About Us

My name is Murph and I am an avid sports card collector where I passionately care about the hobby as a whole. Murph's Card Town is truly a dream of mine and I am extremely thankful to those who have supported the shop or myself throughout this journey. Speaking of such, let me tell you a little bit about myself and how the shop came to be.

My journey started back roughly around 2002 where I started collecting Nomar Garciaparra (former Red Sox shortstop) Red Sox cards. He was my favorite player growing up. My dad got me into collecting Nomar cards because he too was an huge card collector himself collecting Fred Lynn (former Red Sox center fielder) cards. My dad collected Lynn cards no matter what team he was on. As my passion for Nomar cards grew, my dad and I evolved our collecting from just one player, to collecting Red Sox cards, to collecting baseball cards regardless of team. As I got a little older, my collection diversified into football and basketball cards while my dad, stuck with baseball.

In 2014, I started selling off some of my old Yu-Gi-Oh! cards which I was a big time fan, collector, and player growing up too. College was coming up so I sold off some of my old cards. As I was making sales, I saw some of my sports cards that weren't in my personal collection so, I decided to sell some of those too. As I finished up high school and went away to college, cards took a back seat.

Fast forward a few years to spring semester of 2019 where I was finishing up my psychology degree. Originally a sports management major but switched to psychology after my father passed away in a tragic house fire in 2016. As I was nearing an end to my degree, I was already planning to go to graduate school to get my master's in clinical mental health counseling. However, my passion for working in sports resurfaced and I knew psychology and counseling wasn't what I wanted to do. As I thought about careers in sports, I thought about opening up my own baseball clinic, coaching program, just something to do in sports. My dad always told me "Bud, if you can, own your own business, but just not a convenience store." As that's what he did for 40 years. As I moved back home from college, I went to local shop for fun looking for Yu-Gi-Oh! cards and saw the awesome sports cards and the love I had for sports cards was immediately back after being dormant for a few years. It was that very moment where I thought to myself that sports cards could be that sports business that I wanted to be in and the business my father told me to own. I would still go on to complete my master's degree nonetheless.

Originally, I wanted to open Murph's Sports Town & Card Shop in 2020 but due to COVID-19, that plan was delayed a year. Thankfully, it allowed me more time to develop my plan even more, gather more inventory for start up, further educate myself on business, and understand the market better since the times of just collecting were simply behind us as the new age of buying and selling to flip was being ushered in. Also, the delay allowed me to tinker with the shop's name because Murph's Card Town & Sports Shop just sounds way better. It emphasizes the 'card' aspect of the shop as this place is more than just sports and didn't want to be perceived as just a sports store. There's amazing sports cards, Pokemon, and other awesome TCGs cards here too!

Early in 2024 after being open for nearly three years, it was time to take the next step. Bigger shop, better location, more boxes and cards, etc. were all part of the plan for this next step. As before, I took another leap of faith and I decided to purchase my own building for Murph's Card Town. This allowed me to make the shop bigger. Put the shop in a better location. Offer more sealed boxes and more singles. Everything about this building would make your local card shop better. And it has! After purchasing the building in March, we officially opened our doors at the new location for the first time on May 17th. It was a massive success thanks to the great people of the hobby and the Murph's Card Town community. It was a difficult challenge, one that emotionally, mentally, and physically tested me however, it was all worth it.

All in all, my journey has been filled with ups and downs but my mission and goals stay the same. Offering a comfortable and enjoyable card shop experience that is clean, friendly, and inviting has always been a part of the plan. I do wish my dad was around to see what I been able to build. However, I couldn't have done it alone. Thanks to him, my mom, and Mrs. Murph (my beloved wife) who have all played important roles for making me who I am and the shop what it is. And of course, the amazing people I have met and even became friends with who support their local card shop. Murph's Card Town has become a staple in the community and their local card shop.