The small city of Camarillo, located in Ventura County along California’s Central Coast, has deep roots in the history of baseball cards. While it may seem an unlikely hotbed for the hobby, several important developments related to the collecting and production of cards occurred in and around Camarillo in the latter half of the 20th century.
One of the earliest organized baseball card collecting clubs was founded in Camarillo in the late 1950s. A group of students at Camarillo High School, fascinated by the colorful images on the cardboard trading strips included in packages of bubble gum and cigarettes, decided to start formally swapping and tracking their collections. They dubbed their club the “Camarillo Card Collectors” and would meet regularly to engage in the then-novel hobby of assigning value to cards and setting up trades. Word of the club spread among collectors in Southern California, helping popularize the idea of baseball cards as a legitimate interest worthy of organized fandom.
In the 1960s, two brothers from Camarillo who had been members of that original high school club would go on to revolutionize the business side of the baseball card industry. Jim and Gary Holland, now in their early 20s, recognized the untapped potential for mass-produced boxes and packs of cards specifically geared towards collectors rather than included as promotions. In 1967, they founded the Camarillo-based company Sportflics Inc., which released the first ever wax packs of baseball cards sold exclusively on their own merits. Prior to Sportflics, cards were only available as incentives bundled with other products. The Hollands’ innovation opened the floodgates for the modern baseball card company model.
Sportflics was based in an industrial area of Camarillo near the border of Ventura. In addition to producing innovative new sets highlighting the biggest stars of the day, the company also contracted with smaller firms to manufacture cards under license. One such partner was the fledgling Topps company, which had been struggling to gain a foothold in the market. The Sportflics arrangement allowed Topps to release some of its earliest standalone card issues. Within a few short years, Topps had eclipsed Sportflics to become the industry leader – a position it still holds today. But the Sportflics factory in Camarillo was where the blueprint was first laid.
In the 1970s and 80s, Camarillo continued to play an important role as the city became a hotspot for baseball card shows. Local collector Brian Busby organized some of the earliest and largest card conventions in Ventura County, drawing thousands of enthusiasts from across Southern California. Many of the shows were held at the Camarillo Community Center and nearby fairgrounds. It was at these bustling weekend events that today’s biggest stars cut their teeth as dealers, building connections and knowledge in an atmosphere of friendly competition and camaraderie.
One dealer who got his start on the Camarillo show circuit was Bill Mastro. After graduating from Cal State Northridge, Mastro began attending the Camarillo shows in the late 1970s, eventually turning his hobby into a full-fledged business. In 1981, he founded Mastro Auctions – one of the pioneering companies that transformed the collecting landscape by introducing standardized grading and auction services. Cards that may have previously been tucked away in shoeboxes were now receiving numerical condition grades and selling to the highest bidder. Mastro Auctions put the city of Camarillo on the map in the world of high-end memorabilia.
Through the 1980s and 90s, Camarillo-area shows continued to serve as a proving ground for young collectors-turned-dealers like Mastro. The city itself also became home to several bustling card shops and memorabilia stores. Places like Camarillo Card Corner, Sports Collectibles, and Bob’s Baseball Cards lined busy streets and shopping centers, catering to the booming local collector base with supplies, supplies and expertise. Camarillo native Steve Hart started working at one such shop as a teenager in the late 80s, learning the ins and outs of the business before opening his own acclaimed store Steve’s Baseball Cards in nearby Thousand Oaks.
While the heyday of large card shows has passed, Camarillo’s legacy lives on in the countless collectors, dealers, entrepreneurs and hobby pioneers who cut their teeth amid the city’s rich baseball card history. The school clubs, factory production lines, convention halls and local shops of yesteryear set the stage for today’s multibillion-dollar sports memorabilia industry. Though a small Central Coast town, Camarillo left an outsized mark on the world of cards. Its contributions are still felt nationwide as new generations discover the joy, community and nostalgia that can be found in a simple stack of cardboard.
