Formerly known as the East Coast Card and Autograph Expo, the rebranded East Coast Collectibles Convention debuted at the Mohegan Sun’s Earth Ballroom from February 25-26, 2023 with nearly 150 vendor tables, autograph guests, trading card grading through New England’s The Grading Authority, and even a Trade Night!
The new name of East Coast Collectibles Convention, or EC3 Con, is extremely fitting because the event is so much more than just cards and autographs. There were action figures, Funko Pops, Hot Wheels, NECA toys, Lego minifigures, and a heavy presence of sports memorabilia, too! We’re talking about jerseys, helmets, pucks & balls, along with signed photos, posters, and other collectibles.
And with some of the best card vendors around, you just know you’ll encounter some amazing trading card finds with fan favorite exhibitors like The Card Vault, Premier Sports Cards & Memorabilia, The Charizard Hunter, PoWr Collectibles, G-Rod Hobby Shop, Coliseum Cards & Collectibles, and a hundred others. Pick up hard-to-find Pokemon packs from 1st Edition Collectibles (above), take a shot at mystery slabs, or simply just hand-select the singles & graded cards that you want for your personal collection! TCG cards, Pop Culture & Entertainment, Sports cards, you name it!
EC3 Con is a great event for all collectors, whether you’re new to one particular hobby or you’ve invested in a dozen your whole life! And many young collectors were getting their feet wet, trying to make a trade or two, and even learning the value of grading from TGA, The Grading Authority, who was offering options for on-site raw review, encapsulation submissions, subgrades, and other fantastic show-exclusive promotions:
Grading is a reliable way to protect your collectibles, whether you want to look into appraisal options or ensure its condition for peace of mind… and there was a plethora of graded cards for sale at EC3 Con! At vendor booths you were able to find slabs by TGA, CGC, PSA, SGC, and Beckett – as well as a few tables offering send-in options to have your own items graded with these companies, which was an especially useful service if you wanted to encapsulate & authenticate signed items from the show:
With 11 autograph guests in attendance, you could take your pick from all industries of entertainment: comic book art, Power Rangers (Claire Blackwelder & Brennan Mejia), wrestling (Gangrel), voice actors (Tara Sands, Ted Lewis, Marc Thompson, Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld, Jennifer Silverman, and Barrett Leddy), and a special appearance by Marcus Jones from the New England Patriots! Feel free to bring your own collectibles to get signed, pick up something from the guests’ tables, or maybe even find something unique while shopping the floor… because you never know what you’ll come across. That’s what EC3 Con is all about!
In fact, with artists like Marvel colorist Jason Keith (above) and several indie creators like Cerulean Sea Creations & Visually Stoked Media, you could even walk away with a one-of-a-kind piece of art! How about that for a collectible!
To top it off, admission to EC3 Con is only $10 a day! It’s an absolutely incredible convention with so much to offer for every kind of collector out there. With their next dates being June 11 and November 18-19, you won’t want to miss your chance to experience it yourself! Be sure to check out the East Coast Collectibles Convention website for more information.
LesDudis 