MARLBOROUGH, Mass. - A childhood love for Pokémon cards in 1999 has now evolved into a lifestyle of collecting and attending card shows for South Coast Collectibles owner David Vega.

"So that would be about 25 years of collecting cards," said Vega. "Started with Pokémon, Digimon, a lot of the TCG stuff, and now it's just sports cards. I fell in love with sports and I've been collecting that ever since."

The New Bedford native was one of about 400 vendors sharing their passion of sports cards and non-sports cards at the Northeast Sports Card Expo on Saturday.

Vega said he regularly attends similar shows.

"Any chance we get," he said. "We do the weekly Woburn shows. We do the Fenway shows. We do the Gillette shows, the Garden, wherever you can find us, we'll be there."

And as long-time collector, Vega said it's been a joy to see the growth of the hobby.

"It's fun, you see a lot of customers become dealers and vice versa," he said. "You'll see a lot of dealers go to other shows as customers, and it's just good to see new people get into the hobby all the time, reconnecting with their old passions."

The largest card show in the region also saw the appearance of a Boston Red Sox World Series trophy as well as the Boston Bruins mascot.

Even at 34 years old, Vega said his childhood love of cards is still going strong.

"It's just like we're almost selling and trading nostalgia," he said.  "You never know what you're going to see at a card show. I've done a hundred card shows last year and I still find new stuff I've never seen before."

The Northeast Sports Card Expo will also be held Sunday in Marlborough at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center.