Sports Card Dealers
Successful Toronto Sport Card Expo not just for hockey cards, collectors
It was once billed as “the world’s biggest hockey show,” but the Sport Card Expo in Toronto is now much more than that.
The Expo, held twice annually in the spring and the fall, is Canada’s largest sports cards show. The most recent Sport Card Expo took place on Nov. 9-12. While most dealers had quite a bit of hockey cards and memorabilia for sale, there was certainly no shortage of baseball, basketball, football, and non-sports cards.
“People in Canada don’t only collect hockey,” says Mike Bergman, owner of Lower Level Sports Cards in Winnipeg. “People collect all sports — anything that has a card, even pop culture. It’s about collecting what they like and what’s in their mind from their childhood.”
Dealers from the U.S. who traveled north of the border also tend to shy away from bringing too much hockey with them.
“Here, I bring more of everything else but hockey,” says Chris Worczak, owner of Niagara Sports Cards in Niagara Falls, N.Y. “Everybody has hockey here. So, I’m going to bring the stuff that’s different, like vintage baseball cards.”
The Fall 2023 Sport Card Expo was the largest since the show first began in 1991. Not only did it boast a higher attendance, but the show was physically bigger, taking up just under 200,000 square feet across three halls at the International Centre in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga. The four-day show had just over 430 dealers, with many of them using two or three tables each and 37 current and former athletes signing autographs.
“To be honest with you, it’s been a little overwhelming,” says collector Nick Giannone of Montreal. “So much to see. So many tables. But once you settle in and start meeting people, and you get more comfortable, it’s amazing. It’s a great experience.”
AUTOS, CARDS, MEMORABILIA & MORE
The Sport Card Expo — formerly known as the Sport Card and Memorabilia Expo but usually just referred to by fans as “The Expo” — still had plenty of memorabilia, with many dealers selling autographs, vintage pucks, postcards, programs, books, and game-worn jerseys. But cards were the main focus of the show, with dealers having hundreds upon hundreds of cards — many of them graded.
During the pandemic lockdown, grading companies like PSA and Beckett Grading Services were backlogged by the sheer number of cards submitted for grading. Safe to say that by 2023, these companies were caught up, as a good number of tables at the Expo had nothing but graded cards, mostly of players who made their pro debut within the past few years.
“The card industry is taking over,” says former NHL superstar and Hockey Hall of Fame member Marcel Dionne. “There are more people now with their card cases, who walk around and sell these cards for $500, $600. I’ve even seen cards for $8,000. So, now everybody gets behind it. If you count all the tables right now, there’s more tables of dealers selling cards than anything else.”
Dionne and his former teammates, Dave Taylor and Charlie Simmer — the three who formed the Los Angeles Kings’ famed “Triple Crown Line” — signed autographs that weekend and participated in a Q&A panel discussion. Several other guests, such as Philadelphia Flyers goaltending legend Bernie Parent and former Colorado Avalanche superstar Peter Forsberg, also participated in Q&A panels.
Other autograph guests at the Expo included former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson; former pro wrestling icon “Nature Boy” Ric Flair; current NHLers Joseph Woll, Matt Knies, and Max Domi; former NHL legends Brett Hull, Ray Bourque, Doug Gilmour, and Dave Keon; and former Major League Baseball catcher and manager John Gibbons. Unfortunately, baseball legends Dave Winfield, Tim Raines, and Reggie Jackson were all scheduled to appear but canceled prior to the show. Only three of the 37 autograph guests were from sports other than hockey.
“I try to bring in players from across different sports to reflect the market better, but also because I don’t want this to be known as just a hockey show,” says Steve Menzie, president and owner of the Sport Card Expo. “It’s unfortunate that Reggie Jackson cancelled because a lot of people were excited that he was coming. And it’s a pain for me because I had to refund the autograph tickets. But cancellations are inevitable. It happens.”
Another issue was the autograph area itself, with long lines that cluttered the exhibition space and sometimes confused autograph-seekers who got into the wrong line only to later be directed to stand elsewhere.
