How did you start your card collecting obsession?

Mine started in the late 80s collecting NBA and TMNT! Whole school loved those TMNT cards hahaha.
And had so many cards like package said but if you were caught or seen wih them they were taken for the day. School didnt like them but it would keep us out of trouble... sometimes hahaha
Then stopped in the early 90s and started collecting again earlier this year by just looking up my favourite players on eBay. Then found this great site

Some great stories though

It is a really long story for me. I started collectin cards when I was in Hong Kong. I was around 10 and that's when the Japanese started releasing their comic (anime) cards (since 1988 with Dragon Ball and SD Gundam), They were sold in machines with rollers on the side for 1 HKD each. The idea being every 20 or so cards, an insert (a shiny card that the Americans call refractors) would come out. I still remember the good old days when a bunch of kids stood around a machine with dollar coins in their pockets. They were all sniping for the insert. Technically, there is no way of telling but due to certain qualities of these refractors, strange things happen just before the card is due e.g. 2 commons would come out together due to the lower friction on the insert's surface. The sniping later evolved to people carrying torches, projecting light through the slit that it comes out of and checking the position of the insert (being a sticker has 2 layers). Then there were people using double sided tape on an MTR ticket to pull cards through the slit, meaning you can get up to 6 cards every 1 dollar. More illegal activities follow with people removing the roller to reveal the lever, then use excessive force (with the foot) to stomp the lever for unlimited number of cards. Anyway, it was amazing how the kids came up with all these tricks.

That went on for a couple of years until 1994 when UD released its World Cup 94 set that got all the kids and adult collectors into the pack-based products. It was a brand new idea to us, buying in bulk (pack) but the cards came in better quality with sharp edges. This started a new phase of collecting for me as I started trying other products. One of the landmark product for me was the 93=94 Skybox. The first pack I bought was a series 2 pack and I got a Shaq/Penny Thunder Lightnight card. Then I went back for a Series 1 pack and got Shaq All-Rookie Team. I didn't really follow basketball back then but I knew Shaq was somebody. All this co-incided with my immigration to Australia.

After arriving in Sydney on World Cup final day, I have continued to collect anime cards but I realize they were harder and harder to come by since we didn't have ebay back then. It became a nuisance since the cards released here in those Chinatown model shops were not only a few months behind but also 5 times the price. That's when I shelved my anime card collection and decided to move into NBA cards which was the craze back then in the mid 90s when Shaq just came out and Jordan won 3 titles. I swapped many of my anime cards like Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon and a bunch of others for NBA cards. At this stage I didn't really collect anyone in particular, I collected everything. I remember having Mashburn, Zo, Baker, Rider etc. I felt my heart was still in comic cards so I actually put effort into collecting Spiderman cards. The first series I had a go at was the one with holograms and the web acetate cards. They were beautiful till this day.

At the height of the card craze, I even ventured into Magic the Gathering because all my class mates were playing them back then. But by 96-97, the entire hobby came to a grinding halt due to a sudden increase of pack prices, us kids didn't have the financial backing to continue and so I stopped. Not surprisingly, the anime card world also experienced the same problem, but not due to price hikes. I didn't throw anything out, I have always been a horder. I just concentrated on playing ball. I would occasionally visit Kings comics to get a pack or 2 per year.

What got me back into it?? LA winning the NBA title 3 years straight. My interest in the NBA was at an all time high. I looked in my albums and realized I had around 50 cards of Shaq and it must be worth something. After looking on ebay, getting a paypal account, buying a box or 2 online, I got an invitation to a card show at Burwood. It was convenient, pretty close to my place back then so I checked it out and met Sonny and Gary. With all the connections set up and being an adult now, I had access to cards all around the world, I pushed the re-start button on my hobby and never looked back. After reaching a milestone of around a 1000 Shaqs, I decided that I needed a side collection, something cheaper so I can get better looking cards. Then I thought it would be a good idea to collect Asian players.

