The Urge

I don't know what I've gotten myself into. I was a hard core baseball card collector in my youth. Thousands upon thousands of baseball cards strewn all about my room. I went to card shows, visited my local card shop whenever I could, spending whatever I could. It was joyous. When I graduated high school, I went off to college and the cards stayed behind, boxed up. My twenties led me in many directions, many hobbies and pursuits, but baseball cards were no longer a focus. It became less of a focus once I got married, worked full time, had kids. I just didn't have time or extra money for hobbies. (If I'm being honest with myself, I still don't.) Then the urge hit. It started innocently enough. I was at the Dollar Store, and discovered they were selling repacks of old cards. What the heck, I thought. I bought a pack, not expecting much. I opened it, the first pack I've opened, and before I knew, my youth came flooding back to me. Cards I had not seen in decades, but I still recognized the sets they came from. (I'd know your wood-grain anywhere, 1987 Topps!) Others, like beautiful mysteries from the days I stopped collecting. Unknown designs, unfamiliar companies and sets - I had to know what I had. Online searching led me to The Trading Card Database - a wondrous site where any trading card could be found, and any collector can catalogue their collection. It made me want to know what I had. Slowly, those boxed cards came out of the attic. Little by little, I'd bring some to work, and spend my lunch hours entering each one into the database. I reconnected with each and every card. I also started following along on the TCDB forums, and eventually started reading other collector's blog posts. I started buying a few of the newer packs at my local Wal-Mart.

I'm probably fooling myself, but I don't consider myself a collector, at least not like I was, and not like those who blog about it. My collection has grown a little, but not much. There are no local cards shops, no shows nearby to enjoy. I haven't bought anything online, and if I spend $10 a month on cards, it's a splurge. But I enjoy the forum discussions. I enjoy the looking at all those wonderful cards on the blogs.

So here I am, joining the blogging world in an attempt to throw what few thoughts and opinions I have out into the interwebs. I don't know how often I'll post, what I will post, or if anyone will read it, but it will be out there. Fortunately, I already had this blog. Years ago, I started one for my fantasy baseball teams, but it got monotonous quick and didn't last long. So now I've re-purposed it. We'll see if this one lasts a bit longer.