Baseball Cards in Tucson: A Rich History of Collecting in the Old Pueblo
Tucson, Arizona has long been a hotbed for baseball card collecting activity. With warm weather year-round and a rich baseball history in the region, Tucson provided the ideal climate and culture for the hobby to thrive for decades. While the baseball card boom years of the late 1980s and early 1990s have passed, Tucson remains a vibrant spot for collectors of all ages to enjoy America’s pastime on cardboard.
Some of the earliest organized baseball card collecting in Tucson dates back to the 1960s. Local card shops like Ernie’s Sports Cards, which opened its doors in 1962, helped popularize the emerging trend and gave collectors a dedicated place to browse, buy, sell and trade with others. Ernie’s became a fixture in the community and is still operating today, making it one of the longest running card shops in the nation. Throughout the 1960s and 70s, Ernie’s hosted weekly trading sessions and tournaments that brought collectors together from across southern Arizona.
As the hobby grew nationwide in the late 1970s and 1980s, Tucson saw a boom in dedicated baseball card stores. New shops like Hi-Tor Baseball Cards, Desert Sports Cards and Grand Slam Cards opened to meet rising demand. These stores hosted prominent signings with former MLB players and coaches, as well as large card shows that attracted visitors from as far away as Phoenix and Los Angeles. Some of the most high-profile signings in Tucson included former Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale, ex-Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly and former Cubs slugger Billy Williams.
The peak of the modern baseball card boom years from 1987-1993 were truly a golden age for Tucson collectors and retailers. With skyrocketing card values and speculation, local shops were flooded with customers on a daily basis. Multi-table card shows crammed local convention centers and hotel ballrooms every weekend. Some of the largest and most renowned shows in the southwest took place in Tucson during this frenzied period. Vendors from across the United States flocked to the city to do business.
While the national baseball card market crashed in the mid-1990s, Tucson’s dedicated collecting community helped the local hobby survive the downturn. Card shops adapted by expanding inventory of other sports and non-sports cards. Stores also shifted more focus to hosting casual gathering spaces for collectors rather than just retail transactions. To this day, many lifelong friendships in the Tucson card community were forged during this post-boom rebuilding era.
In the 2000s, as the internet reshaped how people buy and sell cards, Tucson’s brick and mortar shops remained vital local hubs. Online sales boomed, but local collectors still gravitated towards physical stores for browsing, social interaction and special local promotions. Shops thrived by cultivating loyalty through generous rewards programs and exclusive giveaways for top customers. Some stores even began producing limited print run “Tucson exclusives” cards featuring local ballplayers that are highly sought after by collectors today.
In more recent years, the baseball card market has enjoyed a renaissance driven in part by a new wave of younger collectors. Tucson has certainly benefited, with its shops seeing an influx of families and younger fans. Stores now focus on fostering the next generation through kid-friendly events like group breaks, lessons on building sets and displays, and youth baseball card clubs. Some local businesses have also pivoted to provide grading, supplies and accessories to better serve today’s advanced collector market.
While the national and online presence of baseball cards has expanded greatly, Tucson still proudly maintains its storied local scene. Multi-generational collecting families are common, passing down the hobby within neighborhoods. The tight-knit community supports each other, from fundraising efforts during hard times to annual Tucson Card Collector Expos that are not to be missed. And through it all, the friendly local card shops remain dedicated to preserving southern Arizona’s rich baseball card collecting legacy. With passionate fans and merchants ensuring its future, Tucson’s place in the world of cards appears as strong as ever.
