What got me started in the game used hobby

[markfd]

Re: What got me started in the game used hobby

I got started collecting cards in 1978 when my dad would bring home wax packs or cello packs of baseball and football cards for me that he would buy at the convenience store on his way home from work about once a week. Then he started buying me sets for Christmas until 1990, when I graduated high school. For several years, I stopped collecting and became intersted in autographs in the late 1990s, that was fun and still is to a lesser extent. In 2005 or 2006, after getting everything I could possibly get autographed by the Washington Nationals and their opponents, I started to look for something else and that is when Andrew Lang turned me on to the world of game used memorabilia and I have been collecting ever since. Thanks Andrew!

[godwulf]

Re: What got me started in the game used hobby

I collected cards as a kid, but after about the age of 15, my interest in Baseball was sporadic and short-lived. I was travelling around in the Navy for twenty-one years, and never really had an opportunity to feel like I had a "home team" or somebody to be a fan of. It wasn't until I retired and moved to Phoenix in '93, and then Arizona got an MLB franchise in '95, that I had both the time and the incentive to become a real fan of somebody. The idea that I was able to get in on the ground floor of a new team, and that it would be the team of my adopted state, was too good to be true.

In 1998, the Diamondbacks began playing, and at about the same time, I discovered eBay. One day I happened to see a game-used Karim Garcia Diamondbacks bat up for auction, and I was stunned - I had no idea that you could actually buy bats that had been used in a game. Since that time, of course, I've obtained...um...a few more bats...more than a thousand...and about two hundred jerseys, and my ultimate goal is to get them all nicely displayed before I assume room temperature.

[frikativ54]

Re: What got me started in the game used hobby

I collected cards from the time I was in elementary school to late middle school. Then, I moved on from that phase and paid much less attention in high school. Only when I was a sophomore in college and Jeff Bagwell was ready to retire did I invest more time and money into baseball collectibles, especially of Bagwell, my favorite Houston Astro of all time.

But there was one defining moment for me, that moment I knew I would pursue game used: I was in Houston for Bagwell's jersey retirement, when I saw a display with his game used stuff, including my favorite, a pair of Bagwell's Darryl Kile tribute spikes.

It was at that point that I knew I would collect Bagwell cleats, even though they aren't the easiest to come by. I can't begin to describe my thrill a few years later when a seller offered me a pair of 2004 Bagwell DK shoes with red accents. Now I have pairs from 2003 and 2004 and am still in the hunt for 2005.

[gadsden86]

Re: What got me started in the game used hobby

Mine is like many others i have been collecting cards sicne the early 90's. I always saw jersyes and whatnot and always wanted to get a ball from a baseball game.
I still collect cards and mainly only Miami Dolphins. I got to the point where i felt like my collection needed a change. So i sold a few items and looked for something i wanted.
Well my 1st piece was a pair of GU'ed gloves of Greg camarillo from the 09 season. Then i saw this game issed jersey of oronde gadsden from his 95 season w/ teh cowboys. Him being my favorite player i had to have it and i still do this was only a year ago in June. I have added 5 other gamers to my pc and a few pairs of gloves and a pair of cleats. I only collect dolphins stuff and may branch out to players i have meet and know still. It is so much better owning an entire jersey rather than a 1 inch piece of it.
I still ciollect dolphins cards but rarely any jersey cards.