Baseball Cards in Austin: A Rich History of Collecting and Community
Baseball card collecting has deep roots in Austin, Texas dating back to the early 20th century. What began as children swapping and trading cards in schoolyards has grown into a full-fledged hobby and business with dedicated shops, shows, and a strong community of collectors. Whether you’re looking to start a new collection, add to an existing one, or just reminisce about childhood summers spent pouring through stacks of cards, Austin offers plenty of options to engage with the baseball card world.
Some of the earliest documentation of baseball card collecting in Austin comes from newspaper articles in the 1930s and 40s describing young boys eagerly awaiting the next shipment of cards to hit local stores. Brands like Goudey, Play Ball, and Leaf were among the most popular manufacturers at the time producing iconic cards of legends like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Joe DiMaggio. As interest grew, the first informal meetups between collectors started taking shape, usually organized by local card shops.
Into the 1950s and 60s, Topps emerged as the dominant force in the industry and Austin collectors followed all the new releases. The city’s love affair with the University of Texas Longhorns also translated to strong local interest in regional stars with Longhorn ties that made their way to Topps sets. Growth in youth leagues and Little League programs through this era kept the card collecting tradition alive for new generations as well.
Austin’s first dedicated baseball card shop, Ernie’s Cards, opened its doors in 1973 in a small storefront near the University of Texas campus. Founder Ernie Moreno had been a collector since childhood and saw an opportunity to serve the growing collector community. Ernie’s Cards became a popular hangout and helped foster relationships between collectors of all ages. Moreno was also an early proponent of organizing card shows to bring the local hobby scene together beyond the walls of his store.
Into the late 1970s and 80s, Ernie’s Cards and a few other shops like It’s a Hit on Burnet Road fueled the boom years of the hobby. Sports card values were rising rapidly and the introduction of oddball and independent sets from manufacturers like Fleer, Donruss, and Score captured collectors’ imaginations. Austin native and MLB star Jeff Bagwell’s rookie cards from those era sets are still highly sought after by local collectors today. Ernie’s Cards hosted some of the first major card shows in Austin, helping cement the city’s reputation as a baseball card hub.
The 1990s saw new heights of popularity and commercialization of the hobby. Major sports networks like ESPN brought more exposure. Retailers like Walmart and Target started devoting more shelf space to cards. And the rise of the internet allowed for easier connection between collectors all over. Two new shops opened in Austin during this decade to help meet growing demand – Cardboard Memories in South Austin and The Topps Shop in North Austin. Both featured walls of newly released sets and also stocked supplies for collectors to carefully store and organize their collections.
In the 2000s, the rise of online selling platforms like eBay made it possible for even casual collectors to liquidate parts of their collections to help fund new acquisitions. This led to greater accessibility of even the most valuable vintage cards. It also allowed local shops to source inventory from a wider area. By the late 2000s, the economic downturn began to impact sales at brick-and-mortar shops. Ernie’s Cards and It’s a Hit ultimately closed their doors for good. But Cardboard Memories and The Topps Shop have endured to today with their loyal customer bases.
The current baseball card scene in Austin remains vibrant despite the closures of some pioneering shops. Monthly trading card shows still draw hundreds of collectors throughout the year. The two longest-tenured shops, Cardboard Memories and The Topps Shop, provide bricks-and-mortar destinations as well as robust online stores. Facebook groups like “Austin Sports Card Collectors” have also flourished in recent years to help connect locals virtually. And new shops periodically pop up as well to fill niches, such as All-Star Cards & Collectibles which focuses on vintage stock.
As baseball itself faces challenges to grow its fanbase, card collecting provides a fun avenue especially for younger fans to connect to the game’s history. For those just starting out, learning the values of stars from previous eras can be as exciting as following today’s players. With its deep roots and passionate community, Austin’s baseball card scene looks poised to continue engaging new generations of collectors for decades to come. Whether searching old collections in the attic or hunting the latest releases, this city offers no shortage of ways to enjoy America’s pastime on cardboard.
