Pop Freak: New Collectibles Store Opens In Red Bank

RED BANK, NJ — Whether you're looking for autographed sports gear or the latest Funko vinyl figure, there's a good chance you'll find them at Pop Freak, which recently opened in Red Bank.

The store offers sports memorabilia and collectible toys and cards. It has items such as boxing gloves autographed by Mike Tyson, full-size authentic football helmets (one of them autographed by Tom Brady), Funko figures from The Office and items autographed by actor Chazz Palminteri.

On Sunday, fans of Stéphane Matteau, who was a player from New York Rangers hockey team that was a part of the Stanley cup team in 1994, and Howard Johnson, who played for the New York Mets, will be able to meet them and ask for an autograph at a store event, from noon to 2 p.m.

Co-founder of the store Jay Spedale, 40, has long collected memorabilia, sports cards and collectible toys as a hobby. That became his main job after the pandemic hit and his work as a DJ and doing live events slowed down to a halt.

"When the pandemic hit I basically went from working all the time to doing absolutely nothing," he said. "I was on the verge of losing my house possibly because we didn't have money. We had to borrow a little bit here or there."

He started by launching an online business, which quickly escalated. Eventually, Spedale partnered up with fellow collector Rolf Luberoff, who dealt mostly in sports memorabilia.

"I was doing so well on the online space, doing live auctions and online sales. And it was kind out outgrowing the house," Spedale said,

While Spedale lives in Aberdeen and Luberoff just recently moved from Brooklyn to New Jersey, they settled in Red Bank for their new store, opening doors next to Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash, which sells comic books, among other items.

While applying for the lease they got in contact with the store owners in order to get their blessing.

"[Their response] was extremely nice, it was way more than I ever expected. They were genuinely excited," he said.

The two have been trying to work together and will possibly host events together in the future.

"I really think that us being here is gonna be great for both stores. We're gonna create a little destination for people to come," Spedale said. "To have neighbors like that, you can't thank them enough."

Spedale said that his seven-year-old son, who has autism, was also a motivation behind his business.

"I really wanted this place to be a place for him down the road. I don't know what the world is gonna be like for kids with special needs," he said.

In fact, he hopes Pop Freak can become a teaching store for other kids with autism.

"They can come here and get their first job here and we can teach them skills that can hopefully help them moving forward in life," he said.

The store had its grand opening on Oct. 30. Spedale called it Pop Freak as an ode to pop culture.

"I'm a freak for pop culture, that's what I am. I love 80s nostalgia and I love these products," he said.