Kobe Bryant merchandise in El Paso largely sold out following NBA legend’s death

EL PASO, Texas -- As tributes for the sports legend pour in, many are searching for memorabilia to remember Kobe Bryant. Here in El Paso, merchandise is scarce.

ABC-7 spoke to Kobe fans who were visibly upset, not just about Kobe's death, but also upset about having a hard time finding Kobe merchandise to add to their collection.

Mike Rodriguez is a longtime L.A. Lakers and Kobe Bryant fan. He says he has a Lakers collection, and he came to the Sport Xplosion memorabilia store on Gateway East to try to add to more Kobe items collection.

Rodriguez was visibly disappointed.

“Yes, it's been pretty hard, really hard. I got a bunch of stuff of him, but it's pretty hard to find stuff of him right now," he said.

Sport Xplosion owner Charlie Moreno says Kobe fans packed into his store Sunday when news broke about the basketball legend’s untimely death.

"They bought everything from jerseys, plaques, trading cards, t-shirts, shorts, anything that was Kobe related, or had the number 24 insignia on it was extremely hot,” explained Moreno.

So hot, in fact, he is completely out of Kobe jerseys and t-shirts. All the remaining Kobe merchandise is now limited to just a small section inside his store.

Moreno says that right now, Kobe merchandise is far outselling super bowl merchandise as fans continue asking for jerseys.

”I’m hoping to have more in, maybe within two weeks,” said Moreno.

But there is one item Moreno says he still has plenty of in stock: Kobe bobble-heads.