Collector's Connection

Running since 1982, this Duluth card shop pairs anti-scalper Pokemon restocks with sports wax, dollar bins, and four decades of back-issue comics.

Forty-plus years is a long run for any hobby store, and Collector's Connection has outlasted three Duluth addresses to get here. Aaron Davis opened it on Superior Street in 1982 as a comic and sports-card outfit; Tim Broman started behind the counter as a clerk and bought in as co-owner by 1987. The shop spent the 2000s and 2010s at Village Square before returning to Miller Hill Mall in fall 2023, then expanded into a larger unit inside the mall in 2025. Both owners still live in town.

The current space sits at Entrance 2, across from Claire's and next door to Bark Barn, which means free surface parking and no downtown meter hunting. Inside it reads old-school rather than boutique: long boxes and binders you actually dig through, raw singles by the bin, a mix of modern hobby boxes and junk-wax-era product, and comic back issues stretching into the 1960s and 70s alongside stacks of Mad Magazine. Graded slabs are the thin part of the inventory here, so come hunting raw.

Pokemon is the engine. Collector's Connection is widely treated as the default stop for Pokemon cards Duluth players rely on, largely because the shop enforces purchase limits on new sealed releases to keep resellers from clearing the shelf. That policy earns loyalty, and it comes with the trade-off regulars talk about openly: sealed product often sits above big-box retail pricing. The shop also holds a registered Pokemon League and has run sanctioned qualifier events through RK9 Labs, plus Commander tables for the Magic crowd. Call ahead if you are driving in specifically for organized play, since the league calendar moves around.

Beyond cards, the counter handles sports memorabilia, RPGs, board games, video games, sleeves and toploaders, and a rack of CDs and vinyl left over from the owners' Disc Go Round days. Comic readers can set up a free pull-and-hold subscription. The shop buys collections outright, so a shoebox from the attic is worth carrying in.

Practically: doors open at 10AM most days with a 9PM close on Fridays, and Sunday runs a short 11AM to 6PM. Weekday afternoons are the calmest window for actually talking to someone about a collection. Mall hours can shift on holidays, so check before a Labor Day or late-December trip.