Host of Keep it Aloha PodcastKamaka Dias welcomed attendees Sunday morning to the inaugural Keep it Aloha Card Show, which ran over the weekend at SALT at Our Kakaʻako. He spun a colorful wheel and handed out free Pokémon card packs available in a variety of languages, including ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, to keiki who had formed a line outside The Barn venue space filled with more than 50 vendors.
Also featured at the event were balloon artists, Hawaiʻi musician Dillon Pakele, and comedian Tumua, who launched new merchandise with help from The Standup Life co-host, Rachael Ostovich.
"I couldn’t have imagined this kind of turnout for our first event at @saltourkakaako," Dias said in an Instagram post. "Mahalo to my favorite app @getcollectr for helping us make this a free event for the vendors and the public!"
Dias told Aloha State Daily on Wednesday, "I’m more about community than having a card show to make money. ... We're just a bunch of adults obsessed with Pokémon. We grew up with it in the 90s and early 2000s, it was something cool. Then years later they're coming back."
He explained that now new cards are being printed every month, so "you can hold onto them, keep them sealed, and when it goes up in value, you can sell them for a profit, or hang onto them."
Dias' most valuable card, he says, is shared with his girlfriend, Faith Rogers, from their first booster box: a special illustration Mega Charizard X EX, selling at around $800 and up.
"It's kind of like a work of art, you can admire it in your house."
A couple days later, Dias took it to Instagram to announce that Keep it Aloha Events' card show would be back on Friday, June 5. “We have locked in dates [at SALT at Our Kakaʻako] for the rest of the year,” it was announced Tuesday.
This event, like the first, is hosted by Hawaiʻi Collectibles, which added on its website: "Our first show was a huge success with over 5,000 attendees and 70-plus vendors! Thank you for everyone who participated and we've just secured SALT for another show in June." Vendors can now enter the waitlist for upcoming card shows at hawaiicollectibles.com.
The Keep it Aloha Card Show will run every first weekend of the month through 2026, he said, adding that days and times vary.
Sponsors for the inaugural Keep it Aloha Card Show included Waiakea, Aloha Card Shop, Kōkua Initiative, Pakele Entertainment and MerchLabs, per its flyer.
Dias recently shared his love of ripping Pokémon packs with Kenji Lee and Taisei Lee for Oʻahu-based podcast Brotherlee Time. On his own podcast, he enjoyed the hobby during an interview with Gov. Josh Green. Dias even created a separate Instagram account @kamakarips.
"At the end of every podcast episode this year, I rip a pack with our guest," he told ASD.
Dias is the president of Keep it Aloha Foundation whose mission is “to unite traditional and modern Hawaiʻi, leveraging contemporary tools and inherited wisdom from our kūpuna.” The means in which the nonprofit operates is through education, online media and specialized programs that preserve Hawaiian culture and strengthen community.
According to his bio, Dias is a Native Hawaiian from Hilo, who attended Hawaiian Language Immersion schools until his senior year when he moved to Oʻahu and graduated from Kaiser High School. He later graduated with a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and joined the Peace Corps to serve in Madagascar for three years. He returned home in 2019, co-founded Hawaiiverse, and through his growing platform, aims to give back to the local community.
"The essence of ʻKeeping it aloha,ʻ you know, it's not just word, it's not a phrase; it's a mindset and a lifestyle, he said. "People can 'Keep it aloha' in different ways in their life. So whether that's through cards, aloha ʻāina work, whatever you do, "Keep it aloha.'"
Looking ahead, Dias is excited to be traveling with the podcast, thanks to a partnership with Hawaiian Airlines, while working on his second book, and, of course, more card shows.
"I'm also taking care of my health, making sure I don't burnout by getting more active and back into surfing."
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Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros can be reached at kelsey@alohastatedaily.com.
