Hofstra hosted the Sports Card and Memorabilia Show in the Mack Sports Complex on Saturday, Oct. 22 and Sunday, Oct. 23. The annual event brings avid memorabilia enthusiasts together who are either sellers looking to make a profit or hopeful buyers looking to add onto their extensive collections. Throughout the venue, it seemed as though there weren’t as many Hofstra students as there were members of the Nassau community. People in attendance ranged from young to old as everyone surveyed the aisles looking to find their desired collectibles.
Some of the vendors, like Joe Lioi, are experienced veterans who have been playing this game for a long time.
“I’ve been doing this for about 20 years,” Lioi said. “I met a guy who used to play for the Yankees who was then in the framing business. We became friends, then partners, and then the business expanded.”
Lioi, who hails from Aberdeen, New Jersey, loves the route he has chosen for his career. He also loves sports as much as he does collecting memorabilia.
“I think the best experience I had with sports was seeing Aaron Boone’s homerun in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. I’m a season ticket holder for the Yankees, and I’ve gotten to experience a lot of their championships,” Lioi said.
While Lioi is seasoned in these types of events, others are not. Countless teenagers were present for the Sports Card and Memorabilia show. One in particular, 18-year-old Marc Genser, has been coming to events like this since he was a kid.
“I’m really big on events like this, otherwise I wouldn’t be here,” Genser chuckled. “I started doing this because I really love sports, baseball in particular.”
When going to shows like this one, it helps to have some experience as a buyer.
“One of the challenges of the trade is making sure you purchase items at a fair price,” Genser said. “It’s definitely one of the more difficult aspects of card and memorabilia trading, but once you do it for a while, you start to know what you are doing and it becomes much easier.”
Genser has also been collecting cards since he was a child, and when asked what the coolest piece of memorabilia he owns is, his answer didn’t disappoint.
“I went to this event a handful of years ago, and I was able to get a 1960s baseball card of Roberto Clemente, signed,” Genser said.
While the Hofstra community’s presence was lacking, the event was an overall success. The wide age range allowed all sports eras to be well represented at the show. The venue also had a constant stream of attendees throughout most of the show.