Friends open comic, sports memorabilia shop in Waco, say people are investing in collectables

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - During a recession, people often put money into things like real estate or silver and gold...but how about comic books and sports memorabilia?

The owners of a brand new collectors shop in downtown Waco say, during these uncertain economic times, customers are coming to them to invest in something that has financial--and nostalgic--value.

“They want to go back to the days when they were kid when they held that first baseball card,” said Kevin Ferguson, co-owner of Collect ‘Em Cards Comics and Collectables. “They’ve got that money now they’re all grown up.”

Since he was a kid, Ferguson has been collecting sports memorabilia, hoping one day to hand his treasures down to his own children.

“Whenever it came time to pass them along to the kids, they were kind of looking at me like ‘what are we going to do with this dad?’ and I was like ‘well there went that idea,’” said Ferguson.

After his kids weren’t that interested in keepsakes, Ferguson’s dream took a turn, evolving into owning his own sports memorabilia shop.

On Tuesday, that dream became a reality.

The Waco Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Collect ‘Em Cards Comics and Collectables at 601 Austin Ave.

Ferguson opened the shop with his best friend growing up, Roger Frields.

“I’ve been into the comic book world for a long time,” said Frields.

Frields still has another job doing outside sales, however, Ferguson left the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office this summer, where he’d been a deputy for about 20 years, to take a swing at a new career in the collectors business.

“A lot of it is personal collection, and then we have distributors,” said Ferguson.

The owners say, while the U.S. inflation rate is around 8.3%, people invest in collectables during times of economic uncertainty.

“You’d be surprised how many people use the collectables as a way to invest, you take for instance a 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie card that just went for $6 million, that card will never decrease in value,” said Ferguson. “So some people are using old stuff like comics...same thing as putting gold coins in a safe, same concept.”

Some of the top items Collect ‘Em boasts include a Mickey Mantle signed baseball and comic books autographed by Stan Lee.

Ferguson will be running the day-to-day at the store.

“I personally have served this county, this community, I want to continue to serve it in my retirement years by opening up this shop and meeting new people, have folks come down to us, you don’t have to buy anything from us, just come in and share a story,” said Ferguson.

Frields says they’re excited to share their passions with the community.

“Just bringing joy to people’s hearts and having a good conversation with people who don’t normally get to have a conversation...it brings happiness to people’s hearts to be able to reminisce and to talk about old things,” said Frields.

The store’s grand opening is Saturday, Oct. 1.

You can find more information on Collect ‘Em here.

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