A Journey Through My Life and Card Collecting - CONTEST ENTRY

[TheTGB]

A Journey Through My Life and Card Collecting
by Kevin Ransom aka spoodini

I was around 6 or 7 years old when I received my first baseball cards. It was the early 90s and my babysitter had another child about my age. Little did he know, by giving me my first stack of baseball cards he would start an addiction that would probably last through a lifetime.

My parents were very supportive. They would buy me binders and card pages for these cards I was accumulating. Every holiday and birthday up until their divorce always included baseball cards of some sort. Small retail boxes and packs of cards would always be found in birthday wrapping paper, Easter baskets, even when I stopped at my own house for Halloween. My grandparents would join in and my grandfather, who played professional baseball, would often bring me singles of Red Sox players. I specifically remember the time he gave me my first two Nomar Garciaparra rookies. He told me to put them in protection and never let them go as he would be a star. Soon after my parents divorce in 1999, the childhood depression began and card collecting just became an afterthought.

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But the bug finally bit again. I was living with my mother when I found my first part time job at age 19. I was switching colleges and coming back home as I was more comfortable staying around my mother then living away at college without a real support system. My first job gave me the money to try out that hobby I had as a child. I started an eBay account and bought some dutch auctions and a couple cheaper boxes of cards. Hook, line, and sinker. I was back in the hobby once again. I would soon join Sports Card Forum and start buying at least one box a week with my money. My mom eventually asked why I started buying cards again. My response, “Well at least it's better than drugs.” I said with a smirk on my face. She knows my sense of humor but understood that I still enjoyed it.

I continued collecting for a few years until I moved out to Oregon. I went on a short hiatus while acclimating myself to my new surroundings and learning more about myself. The one thing that I wanted to keep doing was collect cards, so I started buying cards of former Connecticut basketball and football players to remind me of home. My friends at college thought they were interesting as they all loved sports. They enjoyed coming into my apartment and seeing the autographs that I picked up and I would even give some away to them. They have been grateful through the years and enjoy the hobby through me.

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Suddenly in 2009, boy meets girl. I wondered about her reaction to the cards. She really didn't understand the magnitude about my passion for sports cards until we moved in together. She thought it was just a few things every now and then, which it was, but it started to pick up a bit as dating her meant all my money was no longer going towards cards. When we moved in together we had all my cards sent that were still in Connecticut. Boxes and boxes came with cards in it and the look on her face and expression was that of shock. I bet you she wondered what she got herself into. As I was sorting the cards as a lot had been damaged in transit I would disappear. She would call it, “Are you going to play with your cards?” Play really isn't the right word for it, but she would soon see what it was all about. I put out on my desk all of my favorite cards in my collection and showed her and we talked about what they were, value, future value, and anything else I felt was important. Most of it went over her head but she was able to see the passion I had for cards. I compared it to her love of scrap booking. She says it isn't the same, but we all know it is. It's a hobby that you enjoy. She now understands my love for cards and has even bought me packs and a retail box every now and then. She asks the difference in hobby boxes and has looked at prices and just shakes her head. I don't think I'll be getting any of those as a gift, but that's okay. I'm glad that she understands what collecting means to me and the passion I have for it. She has even taped box breaks for me for YouTube, one which won an Upper Deck contest! I think she's a keeper.

My life has had it's ups and downs both in the personal area as well as collecting. I'm happy that the people that I care about most in my life are supportive of my hobbies even though they may think I am just “playing with my cards.” It is a lifelong hobby that is not only fun to be a part of, but allows you the opportunity to look back at your life and reflect upon those times.

Note for Pheebs: If it's possible to add this at the bottom of the article that would be awesome. If not, that's okay.

spoodini is a life long card collector with a passion for everything about the hobby. He runs his own blog at http://www.sportscardblog.net where he blogs about everything going on in the hobby today including product previews, reviews, and opinion.

[TheTGB]

So yeah, the last part is optional.

Looks like pics didn't work. Might want to resize them when you insert them.

I'm going to keep trying until I win one! :P

[Pheebs888]

That's the spirit Kevin!

posted here: https://www.sportscardforum.com/artic...rd-collecting/

[TheTGB]

Thanks alot Karine!