1976 was the year we celebrated as a country our 200th birthday and Jimmy Carter was elected president. Apple and Microsoft incorporated that year and Steve Wozniak and Steven Jobs sold their first Apple computer for $666.66 because as Wozniak explained he liked repeating numbers, but more importantly, to the sports collecting hobby The Cranston Sports Card Show made its debut as well.

“We like perpetual numbers instead and the 47th Cranston Sports Card Show has followed 46 previous ones and is still a classic in the industry,” noted promoter Mike Mangasarian. “Apple may be a little bit bigger than our show” laughed the Mangasarian, “but communications with dealers and collectors will be prominent all day long in a numerous capacity at our show with Apple iPhones.” 

There is no sport collecting show in New England that comes near the longevity of this sports collecting classic. It is older than the National and is the oldest charity run sports card show in North America.  It still maintains its theme as an affordable destination event for collector and dealer as a fun hobby experience with proceeds benefiting the charities of two churches which is the Immaculate Conception Church in Cranston, RI for helping those in need and Sts. Vartanantz Armenian Youth Federation athletes in Providence, RI who travel to a new destination city each year to defray expenses as a Olympic style National competition on Labor Day weekend, and the Coventry High School Athletic Hall of Fame are the three charities.

So far, the autograph guests on the hockey stage is USA hockey Hall of Famer Paul Stewart who is returning and will be featured with Boston Bruin and Providence and Boston Bruin and Philadelphia Flyer 15-year hockey veteran Chris Winnes will join the stars along with 10-year professional veteran and P-Bruin Howie Rosenblatt. Mail order on all athletes is available as well as dealer inquiries.

In the heart of winter with flu, Covid, and more please confirm with promoter the appearance of any guest that illness may prevent them from appearing a few days before the event.  If this occurs we will arrange a private signing to get your items autographed as soon as possible.

The quality of the dealers on the floor come from 11 states which are MD, PA, NJ, NY, CT, RI, MA, NH, ME, IN, and VT and represent over 1,700 years of sports collectibles business experience. “I recruited the best dealers outside our local market from 11 different states and the other 50 percent are our spectacular RI, MA and CT locals who were the foundation of the shows beginnings,” Mangasarian explained.  

What you can expect to see for purchase besides modern and vintage sports cards will be RI Reds hockey memorabilia, incredible autographs, vintage equipment in all sports, graded cards, Pokémon, pennants, non sports cards, tobacco cards, wax boxes and packs, hobby supplies, vintage photo’s, yearbooks, programs, ticket stubs, regional issues,  comic books, and a whole lot more.  An example of an extraordinary item that came up for sale at the last show in February was a Jackie Robinson autographed High School yearbook being one of his earliest known signatures.

The show is today at 150 tables which is Feb. 4 & 5, 2023.

“I am so excited to announce that the biggest request by our customers through all of our social media outlets was to have card grading companies at the show and has finally come true after four years of trying! Not only did we land one or two but we have all three of the major graders having representation for their companies at the show in February!,” said Mangasarian. The newest and biggest addition to The Cranston Sports Card Show that has never appeared previously is that a representative for PSA, SGC, and Beckett Grading will be handled by Nash Cards headquartered in Philadelphia, PA and submissions are estimated to be at a three-week turnaround.  Review orders can be created ahead of time

There will be for all baseball fans an original 8x2 foot piece of Fenway Park’s Green Monster to have your picture taken in front of for free from the 2003 renovation of the scoreboards with a paid admission. 

Entrance to the show and show hours are as follows;    

Date: Sat. Feb. 4 & Sun. Feb 5, 2023. 

Time: Saturday 9-5 (Early Bird admission 8am), Sunday 8:30 – 3:00 

Where: Coventry High School Gym, 40 Reservoir Rd., Coventry RI.  This new location can support the shows rapid growth to which the show promoter hopes to be at the facilities full capacity of 250 tables in 2025.  

admission is $6 each day & $8 for a 2 day pass. Say, “Put me on your mailing list” and get a $1 discount off your one day admission only on non discounted pricing. For discounted pricing say “Put me on your mailing list” and get a free gift such as a pack of cards or the equivalent as supplies last. 

Discounted admission for seniors 65 & older, Veterans, and children 12 and under is $3, Children 5 and under are free. Discounted 2 day admission tickets are $5 for both days. A very special popular feature being offered for the fourth time will be a $20 early bird admission for 8 a.m. on Saturday for collectors who would like to get on the show floor before the doors open to the public. A collector will have early entry to collectibles for one hour before the general public has access.

“I believe this was an industry first when we first did it five years ago and it will continue in 2023 because of its popularity” said Mangasarian. Buying tickets online can be purchased at  https://givebutter.com/cscs2023 to avoid lines at the door.

Attendance is expected to exceed the 1,500 admissions paid in 2022 as attendance records were broken for a two day show on the first day within the first five hours of Saturday.