Rochester Hills brothers cashing in on sports trading cards
ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - For sports fans, collecting memorabilia of your favorite team or player is a dream come true.
Whether it's a cherished old cap, a favorite jersey, or a pair of used equipment, they are treasures of some of the most joyous times in a sports fan's life.
Perhaps the most treasured piece of memorabilia a sports fan can have is a small, 2.5 x 3.5-inch piece of cardboard that you can find in a pack of 14.
Sports fans go out of their way to make sure these cards are kept in the most pristine condition they can by air sealing them in plastic covers or putting them in a card book and zipping them up to keep the dirt and dust out.
And they just don't do that keep them clean and admire them for hours on end; sports trading card collecting has become a full-on business.
These cards have the potential to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, as they are kept in perfect condition, and the player on the card slowly becomes a legend in their sports. A 2000 Playoff Contenders Tom Brady rookie card autograph is currently valued at $1.32 million.
And the best part is that you're never too young to break into the business.
Just ask 16-year-old Lino Nori and 13-year-old Gianni Nori of Rochester Hills.
The two brothers started their own sports trading card company, Diamond in the D, selling and trading some of the biggest and rarest cards in the business.
Lino says the start of their family business to his little brother after they took a trip to the East Coast.
"He [Gianni] kind of got me and the whole family involved," Lino said. "He opened this one pack in New York, and he got this really cool 1 of 1 card, which means there's only one in the world. And then, the whole family just got into it after that."
The two have built themselves a small financial empire, selling and trading over 30,000 pieces of inventory, and making around $20,000 this year.
The brothers have high expectations of where they want their business to go in the years to come.
"So, I'm thinking [that I'd want to see our business make] probably, around $60,000 … That's how much we're trying to grow our business," Gianni says. "I would like to get some Mickey Mantle cards because I feel like those will on keep going up in price. … He can't do anything to make it go down. He can't get injured, nothing like that can happen."
While the boys are working hard to grow their business, they're doing so with full support from their parents.
"They have poured their hearts out into the business," their mom, Diala Nori, says. "They love the hobby, they love the business, and I'm extremely proud of their achievement. My husband and I are fully supportive of their passion, their hopes, and their dreams."