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Writer's pictureMatthew Ransom

My Hobby Story

The collecting world is filled with many different types of collectors. There are people that collect teams and people that collect players and then there are people that collect specific aspects of a card such as cards with celebrities in the background. But what makes collecting fun for you should be the question asked by others to a future collector. We will discuss personal reasons to collect and compare them to other activities people enjoy.


I have been collecting for years and my reasons have changed numerous times and so has my personal collection (PC). When I began collecting in the 1980s as a young child, I collected for the love of seeing the stars of baseball such as Cal Ripken and Ken Griffey jr. They both brought an excitement to the game that was well needed. Ripken showed the work ethic and Griffey showed the having fun that was not taught to many ball players in the late 80s early 90s. Both were fun to watch and in turn fun to collect. Coming up as a collector in this time period gave me a great and fun way to begin collecting and as a child with little money made it easier due to the company’s massive print runs. 


When I got older and started to collect in the Army, I began to bring back nostalgia that was present when I was a child. It was a great distraction from the chaotic world that was filled with responsibilities and war. My PC changed during this time, and I began collecting my hometown team the Colorado Rockies. It was a great way to escape the drama of real life and to bring my headspace back to the relaxing times collecting Ripken and Griffey. I started to collect Helton due to his similar work ethic as cal and this made it fun and relaxing. After years of collecting my new PC I began to lose touch with it. I lost the relaxing feelings, and it began to feel pushed. When these feelings began, I told myself to stop and began to find other ways to pass my time. That was until COVID.


When COVID hit and I was stuck in the house I found the refreshed light for collecting. I was able to show my kids what collecting and talking sports was all about and enjoyed branching out to non-sports such as Pokémon with my then pre-teen daughter. This was a well needed jolt of passion in collecting that I needed. It again was a way to escape the ways of the world and found new things to look forward to such as daddy daughter time.


In the end the point of this post is to suggest that even if you are nearing a plateau of collecting and feel as if you need a break, maybe you do but try to incorporate others and new ways of collecting to make it more fun and meaningful. There are always moments where collecting might get tiring or stagnant but remember if you include the ones you love maybe you can find new more enlightening things to look forward to. Thank you for taking the time to read my collecting story and I hope to see you out there enjoying this great hobby.


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