Started off collecting English Footy cards back when I was a young fella, still remember the smell of bubble gum.
Then onto the collectable stick on Tattoos, still got a set of those lying around somewhere.
Then a big leap forward to 93-94 Skybox, that set is still my all time favourite ... what can I say a mans first true love Guy at the local market here in Buderim stuck that needle in my arm ... then when my needs got too big for what he could supply, he passed me onto a specific supplier in Maroochydore ( would insert plug here but won't ).

Brian Lee said:

It is a really long story for me. I started collectin cards when I was in Hong Kong. I was around 10 and that's when the Japanese started releasing their comic (anime) cards (since 1988 with Dragon Ball and SD Gundam), They were sold in machines with rollers on the side for 1 HKD each. The idea being every 20 or so cards, an insert (a shiny card that the Americans call refractors) would come out. I still remember the good old days when a bunch of kids stood around a machine with dollar coins in their pockets. They were all sniping for the insert. Technically, there is no way of telling but due to certain qualities of these refractors, strange things happen just before the card is due e.g. 2 commons would come out together due to the lower friction on the insert's surface. The sniping later evolved to people carrying torches, projecting light through the slit that it comes out of and checking the position of the insert (being a sticker has 2 layers). Then there were people using double sided tape on an MTR ticket to pull cards through the slit, meaning you can get up to 6 cards every 1 dollar. More illegal activities follow with people removing the roller to reveal the lever, then use excessive force (with the foot) to stomp the lever for unlimited number of cards. Anyway, it was amazing how the kids came up with all these tricks.

That went on for a couple of years until 1994 when UD released its World Cup 94 set that got all the kids and adult collectors into the pack-based products. It was a brand new idea to us, buying in bulk (pack) but the cards came in better quality with sharp edges. This started a new phase of collecting for me as I started trying other products. One of the landmark product for me was the 93=94 Skybox. The first pack I bought was a series 2 pack and I got a Shaq/Penny Thunder Lightnight card. Then I went back for a Series 1 pack and got Shaq All-Rookie Team. I didn't really follow basketball back then but I knew Shaq was somebody. All this co-incided with my immigration to Australia.

After arriving in Sydney on World Cup final day, I have continued to collect anime cards but I realize they were harder and harder to come by since we didn't have ebay back then. It became a nuisance since the cards released here in those Chinatown model shops were not only a few months behind but also 5 times the price. That's when I shelved my anime card collection and decided to move into NBA cards which was the craze back then in the mid 90s when Shaq just came out and Jordan won 3 titles. I swapped many of my anime cards like Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon and a bunch of others for NBA cards. At this stage I didn't really collect anyone in particular, I collected everything. I remember having Mashburn, Zo, Baker, Rider etc. I felt my heart was still in comic cards so I actually put effort into collecting Spiderman cards. The first series I had a go at was the one with holograms and the web acetate cards. They were beautiful till this day.

At the height of the card craze, I even ventured into Magic the Gathering because all my class mates were playing them back then. But by 96-97, the entire hobby came to a grinding halt due to a sudden increase of pack prices, us kids didn't have the financial backing to continue and so I stopped. Not surprisingly, the anime card world also experienced the same problem, but not due to price hikes. I didn't throw anything out, I have always been a horder. I just concentrated on playing ball. I would occasionally visit Kings comics to get a pack or 2 per year.

What got me back into it?? LA winning the NBA title 3 years straight. My interest in the NBA was at an all time high. I looked in my albums and realized I had around 50 cards of Shaq and it must be worth something. After looking on ebay, getting a paypal account, buying a box or 2 online, I got an invitation to a card show at Burwood. It was convenient, pretty close to my place back then so I checked it out and met Sonny and Gary. With all the connections set up and being an adult now, I had access to cards all around the world, I pushed the re-start button on my hobby and never looked back. After reaching a milestone of around a 1000 Shaqs, I decided that I needed a side collection, something cheaper so I can get better looking cards. Then I thought it would be a good idea to collect Asian players.

