Local card collectors passionate

Jeremy Cluff
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 31, 2007 12:00 AM

As a teenager, Jim Codney's parents gave him a 1956 baseball card of former Boston Red Sox great Ted Williams.

The Gilbert resident hasn't been able to put down cards since.

Codney, 33, has more than 30,000 baseball cards in his collection, including several prized cards, like that of Williams, the card that fueled him into the hobby. advertisement

"I go through ups and downs with it. Sometimes I get into it more than other times," Codney said. "But I've been in love with it since high school. It's so much fun."

He is just one of many area residents with a passion for baseball card collecting. Some have made it a business, as shown by area shops devoted to the hobby. Others have collected for the camaraderie and enjoyment of the hobby.

No matter the area of the Southeast Valley, the background, or the age, all are united in a love for the cards.

"We want something the whole family can enjoy together and it's just that," said Mesa resident Phil Rinella, 62, who has owned and operated Hot Corner Sports Cards and Memorabilia in Mesa the past four years with his son, also named Phil. "It's a clean hobby. We have a lot of fathers and sons that come in. Mothers bring their children in after school. We've tried to make this a shop everyone can enjoy."

Rinella, who previously owned an autographed 1956 card of former Dodgers star Duke Snider, doesn't collect much these days because of the difficulty he had both owning a shop and collecting simultaneously.

"It's very hard to own a store and collect, because in all honesty I would leave nothing left for the customers," said Rinella who worked part-time at the store before buying it with his son, a former Mesa police officer. "I wish I had done this all my life. It's not even work. I'm very happy."

Ahwatukee Foothills resident Mike Dingwell got his start in the hobby as a young child and was reintroduced to it years later when his mother gave him shoeboxes full of cards he had previously collected.

He has owned and operated Boxseat Collectibles in Ahwatukee Foothills for 11 years, in which time his store collection has blossomed to close to two million cards and his personal collection had grown to between 40,000 and 50,000 cards, he estimated.

"Baseball is America's pastime, and I think I just enjoy the history of it all," said Dingwell, 44, who counts among his most-prized items a 1933 card of Babe Ruth and a 1962 card of Mickey Mantle. "It's something I grew up with. It just started out as a hobby. I didn't know that you could make a living out of it."

While the popularity of baseball cards declined for years, Dingwell said the hobby seemed to be making a comeback throughout the area.

It has continued to pick up with spring training this year and should continue its upward trend with the start of the season, he said.

"It's really hot right now," Dingwell said. "There are new people coming into the hobby everyday. I took over this shop in 1996, and now I'm also seeing old customers come back again. Collecting has changed so much over the years, but overall it has been great. It's amazing what the card companies do now."

The popularity of autographed cards and memorabilia cards continue to skyrocket, but rookie cards, a longtime staple in the hobby, continue to be in high demand.

A trend for compiling sets is also becoming more prevalent as of late, Rinella said.

Prices have escalated in recent years, but there are still affordable cards and sets for children and casual collectors.

"We'll have dentists and doctors come in and buy the high dollar stuff, packs that go for around $1,000 a pack, and then we'll have the blue collar guy come in and buy the $3 packs," Rinella said. "We also have kids coming in with a list of cards they need to complete a set. They all really enjoy it."

Codney said he expected the hobby to continue to attract people from all walks of life.

"The card companies are changing and enhancing their products all the time, every time to keep it interesting and fresh," he said. "It's fun to get involved in it all. It's fun to be able to relate with people of all ages through it."