Expo Recap: Low-Grade High-Joy, Still Riding the Expo Rush, This Hobby Rules!
In Part 2 of our Fall 2025 Expo recap, the BoothMates crew goes deep into the pickups, stories, people, and pure hobby energy that made this show unforgettable. Jeremy, Sam, Jay Z, Daniel, and Josh continue the conversation from Part 1 — this time focusing on the cards that came home with them, the surprising deals that unfolded, and the post-Expo adrenaline that kept everyone buying even after the show closed.
Jeremy kicks things off with the vintage pickup that haunted him from the moment he entered the show: a beautifully centered 1953 Parkhurst Maurice Richard PSA 1.5 with exceptional registration despite its light creasing. This leads into a long, thoughtful discussion about grade vs. eye appeal, registry chasing, and the real differences between buying numbers and buying cards. The crew shares stories of their own swaps, upgrades, and “upgrade by downgrade” moves — including a Gretzky deal that proves sometimes the lower grade is the better card.
The episode then shifts into modern PC pickups, with Jeremy revealing a stack of SP Authentic Limited Autos, Ultimate patches, Emblems of Endorsement cards, Cup honorable numbers, and multiple Fleury, Crosby, Thornton, Nash, Francis, Ovechkin, Lemieux and Kucherov additions. Even after four full days at the booth, the guys laugh about making “post-Expo hotel room deals” because, as Sam says, the hobby doesn’t stop when the show closes.
There’s also a powerful moment when a longtime Hobby Insider member Matt gifts Jeremy a funeral program from Dale Hawerchuk’s memorial, a gesture that catches him off guard and nearly brings him to tears.
The group talks about staying “in the hobby zone” after returning home, the upcoming Langley and Chicago Spectacular shows, and the joy of seeing collectors find cards they never expected — from a massive Steve Yzerman want list to Jason Allison binders to PC grails that made the trip worthwhile for collectors who flew across the continent.
They wrap with Expo reflections:
• the best show energy in years
• corporate and community presence at an all-time high
• the hobby family that forms around a shared booth
• the Expo’s continuing growth — more halls coming, more vendors, more momentum
• and why the show feels less like a card show and more like a true annual event
Part 2 closes with final highlights, gratitude, and plans for future Expos, the National, and beyond.
BoothMates is all about the people first, cards second — and this episode is exactly why.
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