If you’re reading this article, then you have some sort of collection of some sort of item. Whether those are baseball cards or other sports cards, Pokémon cards, magic cards, Funko pops, coins or any other number of items that bring joy and have some sort of monetary or sentimental value. No matter what item you collect there are ups and downs and rare items you struggle to find. There are also items that you find that complete sets and then there are items that complete a phase in your life.
For many reading this article we started collecting in the 80s and we collect baseball or football or basketball cards from the “junk wax era” as our starting point. Then this grew to the ultra-modern auto patches and 1/1s that are all sought after and we can’t forget the SPs and SSPs. Collecting now has so many different variations no matter the item. Different variations of magic cards, different variations of Pokémon cards. And short print variations of Funko pops exclusive to certain stores and events. These “special” variations and inserts bring a draw to collectors of all kinds.
The biggest short print draw in the world of baseball was the Billy Ripken “FF” error card with “f face” on his bat knob as a rib by his teammates at the time. This card has many different variations, black box, white scribble, white box and saw cut to name a few. Recently Topps added a Jackson holiday version of this card to their 2024 Topps line. It comes with all the same variations except without the vulgar word is now “fun face”. Regardless of your opinion of Topps this recreation has brought new collectors into the fray. This card is amazing and is also tied to a family member with a Hall of fame career.
The original fleer Billy Ripken was of Cal Ripken’s jrs brother Billy. His career did not go to the extremes like his brother’s. Cal became the “iron man” and changed the work ethic of an entire generation and became a Hall of Famer. The new version shows Jackson Holliday, the son of former major leaguer Matt Holliday. Jackson has yet to prove himself in the majors, mainly due to his age being extremely young. Matt played for a few teams, most notably the cardinals, but for personal reasons I will say the Colorado Rockies. Matt has a solid resume to make the Hall if even by the writers later on in life And just to get it out there, HE DID TOUCH HOME, if you know the 2007 NLCS then you’ll understand.
Having this family connection with these sought-after cards brings more of a draw to the collectibles. There are always going to be things that upset collectors also. Such as fanatics to some and the lack of license by panini for baseball cards. Yet there are always more collectables to expand your collection such as bobblehead and coins. Recently POGs are making a comeback, if you grew up in the 1990s then you know that they are round disks that were made to play a game. There are also baseball player POGs. There are sports inspired by Funko pop, such as Jackie Robinson sliding into home Funko. This Funko isn’t necessarily super valuable but captures a moment in time that most of us never saw. The wide world of collecting encompasses history and historical figures and can teach future generations about moments in time. Speaking of Funko Pops, there are versions of them for the play Hamilton which was a great set to collect for my daughter whom didn’t collect anything until covid. There are so many options of what to collect in this wide world and they can bring us out of dark spaces and back into a better mindset.
There will always be something to collect in this world of collecting. Personal collections are important and a needed aspect of collecting. But do not feel forced to collect anything you do not want to. Do no feel forced to sell and make your collection about monetary concerns. This aspect of the #hobby tends to take away the draw of collecting and has driven many people away from all the different types of collectibles. I have personally seen people on X sell their collection due to harassment from people that keep pressuring them to sell a certain card for a certain price. Don’t do that, we need to be better for the next generation. Such as those that are beginning to collect due to players like Jackson Holliday, Victor Wembanyama, and C.J Stroud.
Thank you for reading and I look forward to seeing all of you in the collector space such as X, Instagram and TikTok.