Baseball cards have been an integral part of American pop culture and childhood nostalgia since the late 19th century. The small collectible cards featuring images of professional baseball players became hugely popular starting in the 1880s as a promotional gimmick for tobacco companies. Over the decades, baseball cards evolved into a multibillion-dollar industry and collecting hobby. Grapevine, Texas has played an important role in the history and culture of baseball cards, especially from the 1970s onward.
Located just northwest of Dallas, Grapevine was a small farming town for much of the 20th century that gradually grew into a suburban bedroom community from the 1950s. As the city’s population expanded along with the Metroplex, local hobby shops and card stores began catering to the growing interest in collecting among kids and adults alike. One of the earliest and most renowned card shops was Ernie’s Baseball Card Shop, which opened in a small storefront on Main Street in 1972.
Ernie’s quickly became a mecca for North Texas collectors, hosting tournaments, signings with former players, and serving as a hub to buy, sell, and trade cards. Owner Ernie Martinez had a vast personal collection and encyclopedic knowledge of the industry that attracted collectors from across the region. Ernie’s played a key role in fostering the early baseball card collecting scene in Grapevine and North Texas during the 1970s and 80s boom in popularity. The shop remained a staple of the community for over 30 years before closing in the mid-2000s.
As Grapevine and the surrounding suburbs continued to rapidly grow through the 1980s and 90s, more card shops popped up to meet demand. Stores like Great Scott’s, Sportscards Plus, and Topps Cards opened locations in Grapevine and helped cement the city’s reputation as a hotbed for the hobby. These local shops hosted frequent card shows, often drawing hundreds of collectors from around Texas. Some of the largest and most prestigious regional card shows were held annually at the Grapevine Convention Center.
In the late 1990s, as the internet began revolutionizing how people bought and sold collectibles, Grapevine became home to some pioneering baseball card e-commerce sites. Companies like Blowout Cards and Sports Card Forum set up shop in office parks around the city and helped usher in the modern era of online card collecting. These sites established Grapevine as an epicenter for the growing digital card marketplace. Today, Blowout remains one of the largest and most trusted online retailers worldwide, shipping cards to collectors on every continent.
Grapevine’s central location between the metroplex’s major population centers, coupled with the city’s business-friendly environment and infrastructure, made it an ideal base of operations for both brick-and-mortar shops and innovative tech startups catering to collectors. The abundance of local card stores and shows through the late 20th century also helped foster a strong baseball card culture and local collector community in Grapevine. Many lifelong friendships were forged between collectors who frequented shops, attended shows, and bonded over their shared passion.
While fewer dedicated card shops remain in operation today compared to the boom years of the 1970s-90s, Grapevine continues to play an important role in the modern baseball card industry. Companies like Blowout Cards and Sports Card Investments have headquarters in the city, employing dozens. Local card shows are still hosted periodically. And Grapevine’s central location means it remains a popular weekend destination for collectors traveling to Dallas/Fort Worth card events. The city proudly embraces its legacy as a hub for baseball card culture and collecting. Though the faces and storefronts have changed, Grapevine solidified its place in the history and ongoing story of America’s favorite hobby – baseball cards.
