All Star Baseball Cards was a beloved hobby shop that operated in Cranston, Rhode Island from the late 1970s through the early 2000s. The store served as a hub for local collectors and helped fuel the baseball card collecting craze during the sport’s peak popularity era.
Located in a small strip mall on Park Avenue, All Star Baseball Cards was opened in 1977 by lifelong baseball fan John Russo. Russo had been an avid collector since he was a young boy in the 1950s and was fascinated by the photographs and statistics provided on early cardboard issues. He dreamed of one day sharing his passion with others.
When the modern era of mass-produced baseball cards began in the late 1960s with Topps, Russo was enthralled. He began visiting the local drug stores and candy shops, eagerly awaiting the release of each new series. As the hobby grew exponentially in the 1970s alongside the rise of national television coverage of Major League Baseball, Russo recognized an opportunity.
He saved up enough money from his job as an accountant to lease a small retail space. All Star Baseball Cards was born, stocking the newest releases from Topps, Fleer, and Donruss. It wasn’t long before the humble shop became a must-visit location for any collector in the area.
In the store’s early days, Russo focused on moving packages of commons and basics to build inventory. But he also cultivated relationships with distributors that allowed him to get coveted hobby boxes and factory sets shortly after release. This guaranteed All Star had the hottest new cardboard available, which drew crowds of customers each week.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, All Star Baseball Cards grew alongside the sport’s popularity on television and at the box office. Russo expanded his inventory to include other trading card products beyond just baseball. Football, basketball, and hockey issues filled the once baseball-only shelves. The store also became a destination for supplies, with racks featuring penny sleeves, toploaders, binders, and storage boxes.
All Star soon outgrew its original small shop space. In 1982, Russo was able to lease a unit in a larger strip mall down the road that quadrupled his retail area. This allowed for much greater product selection and also provided room for in-store activities. Under the new roof, All Star began hosting trading card shows most weekends that were hugely popular within the collector community.
Major events like release parties and autograph signings with former Red Sox and Yankees players kept customers coming back for more. The store’s reputation as a premiere hobby shop destination grew well beyond just Cranston. Collectors traveled from across Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts hoping to find treasures within All Star’s crowded walls.
Into the 1990s, All Star Baseball Cards remained on the cutting edge of the industry as it expanded. Russo worked hard to keep up with the boom of sports memorabilia and added significant inventory of autographed balls, bats, jerseys and photos. The rise of the internet also allowed his online storefront to broaden his customer base even further.
After 25 years of operation, Russo made the difficult decision to close the original All Star Baseball Cards location in 2002. By that point, the sports card collecting frenzy of the late 80s and early 90s had subsided. While maintaining a strong local following, the shop could no longer justify the high costs of the large retail space.
However, Russo was not ready to fully leave the hobby behind. Using the relationships and inventory built over decades, he transitioned All Star Baseball Cards into an very successful online auction business. Operating out of his home, Russo was able to use eBay and later specialty sports auction sites to move his vast collection of vintage and rare cards to eager collectors all over the world.
Now in his 70s, John Russo has retired from actively selling. But his impact on the New England hobby scene lives on. For over 25 years, All Star Baseball Cards fueled the passions of generations of local collectors. It brought together a close-knit community and helped grow the sport’s popularity through its embrace of the colorful cardboard that chronicled baseball’s history. Russo’s legacy will never be forgotten in Cranston, a town that owes so much to its favorite card shop.
