The Cranston Sports Collectors Show, which began in 1976 inside St. Joseph’s Hall at the Immaculate Conception Church in Cranston, will present its 38th anniversary edition this Saturday, Feb. 1 at West Valley Inn in West Warwick.

From its humble beginnings with no more than a dozen or so tables, the Cranston Sports Collectors Show has grown and will have 112 eight-foot banquet tables Saturday and occupy upward of 10,000 square feet in WVI’s Triple Crown and Garden Rooms.

It is estimated that the Cranston Sports Collectors Show, which is the oldest and longest running show of its kind in New England, has generated more than a quarter of a million dollars for the Cranston-based parish’s St. Joseph Men’s Guild.

Why, though, is the Cranston Sports Collectors Show so popular among sports fans, memorabilia buffs and dealers from all over New England, as well as the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan, year in and year out?

Perhaps the fact that Alan Rosen, or “Mr. Mint” as he’s known in the collector’s world, attends the show each year is a testimony to the Cranston Sports Collectors Show’s unmatched reputation.

Rosen, who will reportedly be back in Rhode Island for Saturday’s show, is rumored to have once spent $248,000 at the event.

Those attending the Cranston Sports Collectors Show can find everything from baseball cards to framed and valuable memorabilia during the near eight-hour event that will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Chris Avanzo, Bill Lanni and John Zolli, who frequent All Star Baseball Cards at 1600 Cranston St., described the Cranston Sports Collectors Show as a huge family and sports reunion, where even the smallest dealer can shine in “Memorabilia Mecca” and fans can learn interesting tidbits and history about the nation’s greatest sports heroes.

Bill Begones, who owns and operates All Star Baseball Cards, said the success of the Cranston Sports Collectors Show is due to its founder, Tom McDonaugh, 75.

“Tom goes all out for the show,” said Begones, a one-time Cranston police officer who’ll have the second largest display at Saturday’s show. “He brings in quality people and runs a quality show that’s been good for dealers. No [celebrities], just dealers who Tom has taken care of for years and years.”

Begones, whose establishment is small in size and huge in stock and has been a popular attraction in the village of Knightsville since 1987, added, “Tom has earned the respect of dealers throughout New England. That’s why they travel here; he’s honest and makes sure that we [dealers] are always the core of the show.”

And that’s the way McDonough, who before his retirement was the associate director of the R.I. Department of Human Services, has always run his show.

“This show is for dealers and buyers only!” McDonough said. “I don’t want extra expenses like paying a celebrity to come in and sign autographs. I want to make sure we get an income for the church and our dealers have an opportunity to make a day’s pay.”

Begones said the Cranston Sports Collectors Show has outlasted a lot of shows in and out of state.

Only once, back in 1984, has the show been postponed. But that was because McDonough’s father, the late Thomas J. McDonough, passed away in October.

“I just couldn’t get it going after losing my dad,” McDonough said.

But since that year, the show has grown in popularity and attendance, developing into a longstanding New England tradition and becoming a valued piece of sports life in Rhode Island.

Saturday’s show is expected to draw hundreds of sports collecting fans to buy, sell and trade cards, books, equipment and other items. Admission is only $3 per person, and West Valley Inn will have everything from meatball sandwiches to hamburgers and hot dogs on sale.

One of the show’s special events will be a raffle that McDonough said will have “lots and lots of prizes as the day goes on. Some of our dealers donate items during the day, and we’ll have things like framed Frankie Galasso sports cartoons, golf accessories – everything for all kinds of sports fans.”