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Wow, extremely interesting read thereCongrats on your Shaq collection as well

Awesome read Brian Lee! :v:

well ive got nothing on brian lee but... i started collecting rugby league cards back in 93-94, still have fond memories of carrying them round with the rubber band and throwing them into a hat or playing with them in the bath! lol
back in the day with the free gum... i bought so many packs i had a heap of free entry into a draw for a full set + folder comp, i entered heaps and won a set i still have to this day in the original folder... no penny sleeves back then though ... kinda went away from cards for a little till bout 95/96 when nba had just come out of an explosion and everyone had bball cards, mates at a new primary school i went to loved basketball and the nba so collecting came naturally. Still remember when you could buy rack packs from K-mart (showing age)
Fleer 93/94 was a big reason for my collecting still, fell in love with the inserts and base and still have most, first GU i pulled was a 02/03 MVP Materials Keith Van Horn (lol loved it at the time), first auto was a dana barros on card autographics from skybox... Still love collecting and find it hard to move any cards i pull kinda feel a bit of owner/finder love lol! Still kinda find it embarrising telling people i collect basketball cards since everyone "grew out of it" and still hear all the time from people yeah i used to collect cards i had this awsome shaq rookie/jordan gold signature/any number of beam teams lol
memories....

boofhead said:

On friday night in the 70,s my dad used to bring me home a pack AFL scanlens cards.
Ive been collecting Hawthorn cards ever since.I wish i still had the cards from then in mint condition.
We used to carry the cards in our pockets with a rubber band around them.

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My dad did the same but it was the mid 80's, I kept them exactly the same and even marked the checklists.

Stuffing all those sticks of bubble gum into my gob almost broke my jaw on a few occasions.

I managed to keep the Scanlens cards for a few years since the mid 80's along with the stickers and albums but were thrown out because I left them lying around everywhere.

Just kept on buying packets and it got me hooked, and in my first pack I got a Shaq GU....still got that card

started collecting rugby league in 97 with local friends until high school where b-ball cards were massive! only was allowed from my parents to get a few packs, until one day i came home and begged my mum to let me buy a whole lot of inserts from a guy in my role call who was older than me.The addiction had begun. Anyways also in high school ended up growing quite substantually (6 foot 4inches) and stayed there till now,practised with mates but naturally was a star b-ball player. At school i could dunk at 17!!!!! yes 10ft rings!! invited to many rep teams of older ages and the sort but when my friends werent there the fun was gone and the seriousness dampened the experience, my friends knew my style as i did theirs.In the end everything sort of faded away unintentionally but with work and womens and legal age exploring new sports like bodyboarding which i still do! basketball fell through the cracks.Its a dissapointment the whole what couldve been thing but in the end my chosen path has been mad and hectic, extreme sports of many kinds and i probably wouldnt change anything if i did it all again! the decisions were mine all along.Recently with my new job ive moved house and found my old cards still in sleeves and folders so why not see if there on ebay.saw a lot of poeple still into it and decided ive got money now why not collect again and this time buy boxes not just the occasional pack. ebay and these forums sparked an old flame again. Especially these GU and the new style of everything, i was collecting late 90's and suprisingly there is still a market.Glad to be back and look forward to box breaks and Grant Hill cards.I do see what others have said i feel the same a bit embarrassed about it. if you look at it from the outside yes im 26 and i collect b-ball cards but well it makes me happy and well i dont choose what i do to make anyone else happy,so you can have your planes trains and automobiles,ill have my inserts, GU and autographs thanks

so you can have your planes trains and automobiles,ill have my inserts, GU and autographs thanks

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Well said haha.....

I was thinking one day when I was young, "How can I throw all my money away, without LITERALLY flushing it down the toilet?? I KNOW, BASKETBALL CARDS!!!"

Seriously though, walking through K-Mart one day as a 12 year old with my brother obsessed with all things Michael Jordan and NBA, saw a screen with a slow motion Jordan on it so went in for a closer look. It was an ad for UD 93-94. So I BEGGED my mum for $5, which I believe is how much a pack of cards USED to cost and it went from there. Been on and off since then, had the "Im getting out of the hobby" sale two or three times only to be sucked back in.

Next "getting out of the hobby" sale will be my last. Ive got this gran plan, at years end, Im going to buy 2 cases of 07-08 exquisite. One to open, and one to keep for years anad years. And when Durant is rated as one of the top 5 players in history, bring it out, make MILLIONS on it!!!!!

