The Annandale Blog presented 2014 Annie Awards to six local business during our fifth-year anniversary party, Blogapalooza, on June 28. The winners were chosen by Annandale Blog readers in an open-ended online survey. Collector’s World and AnnSandra, which was profiled July 10, got the same number of votes in the best gift shop category, so they both got an Annie Award.
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| Former Washington Senator Frank Howard signs a photo for a fan at Collector's World. |
Collector’s World, 7030 Columbia Pike, Annandale, is the best place to find the perfect vintage sports card to complete a collection, a one-of-a-kind item to display in a man cave, or get the latest installment of a comics series.
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| Ryan Zimmerman's shoes can be yours for $800. |
Steve Weber and Damon Hudson, both long time collectors who became friends while working for the same defense contracting company 10 years, purchased Collector’s World in 2012 from brothers Ron and Vinnie Savino.
Hudson had been driving around Annandale killing time between meetings when he stumbled upon the shop and bought some sports cards. Vinnie Savino mentioned the shop was for sale, so Hudson called Weber and the two decided to buy it. There are also three other co-owners who own smaller shares: Doug Steele, David Miller, and Jonathan Goldman.
Collector’s World is bursting at the seams since the owners bought the entire inventory—four truckloads—from Pete’s All Stars, a sports card and memorabilia shop in the Landmark area that recently closed. Some of the items are in storage and will be listed on Collector’s World’s eBay store.
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| Collector's World is branching out into custom framing. |
The shop hosts autographic-signing sessions with sports celebrities usually once a month except during the summer. At the most recent event, about 50 people showed up to meet legendary baseball player Frank Howard,left-fielder on the Washington Senators from 1965 to 1971.
Other sports stars who’ve appeared at Collector’s World in the past few months include former Washington Capitals defenseman Rod Langway who’s in the Hockey Hall of Fame, Washington Redskin cornerback Dave Amerson, and Redskin greats Charlie Taylor and Roy Jefferson
One of the most valuable items in the shop is a pair of shoes owned by Ryan Zimmerman, third baseman for the Washington Nationals, priced at $800. The shoes (size 12, Under Armour) were autographed and actually worn by Zimmerman in a game. In the comics section, the store has #2 in the Green Lantern series for $900 and recently sold a couple of the sought-after Iron Man #55 comics for $1,000.
Other treasures in the shop include a series of vintage Mickey Mantle baseball cards (ranging from $30 to $150), an autographed photo of Mantle ($795), and a framed jersey and autographed photo from Terry Bradshaw ($395). There’s plenty of inexpensive items, too, like vintage Star Wars cards from the 1970s for $1.