Cards
THE NATIONAL: Dealers, collectors wowed by big sales, record crowd as hobby continues to surge
ROSEMONT, Ill.—On Thursday morning of The National, Mill Creek Sports owner Scott Mahlum walked into the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center at 8 a.m.
The longtime dealer was shocked to see a line of what he estimated to be 1,000 show attendees waiting outside to get in the doors. VIP holders weren’t allowed into the show for another hour and those with general admission tickets couldn’t get in for two hours.
“It was frickin’ nuts,” Mahlum said.
For all five days of the 46th annual convention, lines were long, the show floor aisles were packed and transactions were flowing. The National was the place to be.
“The hobby’s really healthy,” said Kevin Savage, the owner of Kevin Savage Cards. “Just crazy amounts of people, and people seem to be having a great time. A lot of families, lots of kids. The card market’s strong and people brought things in to sell and people came in buying crazy amounts of stuff. It was super good.”
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Mile High Card Company President/CEO Brian Drent was in awe of the crowd size. It drove home just how incredibly strong the market is right now.
“We knew it, but this was even more eye-opening—just the amount of people, the activity, interest,” Drent said. “Our business is headed in an incredibly positive direction.”
Derek Grady, an executive vice president of sports auctions at Heritage Auctions, saw the level of buying first hand. Walking by and checking out dealers’ cases, empty spots became the norm.
The number of transactions that took place over the week were staggering.
“It would be interesting if we could find out how much money was actually transacted here,” Grady said. “There has to be hundreds of millions of dollars, if not a billion dollars, on the floor. But how much is actually transacted? I heard about a lot of big deals that went down and the number of significant cards that were graded—probably mostly modern, some of these really high-end modern cards. But I’m sure they graded a lot of Mantles again. I didn’t hear of a [Honus] Wagner getting graded. It’s really interesting to walk the floor and see how much value’s out there.”
The massive crowds each day meant grading companies were kept busy. Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) was so swamped it had to stop accepting submissions for its lowest priced tier—at $229—on just the second day of the show.
The growth in the industry, even since the 2025 National, has surpassed all expectations. The prices at this year’s show reflected that growth.
“If you had last year’s prices on all your stuff this year, it would all be gone, every single card,” Savage said.
A week after The National, show promoters had yet to disclose official attendance numbers. However, everyone SCD spoke with on the final day of the show was sure it broke another record for the fourth straight year. Even before the show opened on Day 1, with extremely high pre-sales numbers, it might have set a new attendance mark.
“Year over year, the pace of ticket sales in every category was 30-35% ahead of last year,” NSCC communication director Shane Winn said. “For example, the all-access VIP package—the most expensive package—last year, that package sold out around June; this year, it sold out in February. By the time we got to the third week of June, the only thing that was available were single-day passes.
“So, if you look at that as a marker and combine it with anyone’s visual who’s been here this year vs. last year of the crowds, particularly Thursday and Friday, easily at least the number of people we had last year. But it definitely feels like more.”
New this year at The National was the International Pavilion, which was housed on the second level of the convention center. There were 50 dealers added from 16 countries, noted Winn.
“These are dealers that have been wanting to show at The National forever, and there’s not been space. So, we made space available,” Winn said. “The dealer expansion that continued this year with 150 new tables is another thing we’re super proud of. So, we are continuing to grow as the hobby grows by offering more new dealers the ability to be here.”
MIND-BLOWING DISPLAYS
Heritage Auctions wowed attendees with its typical museum-style displays. From show-stopping material such as game-worn shoes and gem-mint cards of Michael Jordan to the Brett Favre Collection to one-of-a-kind Star Wars props and memorabilia, Heritage spared no expense.
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Just Collect and Vintage Breaks owner Leighton Sheldon logged his best show financially in the 20-plus years he’s set up at the National. It provided an awe moment in the hobby for Sheldon.
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t think this was possible,” Sheldon said. “When Fanatics talked about wanting to 10x the hobby, I honestly thought it was going to be 9.8 of that 10 was going to be in the modern world. But what’s happened is this rising tide is really lifting every one of our boats from supply companies to vintage cards to technology companies like AuctionWire, and it is so refreshing to see.
“I remember—at this point probably 20-something years ago when I worked for Mark Murphy, ‘The Baseball Card Kid’—I thought, I’d really love a day when our convention is as busy as a Comic-Con. I’ll tell you, I think we’re there. It’s just a very exciting thing to see.”
One thing a collector can count on every year when they head to Memory Lane’s booth at The National is getting a once-in-a-lifetime chance to hold a unique item. For the past 15 years, company founder JP Cohen has wanted to give show-goers an experience they won’t forget.
This year, Memory Lane brought a T206 Honus Wagner in a PSA 2. Valued at $8-$10 million, anyone could hold the card and snap photos. Also at the auction house’s booth was a Babe Ruth bat, circa early 1920s. Signed by Ruth and presented to Home Run Baker, the PSA 10 graded bat is valued around $2 million.