I got hooked by those daggy footy card commercials the Herald Sun did with James Hird and Nathan Buckley...

Unlike most of you my collecting did not start when I was in school but rather i was married and had just moved to Sydney from Adelaide. Was walking around Sydney and came across Card Shaq and purchased my first ever pack, it was a Packet of 93-94 Upper Deck. Pulled a Michael Jordan common and I was like a 5 year old kid (i still have not grown up)
Then one day went to I think it was Granny Mays at East Gardens and purchased a pack of Upper Deck Special Edition and pulled a Shaq Die Cut All-Stars. Still have that card, matter of fact it is actually in a safe custody box
The wife then fed the habit by suggesting I support the local league and collect NBL cards and this started my goal to collect every NBL insert made and I am still looking.
When Futera went bust I stopped collecting, then I found this site and got the bug back.
Dam you Ozcardtrader

postgsl said:

Then one day went to I think it was Granny Mays at East Gardens and purchased a pack of Upper Deck Special Edition and pulled a Shaq Die Cut All-Stars.

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OMG! Haha that was my local haunt on a thursday night! My old girl used to go thursday night shopping and i'd just hang in Granny Mays talking cards with the old fella who owned the place for hours till it was home time. Pulled many a cool insert from 93-94 Ultra and Skybox Premium

It was in the days just before the internet became a useful tool, so as a basketball fan in Australia I relished every piece of information I could get about the NBA. We got to see like 1 game a week on TV and my local newsagency special ordered a basketball magazine called "hoop" in for me. Something was definitley missing....

So I was on a family holiday in Merimbula (NSW South Coast) and my Dad and I needed some more fishing gear and bait to go for a fish. We took a walk to the main street and went into the local tackle shop to get what we needed. Standing at the register waiting to be served, I noticed a flash of blue, red and white in my peripheral. It barely even registered but something in my brain said "NBA...NBA...NBA" and I looked back. Almost covered up by a bunch of lures and crap was a box containing packs of something with the NBA logo on it. I had collected footy cards in school but the concept of basketball cards was completely foreign to me.

Needless to say I bought a pack. A pack of basketball cards in a fishing shop of all places! It was a pack of 1990 Hoops (you know the ones with the grey arched border on the base cards). Anyways I pulled a Jordan All-Star (gold border), Jordan base, Dana Barros RC, Kevin Johnson All Star and some other base.

"Hey dad check out these Jordan's!!" He could see I was pretty stoked and bought the rest of the box for me. I spent the rest of the afternoon on the floor busting packs, reading the back of the cards and sorting them out into teams. What an awesome afternoon that was. It's a shame base cards dont excite me like they did that day. We didnt end up going fishing. lol

Ry

ryawil0 said:

It was in the days just before the internet became a useful tool, so as a basketball fan in Australia I relished every piece of information I could get about the NBA. We got to see like 1 game a week on TV and my local newsagency special ordered a basketball magazine called "hoop" in for me. Something was definitley missing....

So I was on a family holiday in Merimbula (NSW South Coast) and my Dad and I needed some more fishing gear and bait to go for a fish. We took a walk to the main street and went into the local tackle shop to get what we needed. Standing at the register waiting to be served, I noticed a flash of blue, red and white in my peripheral. It barely even registered but something in my brain said "NBA...NBA...NBA" and I looked back. Almost covered up by a bunch of lures and crap was a box containing packs of something with the NBA logo on it. I had collected footy cards in school but the concept of basketball cards was completely foreign to me.

Needless to say I bought a pack. A pack of basketball cards in a fishing shop of all places! It was a pack of 1990 Hoops (you know the ones with the grey arched border on the base cards). Anyways I pulled a Jordan All-Star (gold border), Jordan base, Dana Barros RC, Kevin Johnson All Star and some other base.

