Get to Know this Long Island Family Shop
Opened in October 2022, 528 Collectibles has swiftly made its mark. What began as a garage operation in 2021 quickly evolved into a full-fledged shop after an inspiring visit to the National. Here’s a Q & A with owner Michael Frey as the shop prepares for Topps Hobby Rip Night.
When did 528 Collectibles open?
October 2022, so we’re coming up on our two-year anniversary!
Why did you want to open a card shop?
I started breaking out of my garage in 2021 and early on we were just trying to build our customer base. When we attended the National in July of 2022 we had a chance to speak with shop owners and driving back to Long Island from Atlantic City we decided we needed to open a shop. The rest is history and we opened up 3 months later.
How did you get into The Hobby?
I always collected cards at an early age and when the pandemic hit my wife told me she was going to throw out my cards to make room for storage for our kids and so I started going through them all and it really was quite nostalgic. I immediately jumped back into The Hobby and took my brothers with me.
What makes you the most excited about The Hobby?
The hobby is ageless, I love that I can have little kids come in and buy packs and then older adults come in and share their collections and passion for The Hobby. It just goes to show really how long this industry has been around and how strong it continues to be.
What are your plans for Topps Hobby Rip Night?
We are going to be Live Breaking In-Store on our IG account, we’ve got a ton of free giveaways and merchandise that we will be raffling off, and we are offering 5% off on all products in store for the entire day! Every purchase of $20 or more will get you entered into a Bowman Chrome Hobby Break, and we’ll randomize the teams once we get to 30 purchasers.
