Meet and Greet- welcome to Net54baseball

[Kalineman]

1. NAME: Nick Edson

2. AGE: 58

3. DAY JOB: PR and Marketing for 12 years. Before that, sports editor of a daily paper for 24 years.

4. LOCATION: Traverse City, Michigan

5. COLLECTING INTERESTS: Detroit Tigers photo packs, pennants, Al Kaline items and anything old and oddball.

6. FAMILY: Wife, 3 kids, 2 grandsons. Married 36 years.

7. HOW LONG IN THE HOBBY: Since 1972 when I attended and set up at an early Detroit show at the Troy Hilton.

8. OTHER INTERESTS: Volunteer work. Rotary board, YMCA board president, Local college, Big Brother for 10 years.

8. DO YOU ATTEND SHOWS: When I can find them. I still do one show a year, at the Apple Festival in Kendallville, Indiana the first weekend in October.

[bn2cardz]

1. Name- @ndy Neuber†

2. Age- 29 (090482)

3. Day job- Graphic Designer/Production Supervisor at a vinyl graphics company

4. Location- Suburb of St. Louis, MO

5. Collecting interest- I collect what ever interests me that week. Recently it has been pre 1920. I do like the 33 Goudey set. Anything baseball related that strikes my fancy at a cost that I can rationalize.

6. Family- Wife and 2 Daughters (3months and 18months)

7. How long in hobby- aprox 24 years. I got a "Start collecting" kit from a book fair thing when in kindergarten. Since then I was hooked. Whenever my parents gave me money for snacks from the local drug store I would buy baseball cards and say "it comes with gum".

8. Other interests- I collect Batman (some other DC comics as well), Kid's meal toys, and movie posters. Also I wouldn't consider myself a hoarder, but when I feel something could possibly be collectible I hold onto it (Like an uncut proof sheet of Buick Invitational badges with Tiger woods on them that were printed at a previous company to a Cadbury Eggs box from the last year prior to them being bought out by Kraft)

9. Do you attend shows? Use to set up as a teenager, but after wasting many weekends with people that thought every price had to be haggled I gave up (even after bringing the price too low at times). Rarely attened, only when it is a free mall show or can get in as a volunteer (or help with someone else's table).

[sycks22]

1. Name - Pete Sycks

2. Age - 29

3. Day job - P.E. Teacher in Durham, NC

4. Location - Cary, NC

5. Collecting interest - Mostly auto baseballs / bats

6. Family - Wife of almost 2 years, no little shavers yet

7. How long in hobby - Since I was around 5 and hit up the local card shops in Minnesota with my dad and brother.

8. Other interests - Helping out with Habitat for humanity, playing baseball / softball and hoping the Twins don't fall back to our late '90's and early 2000's terribleness. I also like performing terrible magic tricks for my friends like the floating fork (it's a classic)

9. Do you attend shows? I hit up the one in Raleigh at the fairgrounds most times.

[drc]

,

[bigwinnerx]

1. Name - Mike L.

2. Age - 34

3. Day job - systems engineer @ large defense contractor

4. Location - Near IAD airport

5. Collecting interest - Phillies, some modern. Vintage is a new phase.

6. Family - Wife, 2 kids, dog.

7. How long in hobby - 1985

8. Other interests - Golf, kids

9. Do you attend shows? Haven't in a long time, may have to start again!

[deadballpaul]

1. Name- Paul Griggs

2. Age- 50

3. Day job- Maint Tech for the worlds largest & best semiconductor/technology manufacturer.

4. Location- Arizona

5. Collecting interest- Postcards, caramels, N28, W502, W554, vintage Disney cards & pins, & baseball pins.

6. Family- wife, sons 15 & 16, & daughter 12 yrs old.

7. How long in hobby- Pre war since 1998. More modern stuff since 1970.

8. Other interests-Playing the guitar & bass. (I like to pretend I'm Geddy & Alex) Also, going to the shooting range.

9. Do you attend shows? Not since 1990, but would like to again.

[SushiX37]

1. Name- Rich Smith

2. Age- 38

3. Day job- small business owner, health care staffing

4. Location- Omaha

5. Collecting interest- T206 mainly, some other pre WWII stuff as well.

6. Family- wife, two daughters and one son

7. How long in hobby- 5 years and counting

8. Other interests- avid Apple guy. iPhone, iPad, etc...

9. Do you attend shows? no, but plan on it.

[zljones]

1. Name- Zach Jones

2. Age- 31

3. Day job- Collections

4. Location- Romeoville, IL

5. Collecting interest- HOF post war rookies, HOF 19th century color issues N28, N29, N162, T205 HOF, 1933, 34 Goudey HOF, 1934-36 Diamond Stars, 1938 Goudey HOF cartoons, 1941 Play Ball HOF.

