Sports Cards Plus has been active in The Hobby since 1982. We started selling at Sport Card Shows in 1985 and in 1992 we opened Sports Cards Plus in The Lockhill Village Shopping Center on the Northside of San Antonio, Texas.
The Hobby (an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation) has five main aspects to it. Those of us involved in this hobby, may find ourselves described by one or more of the following:
1. Collecting as an individual effort, just for the fun of it with no concern as to the extrinsic value of one's collection.
2. Collecting as a social activity to share our love for what we do.
3. Collecting as an long-term investment with the end goal of liquidating or selling in part or all, sometime in the future.
4. Collecting as a short-term investment, buying and selling as pieces of our investment peak in value, then replacing what we sell with more pieces with perceived potential.
5. Those entirely involved in the business side of The Hobby, who facilitate the needs and wants of those described above.
I can be described as "all of the above." I have a sizeable personal collection which I find difficult to let go of. I own a business, Sports Cards Plus which sometime in the foreseeable future will be owned by my son.
We've seen many changes in The Hobby, most of which have been improvements. The internet, with its technology, capabilities and pitfalls has been a major change agent, bringing us to where The Hobby stands today.
Sports Card Forums, eBay, internet trading sites, Youtube, Group Breaker sites are all valuable pieces of The Hobby and have greatly expanded the reach of the collector. At the same time, especially in the case of the novice hobbyist, the internet has been a place where "a few bad apples" are lurking in efforts to take advantage of good willed hobbyist and cheat them out of their money.
Through it all, the brick & mortar physical Card Shop has been the stabilizing safe-haven for all hobbyist, experienced and novice, to learn & expand their collecting interests. The physical Card Shop provides a safe-haven for face-to-face education, social contact with others of like interests, and immediate exchange of hobby needs.
Sports Cards Plus has taken great pride in taking the time to educate the novice collector and provide a family-friendly physical location for collectors of all experience-levels to reach their collecting goals.
In our efforts to make this a better hobby for the San Antonio community, we held our first "Card Show In The Shop" on Saturday, March 23rd. This was a "Beta Test" of sorts to see how this might work, determine areas for improvement and plan the next event.
Five collector show dealers set up to buy/sell/trade with Sports Cards Plus Saturday customers. By my count, over 100 Sports Cards Plus customers showed up to interact with our customer show dealers.
Initial feedback from Saturday customers was extremely positive and all show dealers said they wanted to do it again. Over the course of the next few days, I will seek feedback from each of the show dealers and some of my repeat customers to see how we can improve the event for everyone.
Mark Saturday, April 20th on your calendar for our next "Card Show in The Shop." It will be a little bigger and even better for for everyone.
