GAME ON
Getting
Lucky
Buddy Wilson fulfills childhood dream with new sports card business by Allie Spencer photography courtesy of Facebook
Customers browse the wide range of cards available at the store.
Buddy Wilson credits a reignited childhood hobby as the catalyst behind Lucky Box Sports Cards in Cornelius, one of only a handful of card shops in the Charlotte area. In 2017, owner and Huntersville resident Wilson decided he needed a hobby and remembered how much he enjoyed collecting sports cards growing up as a kid in Des Moines, Iowa. He started collecting again, and eventually got involved in online box breaking—where a box of cards is opened via livestream. Wilson’s Facebook page dedicated to box breaking, Lucky Box Breaks, has grown to 1K+ members, but something was missing. “Online you don’t get the face-to-face interaction,” he says as he describes what pushed him to open his own card shop this past August. “I really enjoy the social aspect of it. I like being able to educate kids and new collectors about the hobby. When I was in Iowa, I would go to the card shop and sit there for an hour, two hours at a time, talk with other collectors…it’s like going to a bar if you are a regular and hanging out with your friends.” 30
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Getting the green light
He decided to open Lucky Box Sports Cards in May, and with the support of his wife he took a step back from his tech role at an online benefits administration company. “She knew how much I got back into the hobby over the last few years and saw that it was a profitable business, so she gave me the green light,” he says. Inside Lucky Box Sports Cards, the walls are lined with sports memorabilia, display cases full of boxes of cards, and the “Hornets bar” where Wilson displays his large collection of Hornets cards. He describes his regulars as kids between the ages of 8 and 10, and “middle-aged guys” who used to collect and are getting back into it. “A lot of people are starting to see the potential and the earnings income and that’s bringing their love back for sports cards. [There have been] a lot of high dollar cards being sold in the last three