“These autograph signings are not as organized as they used to be,” says collector David Smith of Newmarket, Ontario, who has regularly attended the Expo since 1998. “And there’s too much emphasis on autographs and not enough on the selling and buying of cards.”
“People may argue that too many autograph guests pull cash out of the room, but my dealers did great,” says Menzie. “The autograph guests did great as well. My biggest success determinate is how the dealers do, and I got great feedback from the dealers. I was thrilled with that.”
But the autograph pavilion did get very crowded at times, especially when Flair, Tyson or Forsberg were signing. The lines of autograph-seekers clogged the aisles and made it hard to reach certain areas of the show and some of the dealer booths.
“We definitely had problems with the autograph lines, no question,” said Menzie. “We had too many people and not enough space. And that’s something I have to own.”
NEW RELEASES: New card sets just in time for Christmas
Menzie explained that the Expo couldn’t access one of the three exhibition halls until a day closer to the start of the show, causing a last-minute change of plans, as PSA Grading needed the extra time to set up its large booth.
“Originally, where the grading companies ended up is where the autograph pavilion was supposed to be,” says Menzie. “And that would have been a better layout. That additional space would have alleviated the congestion. I don’t shy away from any complaints or criticism because that’s how you improve and grow.”
And you don’t have growth without a few growing pains, right?
Guests like Tyson, as well as former Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price and former NFL star Ryan Getzlaf, attracted fans who came to the Expo primarily to get their autographs.
Another draw was that the 2023-24 hockey season had just started, and thus, new hockey sets like Upper Deck Series One and Tim Horton’s were now on collectors’ minds. The Tim Horton’s hockey set is available at the eponymous donut shop chain in Canada for $1.99 for a three-card pack or 99 cents with a drink purchase.
“Thank God you’ve got the Tim Horton’s set,” says Dionne. “It’s affordable for kids. Otherwise, they’d stick to Pokémon.”
One player that hockey collectors were clamoring to get cards of was Connor Bedard, who was selected first overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2023 NHL Draft. Over the last two seasons, Bedard has appeared in sets picturing him either with his major junior team — the Regina Pats — or with the Canadian Junior National Team. But cards of Bedard in a Blackhawks jersey — albeit from the Draft and not a game — were finally starting to surface in November.
“The hockey market is still very dependent on its rookies,” says Billy Celio, senior product manager at Upper Deck. “When you have someone like Connor Bedard coming into the league, obviously you have a nice big spike in interest.”
A redemption card found in packs of Tim Horton’s —reportedly, less than one in every 100-pack case — could be exchanged for a Bedard “Top Draft Pick” card. But the “it” card at the Fall Expo was Bedard’s unannounced “Easter Egg” card picturing him in a ‘Hawks jersey at the Draft. The card was found in packs of 2023-24 Upper Deck Series One at a rate of about one in every two 12-box cases. Several dealers had this card for sale at the Expo, usually asking around $700 CDN for it.
Also See: Is Connor Bedard the next great one?
According to Celio, putting a card of Bedard in this year’s Upper Deck Series One — even as a hard-to-get, unannounced surprise — required special permission from the NHL, as Bedard had yet to play in an NHL game when the card was being printed and packed. (Only NHL players with at least one regular season or playoff game of experience can appear in a trading card set licensed by the NHL.) Now that the Blackhawks’ rookie has played this season, he will have numerous cards out after the new year — and just in time for fans to seek out at the next Sport Card Expo in April 2024.
But one card or one player doesn’t make or break a show. Despite Bedard’s “Easter Egg” card being the one that everyone wanted, there was still plenty to collect. Dealers had an abundance of singles, signed items, complete sets, and unopened boxes of cards ranging in price from pocket change to five figures.
“Out of all the shows I do across the Northeast, Toronto is the best one,” says Worczak. “There’s always something for everybody. From the low-end quarter cards to an expensive Jackie Robinson card. That’s what I love about this hobby; everybody can take part in it.”
— Sal Barry is a freelance writer for Sports Collectors Digest and host of the Puck Junk Hockey Podcast. He can be reached at sjb@puckjunk.com or on social media @puckjunk.
Sal Barry
