Baseball cards have been a beloved pastime for collectors across the United States for over a century. In the small coastal town of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, located just outside of Charleston, baseball card collecting remains a vibrant hobby for people of all ages. With a rich history of the sport and some dedicated local shops, Mt. Pleasant has built up a knowledgeable community of people pursuing their baseball card collections and interests.
Some of the earliest baseball cards were produced in the late 1800s as promotions for chewing gum and tobacco brands like Old Judge and Sweet Caporal cigarettes. These vintage cards are now highly valuable collectors items. While Mt. Pleasant was still a small town in those early days of baseball cards, the region had a strong connection to the growing sport. Charleston was home to one of the earliest professional baseball teams when the Charleston Seagulls played in the 1880s. That early exposure helped foster a baseball culture that remains today.
Into the 1900s, baseball card production expanded with the rise of bubble gum companies like Topps. Their iconic design of a photo on the front with stats on the back became the standard format. As baseball grew in popularity nationally after World War II, so too did the hobby of collecting its cards. In Mt. Pleasant in the 1950s, kids could be found trading and discussing their newest acquisitions, hoping to complete sets or find a prized rookie. Local variety stores and drug stores stocked the most recent series to satisfy demand.
Two shops in particular have served as hubs for the baseball card community in Mt. Pleasant for decades – Sports Cards Plus and Hallways Comics & Cards. Sports Cards Plus first opened in 1989 and is still owned and operated by the same family today. They built up a reputation for having a massive selection of new and vintage cards along with supplies for collectors. Hallways Comics & Cards, established in 1992, focuses more on the intersection of cards with other collectibles like comics, but still caters greatly to local baseball aficionados.
Both shops host frequent events that draw card collectors from across the region. These include release parties for new series from Topps, Panini, and others where attendees can get exclusive promotional items. Large card shows and conventions are also regularly scheduled with tables of vendors to browse. During these gatherings, collectors of all ages can be seen making trades, discussing the latest players and storylines in MLB, and bonding over their shared interest.
While the internet has allowed for card trading and sales to increasingly move online, the local brick and mortar shops remain important community centers. They provide a place for in-person interaction that helps keep the hobby social and fun. Both Sports Cards Plus and Hallways Comics & Cards also offer services like grading submissions to professional authentication companies to verify condition and increase value.
In terms of notable cards from Mt. Pleasant collectors over the years, a 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan rookie in near mint condition was sold at Sports Cards Plus in 2015 for over $30,000. Also, a local man amassed one of the largest complete vintage set collections in the country during the 1990s and 2000s before eventually downsizing. In the modern era, local middle schoolers regularly pull rookie stars out of packs or in breaks that could become valuable someday.
The passion for baseball cards even extends beyond collecting for personal enjoyment. Both shops run baseball card investment seminars explaining the market dynamics and long term potential of cards as alternative assets. Graded vintage rookies from the 1950s like Mickey Mantle and recent stars like Mike Trout have seen incredible appreciation that has created millionaires. With careful research and due diligence, cards represent a tangible hobby that can turn a profit for savvy investors.
Looking ahead, as long as baseball remains America’s pastime, Mt. Pleasant expects its rich baseball card community and local businesses supporting it to continue thriving. Younger generations are now taking the reins of the hobby alongside longtime collectors. Events like the National Sports Collectors Convention held annually in different cities also help sustain interest. With over a century of history behind it, the tradition of baseball card collecting shows no signs of slowing down in this coastal South Carolina town. Mt. Pleasant’s shops will keep fueling the passion while bringing collectors together.
