Devon Morris still remembers those first baseball cards he wanted as a kid, going on shopping trips with his family to Nashville’s Opry Mills Mall.
Fast forward to now, and the 2007 graduate of Trigg County High School is in week three of proud ownership of Fan Favs Card Shop in Hopkinsville — where, alongside Zachary Taylor, their love of sports and Pokemon have collided into the collecting market.
Getting to this point, a brick-and-mortar location along Fort Campbell Boulevard, has taken decades.
Morris began his childhood hobby snagging his favorite Arizona Diamondbacks — Randy Johnson, Luis Gonzalez, Paducah’s own Steve Finley — and wanted to complete MLB team sets.
As he got older, he lost a little bit of interest — especially in the extended “Junk Wax” era, where from 1987 until around 1994 production companies like Topps, Fleer and Leaf over-saturated the market with wild production numbers and undesirable chase cards.
But as many others did across the world, Morris pulled back at his roots in 2020 — when a global pandemic allowed him time to slow down and take a look at the collection he had, and the collection he wanted.
It’s here, Morris said, where Fan Favs actually got its first start with Lanny Holeman and frequent visits to the Paducah Traders Mall and Flea Market.
With disposable income arrives indispensable cards, and Morris said he pivoted his personal collection to other teams — the Chicago Cubs, the Tennessee Titans and, specifically, forward Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics and quarterback Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers.
As his interest returned, so, too, did his shopping habits. He was chasing card restocks in west Kentucky and northwest Tennessee Wal-Marts through 2019 and 2020, when he one day ran into Taylor — who was looking for Pokemon cards to trade and collect with his son.
A friendship, Morris noted, “kicked off from there,” and the two rekindled such on the golf course last summer — constantly talking about what it would mean to have a “slice of heaven” in south western Kentucky.
Morris kept attending card shows — Dallas, Nashville, Philadelphia, Atlanta — and even made a personal trip to shop the infamous “National” in Chicago, knowing full well he needed a partner, some property and a little capital before opening a storefront.
Once 2703 Fort Campbell Boulevard, Suite A, came available, Morris said they “had to jump on it” this past month, speeding up their business timeline about six months.
And yet, it’s going to work. This past Saturday, Morris was set up at the growing Murray Kentucky Cardshow at Murray State University’s Curris Center, while Taylor held down the fort in Hopkinsville.
Morris wouldn’t rule out a future break or two at his Hopkinsville location, but it’s not the kind of culture he’s hoping to bring.
Open from noon until 6 PM Tuesday through Saturday, instead he and Taylor are chasing those old and new feelings of joy — and want others to do the same.
