Major Sports Cards dealing in Mineola

Shop on Jericho in Mineola blossoms from owner’s childhood hobby that started with Pokemon

BY BRANDON DUFFY

A passion that first started with collecting Pokemon cards has since evolved into a brickand-mortar store on Jericho Turnpike in Mineola, where Anthony Perna is now helping introduce the hobby to the next generation.

“It’s the chase,” Perna, 33, owner of Major Sports Cards & Memorabilia at 466 Jericho Turnpike said in an interview with Blank Slate Media. “The chance of opening a pack and hitting a $1 million card”

Collecting trading cards has long been seen as a way for fans to feel more connected to their favorite athletes. Cards can include a piece of a game-worn jersey, a 1-of-1 autograph or a graphic that can drive up the rarity, and price.

The trading card market, which expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic, is estimated to be a $13 billion industry while the sports memorabilia market was estimated at $12.2 billion in 2021, according to research from Market Decipher.

The sports card market has bounced back completely after oversaturation in the 1990s caused it to crash.

As new stars take the field and, in some cases, the wrestling ring, hobbyists look forward to opening up a pack and “pulling” a card that might fluctuate in value based on a number of characteristics associated with it.

In 2021, a 2009 rookie card of Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout was sold at auction for $3.83 million, making it one of the most expensive cards sold. The current record belongs to a 1952 rookie card of Yankees great Mickey Mantle, which was sold at auction in 2022 for $12.6 million.

Decades after fans would seek out cards of the legendary Honus Wagner or Mantle, Perna says some of the most sought-out cards are young players like Anthony Volpe of the Yankees or players who haven’t stepped foot in the big leagues, like last year’s No. 1 overall pick Druw Jones.

Hobbyists can now find cards for video games such as Fortnite, which had 400 registered accounts on the free-to-play game in 2021, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said.

Perna said customers may come in to make a flip and then vendors can offer “bounties” for unclaimed cards that can reach millions, but most do it for the love of the hobby.

“It’s the collecting,” Perna said. “We love the hobby and there’s a rush when getting a big card.”

A longtime collector of trading cards and memorabilia, Perna would go on weekly trips to card stores to pick up more boxes, but only if his grades were good, his father, Richard, said. After establishing his own collection, Perna would sell from it on online marketplaces before the store came to be.

Perna, 33, recently moved into the Mineola storefront late last year. After graduating from college and working in the construction industry for about a decade, he returned to the North Shore in Mineola after growing up in East Williston.

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BY BRANDON DUFFY

A man had over $18,000 worth of euros stolen from his car in Williston Park Friday, police said.

The victim, 38, exchanged $18,500 from a Bank of America on Hillside Avenue in New Hyde Park for approximately 16,959 euros before exiting in his Nissan Altima.

After parking at the Williston Townhouse

Diner at 112 Hillside, a man went into the victim’s car from the front passenger door and removed the euros from his glove box, police said.

The thief, described as a white man in his 40s with a thin build, short unshaved hair and an unshaven beard, fled westbound on Hillside in what police said was a silver 2018 Kia Sportage.

Police are asking anyone with information on the incident to call 911 or 1-800-244-TIPS.

A man had $18,500 worth of euros stolen from his glove box in the parking lot of Williston Townhouse Diner in Williston Park.