When people ask me about my hobby, some automatically think that I must be rich, others question where the pleasure is, and some just simply think that collecting cardboard and signed baseball bats is weird. However, there is much more to the world of sports memorabilia. Yes, it is a lucrative industry, roughly $5.8 billion to be exact. Yes, I enjoy meticulously opening a pack of cards to view the design of each and every player. Yes, you along with others may think that it’s weird, but we like weird. “We?” You may ask. Yes, we. We is why I collect. Of course there are other great hobbies that many partake in; some that are considered less difficult and some that many view as better investments. In my opinion, there are virtually three types of collectors: those who truly love the game, those who love the community, and others who are in it to make money, I fall into the latter.
Personally, whether it be baseball, basketball, football, or even hockey, I enjoy owning a small piece of sports history. Every game played has its own uniqueness. Every player has their own story. This makes owning sports memorabilia much more fun and even affordable for anyone who is involved. Collecting is a unique way to connect directly with a specific player. I own something that Allen Iverson wore and used in a game. I can touch the same photograph that Mickey Mantle once held between his fingers and marked with his John Hancock. To me, these are distinct opportunities to become even closer to the game that I had idolized throughout my life.
But my favorite thing about collecting, the thing that probably keeps me going more than anything, is the people. Fellow collectors. Cards and memorabilia create a common interest, a bond for us to talk about. I’ve met some fanatical collectors over the years, others who are eccentric, and some who are completely insufferable.
As a whole, the people are very friendly and welcoming. Every card in someone’s personal collection has a story. Why did that card appeal to them that they don’t want to part with it? What about that player/team makes that person want to collect them for life? If I found 100 people with the same card in their collection, I’d hear 100 different stories about the card and its significance to them. Collecting does not care about your age, gender, race, religion, political beliefs, job, hometown, or anything else. It is a unifying bond that brings a large diverse group together whose reasons for collecting are just as unique as they are, a bond I am fortunate enough to be a part of.
What does a community do? They relate with one another, they … , and they always support each other. A perfect example occurred in 2017. Nine year old Loren Smith wrote a letter to the Oakland Athletics, his favorite baseball team, explaining he lost his entire collection along with his home to the California wildfires. The A’s responded the only way they knew how, by offering to hook up his entire family with new gear and sending him some memorabilia to start a new collection. The story quickly spread and the sports memorabilia/card community came together to help Loren out. Several major and minor league clubs sent their own care packages, Topps sent their own care package, and the A’s had a mailing address for fans to mail any donations to Loren. My friends and I, many of which I met through the community, put together as much as we could to send to California because we knew that Loren would appreciate it more than we ever could.
All in all, a community is not necessarily a physical group of people in a geographical location, or a . It is a combination of thoughts, ideas, and values that people share that contribute to achieving a common goal.
