Glen Cove Native Turns Sports Card Passion Into Thriving Business

GLEN COVE, NY — A Glen Cove native turned a passion for sports card and collectibles into a thriving online business, and now, a second, bigger brick-and-mortar retail store in Glen Cove.

Stephen Abbondandolo grew up loving collecting baseball cards.

"It was easy to make a business out of it because it was one of my passions," he told Patch.

The 37-year-old started Filthbomb Breaks as an online business ten years ago, and watched it boom during the last several years, especially during the Covid pandemic.

Sports cards enthusiasts began hitting the age when they had more disposable income to spend on their hobby, and during the pandemic, Abbondandolo said, "everyone was home and bored [and] nostalgic."

Filthbomb Breaks, at 116 Glen St., is the second retail location for the business, after it outgrew a smaller Glen Head space last year. The store buys and sells cards, collections and organizes "breaks," where people all over the world come together to collect all the cards in a single pack.

Abbondandolo said that there is definitely a social aspect to the collecting, and he also sees grandparents, parents and kids coming into to the store together.

Pokemon trading cards are a more affordable collectible for younger kids to get in on the hobby, he said. And visitors to the store can check out a display of one of the top Jackie Robinson collections in the world, Abbondandolo noted.