09/14/2026
🇺🇸🫡 FYI 🫡🇺🇸
For those who may not know me personally, my name is Chris Morrison. I’m a husband, a father, a combat veteran, and someone who is proud to call the Mattoon area home. Throughout my life, whether through my military service, my family, my career, or my involvement in our community, I’ve always believed that the things worth building should have a purpose bigger than yourself.
That belief is a big part of why my wife, Andrea, and I started The Vet Hobby Shop.
I wanted to take a few minutes and share what this business really means to me and what we’re trying to accomplish.
When we started The Vet Hobby Shop, I never wanted it to be just another card shop.
Yes, we buy and sell sports cards, Pokémon, collectibles, memorabilia, sealed products, and everything else that comes with this hobby. But the bigger vision has always been about changing what people should expect from their local card shop.
The hobby has changed tremendously over the years. Somewhere along the way, it became easy for everything to revolve around the value of a card, the next big hit, or how much money could be made.
We’re trying to bring something else back to the forefront:
The people.
I want a kid walking into our shop with a $5 card to feel just as important as the collector carrying a $5,000 card.
I want new collectors to be able to ask questions without feeling embarrassed because they don’t know everything yet.
I want parents to have a place where they feel comfortable bringing their kids.
I want experienced collectors to have a place where they can trade, talk about the hobby, share their knowledge, and build relationships.
And above everything else, I want people to know that when they walk through our doors, they’re going to be treated honestly and with respect.
That same philosophy is why we’ve put so much effort into building the Corn Belt Card Shows. We’re not interested in simply filling tables and putting on another card show. We want to help build a collector community in Central Illinois where shops, dealers, collectors, families, and kids can all succeed together.
One thing I strongly believe is that someone else’s success doesn’t have to come at the expense of ours.
Another card shop succeeding doesn’t mean we lose.
Another dealer making a great sale doesn’t hurt our business.
Another collector getting an incredible deal doesn’t mean somebody else has to get taken advantage of.
If we grow the hobby together, we all win.
That’s the culture we’re trying to create.
Our move into our new location at 1109 S. 19th St. in Mattoon is another step toward that vision. It’s a bigger building, but to me, the square footage isn’t the important part.
It’s what we can do with it.
More events. More opportunities to teach. More room for collectors to gather. More opportunities for kids to learn the hobby. More opportunities to bring people together.
We’re going to make mistakes along the way. We’re going to keep learning, and we’re going to keep listening to the people who support us.
But there are a few things I never want to change:
Integrity. Respect. Loyalty. Service. Community.
Those aren’t marketing words to me. They’re principles I’ve tried to live by, and they’re principles I want represented every time someone walks through the doors of The Vet Hobby Shop.
To every person who has bought a card from us, sold us a collection, attended one of our shows, shared one of our posts, brought their kids into the shop, helped us move, offered advice, told someone about us, or simply stopped by to talk cards:
Thank you.
You’re not just supporting a small business. You’re helping us build something that I hope will be here serving this community for a very long time.
My goal isn’t for people to someday say:
“The Vet Hobby Shop was the biggest card shop.”
I’d much rather have someone say:
“The Vet Hobby Shop helped make the hobby better.”
If we can accomplish that, then we’ve built something worth being proud of.
And we’re just getting started.
Chris Morrison
The Vet Hobby Shop
Veteran Owned & Operated
1109 S. 19th St., Mattoon, IL
