My first London Card Show was back in October 2021 in a gym hall with a few fellow collectors, just as general admission to see what the event was like and to meet up plus see faces to match screen names. It has come a long way since then, so I am going to write about my last visit August 2023 at Sandown Racecourse. (A big step up from the 2021 days).
At this event I decided to purchase a vendor ticket, along with some fellow Sussex collectors in the attempt to create our own island of tables. We arrived at 8:30am and setup easily through the big back doors around the side of the racecourse. Using the spare 20 minutes I had before the doors opened to the VIP’s I decided to walk the room and see what everyone else was selling. It was fair to say the room was diverse in terms of the cards available to the public, everything from football, basketball, American football right down to Yu-gi-oh, Pokémon and the new HRO cards, plenty to choose from. However, having looked around the tables close to our own, we soon realised we weren’t in the best of positions (nobody’s fault at this stage) as we were surrounded by vendors with TCG cards and accessories. This soon enough lead to the masses of VIP entrees swarming around the area we were plotted, making it hard for buyers of sports cards to see what we had to offer. I should note at this point that I don’t believe this is an issue anymore after feedback given to Harry and his team from various people leading to the creation of zones, a good edition.When general admission started to flow through the doors the beginning was slow, but this was to be expected as generally people tend to walk the floor first. It was around 10:45 when I made my first sale, with my next being shortly after that. It was great to see this cash flowing around the venue, with lots of buyers looking for sports cards.
Getting towards the middle of the day, I decided to grab something to eat. There were plenty of options outside with the food trucks available, but in the end, I just went with chips as I didn’t fancy getting burger grease on my cardboard for sale.
In the second portion of the day, the cash flow didn’t slow down, and the venue was full of people sharing the same passion. The only thing that I noticed, and often see with other card shows is vendors leaving early after it starts to filter out. THE BEST DEALS HAPPEN AT THE END! I can’t stress this enough and have never understood it personally as you have paid to be there. Either way, a good vendoring experience.
In the early evening was the turn of the London Card Show trade night, which is always an excellent experience. At these events most people fit into 1 of 2 categories. Sitting or walking. During this event there was an even spread of both, personally I was walking to provide more of a chance to find a fun deal to make. Even though most of the Sussex collectors decided to sit (LAZY ;) ). By the end of the event I had made 6 very good trades with different people I wouldn’t have found typically over Instagram, a success none the less.
Overall I would rate this experience 9/10. My only reason for it not being a 10/10 at this August show was the placement of our tables, but that was just unfortunate and not the fault of Harry and the team. Great people, great sales, great food, great venue. I will be there again in the future.