"Hey dad check out these Jordan's!!" He could see I was pretty stoked and bought the rest of the box for me. I spent the rest of the afternoon on the floor busting packs, reading the back of the cards and sorting them out into teams. What an awesome afternoon that was. It's a shame base cards dont excite me like they did that day. We didnt end up going fishing. lol

Ry

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ROFL!! You didn't even end up going fishing!!

ryawil0 said:

It was in the days just before the internet became a useful tool, so as a basketball fan in Australia I relished every piece of information I could get about the NBA. We got to see like 1 game a week on TV and my local newsagency special ordered a basketball magazine called "hoop" in for me. Something was definitley missing....

So I was on a family holiday in Merimbula (NSW South Coast) and my Dad and I needed some more fishing gear and bait to go for a fish. We took a walk to the main street and went into the local tackle shop to get what we needed. Standing at the register waiting to be served, I noticed a flash of blue, red and white in my peripheral. It barely even registered but something in my brain said "NBA...NBA...NBA" and I looked back. Almost covered up by a bunch of lures and crap was a box containing packs of something with the NBA logo on it. I had collected footy cards in school but the concept of basketball cards was completely foreign to me.

Needless to say I bought a pack. A pack of basketball cards in a fishing shop of all places! It was a pack of 1990 Hoops (you know the ones with the grey arched border on the base cards). Anyways I pulled a Jordan All-Star (gold border), Jordan base, Dana Barros RC, Kevin Johnson All Star and some other base.

"Hey dad check out these Jordan's!!" He could see I was pretty stoked and bought the rest of the box for me. I spent the rest of the afternoon on the floor busting packs, reading the back of the cards and sorting them out into teams. What an awesome afternoon that was. It's a shame base cards dont excite me like they did that day. We didnt end up going fishing. lol

Ry

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lol who at the fishing shop one day thought "ive got it....lets gets some basketball cards!"

Wow, how many times have I answered this sort of question... I think this question is only half the story, the other half of the story is why do you still collect as an adult? But first I think I'll answer the original question. How did you start your collecting obsession?

I will preface this with the information that I am a 28 year old female collector from Tasmania.

The first cards I bought were 1989 Ashes series, I collected the set and actually sold them to somebody on here sometime in the last two years... I also collected 1990 Scanlens footy cards. I used to keep all the gum that came in those packs in a jar. Come 1991 I only was able to buy a handful of packs of footy cards and I bought even less in 92 and 93. But boy did cards change in 1994 with Selects AFL series showing a depth of card I had never experienced before - glossy as!

Anyways I bought some packs and would trade with kids up the street, in one pack I pulled Doug Hawkins, the only common the kid's father needed for his set, yeah I traded for about 60 cards I needed... fun times, I even ended up with some 93/94 Upper Deck, which I still consider to be the equal coolest base design along with Skybox premium from the same year. I showed these basketball cards to a friend of my Mum's and he pointed out one Isaiah Rider and told me he was going to be a star. He became my man there and then. It took until Garnett came along for me to actually follow Minnesota, before that I was sucked into the Penny/Shaq Magic craze even getting a Shaq jersey as a kid.

We moved and the neighbourhood kids there were into cards, and so I has $10 my Dad had given me before I caught the bus back to Launceston following a visit, and I bought 4 packets of 94/95 Collectors choice from Chickenfeed (local variety store) and pulled a Michael Jordan Silver Signature card... I wandered over to the local card shop where I traded that Jordan for more packs and I kept pulling mojo the shop guy wanted and while I walke din with 4 packs I left with 36... yeah you could say I was hooked from that moment on.

My best pull though remains non basketball, and I still have this card but probably not mint mint condition... from the Batman Animated series card release I pulled the Holodisc.... it was worth $180 at the time - have no idea now... I was so stoked with that card. So I kept collecting, mostly basketball, even pulling a Kobe Bryant Topps NBA 50th Anniversary RC (I had no idea who that was at the time - I was more concerned with discovering through that set that Rider had been traded from Minnesota to Portland).

