From baseball player cards to vintage NFL memorabilia, The Villages Sports Card and Collectibles Club show had something to offer for every sports fan, no matter the age.
Buyers and sellers of the collectibles got a chance to attend the show Saturday at the Savannah Center.
The show featured more than 80 vendors with people selling cards, memorabilia and clothing.
Tony George, founder of the club, said that although the club was not that well known when it first got started, in the past several years it has built up a nice following. He enjoys how more kids are showing up to the shows and are enjoying what the vendors have to offer.
Among the vendors, there is one that stood out the most.
Olli Payne, a 17-year-old card collector/seller had his own stand at the event where he was selling the cards he collected.
Payne started during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the father of his brother’s teammate introduced him to the card game.
“I just think it’s a fun market to be in, seeing all the different types of communities with younger and older people,” Payne said.
Although this market is new to the younger generation, it has sure been around for decades.
Billy Steinburg, also known as “The Baseball Card Guy” at these shows, said he started collecting as a child but when he got to college and got a set of cards in the mail and from there he has been off and running.
“I love collecting cards because I love sports, the organizational aspect of it, and I’m kind of an entrepreneur since I always loved buying and selling things, so cards were a natural fit for me.”
Steinburg said, if he would give any advice to the younger generation that wants to start collecting it would be “make sure that you have some fun with it, don’t get caught up in the value of the buying and selling, collect the players you like to watch or respect.”