“If you really think about it, 99.99% of people that come up and hold the Wagner and hold the Ruth bat, they’re not our clientele. We deal in vintage and we’re more of a select audience. But we do it for the hobby, for the love of what we do,” Cohen said. “We share. We want people to enjoy it, have a good experience.”
BIG ITEMS SHOW UP
Drent had some amazing items show up at his booth for consignment.
Two that really stood out were high-grade baseball sets from the PSA Set Registry. Drent said one of the top 1965 Topps sets valued at $300,000 came in. Also, the No. 4-rated 1975 Topps set, valued over $250,000, was consigned with Mile High.
“It’s surprising that the PSA Set Registry sets came up,” Drent said. “It’s been really interesting to see those kinds of sets come in. It doesn’t always happen at your regular show. But at The National it does.”
Drent also got his hands on a gorgeous, extremely rare, 1909 E92 Croft’s Candy Ty Cobb. The card was raw, valued at about $40,000 in that condition, and Drent planned to get it graded. The PSA population on the card is just 12.
At the Just Collect and Vintage Breaks booth, Sheldon bought a raw 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle. He quickly sent it to PSA to get graded and it came back a solid 5. With the way Mantle prices have been, it could be a $300,000 card.
Walking around the show floor, Grady was taken back by all the big transactions that took place.
“The number of six-figure cards, I swear 15 years ago, you could almost name what was six figures,” Grady said. “Now, there’s more cards that I didn’t know existed that are six figures.”
Grady also noticed the surge in interest and prices of sealed wax. He noted boxes of 1987 Topps Football were $75 not too long ago; those have now spiked to over $400. So-called “Junk Wax Era” boxes that were $100 are now selling for four times that amount.
“It’s funny that the stuff that I ignored for a long time that I thought, ‘Oh, I can get that at any time,’ now I might be paying triple for it, because I waited,” Grady said.
Dave & Adam’s Card World co-founder Adam Martin has also been astonished by the surge in interest in wax boxes.
“The unopened box market remains incredibly strong,” Martin said. “The number of people who will come pick up a box of Chrome Football or Upper Deck hockey or something and can take back and rip after the show, it’s been a staple for the past 20 years at this National and it’s continued.”
Cohen had a chance to walk around and check out items on dealers’ tables. There were some great items, but with the big crowds, the best pieces didn’t last very long on the show floor.
“The market’s so strong that all the good stuff is gobbled up right now, so you’re not seeing a ton of stuff,” Cohen said. “You come to our table and you’ll see a ton of stuff that we bring out, but in general, the real high-end, rare stuff seems to be tucked away right now.”
After setting another record for attendance last year, Sheldon was skeptical this year’s National could be even better. That skepticism didn’t last long early in the week.
“Not only did we top it in terms of our sales at our booth, but in terms of activity,” Sheldon said. “Meaning, there were a lot of people at our booth from literally left to right, ungraded, Pokémon—because we now have a TCG department—vintage unopened was super-hot and vintage graded is our specialty. I would tell you people were very well prepared for buying thousand-dollar and up cards.”
NO SIGNS OF SLOWDOWN
The show floor covered more than 700,000 square feet this year, the most ever. Despite adding over 50,000 square feet from the 2025 show, there is still room for expansion at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.
“There is a bit of space upstairs that we’re already starting to have conversations about what we’re going to do with that space for next year,” Winn said.
All five days of The National were busy.
Usually, Wednesday and Thursday are slower than Friday and Saturday. By Sunday, the crowd generally has thinned out and dealers are packing up their inventory early to head home. Not this year.
Everyone who has been associated with the hobby for decades is curious if this growth will carry into next year’s National.
Sheldon believes the vintage pieces will continue to do well.
“I think that the best cards are going to keep getting better,” Sheldon said. “So, in other words, if you’re in the market for a Mantle ’51 Bowman or a Willie Mays rookie, the cream of the crop, I would try and act sooner than later, because I think there’s so much demand coming in that wasn’t previously here. That’s why we’re seeing what we’re seeing, and that’s the only logical reason.”
Said Martin, from Dave & Adam’s: “I’m a glass-half- empty guy. I’m very content if it’s what it is now. It doesn’t have to grow anymore. I’m very happy with status quo at this moment, because of what it feels like compared to when I got started in this business but even, of course, six or seven years ago. Most of us have been doing this for a long time, we just look at each other and say, ‘Can you believe this? Would you ever have imagined this?’ So, I’m very happy with status quo.”
Grady often hears the noise outside the hobby. After four consecutive years of record crowds at The National, something is bound to happen.
“So many people are like, when’s the bubble going to break? Who knows,” Grady said. “The more people that come in, the more legitimate it makes how many people are now into the field of sports cards and memorabilia collecting. It’s great to see.”
Mahlum, who travels from Washington to set up at The National every year, feels the hobby is stronger than ever.
“I’ve said this for three or four years: I’m still wondering when the slowdown and correction will happen,” Mahlum said. “But there’s no sign of it slowing down.”
