Rare Sports Cards and Collectables Captured Fans at Mall Show

The S&B Sports Card & Collectible show returned to the Woodbridge Center Mall this weekend, bringing with it all kinds of sports, entertainment, and historical memorabilia to fans and collectors of all ages.

About two dozen vendors set up shop at the mall, selling everything from sports cards to tee shirts to newspapers reporting events from World War II.  The show, which travels to malls throughout New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, as features vendors selling movie and music posters – yes, including life-size posters of Justin Bieber – comic books, action figures, and plaques featuring sports stars and teams.

A hobby such as collecting sports cards and memorabilia can be both expensive and rewarding, as Frank Perro Jr. of Goober’s Goodies, one of the vendors at the show, knows well.  Locked in a case on his table were dozens of baseball and hockey cards with price tags ranging from $50 to over $300.  And it’s probably safe to say that he has the rarest card in the show, a card featuring NHL Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy.

“There were only five of them made,” explained Perro.  “It’s autographed, and it has four different patches from the four different uniforms that he wore” in the NHL.  The asking price for this extremely rare card?  A cool $1,500.

Though he deals mostly in hockey cards and collectables, Perro also maintains an inventory of other sports cards as well.  “Baseball is still the most collectable,” Perro admits, the Patrick Roy card notwithstanding.  Basketball, on the other hand, doesn’t fare quite as well. 

“I get maybe one or two people looking for basketball stuff a day,” Perro says, compared to the dozens who came by on Saturday afternoon for other sports memorabilia.

Missed the show this past weekend?  Not to worry;  although official dates are not yet set, the S&B Sports Card & Collectable show returns to Woodbridge Mall multiple times each year. Keep checking the Patch calendar for updated information.