A Day at Card Party 3 — When Charlie Became a Mini Celebrity

This past Sunday, 10/5, my son Charlie and I took a trip up to the Seattle Convention Center for Card Party 3, a three-day Pokémon card event that ran from Friday through Sunday. We only went for the final day, but wow—what a day it was.

When we first walked into the exhibit hall, I thought, “Okay, this is big.” Then I realized there was another exhibit hall on top of that plus upstairs for speakers to talk to the attendees. So yeah—it was a large event. Everywhere you looked there were vendors, tables stacked with Pokémon cards, and people of all ages carrying cases, boxes, and bags filled with cards to trade or sell. Kids, adults, men, women—you name it, they were there, and everyone seemed to be making deals. Judging by the number of transactions I saw (and the prices), there had to be millions of dollars flowing through that place in a single day.

Charlie had an awesome time. He picked up a few cards and collectibles, I grabbed him an early birthday/Christmas gift, and he even sold one of his own cards for a surprisingly impressive amount (I’ll let him keep that secret).

One thing that really stood out this year was how many content creators were there. It felt like every other person had a camera or mic, either recording themselves, interviewing vendors, or live streaming the whole experience. It added a pretty wild energy to the place—kind of like being inside a YouTube video in real time.

But the real highlight came during the closing event. There must’ve been over a thousand people in the audience, and out of everyone there, Charlie was one of the lucky few called up to participate on stage. Not only did he win six boxes of cards, but he also became an unexpected crowd favorite.

The host, Pat from Deep Pocket Monsters,—who happens to be a major influencer with over two million subscribers—asked Charlie how he was doing. Charlie’s answer? A simple, “Good.” That one word somehow became the running joke of the night. Every so often, the host would check back in—“Charlie, how you doing?”—and each time, Charlie just said, “Good.”

At one point, the entire crowd was chanting his name: “Charlie! Charlie! Charlie!” I tried to pull my phone out to record it, but I was too slow (dad fail). Afterward, a few people even came up to him, told him he was hilarious, and congratulated him. He walked out of there a mini celebrity.

All in all, it was an incredible day—one of those unexpected memories you know you’ll talk about for years. Charlie’s still riding the high, and honestly, I am too.