Tony Gray is having a lot of fun with his new business endeavor.
The former Fremont Tribune editor has opened Walk-On Cards and Collectibles at 1023 E. 23rd St. The business specializes in sports cards, but also features memorabilia such as autographed jerseys from the likes of Luka Doncic, Aaron Donald and Lavonte David.
“The Fremont community has been great so far,” said Gray, who opened the store earlier this month. “People are excited that there is a card shop in town again. It has been a blast and I’m having a great time.”
The award-winning journalist left the newspaper business in 2022. After working for a while for Hattons, a model railroad company, he decided to pursue his dream of owning a card shop.
“I’ve kind of had opening a store in the back of my mind for quite some time,” he said. “I’ve been collecting off and on for the past five or six years with this in mind.”
When Gray was 10, his love for collecting was sparked by the 1984 Topps Football Set. That set features the rookie – or first-year cards – of Hall of Famers Dan Marino, John Elway, Eric Dickerson, Howie Long, Dwight Stephenson and Darrell Green. It also includes other Hall of Famers such as Joe Montana, Jack Lambert, Terry Bradshaw and Walter Payton as well as the rookie card of former Nebraska standout Roger Craig.
“That was my set. I kept going down to the local store and buying packs for 25 cents and kind of stockpiled those a bit,” Gray recalled. “That is where my love for it came from.”
Gray noted that for years he housed some of his cards in a briefcase. That briefcase made the trek each time he and his wife, Tricia, moved to a new home.
“I had lugged it from house to house,” he said. “I opened it up one day and all of those feelings and memories just came rushing back to me about collecting. That kind of kickstarted the thoughts of opening a shop. It just seemed like right now was a good time to do it.”
The business features a lounge where collectors can sort through boxes of cards while watching sporting events on big-screen TVs. Refurbished Astro-Turf from The PAD Sports complex is also part of the store’s dynamic.
The Coleridge native said the store has a variety of items that should appeal to many sports enthusiasts.
“We have a little bit of everything,” Gray said. “I wanted to make sure we had something for everybody so we have 5- and 10-cent cards that people can sift through in the lounge area. We have raw cards and graded cards and all kinds of memorabilia.”
That memorabilia includes autographed baseballs, mini helmets, footballs, jerseys, boxing gloves and more. The University of Nebraska fan has plenty of Huskers-related items, including decanters from the Bob Devaney era of the early 1970s.
Former Nebraska players are also in his plans for future events.
“Down the road my thoughts are to have some autograph sessions with different athletes,” he said. “We’ll also have card trading night for both kids and adults. We’ll also have box breaks and all kinds of other things eventually.”
Gray said quarterbacks Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, Josh Fields and Patrick Mahomes are popular with collectors. Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge are among the most asked about baseball players while LeBron James and Steph Curry are favorites in the NBA.
“People, though, still like Kobe (Bryant) and (Michael) Jordan as well as some of the new ones like Ja Morant,” he said. “There’s just all kinds of athletes out there that people love.”
The store is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 7 p.m. on Saturday. Gray wants to help collectors in any way he can.
“I want to stock what the people want,” he said. “If I don’t have it, let me know and I’ll certainly do my best to try and get it.”
