[wdwfan]

Great stories everyone. I don't know why, but I love stories about how people started collecting (probably because they usually start with some type of family, and I'm a big family person). I also love to see storage pictures and stories about how people store their collections.

Here's my first set.

It was Christmas Eve 1987, and we were opening presents after dinner at my grandparents house. I got a green 1987 Topps set. My grandmother and I sat at the bar and went through tons of the cards. We'd look at the pictures, talk about the players, read the backs, etc. Just lamenting about the set. She could tell I loved the set. She had NO interest in sports whatsoever, but sat there because I was so interested in it.

I later put that set in order and into a notebook like every kid did. She passed away in 2010, but I still have that set and that green box, albeit empty now. The set and box sit next to her picture on a cabinet in my office at home. So that was my first set and is what hooked me on sports cards.

The first set(s) I completed by hand were 1988 Topps, Fleer and Score, but I don't remember which I finished first. Then I hand built sets in 1989-92. In 1990, my mom would take us to get ice cream every Friday after school. The ice cream place was next door to Piggly Wiggly, and they had the rack packs of Donruss, Fleer and Topps. Every Friday I'd buy a handful of packs and I'd go through putting the sets together. Whenever I'd get close to finishing, I'd put them into a notebook. Then I'd fill in the gaps everytime I opened packs and came across cards I needed.

That's probably why I enjoy building sets so much. I know sets nowadays are worthless pretty much, and everyone only buys the key RCs. But I still love building sets. I typically build a base Topps Flagship set (Series 1, Series 2 and Update) and maybe 1-2 others. Can't afford to do Heritage, and not a fan of Donruss and non-licensed stuff anymore. So for now it's mainly Topps flagship and vintage sets.