6. Family- Fiancee, no kids, no pets

7. How long in hobby- 1991-1992, 1995-1996, December 2010-present

8. Other interests- Video Games, historical research.

9. Do you attend shows? no, they are too far away in other states. No much good in Chicagoland.

[Peter W Thomas]

1. Name- Peter Thomas

2. Age- 70 a week ago

3. Day job - Architect still at it 6 days a week - maybe 5.5

4. Location- Miami for 32 years by way of Natick and Boston

5. Collecting interest- T204, E92 all 4 flavors, E103 & 1911,1912, 1933 sepia zeenuts & 1949 Leaf.

6. Family- wife and 36 yr old son- who won grammy & latin grammy this year. 2 cats, 2 birds.

7. How long in hobby- since 1949

8. Other interests - Pain of Red Sox

9. Do you attend shows? National occasionally - maybe this year.

[E93]

Peter,
Nice to see you back around.
JimB

[CharleyBrown]

1. Name- Shaun Fyffe

2. Age- 31

3. Day job- Spanish Teacher, Copywriting/Web content writing

4. Location- Rockland County, NY

5. Collecting interest- Jackie Robinson

6. Family- wife and 3 year old son

7. How long in hobby- 1987-1996, April 2011-present

8. Other interests- family, web design/seo

9. Do you attend shows? on occasion - usually in White Plains - might go to National this year.

[tazdmb]

1. Name- Frank Reinstein

2. Age- 36

3. Day job- CPA/Auditor

4. Location- West Bloomfield, MI

5. Collecting interest- BB HOF autographs, with other HOF autographs when in the area

6. Family- wife and 4 year old son

7. How long in hobby- Baseball cards 1984-2007, Autographs-since 1993

8. Other interests- Attending concerts, baseball stadiums (been to 43 different MLB stadiums)

9. Do you attend shows? On occasion for a rare appearance (Maddox in Chicago), plan on attending first national in 12 years.

[39special]

Name: Steve Orth

Age: 45

Job: Auto Body tech

Location:Berks County Pa.

Collecting intrest:Pre '80 cards,autos.memoribilia,Dodgers to '67,any Phillies and Phila.A's

Family:Wife 13yrs daughter 22,daughter 11,son 8

How long in the hobby: on and off 35 yrs.

Other intrests:Building hot rods,coaching my daughters basketball team,coaching little league.

Do you attend shows? Local card shows and car shows

[71buc]

Name: Mike Knapp

Age: 49

Day Job: Social Work supervisor State of Washington

Location: Puyallup, WA

Collecting Interests: Any and all things related to the members of the MLB Hall of Fame. I have become increasingly addicted to news photos over the past few years .

Family: Married for 23 years four children ages 22, 19, 12, 9

How long in the Hobby? since 1970

Other Interests: Reading, boxing, Weight lifting, the music of Etta James, Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, and Dave Bruebeck. I pray for the Tribe and Bucs every night. I hope He is listening but I am beginning to have my doubts.

Do you attend shows? One or two local shows annually

[HercDriver]

Name: Geno Wagner

Age: 45

Job: Test Pilot/Engineer

Location: Littleton, CO

Collecting interest: Sovereign-backed T205s and T206s, T202s

Family: Married for 18 yrs, 3 kids (16, 13, 10)

How long in the hobby: since 1974 when I bought my first pack

Other interests: Brewing beer, running, cooking/grilling, my beagle

Do you attend shows? As much as Denver likes sports, there are no shows. As a matter of fact, I may be the only collector in Denver!

[MooseDog]

1. Name- Jerry Stone

2. Age- 53

3. Day job- not since December 2011.

4. Location- Silicon Valley

5. Collecting interest- autographs, game used equipment, vintage ephemera, 1970s, Oakland A's, California Seals, San Jose Sharks. For fun I collect signed photos of players with Big Hair (think Artis Gilmore, Oscar Gamble, Ross Grimsley...)

6. Family- pair of Whippets (dogs)

7. How long in hobby- nearing 40 years but mostly inactive last couple of decades

8. Other interests- (very) recreational ice hockey player

9. Do you attend shows? Not many to speak of in this area.

[Writehooks]

Welcome aboard, MooseDog. Before recently relocating back to Alberta, I played rec hockey in Trail and Nelson, B.C., on a team with former Oakland Seal Mike Laughton.

[Iwantmorecards77]

1. Name- Todd Mancuso

2. Age- 33

3. Day job- Hockey Program Director/Coach

4. Location- NY

5. Collecting interest- Pre-War baseball, vintage and modern rookies, modern hockey (to a lesser extent.)

6. Family- Not at this time.

7. How long in hobby- Vintage (about 3-4 years.) Modern - 20 years or so.

8. Other interests- Hockey, anthropology, and Halloween.

9. Do you attend shows? Not really.

10. Favorite sports teams - New York Mets and New York Islanders.

[DoubleJ]

1. Name- Josh Jones

2. Age- 32

3. Day job- tax lawyer

4. Location- Toronto, Ontario

5. Collecting interest- T206 HOF, HOF RC (post-war)

6. Family- Engaged, fish

7. How long in hobby- As a kid, last 7-8 years

8. Other interests- Anything sports

9. Do you attend shows? Bi-annual sports card show in Toronto (mostly hockey unfortunately)

[mrmopar]

Found this doing a search and thought it might be cool to bring it back from the dead, although I see it will probably die again after a few new entries, as it has done a few times before.

1. Name- Curt

2. Age- 46

3. Day job- Operations Manager for a large elevator company

4. Location- Pacific NW

5. Collecting interest- Dodgers, signed cards, Steve Garvey, oddball stuff that catches my eye.

6. Family- wife of 16 years and 2 boys (11 & 13)

7. How long in hobby- Collecting nearly continuously since 1978, minus about a 5 year gap (88-92) while I was active duty USN, where submarine life is not conducive to hobbies.

8. Other interests- Muscle Cars (last owned was 70 Cuda), music (I don't collect, but loved to buy old records and CDs), trips/sightseeing/exploring with my family.

9. Do you attend shows? Not so much these days. Maybe a small one every so often, but never been to one larger than a small town monthly back in the heyday or the semiannual WSSCA show periodically. May try a National some day.

[jimivintage]

Good call! I see I've done this a few years ago but a lot has changed in my life since then, so here's another crack at it:


1. Name- Jimi Thayer

2. Age- 37

3. Day job- Co-Owner of Remember When Sports Cards, LLC. I also do a lot of odds and ends stuff in landscaping, etc. Always looking to work in the sports cards business even more than I already am!

4. Location- Howard, OH

5. Collecting interest- Generally switch around from tough back T206 HOFers, HOF RCs, Topps sets, and E sets.

6. Family- wife of 14+ years and two beautiful daughters!

7. How long in hobby- collecting for about 28 years or so

8. Other interests- playing drums, running, biking, and traveling

9. Do you attend shows? Not very often but will likely do that more soon.

[pawpawdiv9]

Most can see my location and name in every post and what i typically collect.
Mostly post-war, started all Mantle stuff, then switched to 40-60's Hof'er rookie cards.
Got some love for pre-war Hofer too, like Cobb, Ruth.
Figure i add some humor with the business card:

[IMG][/IMG]

[Jeffrompa]

1. Name- Jeff Lowe

2. Age- 56

3. Day job- Former Police Officer & EMT

4. Location- Dover , DE

5. Collecting interest- changes from day to day

6. Family- wife and 3 kids

7. How long in hobby - about 10 years

8. Other interests- fishing , shooting , traveling , couch potato-ing

9. Do you attend shows? Never have yet

[Stetson_1883]

1. Name- Royce Robert Horak

2. 37

3. Day job- English Instructor

4. Location- Zurich, Switzerland, some time in Boca Raton, FL

5. Collecting interest- t206s and pre 60's rookies
6. Family- wife

7. How long in hobby- since 1989

8. Other interests- none

9. Do you attend shows? Mainly the National but will start doing more soon.[/QUOTE]

[midmo]

[egri]

1. Name- Scott Marcus

2. Age- 20

3. Day job- Industrial and Systems Engineering major (undergrad) at URI; weighing the benefits of going to Germany after graduation to get my M.Sc. Paying for all this by working at TF Green Airport.

