Baseball card shops are filled with cardboard memories for kids of all ages.

Cal Havercamp opened The Ballpark in Apple Valley 35 years ago.

“It’s a blessing to be able to do a job for 35 years because before that I didn’t have a job I liked,” Havercamp said.

Havercamp has watched prices for 2.5-inch by 3.5-inch legends of the field get knocked out of the park. Several of his cards cost several thousand dollars and it’s all because COVID-19 brought out collectors.

“They weren’t going to ballgames, they weren’t buying $15 beers, they weren’t going to the movies buying $8 popcorn, they weren’t traveling, they weren’t going out to eat everything was closed down,” Havercamp said. “They were bored and needed something to do, so they pulled out their cards and guess they get hit in the face with the collector bug again.”

Havercamp says he loves his job and has no plans to retire.