But the hobby slowly died and the card shops that used to be 3 in my city dwindled to one, until eventually that too closed. Took a break for a bit, joined up with ebay and bought a couple boxes from Taz_Cardz and he told me about this place, and wow when I got to Ozcards it was like a whole new world had opened up for me... a much safer one for trading, people are less likely to rip you off when their reputation is on the line. I learned that the hard way with a deal done outside ebay and without a forum to help... but I can happily say that's the only time I've ever had to deal with such rubbish, because this place became a card collecting haven.

Took me a while to channel my collecting... I've always collected Timberwolves, but collected way too many players beyond just their Wolves cards. Kept collecting Rider though and now I have a pretty darn fine collection of Rider's and I continue to try and add to it, looking for a lot of the rarer cards and oddballs now. I've made a few great mates stemming from this site and I sure am grateful for that.

Now to my question, why do you still collect as an adult? I collect as an adult because its a reminder of simpler times. Most of my good memories in life are tied in to cards. Yes I realise when you analyse that a little deeper it's a little sad, but at least I can say that something has brought me joy. I'm not blessed with smashing good looks or a perfect figure or any real talent (apart from being the most loyal friend a person could have) and I was never really taught how to interact well with people as a child, so I was never very good at making friends. Cards helped me make friends at least on some level, simply through a common interest. I still don't have that many friends, and I have had two sources for making friends, cards and a chat room for my favourite musician. The only person I talk to every day is a friend I met through cards, my best friend I met through some one from the musicians chat room ( we just don't happen to be talking every day right now), but then I know at least three other guys that I enjoy chatting to or playing xbox live games with, through this site and cards. So the cards win.

I continue to collect because of the opportunity to develop friendships with others and because I hope to help the next generation find the same joy in these pieces of cardboard, like I have. I probably shouldn't say this and I am sure someone will take advantage of this, but if I know I'm trading with someone younger than 15 I am more generous to them - it's just the way I am. I still am pretty generous if I can help someone's collection anyway, but when it's a kid, I try harder.

Oh and I love my Timberwolves, I like the underdog I guess. So many of my teams I started barracking for them because they were winners when I first understood the sport - Hawthorn, Man United, Dallas Cowboys, St George Dragons (oh please win tomorrow) - but with Minnesota, they sucked, then they got better, but didn't achieve, and now they suck again, but just like Hawthorn sucking all these years, once I pick a team, I stick with them. I'm really extra excited about this upcoming season, because I've always liked Martell Webster and it will be great to see him play for my team and Beasley is looking prime for a break out season as THE MAN, so what better time to collect. It keeps me connected with what is going on in the basketball world.

The reward for me besides helping people with their collections is a mail day, even if all I get is some Timberwolves base, smile on my face for a week and pep in my step, which I need - I won't bore you with the details there. So that is why I try hard to make sure those people who help me out know my appreciation, especially those that have sent me cards outta the kindness of their heart or thrown in extras in trade deals, guys like nenjabin, aussie2al, HSV, Duckypoo, garnettfan4life, aussielaker, billyhoyle and others I just can't remember right now... these guys have brought me much joy and sometimes at times when I feel like things just can't be any worse, cards just show up... and I have a reason to smile. So thank you - especially to Dave aka Aussielaker, because I donot have the words to describe the difference things he has done for me have made.

So yeah, that's why I still collect. Thank you all.

That was a awesome read AJ. I can not answer the question why do I still collect as an adult only because I started collecting as an adult. I collect as an adult because, 1- I can afford to and 2 This my sound strange but when I read all of the comments everyone makes after posting a mail day it actually makes me feel really good and 3- I enjoy accessing this site. Although I have only met a few of the people on this site, for some reason everyone seems like an old friend.

postgsl said:

That was a awesome read AJ. I can not answer the question why do I still collect as an adult only because I started collecting as an adult. I collect as an adult because, 1- I can afford to and 2 This my sound strange but when I read all of the comments everyone makes after posting a mail day it actually makes me feel really good and 3- I enjoy accessing this site. Although I have only met a few of the people on this site, for some reason everyone seems like an old friend.

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Pretty sure I dealt with you early on mate, and you were probably generous with me too so thank you and yeah it can be like that... I have periods where I don't log on much, I come back and so many new faces I feel lost, but then I see familiar faces and it just feels good.