Business Q&A: Bullseye Collectibles

Everyone collects something – be it shoes, toys, artwork, books, or any one of thousands of other things. But you rarely see the reverent passion in the eyes of someone for the object of their desire like you do in the eyes of a sports collector.

Paul, owner of Bullseye Collectibles, a brand-new addition to the Merrick business scene located at 1824 Merrick Road, recently had a chat with Patch about the ins and outs of peddling the great love of his life – sports memorabilia.

Tell us about what kinds of merchandise you deal with at Bullseye Collectibles.

We pretty much have a full line of all the sports cards that are out there – baseball, basketball, football, hockey. We’re also getting into the gaming aspect of the business and expand on that. We have the complete McFarlane line of sports action figures, a very wide variety.

Any plans to expand into other areas of toy collecting?

We have intentions to get into the Marvel Comics line as well with the action figures, but for now, we’re just doing the sports McFarlanes. But right now, we’re probably about 95 percent with the sports cards.

Do you have any experience in running this type of business?

Back in the mid-1990’s I had a store in Queens and I’ve been doing the Long Island show circuit for many, many years. I just have a passion for the sports industry. I’m one of those guys that wakes up at 2 a.m. and goes right to my phone for West Coast box scores, otherwise I can’t go back to sleep. It’s just a total passion.

What made you decide to take the plunge again and open up your very own store, especially in a tough economy?

Again, I just have to use the word passion. I’m just driven by what I love to do, and meeting a lot of interesting people who are into the collectible part of the industry.

We have a full-time, 24-7 commitment to helping everybody diversify and build their portfolios on the sports card end and just forming life-long relationships with the people who come to my store.

What do you like about owning and operating a business in the Merrick area?

I used to be a store manager in the early '90’s at Windorama on Merrick Road, and I used to come off the Meadowbrook Parkway each day and look at the Merrick area and think that it had a certain sophisticated touch to it. About 20 years ago, I said to myself that it would be nice have a sports-related store in the Merrick area. And finally, that’s come to pass.