The LA Card Show was held at Dodger Stadium for the first time on Sept. 28 in partnership with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and it featured a full day of buying and trading collectibles, culture, music, food and more.
Dodger Stadium became home to more than 350 collectibles vendors, featuring trading card games, pop culture items, figures and more.
In addition to buying collectibles, the event had on-site card grading, live music, special activations, food and a watch party for the Dodgers’ final regular season game of the year.
The game, which began at 12:10 p.m. PT, was Clayton Kershaw’s last start in the regular season, and was displayed on televisions throughout the stadium and on DodgerVision.
The entire field-level concourse was filled with vendors, offering fans non-stop options to purchase whatever items they were looking for. The area under the outfield pavilion seats was also filled with vendors as they took over nearly the entire ground level of Dodger Stadium.
Pokémon cards and items were the most popular among collectors and vendors, which was unsurprising given its popularity. The event also brought out many people who have never before been to Dodger Stadium, and some who traveled a long way to attend.
While Pokémon was the leading brand being sold and traded, sports collectibles were also quite popular, and of course, Dodgers cards were sold often and quickly. Shohei Ohtani was the most popular player card being sold, if that’s any surprise.
It was also not difficult to find memorabilia from sports legends, including a signed helmet from future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady, signed jerseys from soccer icon Lionel Messi, and some Los Angeles Lakers, such as Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant.
LA Card Show founder Adam Derry hopes to bring LA Card show back to Dodger Stadium, and perhaps even spreading out to other venues, such as Angel Stadium.
“I think this makes total sense that we’re here year after year after year,” Derry told DodgerBlue.com “I think MLB is really excited about it, I know the Dodgers are excited about it, I know Dodger Stadium is excited about it, and the fans. This isn’t just card fans, these are Dodgers fans too, they’re people having a different experience.
“There’s big things ahead of for us at Dodger Stadium.”
While it may be difficult to surpass the amount of vendors without using additional levels of the stadium, Derry is confident they can continue to make the event better each time.
“We don’t have to top it, we can just keep making it better and better, and it’s going to keep getting bigger and more impactful,” Derry said. “We’ve unlocked the secrets of Dodger Stadium, so our next shows are just going to continue to grow and really immerse ourselves more and more.
“And then our other venues outside of this one are so groundbreaking and exciting. And that’s what we want to do, we want to do the unexpected, we want to do the harder things, and we want to make it all about the people.”
Orel Hershiser & Joe Kelly attend LA Card Show
LA Card Show featured some surprise guests, and to Dodgers fans, some familiar faces. Orel Hershiser, Joe Kelly and Ramón Martínez were on hand to sign autographs and take photos with fans.
Making that happen was in partnership with Legends’ Attic, a sports memorabilia gallery and store owned by Orel Hershiser in Claremont, Calif.
“I would say that nothing is easy, right,” Derry said. “But partnerships work, and we partnered with the right people to make the right things happen, forced multipliers.
“So me, Orel, Joe Kelly, Ramón Martínez, and Legends Attic with Christian and Eddie over there, it had to be a unified force to all come together to bring something like that to life.
“So it’s really a partnership with Legends’ Attic, and then Orel, Joe, Ramon and the others, so it’s just kind of a domino effect of impact.”
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