It’s in the cards: From Pokémon to baseball and beyond — collector show comes to Albuquerque

Pick a card, any card, at the New Mexico Card Show on Saturday, Jan. 3 and Sunday, Jan. 4.

Ryan Maxwell, the event founder, said he started the show because he and other collectors often discussed the need for a place for all people interested in trading to meet up.

“It’s just really cool to see how much we’ve grown,” Maxwell said.

The first time he hosted the card show in 2023, he said only about 400 people came, now the event draws upwards of 3,000.

“I’d hoped that it would be something we’d have a few hundred people come and enjoy and do, but to see thousands of people come to the door …” Maxwell said. “I didn’t expect that at first, but it makes it really rewarding.”

He said when the show first started, it was mostly sports cards. The show has since evolved to include a wider range of cards, including Pokémon, as the game has grown in popularity.

“The number of people collecting now has gone up,” Maxwell said. “I think it’s more mainstream.”

The New Mexico Card Show has also seen an increase in the number of vendors. This year’s event will feature over 60 vendors, including around 40 local vendors.

“I make a conscious effort to make sure our local vendors always have a spot,” Maxwell said.

“I want to make sure we keep our roots here.”

When he first hosted the event, Maxwell lost money and almost didn’t continue, but decided to give it another year, broke even and has kept going since.

Maxwell said he enjoys seeing the range of people who come to the card show, from kids to adults.

“It’s just a really cool way to relive your childhood,” he said.

For Maxwell, card collecting began when he was young. One of his favorite memories was going to a card show with his dad and finding a Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card.

“That’s a card I owned through my childhood,” Maxwell said, “and so then that was kind of like the emphasis for me wanting to start this and kind of relive those memories.”

He said the memory of opening that rookie card fuels his desire to continue the card show. He sees the same excitement and joy in kids nowadays.

“They’ll buy a pack of cards and open it up, and they get all excited because it’s their favorite player,” Maxwell said.

He loves to hear adults who come and share their favorite players, stories and why they collect.

“Last show, I had a couple come up to me and hand me two Michael Jordan cards and asked me if they were valuable,” Maxwell said. “Her father had passed away and she inherited them, and they are two of the rarest Michael Jordan cards I’ve ever seen. They were original.”

Seeing cards like the Michael Jordan are a highlight for Maxwell, he said. He does not particularly care if they are rare or valuable; he just enjoys seeing “crazy cool cards.”

He is proud of how far the New Mexico Card Show has come and that it has brought people from different backgrounds together.

“That’s just my main takeaway is how happy everybody is,” Maxwell said.

Maxwell said when exploring the card show, chase what you enjoy, whether that is baseball or Pokémon cards, and do not chase the money.

“I would just explore,” Maxwell said. “I mean, my favorite part of going to a card show is just walking around and seeing all the different things.”

Elizabeth Secor is an arts fellow from the New Mexico Local News Fellowship program. You can reach her at esecor@abqjournal.com.