Something different from showing pieces of your collection. Some observations experiencing sports card shows vs TCG shows. I’ve been on both sides as a dealer and buyer at these shows including hybrid (sports and tcg) shows for a while.

Pokemon/TCG shows. You’ll see a few Zion cases, but most attendees carry around a binder to finish off collections and buy what they like. Audience has so many kids, men AND women. Negotiations don’t include “I need room, intense negations etc”. Lots of free cards for kids to encourage collecting. Attendees sharing and showing off binders of unique collections. The aura and environment is much different. Definitely some bad actors, but a plethora of end users that love collecting.

Sports card shows. Zion cases everywhere. 80% Buying signs every other booth. Audience mainly middle aged men, sneaker bros and some kids (pic is me and my daughter at a sports card show - see attendees). Negotiations… “what’s your best, I need room bro, long drawn out fatiguing negotiations pointing out lowest and highest sales”. Free kids for cards? No chance lol.. all dealers in it for pure profit. Rare to find a specific collector.

Wont get into repacks, whatnot, fanatics etc. I’ll always collect sports cards, but I’ve been super concerned with the direction of end users in sports compared to the TCG end user. The card shoes are very telling, perhaps foreshadowing the future. I encourage anyone to attend a TCG show.