Tonawanda, N.Y. (WBEN/WGR Sports Radio 550) - With the holiday season finally upon us, many in Western New York will be out-and-about looking for the perfect gift ideas for their loved ones and closest friends. Always a popular find for shoppers is sports memorabilia to support the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, and other teams in the local sports landscape.
If you happen to be looking for any vintage or collectable sports items this holiday season, then Western New York Collectibles Inc. in the City of Tonawanda may be a great place to start.
Paul Morrow and his partners at WNY Collectibles, Andrew and Joe, first met about 10 years ago, and quickly discovered a similar passion for collecting sports items.
"Then we decided to do an eBay store, and it just grew into a really big store," said Morrow in an interview with WBEN. "We all love collecting, and just trying to have a nice, small family business, keep it going and grow it."
WNY Collectibles has been open at 102 Broad Street Upper for just over two years now, and is considered the ultimate man cave, kid cave store that people can come in and shop.
"We're just a small business trying to get everybody in Buffalo to know we are here. Because we get new stuff in every day, we help families every day, and we try to give them the best prices possible and just help out the community. And just be something different in town, where people can flock to and spend a couple hours looking around, because you're not going to walk in and walk out. There's just too much to see, too much to look at," Morrow said.
Also operating as a consignment store, Morrow admits they never know what kind of memorabilia that's going to come through their door on a given day.
"It's kind of like a treasure hunt coming to you, and we just get the coolest items," he said. "We've met the coolest people, wonderful, friendly people. They just come in, they don't know what they do with their stuff, and we help them sell it.
"[People] just go through their attic or their kids don't want it anymore, and then they bring it in here. We do our best to help them sell it. Not everything is worth lots of money, so we pick and choose. But new things come in every day, and we've helped out a lot of people already."
Morrow adds they go pretty much 50/50 with customers when it comes to consignment.
"We do all the work, all the shipping, all the paperwork and everything, and all they do is sit home and collect a paycheck, to be honest," Morrow said.
With the Bills continuing to ride their hot streak as they close in on another AFC East title and the Sabres beginning to turn the tide in the NHL, Morrow feels the success of the local teams certainly helps provide an uptick in business.
"The better the teams do, the more people come in looking for Bills gear, Sabres gear, or man cave items or knickknacks or whatever. And now that the holidays are coming, everybody's looking for those really cool stocking stuffers, unique gifts that we have that nobody else really does," Morrow said. "We're the only store in the area that basically does this. We do eBay 24/7, help out tons of people, get new stuff in every day. But the success of the teams is important to the community, and it's important to small business like us."
So what is it about vintage or classic sports memorabilia that's making it more popular than ever? Morrow believes people love the way vintage items look, as opposed to stuff that may be mass produced. And for some, many of the items were trinkets that provide a sense of nostalgia.
"It's like the stuff that we grew up with, stuff we've seen on TV - toys, games and sports items we had when we were a kid," Morrow noted. "A lot of parents sold them at yard sales, or we gave them away or lost them. And now everyone wants their items back, so they're searching around, hunting around. They want that old Starter coat or a Starter hat, or like the old wrestling figures that they threw away. Anything they grew up with, they're just trying to get back. Everybody's a collector of something, and nostalgia is huge. It's never gonna die."
What is the most popular item being sold in-store or online via eBay or Amazon?
"I would say ticket stubs are your No. 1. Everybody's looking to get the stub from the game that they went to, and they threw them out, and now they're not even printing out ticket stubs anymore, and everybody's upset about it." Morrow said. "We do sell a lot of jerseys, a lot of signed autographed memorabilia, a lot of toys, lot of video games, action figures."
"Bobbleheads, pennants. We have tons of baseball cards, football, hockey, etc. Vintage and newer, but we have just tons of cards, sealed boxes, sealed sets. We've got starting lineups, we do stuff with UB and Buff State, NASCAR, Harley Davidson, Hallmark ornaments do very well. Tons of toys, tons of signed hockey pucks, mini helmets, signed mini basketballs. We've got tons of signed golf items for your golfer in the family."
And it's even more than just sports memorabilia that's in stock at WNY Collectibles.
"We have a big selection of Funko Pops as well, and those sell very well, and they probably made a billion of those. But the rare t-shirts, clothing," Morrow added. "We sell tons of stuff for girls too. We do lots of Barbie dolls, Monster High dolls, Brats dolls, My Little Pony, etc. And also, we try to focus on some anime stuff as well."
This Black Friday and Small Business Saturday will seen WNY Collectibles running a 30% storewide sale, with business open two hours earlier this Friday.
WNY Collectibles is open regularly from 10 a.m.-to-6 p.m. EST, Monday through Saturday, while anyone can shop online, 24/7, at WNYCollectibles.com. They're also available on social media, including Facebook, Instagram and X, formerly known at Twitter.
"You can give us a call anytime, (716)-957-3085, and we are more than happy to answer any questions that you have," Morrow added. "If you see anything on our eBay page, just give us a call. You can come pick it up in store, we will set it aside for you. We also ship all over the world."
