I went to the London Card Show where Pokémon cards worth thousands were bought and sold

TRADING cards have been around for a long time, whether you’re a football fan, or a Pokémaniac, there seems to be a card game for everyone.

Yet there are very few conventions around for card collectors, despite cards easily trading for prices in the thousands.

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The rarest trading cards – like Pokémon’s Pikachu Illustrator – have sold for $6million (£4.8million), but most collectors have more modest budgets.

Whatever card you are missing from your collection, there is one place you are guaranteed to find it.

The London Card Show pops up several times a year, and the show last weekend had a whopping 280 vendor tables packed with cards of collectors’ merch of all kinds.

Last weekend, 4k people showed up to the event to buy, sell, and trade their rare cards, meet other collectors, and listen to panels.

We were lucky enough to be invited to the event, pick up some of the cards needed to complete our decks, and oggle cards way out of our price range.

Harry Reynolds, the founder of the event, was also there to give us the rundown on why he started the London Card Show, and where it’s going.

GLHF: So first tell me what The London Card Show is all about?

Harry Reynolds: The London Card show is something for everyone in terms of collecting. 

It’s quite rapidly growing and in July 2021 we had 10 tables and 40 people.

This weekend we’ve had over 4k people come. So it’s been quite the growth. You can find just about anything here.

It’s Pokemon cards, sports cards, your niche TCGs. There’s just about everything here, which is why it’s so good.

GLHF: What do you think the biggest pull for people is to come?

HR: The fact they can be comfortable in their surroundings. A lot of people collect in the background. A lot of people are not front-facing.

So they just know when they come here, they are welcome here with people that are really similar, that have the same interests that just enjoy what they enjoy.

It’s almost a home away from home. It’s a community within a building, you could say.

GLHF: Are you thinking about opening the event up to have tournaments here?

HR: Definitely. There’s loads of play gathering around Pokémon now, and all these kinds of games.

So it’s definitely something we’ve spoken about and something we’re speaking with various companies and businesses about.

It’s another area where there is the possibility to move into that, and there certainly seems to be a demand for it.

GLHF: There are a lot of people here. Have you ever had issues with crowd control?

HR: We’re very good with that. We always keep up with the capacity of the building.

It’s a tight squeeze in some areas, but it adds atmospheres you could say, but we keep it under capacity.

We expanded an extra third here today from the last show, but we’ve only increased capacity by 20% just because we want that sense of space for everyone. It’s free roaming.

We got a lot of kids here. I remember as a kid it was the worst feeling losing your parents. So, if we can avoid that at any cost it’d be good.

Crowd control is a big thing which we think about.

GLHF: What do you think is the most popular TCG at the event?

HR: Pokémon. That’s the easiest question I’ve had. They’re fanatical.

It’s just about anyone who dresses up, whether it’s a hat or a sticker, there’s just about everything for any Pokémon fan here.

All you have to do is take a walk, and there’ll be everything from plush to cards and stickers, you name it.

GLHF: Was that your idea then to let people expand out into other merch?

HR: Yeah, it is a London Card Show. But collectibles are in the DNA of the show. 

You do have Funko Pops here, you’ve got cars, you’ve got Plushies, you’ve got keychains, you’ve got hats.

So there is a little bit of everything here, which is why it’s so unique and that’s almost our unique Selling point.

GLHF: Disney’s TCG Lorcana has just hit the scene. How do you think that’s going so far?

HR: It’s growing. It’s probably the quickest growing. I was shocked that it’s a new release and it has gone through the roof.

So it’s definitely an up-and-coming one. It’s got some way to go to get anywhere near Pokémon though.

If you want to read more news from The London Card Show, then check out what series voice actor Veronica Taylor said about Ash’s surprise exit from Pokémon.

Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.

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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk