The other day @dkid14 commented on one of my posts, asking me if I collect sports cards. I definitely do collect and so we instantly struck a nice little conversation. It didn't take me long at all to think about creating a sports card community on the blockchain, I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner! Dkid14 thought it was an awesome idea too and so the community is born! Dkid14 is a moderator in the community! I am so appreciative and happy that you helped inspire me to make this man!

There are certainly people out there with more knowledge and understanding of the sports card world than myself. Not that it's too complicated of a world, but the world is so fun and fascinating. It's also probably a bigger industry than you think, it's approximately a billion dollar industry.

There may be other people with bigger collections than mine too, but I know my love and appreciation for sports card collecting matches anyone's.

Sports cards are probably my first passionate hobby. I vividly remember when I was young, my mother explaining to me and pointing out my father's sports card collection. My father died when I was nearly two years old, so hearing about this collection immediately intrigued me. I still remember exactly where my mom pointed out the neatly stacked boxes in the basement, in the corner next to the backdoor. In those boxes were thousands of sports cards that my father had collected before he passed. I instantly felt a connection and was kind of obsessed with the cards. MLB, NBA, NFL, maybe some other sports too but I can't remember. As a kid in the early 2000's, all the old 80's and 90's era stuff was so interesting to me. The images felt ancient to me, being so young with zero perspective on life. I didn't understand my dad only passed away a few years before. Those few years might as well have been a thousand to me. I'm only now beginning to understand just how fast time flies, and how fresh the death of my dad was for the rest of my family. I try to be a better father myself today knowing how short life is.

Looking through my dad's collection when I was young inspired me to start one just like his. Mine currently isn't as epic as his, but I still got time to catch up. My dad really went pretty hard too, he had a lot of entire year sets.

I sorted my collection the correct way. By brand, year, and the number behind each card. I remember I had my whole bedroom floor just covered in cards as I was organizing them from scratch one time. I felt a connection to my dad I had no real memory of. I wanted to be legit!

My collection also reminds my a bit of my papou who taught me the game of baseball and really pushed my interest in sports as whole. My cards were and still are so important to me. I remember I wanted to be the dude selling cards in the mall, or having a sports memorabilia shop. It just seemed like a chill life.

I started my collection young and ever since I've really only grabbed packs here and there through my young-adulthood. But I still really enjoy it and am a collector for life. I think this community might help me start collecting more frequently again!

I think that a lot of people can and do relate to my little story. Sports cards can bring back a lot of memories and definitely have sentimental value for a lot of people.

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Value and Aging Well

Not only that though, sports cards are fascinating for several other reasons too. A good sports card is full of value! A sports card is art and history.

When you own a sports card you get the image of the athlete. Photography. Many times some cards can be stylized in a cool way or it can be a standard traditional picture. The uniqueness of each card is really cool for sports fans. It's a clear picture of the athlete, just small! Owning a clear image of the athlete of any size, is cool enough for most sports fans and card collectors.

On the back of each card is the player's quick facts like their name, height, weight, hometown, college, age, and stats. Great valuable information that I know I cherished especially before the internet now that I think of it. I mean even now it's cool to see the stats. All of those things along with the picture, ups the value.

The way that a sports card ages, is really awesome in my opinion. Every aspect of the card gets cooler as time goes on. The photo gets cooler as it gets older. The stats become more intriguing to look at. The whole style and font on the card becomes trippy to look at. The history of it all is amazing too. Imagine if there were little cards of the ancient gladiators or something like that. Sports cards are time capsules in so many ways. Finding an old card that somehow withstood the stand of time, is so cool to collectors. This little piece of cardboard didn't get wet or ruined in any way over 100 years? That gets a collector excited as long as the player was halfway decent, or better of course.

Some cards are rarer than others for many different reasons. No matter what though, there are only so many cards produced every year. It might seem like a lot of sports cards are produced, and there are, but think about how many of those cards get lost and destroyed over time.

It's like a new unique currency released every year. Different brands all numbered on the back so collectors can try and put them in order. Most people can identify fake cards.

The sentimental value, the rarity, the history, the quality the art, the information on the card, all makes this industry valuable, fun, and successful. While yes, many different companies could just produce cards, that's where quality and style etc. come into play.

Are sports cards one of the original cryptocurrencies? There are so many similarities the more I think about it! If you find the right buyer, I really feel like mostly any card could be re-sold to someone. Even washed up or draft busts have intrigue sometimes. Every team has got a fanbase!

It's no secret whatsoever that some sports cards can be worth insane amounts of money. A Honus Wagner card is worth three million dollars. The selling of sports cards is a whole industry. You could essentially buy entire sets of cards and try to re-sell them down the line. Like I said, as a kid I kinda wanted to do similar things like this.

All in all, sports cards are just a whole lot of fun. If you like sports cards, join the community! Share your cards!

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Here is a little peak at my collection! I know I've got some more in a few boxes somewhere, but this is my little core of cards I've had my whole life. As well as a few favorites and whatnot. I'll likely show more over time.

I'm a huge Tennessee Titans fan. But like I said just showing a few right now.

Hive on!

Legend Steve McNair RIP

Tennessee Titans Greats!

This is obviously not a card, but I think it's a relatively rare piece of memorabilia. This was one of my favorite Super Bowls Ever! I keep this magazine in my binder with my cards! I have a couple of other magazines as well.

Thanks for reading! Hope you join the community!