What drew you to collect sports or other trading cards? Do you still collect and if so has the reason changed?

2015-06-12T10:18:00-04:00

When I was young we played wiffle ball in the streets. I think that helped draw me to baseball cards as a kid. Neighborhood pressure caused me to risk my favorite cards in flipping games. Over my childhood and teenage years I bought a few football cad packs but never seemed to catch the fire for football cards.
After I had sons, my interest for baseball cards came back and I purchased Topps, Bowman, Ultra in the 1990's and started collecting 1960 Topps Baseball which were horizontal. My sons showed some interest in Baseball, Football and Basketball but two were very interested in Pokemon so I bought some for them and built "book" of complete sets of the basic sets which my now adult sons are glad I kept for the memories. Another son became interested in fantasy cards in his late teens.
FYI MCPO Hilary Kunz CPL Douglas Chrysler MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. CWO3 Dave Alcantara Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. SFC William Farrell GySgt Jack Wallace SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D SSG Donald H "Don" Bates SPC Michael Terrell SPC Woody Bullard CPL Ronald Keyes Jr SSG Donald H "Don" Bates CMDCM John F. "Doc" Bradshaw PO3 Edward Riddle SPC Bob Ridley PO1 Jeff Chandler MSG Roy Cheever

Response by SGT Mark Estes made Nov 10 at 2018 7:58 PM

2018-11-10T19:58:30-05:00

Always have since I was young, my dad got me into it

Response by PVT Mark Zehner made Nov 10 at 2018 9:15 PM

2018-11-10T21:15:54-05:00

I collect military and police patches does that count:-)

Response by PO1 John Johnson made Jun 10 at 2022 7:04 AM

2022-06-10T07:04:06-04:00

I stopped collecting sports cards at the beginning of the 90's when a profusion of Companys got into the game and started making untold billions of cards along with putting "special" cards (signed, pieces of game used gear, super rookie cards, etc.) into the packs and the prices went through the roof for the special cards. Packed up 25 years of cards and gave them to my son.

Response by SGT Mark Anderson made Jun 10 at 2022 9:14 AM

2022-06-10T09:14:16-04:00

I've always admired athletes. Quite a few of my sports cards ended up on my bicycle spokes and the results were obvious. "Dodo Mark"... :)

Response by SSgt David M. made Jun 10 at 2022 11:19 AM

2022-06-10T11:19:26-04:00

I collected BaseBall cards for a few years with my two youngest Sons. Then we just sort of quit. I carried those cards around for two moves then found a dealer to sell them to. The market had sort of died along the way so I did not expect a lot of anything for them. I was already knee deep in my Stamp and Coin Collections as well as metal detecting. Just too many hobbies for my own good! ;-)

Response by SPC Woody Bullard made Jun 10 at 2022 11:37 AM

2022-06-10T11:37:52-04:00

In the late 1950s I started collecting Topps baseball cards with just a few in '56
and then really getting into the card collection in '57, '58 and '59. I kept collecting
cards into 1960, '61, '62, '63 and started backing off collecting in '64. I could get
one Topps card in a pack with a piece of bubble gum for one cent. There was also
a pack with five cards and gum for five cents. If I saved up my money for cutting
the yard grass I could buy the whole box of Topps baseball cards. I could not wait
to open up that new pack of cards to see what players I bought. Any doubles of a
player I could trade to a card collector school friend for one of his players which I
did not have. I started collecting Topps cards again in the 1970s. Thankfully my
father saved my card collection over the years when I was gone so they did not
get thrown away like some other kid's collections.

Response by Sgt John Steinmeier made Jun 10 at 2022 12:11 PM

2022-06-10T12:11:49-04:00

Never got into collecting the sports cards. We did collect cards for the rock band Kiss as well as Star Wars cards. They seemed to be the dominant force where I grew up.