Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Bennight
Hi Paul, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My story of how I got into the card game business started when I was a kid (around 9-10 years old, so around 1999). Once I started collecting Pokémon TCG, I couldn’t get enough of it. Just seeing the product on the shelf waiting to be opened excited me. When I wasn’t looking at cards, I would be at the magazine rack looking for the most recent issues of Beckett or Scrye while my parents were shopping. These magazines blew my mind because that’s how I realized these cards have financial value. I would try to cram as much information as possible and beg my parents to buy the magazine… and more cards of course. Knowing the financial value of these cards put me in a good spot to negotiate sales and trades with friends and peers at school. I was regularly flipping cards in exchange for the other kids lunch money. Any time I had money, I just kept sinking it right back into cards. And any time I had cards, I kept making money. During those times, I only collected cards and engaged in trades/sales at mine or my friend’s homes during sleepovers, on the playground, or even at the park where my friends and I would play on occasion. Eventually I would go on to learn how to play these games, which would only bolster my love of them.
I was watching Saturday morning cartoons and stumbled across Yu-Gi-Oh! In that show they battled with their cards and got to summon giant monsters to try and win high-stakes games, they were essentially heroes that used card games instead of super powers. When I found out that a physical version of the game on this show existed, I was stoked! I went on to continue using my prowess in card game trades/sales to support my interest in this game. It quickly led to me having a pretty sizeable collection and some pretty powerful decks to boot!
Eventually in 2002 we had an (at the time) un-named card shop open up in town. It was originally opened by a gentleman named Miguel Silva who wanted to be able to have a safe space to host card game events and have a space for his kids and himself to play as well.
I was about 12 years old when I started going there to play Yu-Gi-Oh!
While I was playing Yu-Gi-Oh! one day, I asked Miguel “What are you going to name this place?”
He replied “probably Silva’s Collectibles or something like that.”
I responded by excitedly saying “You should name it ‘Heart of the Cards’ like the catch phrase from Yu-Gi-Oh!”
The name stuck and Heart of the Cards was born.
From there, Miguel taught me how to play Magic the Gathering and Pokémon TCG. Getting to learn how to play with the cards I had been collecting for a few years was exciting. It gave me another aspect of the hobby I enjoyed in addition to the trading/selling aspects of it. I couldn’t get enough of it. I went on to learn any trading card game that I could get my hands on.
Throughout the years of gaming at Heart of the Cards I would constantly ask Miguel about different aspects of the card game industry. One of those days, I asked Miguel “Do you ever think you’ll sell the shop someday? Or are you planning on passing it onto your kids?” to which he replied “I’ll probably sell it sometime after my youngest son graduates from high school.” From that point I just waited and made plans to try to take over the shop eventually.
Right before Miguel’s youngest son graduated, I managed to find a business partner who was willing to hear out my plan and decided to help me reach for that dream of owning a card shop.
In 2018, we formed Games PLS, LLC which conducts business as Heart of the Cards (preserving the name I had suggested as a kid). We’ve owned Heart of the Cards for going on 7 years and counting! Collectively, Heart of the Cards has been helping to serve the gaming needs of the Texas Hill Country for over 22 years! I’m excited to carry the torch in this effort to maintain a safe gaming space for the members of our local gaming community. I’m incredibly grateful that I get to do this for a living.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The main struggle in this industry is the amount of variables in demand for different products combined with relatively low margins on sealed products. Pricing and competitiveness in the industry can be challenging when trying to strike a balance between making enough money to pay the bills while also not being severely undercut by high-volume online sellers, thus rendering your product offerings undesirable.
We’ve been impressed with Heart of the Cards, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We specialize in selling product for trading card games (as well as a few other table-top games) and hosting tournaments and leagues to promote a strong in-store gaming environment.
We host weekly events for the following things:
Board Games
Magic the Gathering
Pokémon TCG
Cardfight!! Vanguard
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Dungeons & Dragons
One Piece Card Game
Grand Archive
etc.
We offer a wide variety of gaming events and product and are always seeking to evolve along side the interest of our local player-base.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I like that Kerrville is a small beautiful town. It’s nicely nestled into the hills of the Texas Hill Country and the Guadalupe River flows through the middle of town. I’ve lived here my entire life and I enjoy it. It’s small but not too small.
Other than for wishing for some more fun destinations (like a bowling alley and some other forms of family entertainment that we lack), I can’t think of too many dislikes.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://heartofthecardsktx.crystalcommerce.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heartofthecardsktx/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heartofthecardsktx/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@heartofthecardsktx
- Other: https://heartofthecards.tcgplayerpro.com/
Image Credits
Pictures taken by Paul Bennight.
