Local Hobby Shop of the Week: Best of the Best in Sportscards (Pearl City, HI)

While it is easy for us to think about only the local shops in our own state, we can forget that sports cards reach farther than the North American mainland of the United States and Canada. Cards have worldwide popularity and the need for local shops stretches all over the globe. One U.S. store that isn’t on the mainland is keeping the hobby alive in Hawaii. I recently caught up with Calvin Fujimoto to discuss his shop in Pearl City, Hawaii.

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JOEY SHIVER – Thanks for taking the time to talk with us, Calvin. Can you tell us a little about your collecting background and what led to your decision to open your shop?

CALVIN FUJIMOTO – I bought my first cards when I was ten-years old, which was a pack of 1977 Topps Star Wars Series 1. Like most kids back then, I went straight for the gum. After a few years of dabbling around with baseball and football, I really was settling into this hobby and was truly a sports card fan. It was the late ’80s and early ’90s and a couple of my classmates actually did start up their own sports card stores. I think a lot of stores opened in Hawaii around that time and probably is considered the height of collecting, with the introduction of Upper Deck and that iconic 1989 Ken Griffey Jr. card.

I supported my classmates’ stores often and then took a deeper interest by setting up at the local swap meets and card shows. From that point, as I was wading my way thru college, I worked at a few sports card shops and finally got a full time job at one in 1992. That’s when I was first introduced to the industry on an everyday scale. Now, because I didn’t have a lot of funds to start my own company, and to tell the truth, I was actually content with where I was, it didn’t dawn on me to open a shop. But I was growing eager to do things my own way so I took on a partner to help bounce my ideas off of and help take charge in the ways of retail.

Reed Kasaoka, who is now a part of Dave and Adam’s Card World, and I worked at the same shop and we found our way through and sorted out how we wanted to launch our own store. Reed and I attended those famous Kit Young shows held here at the Ilikai Hotel and I learned quite a bit more about what it takes to start up your own business. Being on an island, we could get the usual products. But those mainland dealers brought amazing items and opened my eyes to the many possibilities of expanding the interests of collectors here in the 808.

Then in 1997, we opened Best of the Best in Sportscards. Funny thing is that the both of us couldn’t come up with a name so we used that Star Company set and added the “in Sportscards” part. We needed the name right away because we were opening soon and said that we could always change it later. We didn’t and the name stuck till today. In 2016, Reed signed the business over to me and the rest has been a new learning experience. I am also very, very, very thankful for and appreciate all of our followers every day we open the shop doors.

JS –Can you tell us a little about your store, your setup and what type of inventory you carry? Also, what services do you provide?

CF – Basically, the shop is set up like an “old-school” store where there are lots of single sports cards, wax boxes, and packs. And a pretty good amount of supplies. Over the years we have added Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon and a few other gaming cards. SLUs and McFarlane figures go well with what we do. We also got into game-used and signed memorabilia and, most recently, comics. We also sell some items on eBay like most brick and mortars do, but we try to keep it available to local buyers as well.

Right now, our services are limited to just helping collectors with their collections. We buy and trade and offer consignment to help put funds back into their pockets. I belong to, and am one of a few admins for, a local Facebook group called 808 Sports Cards Junkies, which acts as an extra support group to help grow the community here. In that group we can recommend people who can help with sending in cards for grading and answer those tough questions collectors have.

JS – Your shop carries a full complement of sports cards. How would you rank the sports in your area when it comes to popularity?

CF – I think being on an island, we focus on things that we live with everyday, like a captive audience in a sense. Let me tell all of you that sports here in the middle of the pacific is alive and well. Hawaii sends quite a few teams to the Little League World Series and our high school football teams play against some of the top teams from the West Coast mainland. We’ve had MLB games, pre-season NBA, and now the Polynesian Hall of Fame and Bowl, and the long awaited return of the Hula Bowl for amateur football players. We use to have the NFL Pro Bowl for many years, which I hope will return one day.

JS – You are the first shop I have interviewed from Hawaii. Can you talk about how popular the hobby is there? When it comes to the “Home Team,” who would you say your collectors focus on?

