Cards to posters to comic books to video games: Staunton has a new memorabilia store
STAUNTON — John Bamberger has been collecting memorabilia since the late 1980s. He recently got an opportunity to open a store to sell some of what he's collected over the years and jumped at the chance, leaving his previous job to start Old School Sports Cards and Collectibles.
Bamberger opened the store in late January at 2502 N. Augusta St. in Staunton. So far he's gotten a lot of great feedback from people who found him through the internet.
Bamberger is a big sports fan, first and foremost cheering for the Miami Dolphins, hence his Instagram handle Dolphincards75. But the store has way more than Miami memorabilia, and more than just sports collectibles.
Bamberber has everything from action figures to signed sports collectibles to movie posters to retro video games and more. He also has a variety of trading cards, ranging from sports to Pokemon to Marvel to Star Wars to Lord of the Rings.
Most all of it is from his personal collection and he has more inventory to add to the store eventually, including some autographs from sports and rock stars that he is in the process of getting authenticated.
A Power Punch Batman game, similar to the old Rock'em Sock'em Robots game, but featuring Batman vs. the Penguin sits along the wall in the store. Bamberger has some programs from the 1965 Waynesboro Generals. There's a chair from the 2011 WWE Capitol Punishment event in Washington, D.C. He also has a lot of comic books, Micro Machines, Legos, and trains.
On a recent Thursday, Bamberger was pulling out drawers of more collectibles that he needs to sort through and place in the store as he has time.
"I worked a full-time job and did this on the side, so it came along slowly," Bamberger said. "I finally got there with a lot of help from my mom and sister and my sister's husband."
Bamberger said there aren't many sports card stores near Staunton, another reason he wanted to open one.
"I thought it was needed," Bamberger said.
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— Patrick Hite is The News Leader's education reporter. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: New Staunton memorabilia store: Old School Sports Cards and Collectibles.
