One of the main questions everyone is asked is, “How long have you been in the Hobby?” or “What brought you to the Hobby?”. Most collectors will go straight to the point, but I tend to tread lightly on the subject due to the actual reasoning for coming back into the Hobby in early 2008. Like most individuals I collected with my father and brother in the late 80’s to early 90’s when you didn’t have pieces of memorabilia or autographs with the cards. Back then you would open single packs chasing whatever players you collected not caring if it was a rookie card or not. I remember we also ate a lot of Post Cereal for breakfast because we would send in the UPC’s off the boxes for “exclusive” card sets thinking they would hold a lot of value, spoiler alert they didn’t.
In 2008, while serving on active duty in the U.S. Army, I went through a rough divorce and needed a safe place to get away from everything. One day at work one of my fellow Soldiers had their son in the office and they were opening a box of 2008 Topps Chrome Baseball. Seeing the chrome technology on the cards sparked some interest but what really put me over the top is when they pulled an autograph out of one of the packs. At the time I was surprised to see that happen because its not the same as when I opened packs decades prior. So, like most other curious individuals I went straight to the Internet and found out that the whole sports card industry has changed from what I knew as a little kid years ago.
As a diehard sports fan, I quickly knew I found that safe place I was looking for. I found other individuals from around the world enjoying the true value of collecting in so many ways with one another. With some help and inspiration from a long-time legend in the hobby, Chris Justice aka Cards Infinity, I started my own YouTube channel. Chris’s shop was at the time in Wilmington, NC and only a quick hour drive from where I was stationed at. After meeting him and understanding the community a little more I knew I wanted to start a YouTube channel to show off mail-days and eventually host group breaks. You also must realize that this was a time when as a collector we didn’t try to make money off breaking online, we just wanted a chance to open “higher end” products for a fraction of the price. I have so many stories about hosting group breaks online over 15 years ago and I’ll save those stories for another day.
Fast forward to 2024, 16 years later and now retired from the Army after 22 years of service. Even after multiple deployments overseas, constantly moving from one place to another every 3 to 4 years and trying to be the best father I could be to my two wonderful children, the one thing I can always fall back on was the collecting community. I’ve always been able to step away from “real life” and step into the world of the Hobby via YouTube, forums, card shows, trade nights, the list goes on and on. I will be grateful for the friendships I’ve gained over all these years because the majority would never know that even though I showed a lot of times where I was up, they were the ones that got me through the downs. So, answering the original question, “What brought me into the hobby?” I’d have to say to get away from my everyday life, and I'm sure most out there can say the same thing.
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