World-class exhibitors coming to card show

By Lethbridge Herald on September 24, 2025.

Nathan Reiter
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Trading card enthusiasts from across will make their way to the Lethbridge Trade and Convention Centre this weekend for the Southern Alberta Trading Card Show.

Don Bowles, owner of The Vault Sports Cards and Collectibles in Lethbridge and is one of the organizers of the event, says the show will have a lot of variety for any particular interest.

“There’s over 100 vendor tables, and that’ll cover a spectrum for everything from hockey, baseball, football, all your sports cards. Pokemon’s huge right now. There’s a ton of Pokemon vendors at the show. There’s also a bunch of regulars that come into the shop here that frequent our shop, and there’s a bunch of those guys that have tables set up as well. You should be able to find pretty much anything you’re looking for, trading card related.”

The show will feature representatives from Slab Sharks, which is an eBay consignment business located in Ontario. Another key trading card industry attendee will be Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), which is known for being one of the top third-party card grading services in the world.

Bowles says it was very important to bring PSA in for the show. 

“It’s a big deal for them to be at our show because anybody that buys or collects sports cards, trading card games like Pokemon, they want to protect their investments and they want to increase the value of the investment. Usually you want to send those kinds of cards to a grading company and PSA is the most renowned and has the highest resale value. They’ve been around forever and they’re known throughout the industry as the gold standard.”

The show will also feature a tournament for the Pokemon Trading Card game along with several raffles, giveaways and prizes. Lethbridge Hurricanes mascot Cane is also expected to make an appearance at the event.

Bowles says having a card show is important for the industry and the hobby in general to allow trading card enthusiasts to make connections and find a rare card they have had their eye on. 

“I think it’s important to have these kinds of shows. It connects collectors and it’s just good for the hobby all around. People that are looking for a certain card may not be able to find it at their local card shop, but there’s a chance that maybe a vendor has it. They can trade and buy and sell with other vendors. It’s very important for the hobby to do this. It gets all the collectors together and everybody gets to see each other and meet each other. It’s just one of those things that once you get out there, you have a lot of fun.”

The event is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is five dollars per person.