CF – I believe we have a special situation in Hawaii. We don’t have a “home team” (other than the University of Hawaii Warriors), but we do have a large community of military families that are in and out every three years. Island people have attached themselves to a wide variety of cities across America so our interest in a particular team is all over the place. We also send players into the pros, which locals quickly bond themselves to that team thus creating a new fan base for us here in the islands. We’ve always had a strong background in sports from when we were kids and now it’s being fortified with our former players returning to teach their sport to eager youths. It’s very exciting times for Hawaii athletes and we are very proud of all they have achieved.

JS – Your Facebook page reveals a nice assortment of big hits. Can you tell us about some of your favorite hits at the shop?

CF – Wow, let’s see…just recently, we had a 2019 Contenders Cracked Ice Zion Williamson and Ja Morant pulled at the shop. One standout card was a Lou Gehrig cut signature with a piece of his pants tag on it that was pulled long ago. I wonder where that card is today and what it’s worth. We don’t see that kind of card in products anymore.

JS – Speaking of Facebook, how important is social media when it comes to running a small business?

CF –I truly believe social media is a way of life for many today. From when we first wake up until we lay down at the end of the day, we have to check what’s happening or what has happened. Platforms like Instagram and Facebook bring the everyday collector, who had no voice back when I started collecting, to the forefront of the hobby and makes them feel like they belong to a community.

JS – What products performed well in 2019? What about those products made them desirable to your collectors?

CF – The interest of 2019 was a rollercoaster ride of different products, but the Panini Prizm line has really taken a full body stance for basketball, football, and soccer within the marketplace. With the multi-level parallels offered in this product, collectors are constantly searching to either complete their “rainbow” of colors or to upgrade to a higher degree of their favorite player.

Topps’ Bowman brands led the way for baseball. Many like the idea of getting a farm system player and salting it away for the future hoping for that player to breakout one day.

I feel like the hockey products are still finding their way. Traditional ideas are still in existence with Upper Deck being the brand to buy. One effect that emerged a few years before, has been the collecting of Young Guns rookies, which comes out in base Upper Deck packs Series 1 and 2. I must say that it’s pretty cool to see people cherish base rookies like in the early years.

JS – What is one thing you think is really going well in the sports card hobby right now? On the contrary, what is one thing you would change, whether from an industry or local perspective?

CF – Positively, I like how the industry has embraced the collector and tries to see it from a collector’s viewpoint, using social media to bring people closer to the game, helping us understand how the processes are done, and also to show us events that are happening around the country. I also see that building products for retail big box outlets influences new or returning collectors to enter the marketplace, and of course fortifies the urge for an individual to get their satisfaction when their LCS is closed for the day or too much effort to get to in the last minute.

On the flip side, I think that some collectors are getting priced out of a product due to rising costs, resulting in a feeling of having to give up buying their favorite cards. I think this is an age-old dilemma that has haunted both manufacturers and shops for a long time. I would urge collectors to join social media groups as a way to manage their collections (because we can’t collect it all) and help with the understanding of how products work today. Back when I used to work for a shop, I used to read the Beckett from cover to cover, but it’s very difficult to store that kind of information you need, there’s just too much of it. I feel like belonging to some group of common collectors would help enormously.

JS – In closing, can you tell us about any sales or upcoming in-store events you have scheduled for the next couple of months?

CF – Our next event will be to set up at the Hawaii Collectors Expo at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall on February 21-23. There should be a good amount of sports cards there along with other collectibles. We’ll probably have a trade night at the shop following that sometime in March, which we will post to our social media platforms, so be on the lookout for that. I appreciate all of you taking the time to read our history of the shop and hope that we can provide you with helpful insights in the future. Thank you for the memories throughout the years and here’s to a great 2020 in the Cardboard Kingdom!

Best of the Best in Sportscards

Calvin Fujimoto
(808) 486-7874
98-1268 Ka’ahumanu Street #104
Pearl City, Hawaii 96782

Hours

Monday-Friday: 10:30 AM – 8:00 PM
Saturday: 10:30 AM – 7:00 PM
Sunday: 10:30 AM – 6:00 PM