Allen Iverson will appear for an autograph signing at the Collector’s Jam in Concord on June 6, the organizers said, marking the former All-Star’s first sports-card convention signing in the Charlotte area.
The Collector’s Jam runs June 5–7 at Cabarrus Arena and will fill more than 600 tables, with roughly half the room devoted to sports cards and memorabilia and the other half given over to trading-card games, Pokémon, anime toys, collectibles and video games. Sports Wax Promotions and Wilder Side of Sports are bringing Iverson to the show, which also lists Panthers players Ja’Tavion Sanders and Jonathon Brooks, former NBA player and podcaster Vernon Maxwell, and Duke quarterback Walker Eget among scheduled guests. Voice actors Matthew Sussman and Haven Burton Paschall will attend to take photos and talk anime through the weekend.
Iverson—an 11-time NBA All-Star and a member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team who won four scoring titles during his career—lives in Charlotte, and organizers say this will be his first autograph signing at a sports-card convention in the city’s area. The appearance is the kind of draw that can turn a regional card show into a must-attend weekend for collectors and casual fans alike.
James Ferree, who has organized card shows in the Charlotte area since 2021 under Sports Wax Promotions, said he has run well over 30 shows across North and South Carolina in the past five years and described the market as energized. He pointed to booming demand for TCG products—singling out One Piece—and to strong sales when case hits land. Ferree also noted that Topps’s football and basketball licenses and a spate of new product drops have kept activity high, and he said he takes pride in helping collectors turn weekend tables into businesses, with some moving from shows to online streaming and even opening shops.
Ferree said younger collectors are buying and trading at shows with an eye toward selling on platforms like Whatnot, which he called entertaining for some users while helping keep cards moving through the market. Those dynamics have helped expand a convention model that now pairs traditional autograph and card tables with a large footprint for gaming and pop-culture collectibles.
The numbers underline the event’s scale: more than 600 tables and a split floor that reflects a hobby that has diversified beyond vintage baseball and high-end basketball into TCGs, Pokémon and anime merchandise. For organizers, that split is deliberate—an effort to serve long-time collectors and a new generation that treats card shows as both social space and supply chain for online sales.
Iverson’s presence also carries a cultural weight that reaches beyond the autograph line. Former player Jon Barry recalled on a podcast that he did not want to be matched up with Iverson during his career, noting Iverson averaged 30.5 points in their 17 meetings. Barry compared that figure to the scoring he faced from other stars—saying Michael Jordan averaged 27.5 points against him and Kobe Bryant 23.9—then described guarding Iverson’s crossover as among the most difficult assignments he faced.
That combination of local ties, historic cachet and competitive lore helps explain why organizers booked Iverson and why collectors expect a big turnout. The Collector’s Jam bills itself as more than an autograph fair: it is a snapshot of a hobby where nostalgia and new product demand collide, and where a weekend convention can serve both as market and stage.
Iverson will be on site June 6; the show runs June 5–7. If past signings are any guide, his appearance will not only sell tickets and slabs but will also test how well a regional convention can absorb a marquee local star—and whether that moment nudges more high-profile athletes to appear at similar events in the Southeast.
