The team behind Lexington comic con is bringing a new convention to the city
It stands to reason that with a boom in trading cards there’d be greater interest in trading-card shows. The problem for most of the last year, of course, was people couldn’t gather to bond in great numbers.
Jarrod Greer, who owns and operates the annual Lexington Comic and Toy Convention, is betting that folks want to get out to talk (and, of course, buy) cardboard. The inaugural Kentucky Card Collector Convention is bringing about 140 vendors along with some celebrities to downtown Lexington July 10-11 at Central Bank Center.
Collectible sports cards were already in the midst of a renaissance before the COVID-19 pandemic, which acted as a catalyst for the entire trading card market. Purchasing packs of Pokémon cards at retail became nigh impossible, prompting The Pokémon Company to issue an official statement addressing distribution. Some stores have instituted ongoing purchase limits in the wake of public disputes on their premises. Others have been victimized; two Lexington hobby shops — Jimmy’s Kentucky Roadshow Shop and Baseball Card Warehouse — were burglarized in the spring.
Greer has observed a softening in the market, in particular with sports cards, in the weeks since conronavirus restrictions have started to ease and life has returned closer to normal. Overall, he says, that’s a good thing.
“Sports cards, Pokémon, all this stuff has been on an 18-month rocket ship,” Greer said. “ … We were almost at a point where it was embarrassing selling Pokémon cards for what we were getting for em. Nobody likes to tell a kid, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t sell you that because it’s worth $500.’ Nobody wants to be that guy.”
In terms of pre-show ticket sales and social-media engagement, KC3 is tracking favorably in line with where the inaugural LexCon tracked in 2012. Greer isn’t 100-percent sure what this weekend will look like, business- and traffic-wise, but hopes it will do well enough to support future iterations.
“The hobby’s always gonna be here,” Greer said. “Whether it’s the biggest thing in the world or something a few dudes just get together on the weekend and do remains to be seen. But right now it’s on fire, and we’re willing to give those people a good show to go to.”
What will I find at KC3?
If you’re in search of one of the $5 million Mickey Mantle rookie cards you read about recently, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.
There will be about 140 vendors on hand, most of whom will have some form of sealed products.
“The biggest thing right now in this world seems to be unopened material,” Greer said. “The demand for unopened product is crazy.”
Accordingly, most of it is likely to be priced at a premium — you’ll probably pay at least a little above retail for individual packs currently being printed, and hundreds to thousands more for sealed boxes from years ago — but will be able to buy, trade and sell to your heart (or wallet’s) content.
NBA, NFL, Pokémon cards, Magic: The Gathering; if it’s been printed on cardboard, there’s a good chance you’ll find it in downtown Lexington this weekend. There will also be sportswear and sneaker vendors on site.
The “sneaker kids,” says Greer, are a significant part of why sports cards have seen a resurgence.
“If you’d have went to a sports card show five or six years ago, you’d have seen 50 year-old guys trading $5 bills,” Greer said. “When you go to a show now, you see 18-to-25 year old guys counting out hundreds.”
Can I get my cards professionally graded?
Cards that have been professionally graded are more valuable, especially those that attain higher “scores” based on their condition. Major grading services like Beckett and PSA have paused submissions, and won’t have a physical presence at Kentucky Card Collector Con.
James Spence Authentication, an autograph service, will be on site to authenticate and grade autographs. The latter service is one JSA just began offering in February.
What celebrities are coming to the card show?
In addition to card-filled booths, six celebrity guests will be in attendance for autograph signings.
Daryl Strawberry, an eight-time Major League Baseball All-Star who won four World Series (one with the Mets, three with the Yankees), will be in attendance Saturday. Due to the nature of how sports-celebrity bookings are typically handled and staged versus entertainment celebrities, Greer in the past has had a hard time bringing in athletes for LexCon and similar events; he was able to facilitate Strawberry’s presence by reaching out directly to the slugger through his ministry.
“I’m pretty sure among all the sports bookers I’m ‘that stupid comic con guy,’” Greer said with a laugh. He says if Strawberry’s appearance is well-received, it could lead to other high-profile sports guests attending in the future.
Also announced as guests, in alphabetical are: Darby Allin (AEW Wrestling); Jessie Graff (“American Ninja Warrior”); Jake “The Snake” Roberts (WWE Hall of Famer); Eric Stuart (voice actor); and Ickey Woods (Cincinnati Bengals running back and leading rusher in Super Bowl XXIII).
How similar is KC3 to a comic convention?
LexCon serves a variety of collector and pop-culture interests. KC3 has a little something for everyone, Greer says, but overall is specialized in scope. While it shares some similarities, KC3 will be a much smaller-scale event — both in terms of convention presence and attendance — than LexCon, which in 2019 (its eighth edition) had more than 20,000 attendees over three days.
Greer would be delighted if the card convention reaches a tenth of that total over its two days, and thinks it will; Lexington has long-supported a monthly show held at the Clarion Hotel. This show aims to draw the dedicated crowd as well as newcomers to card collecting.
“If you’re going in expecting Lexington Comic Con, you’re probably going to be disappointed,” Greer said. “If you come in expecting to have fun and to find some cool Pokemon, Magic and sports cards, then I think we’ll show you a good time.”
So ... what’s up with Lexington comic con?
The ninth Lexington Comic and Toy Convention is scheduled for Sept. 9-12 at Central Bank Center, but will return to its normal March date in 2022. This event, to some degree, will serve as a trial run for that show’s first go-around in a post-lockdown environment, says Greer.
One possible incentive to attend KC3: the event space is in the midst of an expansion scheduled to be completed in 2022. If you haven’t visited since before the pandemic began, KC3 presents a smaller-scale opportunity to re-acquaint yourself with the facility (and its parking environment, among other surroundings) ahead of LexCon.
Greer last year offered 2020 LexCon ticket-holders the option to carry over their existing purchase for that show, which was canceled, to 2021. Many opted for that instead of taking refunds.
“We want to make good on all of our commitments and prove that we can have a safe and successful event in a new convention center,” Greer said. “That is my goal for September. It’s very modest. We want to get back to giving people what they paid for and honor all those commitments and figure out how to go forward for March. …
“All that matters to me right now is that everybody who took care of us for a year and a half gets taken care of in September.”
Kentucky Card Collector Convention
When: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. July 10; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. July 11
Where: Central Bank Center, 430 W. Vine St., Lexington
Tickets: $15-$40
Online: http://www.kycardcon.com/
This story was originally published July 8, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
