The five best things I saw at the National Sports Collectors Convention

The Donald E. Stephens Center in Rosemont, Illinois, hosted the 43rd National Sports Collectors Convention over the weekend with hundreds of booths displaying everything from NFL rookie cards to Pokémon cards and everything in between.

Here are five of the best things I saw while touring the show:

Mike Singletary signed final game jersey

This signed, game-worn jersey from Singletary’s final professional game for the Bears against the Dallas Cowboys was selling for $19,500. Singletary was the starting middle linebacker of the legendary 1985 Chicago Bears defense and reeled in two AP Defensive Player of the Year awards across 12 seasons. The jersey was just one piece of memorabilia from Singletary’s career with a number of cards, pictures, etc. available as well.

Justyn Farano exhibit

One of the most famous athlete artists ever, Farano is the one and only artist that Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods will sign for. At the 43^rd NSCC, Farano displayed a number of his most popular paintings including his “Art of the Steal” painting of Rickey Henderson, his “Here’s Looking at You, Kid” of Ken Griffey Jr., his “My Way” of Derek Jeter along with many more.

He is currently working on a new piece of Jordan that he displayed over the weekend, seen in the picture below.

Jordan 25th anniversary display

25 years ago, the Chicago Bulls won their last NBA Finals before breaking up the core that had just won a three-peat. The NSCC honored the anniversary with a display set up in Jordan’s honor with 10 of his signature shoes, a signed jersey and a painting of “The Shot” that secured that final championship.

Ernie Banks rookie card

One of the best Cubs to ever do it, Banks wasted no time to burst onto the scene in MLB as he posted a slash line of .275/.326/.427 in 1954 en route to a second-place finish in the Rookie of the Year voting and a 16th place finish in MVP voting. The NSCC held a number of Cubs rookie cards, but Banks’ #94 Topps rookie card stood out above the rest.

Pikachu Pokémon Illustrator card

While it may be called the National Sports Collectors Convention, there were plenty of collectibles not related to sports. That included one of the most expensive Pokémon cards to ever be sold and the most expensive item that I came across in my time at the NSCC with this Pikachu Pokémon Illustrator card. For $1.5 million, you could have this gem mint 10 collectible.