According to sales data provided by eBay to Sports Collectors Daily, sales of basketball cards on the site have increased by 130% since the beginning of the pandemic. Baseball and football cards have also seen an increase, shooting up by 50% and 47%, respectively.

The boost in basketball sales could also be attributed in-part to two well-known events happening beyond the pandemic. Kobe Bryant’s death in January caused his card sales to skyrocket by 600%, while the release of ESPN’s “The Last Dance,” which documented the Chicago Bulls dynasty of the 1990s, led to a 370% increase in sales of cards featuring the Bulls’ star, Michael Jordan.

The trading card business is booming worldwide, and many local collectors and dealers are enjoying the hobby’s resurgence.

While many of those involved are just getting started, Don Drooker and John Gola are no strangers to collecting and selling sports cards.

After meeting in a local card shop years ago, the two became friends and now work together to run AZ Sports Cards, located at the intersection of Camelback Road and 99th Avenue in Phoenix.

When Gola acquired the store in 2016, the pair wanted to create a place where the card-collecting community could gather and enjoy their new finds together.

Drooker likened the atmosphere of the shop to that of the NBC sitcom “Cheers.”

“It’s a real nice, casual atmosphere, and I think that lends itself to people feeling comfortable,” Drooker said. “You can sit around and watch a ballgame, open a pack of cards, or talk sports with your friends. It really feels like the sports-card version of the show.”

Drooker also noted that, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the store has been busier than ever.

“The store was successful before, but it’s even busier now,” Drooker said. “In the store and on eBay, the last several months have been really busy. It seems to me that people have been stuck at home and have either gotten into collecting or began collecting.”