Published June 7, 2026
Friday and Saturday brought the card community together in the little nook of Fishers in central Indiana. If you are not familiar with the J&J All Star card shows, Jeff Meyrose, his wife, sons and daughter have been running this travelling show for well over a decade in a pseudo card circuit that harkens back to the days of territory wrestling in a sense that the show takes place in several states throughout each month. The shows run on Saturdays, and you can almost always find 1-2 per month in each location spanning from Louisville Kentucky to Indianapolis Indiana with stops in Ohio as well. But the main events of the year are always the biannual Midwest Monster shows which take place at the Best Choice Fieldhouse in Fishers Indiana. Boasting over 500 tables and a wide selection of Sports, TCG, WWE and memorabilia there is a little something for everyone at this show.
On Saturday, June 6, I made my annual trek up the I-65 corridor from Louisville with a great friend, not knowing what to expect as each show takes on its own personality and traits as it unfolds. But the show did not disappoint. In this article you’re going to hear stories of vendors selling out of inventory, with one dealer reportedly selling more than $160K worth of cards on the show’s opening day, see some huge cards and also hear about our experience as attendees.
Early Saturday morning as the sun barely crested above the tree covered hills in the southwestern part of Jefferson County, I made my way to pick up my friend for the two and a half hour drive up to the show. He brought along a binder of WWE cards that he’s accumulated over the past couple of years while opening his monthly blaster box, hoping to move some of the inventory which he had no emotional connection to. While my plans were a little different in that I hoped to trade up or acquire another grail card in my now hyper focused collection, but I’m at the age where I don’t force deals and I’ve resigned to the mindset that deals happen when they are meant to happen.
I know most visitors to this site are here for the huge cards and big deals, so let’s get right to it.
High End Was on Full Display
One of the first people I encountered at the show was Mrs. Meyrose and I asked her how the show was going so far and she said that Friday was extremely busy.
“The show was very crowded, and people were having trouble keeping up with the demand”
She went on to say that:
“One dealer sold over $160K of inventory and was completely sold out by the end of day on Friday.”
The turnout on Saturday was also very strong but not to the point to where you couldn’t walk around and check out the tables, which I honestly enjoyed. And the golf carts shuttling attendees from the auxiliary parking lot to the door is always a nice touch.
I then began the hunt for the card that is at the top of my wish list. The 97-98 Skybox Premium Thunder & Lightning Michael Jordan. But along the way I saw some other amazing gems.
First was the 1997 Metal Universe Anfernee Hardaway Precious Metal Gems, which is quite the grail to randomly encounter in the wild.
A PSA 6 example last sold for $13,100 on March 30, 2026, making the dealer’s $17,000 ask for a PSA 7 seem like a reasonable starting point for such a scarce card.
Another one of the more interesting cards that I encountered at the show was this 2001 Fleer EX Ichiro Suzuki rookie numbered to only 29 copies, which is a variant I honestly have not seen before as the standard rookie is numbered to 1999 copies. Just seeing this gem in person feels like a memorable moment that will last for a long time. The sticker shock on this one was real but at the same time when you have a rookie card of an iconic Hall of Famer with such a low population you can basically start negotiations at whatever price you like.
On the other half of the building, I encountered a vendor who had one case dedicated to cards that were not for sale but were beautiful cards that sit at or near the top of every NBA collector’s grail list. Two of them stood out in particular the 1997 Skybox Premium Thunder & Lightning Kobe Bryant and the 1998 Skybox Thunder Michael Jordan Noyz Boyz.
I did find 3 copies of the Jordan Thunder and Lightning that I mentioned earlier, 2 of which were for sale. However, the asking prices of 9K and 14K respectively were a fair chunk above the last sale price for each copy in their respective grades. But to be fair, these cards are super-hot, rare, and carry a PSA population of 215 copies so you can’t necessarily fault the vendors for stickering the cards so high.
Our Day Summed Up
As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, my friend was hoping to sell a binder full of WWE cards that he wasn’t necessarily attached to. And he was able to find a vendor interested in the binder almost immediately. Considering the binder was full of relic, serial-numbered and autographed cards, most notably an Asuka auto numbered to 25 and Brie Bella Mat Relic 1/1, I figured he wouldn’t have much trouble finding an interested buyer.
Enter the kind folks from Seven Out Cards & Collectibles. This awesome couple was kind enough to look over the cards one at a time and show values to my friend who was unsure what to expect when selling such a large collection to a vendor. After reviewing the cards one by one they agreed on a value and a price that made both sides comfortable, and he walked away with several hundred dollars in his pocket that he didn’t have moments before. If you find yourself in the Sycamore Illinois area, stop by and check out this amazing family-owned shop that has a wide selection of cards ranging from TCG to WWE and high-end sports cards.
I didn’t have quite as much luck on my grail hunt as the price of the Jordan Thunder & Lightning seems to have outrun my allocated collecting budget, and my current appetite for trade isn’t quite what it was in years past. The majority of the cards I own are cards that I’ve chased for most of my adult life, and parting with them, at least at this stage, seems counterproductive to my goals. I almost settled for another card that I’ve had in my peripheral for years, the 1994 Finest Jordan refractor in a PSA 8, but I ultimately decided against it as it would set me back further from the true goal.
That’s ok though, the deals will happen when they happen, at their own pace and the story of today ended up being about spending time with a lifelong friend and making new friends along the way.
One of those collectors was @glenndowns, who was browsing the show with his son. After overhearing me talking cards with the fine folks at @keycards, he joined the conversation and before long we had worked out a deal for a few raw cards I had originally intended to grade before PSA’s recent partial shutdown altered those plans.
We completed the deal at one of the nearby empty tables and, in hindsight, probably should have moved a little farther away from the dealer setup beside us. To that dealer, my apologies. The last thing I would ever want to do is interfere with someone trying to conduct business at a show.
We browsed for hours, then stepped outside for some fresh air and met several people from the collecting community, two of whom @chev2cold and @asopullers also are active on the buy, sell and trade front and were a joy to chat with.
As the conversation drifted from cards to collecting and back again, another fellow collector walked by and made an observation that perfectly captured the atmosphere of the show. He said his wife asked him why he enjoys card shows so much and his response was simple yet undeniably true.
“It’s like hanging out with the boys at the bar, except you just remove the beer part.”
Honestly, by the end of the day it was hard to disagree with his assessment. The cards were great, but the experience was even better.
As we moseyed our way home through the winding back roads of Indiana, we passed several interesting businesses, roadside attractions and old properties that you just don’t see in the city and as my friend said:
“There’s nothing on the highway, but highway.”
At the end of the day, I realized it wasn’t about the destination at all. It was about the journey, and I think that succinctly sums up the experience of most people in the hobby today.
If you missed this edition of the Midwest Monster, don’t worry. The show takes place again on October 2nd and 3rd at the Best Choice Fieldhouse in Fishers Indiana.