09/06/2026
Hey yall, Mason here, owner of Card N All Gaming, and the partner to 703 that brought the Top Shelf Card Show to Louisville. Off the rip, I want to thank everyone for their patience and kindness at the show yesterday. I know it was an unpleasant experience for everyone, but despite that, the overall sentiment has been very positive. Everything that made it a poor experience came from the venue itself, and even though we are on the books to do another show there, after all the issues, we won’t be back at the Triple Crown Pavillion.
I walked the floor throughout the show and talked to many of the vendors, and despite the heat, nearly everyone said the sales were great and the crowd was kind and positive. We were all very busy and had nonstop transactions and the crowd just kept coming. Beard Dadz Cards was so awesome and kind and met with as many people as he physically could - even staying an hour and a half past the event’s close time to see as many people as possible. I have seen some posts about issues with the digital queue he had set up, but unfortunately the reality is that if even half of the patrons were there to see him, he wouldn’t be able to meet everyone. He will hopefully be back at future events so more of you can meet him. Phil is an incredible presence to have, and again, his commitment to meeting as many fans as possible was above and beyond. He’s the real deal.
Partnering with 703 absolutely was the right call - I showed up at 8 am ready to do whatever was needed, but with 30 shows in the books this year alone, they were a well oiled machine and handled everything. Even with a huge issue at set up where the venue didn’t have the 6 foot tables we were on contract for and they gave us 8 foot tables instead, some of 703 worked even on the flight into town to get the floorplan completely rebuilt and moved around to accommodate the different table pattern. We lost 60 tables from the original design, so it was no small feat to get all the vendors in a reasonable set up. The venue even double booked the main room, even though we had reserved it more than six months ago. I was blown away with 703’s commitment to make this a great event, despite all the challenges beyond their control.
The security team also did a great job. They were present in the parking lots and load in areas as vendors moved their products in and had full presence as we loaded out. When the fire marshal arrived and put restrictions in place, they handled the entrance and exits to make sure we were at a safe capacity. Unfortunately that meant long lines outside in the heat at times. Free entry events can see these issues, and considering they had to do this all on the fly, they excelled. They even barred me from entering because I didn’t have the vendor stamp since I was there before they started to stamp them. I thanked them for their diligence.
Lastly and most importantly, I want to thank all the families and collectors that came out to the show. The response and outpouring of support was (clearly) overwhelming. I appreciate everyone’s grace with the situation. Despite it all, it was a positive experience for a lot of people, and to be able to bring a show like this to Louisville was a dream come true. Though just like with actual dreams, you don’t get to control the flow of some things.
