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Local sports card collectors gathered at the Syracuse Sports Card and Memorabilia Show on Saturday to expand their collections and knowledge of the hobby. The event, hosted by Albany New York Show Promotions, pulled in many collectors from the upstate New York area and has been running monthly since 1974.

Tables at the event included cards and memorabilia from a variety of sports and genres, including vintage baseball, current football and basketball and Pokémon cards. Many hosts showed off their cards in plastic cases, greeting guests who were interested in learning about or buying part of their collection. 

The show featured both new and longtime collectors. Antonio Lorini, a collector from Cicero, was one of the table hosts at the event. While he’d attended before, he noted how the community was welcoming for him at first.

“I was really surprised with how nice everyone was the first time being here. It feels like something good to keep coming to,” Lorini said. 

Most newer collectors were children coming with members of their family. Scott Trudell, one of the organizers of the event, said that the hobby of card collecting has brought families together. 

“This is a generational hobby,” Trudell said. “It’s grandfathers and their sons, and then the grandkids (get interested).”

The event was one of the first for some collectors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But the hobby still thrived with collectors having more time to research and figure out the specific items they wanted.

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“It created a tsunami wave of interest in the hobby,” Trudell said. 

As restrictions eased up, people had greater interests to go out and build their collections, Trudell said. People were eager to get out and buy the cards of the players they wanted, which they were finally able to do, Trudell said. Lorini said that when more people attend the card show, the collecting community becomes stronger.

Collectors said that the event built their collections and helped them interact with other members of the hobby. Attendee Eric Donisi said the biggest asset of the in-person event is the ability to make “a lot of trades” with the small price of buying a table.

Some collectors also came to the event in search of very specific items. Donisi, a big fan of Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, set up his table with as many cards of him as possible in case anyone wanted to trade for them. Lorini said his favorite pieces to collect are Las Vegas Raider cards, specifically the Hall of Famers from the franchise.

The event itself also allowed collectors to make profits off of displayed cards. Collectors can enhance the value of their cards by using grading services such as Professional Sports Authenticators and Beckett Card Grading Services so they can be sold at higher values. 

Chris Reedy said that someone can buy a card for $5, get it graded for $10 and then depending on its condition, it can be sold for as much as $50.

The financial gain from selling cards could go toward collecting more rare and higher valued cards, Reedy said. But collecting is still supposed to be a hobby meant to be shared with family and friends, Trudell said.

“If (all collectors) keep that focus, it can be enjoyed for generations to come,” Trudell said. 

Published on October 11, 2022 at 1:43 am

Contact Timmy at: tswilcox@syr.edu | @TimmyWilcox32