Hobby Shop Spotlight: Texas Roadshow Shop

As much as we all love browsing the internet for deals on sports cards, there’s nothing like the feeling of walking into a hobby shop for the first time and digging in.

Everything from the dollar boxes to the showcases tells a story. Whether it’s the story of local fandom, or the story of which boxes have recently been ripped – or which grading submissions have been revealed. Each hobby shop has something worth exploring.

That’s why we’ll be exploring more and more local card shops, starting with one that you may have heard of – or that may sound familiar…

Texas Roadshow Shop, owned by Jimmy Mahan of “Jimmy’s Kentucky Roadshow Shop,” is one of the newest in a line of “Roadshow”-branded hobby shops, located in Mansfield, Texas and run by a former Beckett and Panini employee.

Sports Card Investor caught up with Cody Crim, SVP of Southern Regional Sales, about Texas Roadshow Shop, its history, team members, why it was started, and why people should check it out.

When did you fall in love with sports cards? 

Myself and my brother Chase (Crim, Sr. Technoking of our shop), grew up collecting as kids. Austin Jett, another one of our team members, just got into cards when he started at the shop and is definitely now addicted to the chase.

Are there ever days you wish you were doing something else professionally? 

I think there are always good and bad days at any job, but I have only done cards since graduating college and couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else.

What was the biggest obstacle in getting the shop launched? 

Definitely working with the city and local officials. I have never done anything in construction so verifying that we had the correct permits and that everything was getting done in somewhat of a timely manner was definitely a struggle at times.

What separates your LCS from all the others? 

Well most importantly it’s the people. We are as our founder Jimmy Mahan puts it, always striving to be card shop 2.0. We strive to be a place where people genuinely feel welcome and have a good time coming to not just open cards or buy singles, but to hang out with friends and that is truly what our customers have become… Oh and a 44-foot long, 10-foot high card wall is pretty cool too.

What is the most rewarding part of running your business? 

I don’t think there is anything more fun than seeing a kid or a regular customer pull a huge card. Also, being able to find a card for somebody that is a true collector and has been working on a specific set for a while and we are able to help them complete it is always a good feeling.

What’s your most memorable card sale? 

The one that sticks out most to me wasn’t really even a sale, but a few weeks ago a kid came in that collects TJ Watt and we were able to give him a cool TJ Watt card for his collection. Jimmy has truly put a culture in place that isn’t about the money and when you are able to make a kids week through a card it’s a great experience.

What are your busiest days of the week? 

Release days and Saturdays by far.

Slower days? 

Typically Tuesdays are our slowest days as far as sales go.

Do you host any events in the shop? 

Yes! We are working towards doing more in the future, but have already done a UFC fight watch party, an NFL kickoff event at the start of the season, and have many more events in the works.

Ever have any celebrities or athletes visit your shop? 

Yes, so far we have had Jason Terry, Tony Delk, Matt Schnell, and Mike Bascik Jr and Sr.

What’s the most surprising or unexpected thing about running your shop? 

Definitely all the non-shop related issues. Paying bills, PNL statements, handling technology issues, etc. have all opened my eyes to all the things that have to get done in shops that aren’t just buying, trading, and selling cards.

Meet the Team

Cody Crim, SVP of Southern Regional Sales: Graduated from Northwood Business School in 2015. He then started working at Beckett and then moved on to Panini. In 2021, Jimmy offered him the opportunity of a lifetime of owning his own shop that is a sister shop of Kentucky Roadshow. Cody is usually all business but will crack jokes from time to time. He PCs Dirk, Luka, and UFC rookie Jalin Turner. 

Chase Crim, Senior Technoking: Graduated from West Texas A&M University in 2019. Got into cards during his last year of college slightly before the COVID boom. He and his brother Cody (Crim) used to go to Spring Training every year to get cards autographed by baseball players, so that’s when his love for the hobby started. Unlike Cody, he hadn’t had another job in the industry before Roadshow, but was Cody’s first pick for his right-hand man. He’s the self-proclaimed loud one in the shop, and if you ever come by and hear singing or screaming from the back of the shop, it’s Chase. He PCs low-numbered UFC cards and game-used patches and autos of GOATS, like Tom Brady, LeBron James, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. He’s hoping to get his first Michael Jordan auto this year.

Austin Jett, Storefront Wizard: Newer to cards. Austin met Chase through playing Warzone tournaments online with mutual friends and their personalities just clicked. Chase and Cody were looking for someone they could trust to help run the shop when they go to shows, and wanted someone that they could trust over someone that just knows cards. In the span of six months, Austin went from not knowing what an RPA is to collecting complete sets of his favorite products. He PCs Star Wars and soccer cards.

Texas Roadshow Shop, located at 1836 Cannon Dr. Suite 300 Mansfield, TX 76063, (682) 400-8017, is run by Cody Crim, with his team including his brother Chase Crim, whose title is Sr. Technoking – and storefront wizard, Austin Jett.

For more about Texas Roadshow Shop, check out roadshowcards.com. The roadshowcards app, not many shops (if any) have one and makes it super easy for customers to navigate, and on social media: TexasRoadshowShop on IG, Twitter, and YouTube.

Paul Hickey is a regular contributor to Sports Card Investor, the creator of the Sports Card Investment Report at NoOffseason.com, and the host of the Sports Card Strategy Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube. He can be found on Instagram at @sportscardstrategy and on Twitter @nooffseasoncard.