CardVault by Tom Brady

Downtown Sacramento's polished K Street card showroom for graded sports cards, memorabilia and Pokemon, with grading submissions and a wall signed by Brady.

CardVault by Tom Brady brings a showroom-style card store to downtown Sacramento. It's on K Street, a short walk from the Golden 1 Center, and looks more like a boutique than a back-room hobby shop. The cases are bright, the layout is clean, and graded cards are displayed so you can read the labels without asking staff to pull them out. One wall carries Brady's signature from a visit to the store, and photographing it has become part of the stop for a lot of people.

Sports cards are the main business. Football, basketball and baseball lead, with soccer, golf, UFC, WWE and racing also represented. Graded singles from PSA, BGS, SGC and CGC fill most of the cases, and next to them you'll find memorabilia, autographed pieces and branded hats and apparel. The trading-card side covers Pokemon, One Piece, Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh!, so a mixed group of collectors can all find something.

The store also handles grading submissions for the major companies, which saves collectors from having to ship cards themselves. It runs breaks both in the store and on its live channels. It also buys collections, and offers are based on recent sold comps. Check comps on your own phone before you buy or sell high-end pieces, since prices here sit at the premium end.

Because the store is part of a national CardVault network, it gets a steady supply of current releases and co-branded merchandise. Casual fans can still enjoy the visit without buying, since the cases work almost like a small museum of modern stars and rookie autographs.

Hours are 11AM to 7PM Monday through Thursday, 11AM to 9PM on Friday and Saturday, and 11AM to 8PM on Sunday. The later weekend hours make it easy to stop in before or after a Kings game or dinner downtown. Downtown garages and street meters are the simplest parking options.