course free admission. We feel that this is the right recipe for this industry right now. There is a need for more shows like this and we hope that we can start something special. As a collector, I miss the days of shows like this where you have multiple signers, a ton of dealers and a lot of collectors looking for that next great find.”
Among the autograph guests is former Eagles linebacker Bill Bergey, signing for free from 11:30-12:30 and ex-Penn State and NFL running back Blair Thomas (10:30-11:30). Former Phillies Greg Luzinski, Garry Maddox, Bobby Wine, Art Mahaffey, Bob Dernier, Dick Ruthven, Matt Stairs, Ruben Amaro Sr., and Eagles’ nose tackle Bo Allen are among the other signers with all priced at $10-25.
Reid held his first show at the facility last September with Luzinski, Bobby Shantz and Sean Landeta signing. About 500 collectors attended but he’s anticipating a much larger turnout this time.
“We anticipate around 2,500 customers for this coming show and based on the last show we ran in September we had everyone from bargain hunters to looking for high end vintage,” Reid stated. “Lots of people look for memorabilia, especially Philly market items and they seemed to do very well. The facility is 78,000 sq. ft. and we have the ability to dedicate the entire space to the show, so I would love to get to a place where we have 20 signers, 250 tables and 5,000 plus customers coming from the entire Mid-Atlantic region.”
Reid is planning a door prize giveaways every half hour.
He’s hoping the show will be successful enough to hold two per year with a different theme each time.
“I also believe there is an opportunity to run more shows in other regions under the same premise, but want to make sure we can provide an excellent experience here first. The more kids I see coming through the door with their families, the more confident I feel that this industry is going to continue to build again.”
Special hotel rates are available for out of towners coming to the show.
You can get more information on the show here.
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