Why do you collect what you collect?.

The question is plain and simple...WHY DO YOU COLLECT WHAT YOU COLLECT?..but yet the answer may not be as simple. For me, I started collecting back in late summer of 1993. Just took a random grocery shopping trip (back when they used to sell cards in grocery stores) with my father and for some reason we bought two packs of hockey cards. Then went back the next day and grabbed two more. Then four more..this time two baseball as well. Soon by the end of the week we had a big stack going and from there on it increased. By 1995, was really into collecting buying any product and sport could get our hands on.

One of the first big pulls I remember is this:

 

I loved Skybox and their shiny insert cards that stood out. At that point, it was the best pull in my collection. I tried to chase down all of the Paydirt inserts.

We continued to buy cards and mainly focused our efforts onto the three sports we watched. Basketball, baseball and football. On a ride home from the gas station, our new found place to buy cards, my dad who was busting behind the wheel, don't try that either, almost drove off the road when this was discovered in a pack of our 97-98 Topps Chrome basketball.....a rookie card refractor of Vince Carter. The hottest player on the market with the hottest card that had a BV of $300+ back then. I remember screaming with excitement!! How could I not! We no longer have the card as my dad sold it not much longer after despite my biggest efforts to keep it. But was and still is one my most exciting pulls.

Also around this time we were dead set on collecting Ken Griffey Jr. The man was a beast at the plate, was a great role model and was just a hobby icon. I started searching for every Griffey card I could get my hands on. I remember staying up late to check the scores and to see if he had hit a home run and if he was the league leader...used to hate when McGwire and Sosa took the lead. Especially knowing what we all know now about the steroid allegations it bothers me more.

And of course no Griffey Jr collection was a Griffey Jr collection without one of these:

It took my summer savings but I found it worth it! I still have it to this day among the other 300+ Griffey cards in my collection. I was actually featured in Beckett Baseball for my collection of Griffey cards and other items such as Cheese cans, Oreo wrappers, Empty cracker boxes, Wheaties boxes, card plaques, magazines and so on.

A few years later I took a year break from the hobby after moving out of my parents house. My dad and I split our collection the best we could and I took my part. I still kept what I owned in storage but my dad sold off his part and left the hobby for good. Which was sad because there was a lot of great cards including a Dan Marino autograph but I didn't have enough funds to pry them away from him. I still to this day don't understand why I dropped out of the hobby at that time..but I did and I missed the huge boom of the jersey and auto card takeover in that time.

So it was 2002 when I dug back into the hobby. Picked up a few hobby boxes from the same gas station, (which no longer sells cards because customers were stealing from them) Out of a Fleer box, I pulled a Derek Jeter jersey card with pinstripe. Being a Yankees fan I was pretty stoked about the Jeter especially with a pinstripe.Was still collecting Griffey even after his move to Cincy.

  

From there I was really back into the hobby buying any baseball and football cards I could. I dropped basketball card collecting after Jordan had left. However, when the news broke on steroids, Griffey's injuries kept accumulating driving down his value (even though value for me is not what I collect for) and when the rookie cards for baseball were getting more confusing around 2006 and seeing how the hobby had evolved into a rookie card hobby I decided to drop baseball and focus my efforts onto football which is my favorite sport to play (which I did as TE, OT, DT, DE) and watch and always had been.

Football cards seem to be the most popular, the most valuable out of all of the sports in my opinion and that is why I collect what I collect right now. Baseball would be second then followed by basketball, hockey and then a battle between racing, UFC, and so on. And since then, that's been my main sport. I do sprinkle in a few other sports here and there when there is a popular rookie (example Strasburg, Harper, Lebron, Lin, Taylor Hall) I must have but other than that, including Griffey, I don't buy them most of the time. But then I sometimes have that random itch where I just want to try a different sport and will.

Now that you heard my short version of why I collect what I collect...I pass the question onto you..the readers...WHY DO YOU COLLECT WHAT YOU COLLECT? Feel free to comment below why or any thoughts on my story.