Mickey Mantle, Wilt Chamberlain and Pokémon find life at Rob's Loaded Bases in Manalapan
Growing up in Staten Island, Rob DeSalvatore loved collecting and selling sports cards. And that hasn’t changed for the sports card enthusiast, who opened his Manalapan-based brick-and-mortar store, Rob’s Loaded Bases, in 2021 in hopes of sharing his lifelong passion with the community.
DeSalvatore said that he first caught the collecting bug from his father.
“Though my dad was more of a coin collector himself, he bought me packs of sports cards once a week and we’d open them together,” recalled DeSalvatore, 53, a New York resident, of his fond childhood memories. “My dad drove me to the first show that I sold cards at, which was at a bowling alley when I was 12, and from that day on, he took me around doing shows until I was 17 and got my own driver’s license.”
When a knee injury in high school sidelined him from playing Division I baseball for Wagner College in Staten Island, “I went straight to work in the construction field,” DeSalvatore said. “But I continued my personal card collecting business in my free time, buying and reselling cards and going to local shows throughout New York and New Jersey every weekend and to larger, out-of-state shows everywhere from California to Illinois, Georgia, and more once a year.”
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“My business really took off in the late 1980s, when I was about 20,” he shared. “Prior to that, baseball cards had been big, but in 1989 football cards became collectible, and then basketball cards entered the mix in the late 1990s and became popular.”
“The steroid scandal in the 1990s hurt the baseball card collecting business for many years because cards featuring players like Mark McGwire had no value,” he noted of a development that drove many young people away from the hobby at that time. “But during the pandemic, older people with nothing to do and cards sitting in their basements and attics dug them out; since then, older cards that had regained their value again began surfacing, and those collectors started to buy newer cards too.”
With adults and kids getting back into collecting sports cards again and his own hobby at its peak, DeSalvatore decided to open a brick-and-mortar location that he hoped would be a hub for sports card collectors of all ages.
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“I saw the location, which was next to an ice cream shop in Manalapan, and I thought it would be very kid-friendly and bring a lot of smiles, great conversations and new friends,” he said of his vision for the shop, a long-unoccupied retail space that had previously housed a high-end boutique.
“When it came to naming the store, I thought about a good friend of mine with a sports card shop named Bases Loaded who had passed away in a car accident, so I changed my name around to Rob’s Loaded Bases as a tribute to him and officially opened in March 2021.”
'Something for every level'
Today, in his 1,000-square-foot shop, where he both buys and sells, “we offer single cards and closed-box packs (also known as ‘hobby boxes’) featuring everything from all years and all teams, as well as Pokémon cards,” DeSalvatore said of his inventory. “We have thousands of sealed boxes, which feature baseball, football, basketball and hockey as well as sports like WWE wrestling, soccer and ultimate fighting.”
According to DeSalvatore, the average customer can spend anywhere from just $5 for a Topps pack of baseball cards to $750 to $1,000 for a sealed box, while motivated investors can score a rarer find.
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“Right now, the two most valuable items I have in inventory are a Topps Mickey Mantle card from 1953 (his second year), which Sportscard Guaranty Corp. (SGC) has valued at about $2,500, and a 1961 Fleer Wilt Chamberlain card that’s been valued by Certified Sports Guaranty (CSG) at $4,000,” he said.
Among trends in the sports card arena, DeSalvatore said that football has become immensely popular throughout the year (not just around the Super Bowl). “The current market has really geared towards football, which has become prized for its entertainment value — those cards are hot and valuable — followed by baseball, basketball and hockey,” he said. “At the same time, some cards from the 1990s and early 2000s have declined in value because mass production by card companies at that time diluted the market.”
On a positive note, DeSalvatore said that Aaron Judge was the best thing that could ever have happened to sports card shops, especially those located in the New York/New Jersey area. Last year the New York Yankee outfielder broke Roger Maris' American League home run record and won the league MVP award.
“He’s a Yankee captain, a class act, and a role model and people from age 7 to 70 all want an Aaron Judge card of any kind,” he said. “I have two full glass showcases featuring at least 100 different Aaron Judge cards ranging from $10 to $500 — something for every level of collector.”
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As for challenges, “getting product was more difficult during the pandemic due to supply chain issues and internet competition remains stiff, plus I’m often up at night thinking of different things I can offer the community,” said DeSalvatore, who runs frequent promotions designed to bring collectors to the shop.
“Every Monday from 2 to 7 p.m., we give away 20 free gifts, no purchase necessary, that have included everything from Pokémon and Garbage Pail Kids packs to New York Giants relics, Aaron Judge cards, and more — anything that’s trendy and that I think kids will like,” he said of giveaways that are valued at anywhere from $20 to $50 and promoted on Instagram. “Our free promotions don’t obligate people to anything and we hope to inspire a new generation of card collectors and customers.”
His approach is working, as “sales have been strong and I’m fortunate to have loyal customers that support the business,” he said. “We get a lot of local customers as well as those from as far away as Staten Island, North Jersey and even Massachusetts and Pennsylvania when they’re in town for indoor baseball, basketball and other sports tournaments, and we also sponsor three Little League teams and a men’s team in Manalapan.”
'Make their own great memories'
Run by himself and his wife Deana, DeSalvatore said that his store's success in the sports card world doesn’t happen overnight. “You have to have knowledge, which takes many years, and I’m still learning,” he professed. But after 40 years, running the business remains a true labor of love.
“My hope is that more and more people continue to get involved in this hobby,” he said. “Sports cards bring back memories — of childhood, having a catch with a friend, loved ones who have passed, or maybe the smell of spring or summer — and bring out the best in people.”
“I love hearing the stories, like seeing a dad reward his son or daughter by taking them to our shop if they get good grades,” DeSalvatore continued. “And I love sharing my passion and knowledge and seeing it rub off on kids or adults, who feed that energy right back — maybe one day they’ll own a shop in the sports card field.”
Ultimately, he said, “I love sharing memories with others and I hope that Rob’s Loaded Bases can be a place for sports enthusiasts to make their own great memories.”
Rob’s Loaded Bases
Location: 333 Route 33 E., Manalapan
Phone: 732-984-8482
Owner: Rob DeSalvatore
Launched: March 2021
Social Media: www.instagram.com/robs_loaded_bases_sportscards/
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Rob's Loaded Bases in Manalapan NJ grows with rising collectable cards