4. Location- Washington County, RI during the school year, Kent Co. during school breaks

5. Collecting interest- generally signed vintage baseball cards, specifically signed 1953 Topps

6. Family- Do dogs count?

7. How long in hobby- 2005 to 2009/10 as a kid, got back into it around July of last year.

8. Other interests- Running, reading, generally anything by David Halberstam or memoirs from the two World Wars, especially if USMC or USN.

9. Do you attend shows? Already saving up for Atlantic City next year!

[the 'stache]

I'll play

Name: Bill Gregory
Age: 44
Day job: stockbroker prior to back injury
Location: Flower Mound, TX (just north of Dallas)
Collecting interests: T206, T202, '33 and '34 Goudey, '53 Bowman, '75 Topps. I'd like to get into the '14 and '15 Cracker Jack sets. Working (slowly) on player collections of Robin Yount and Roberto Clemente.
Family: just my folks and a dog
How long in hobby: started collecting again about four years ago.
Other interests: film enthusiast (old Hollywood, foreign films, indie, art house especially), music (progressive rock & metal, jazz, 80s pop), baseball and football, especially my home teams in Wisconsin, physics, reading.
Do you attend shows: I'd like to

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

Hi Ya'all! (typed in a southern drawl of which I wish I had)

Name: A.J. Johnson
Age: 43
Day job: SVP Client Partnerships at HYFN (digital ad agency) and owner of www.liquorstore-online.com and www.oldguysrule.com
Location: Native Los Angeleno
Collecting interests: 1914 Cracker Jack, HOF T206 & 33 Goudey, Ted Williams, Nolan Ryan, Rod Carew. Early 1900's game used bats and equipment.
Family: wife and 3 boys (15, 13 & 6)
How long in hobby: Started as a kid in the 80's. Started pre-war in my 30's. Sold everything to buy a business. Re-started again in my early 40's.
Other interests: Family Fun times (traveling, involved with kids' interests). Movies (watching with family & friends or even solo), live music and festivals (alternative rock // SXSW, Life is Beautiful), baseball (die hard Red Sox fan) and football (whichever team my fantasy guys play for), Fantasy Sports (Fanduel is fun but sick of the commercials), restaurants with my wife.
Do you attend shows: Been to the last two Nationals. Hoping to get to Atlantic City!

[Bestdj777]

Not sure if I did this a while ago, but a lot has changed over the past couple of years:

Name: Chris
Age: 31
Day job: Attorney. I specialize in defending pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers in products liability actions.
Location: New York City
Collecting interests: I almost exclusively collect Mickey Mantle cards (1951-1969), but I do have an eccentric mix of pre-war cards, modern game used memorabilia from some of the New York sports teams, and watches (my only non-sports collecting area at this point).
Family: wife and a fluffy white dog
How long in hobby: Collected as a kid but have been back in the hobby for about 8-10 years.
Other interests: I like to travel, watch terrible reality TV shows, and spend time with my family.
Do you attend shows: I've been to one Hofstra show and would love to go to a National at some point.

[Joshwesley]

I'll play

Name: Josh
Age: just turned 35
Day job: director of property management for a local commercial real estate firm.
Location: Mobile, Alabama (Gulf coast)
Collecting interests: t-206 HOF'ers and rare backs.... Really any of the dead ball era sets, candy/caramel cards.
Family: wife and 6 month old daughter!
How long in hobby: collected in the late 80's-mid 90's like everyone during the boom...... Found this site randomly while waiting on my daughter to be born 6 months ago.... Built a nice little collection in a short amount of time.
Other interests: spending time with family, college football ( Go Gators!) and tennis... I played in college and still teach private lessons... Finances my card obsession.
Do you attend shows: Never but I would sure like to

[billyb]

1. NAME.............Bill Boyd

2: AGE...............67

3. DAY JOB..........work hard everyday at being retired........(law enforcement 40 years)

4. LOCATION.......Gladwin, Michigan

5...COLLECTING INTERESTS.....Am currently selling off my 1970s and newer cards, will be going to pre war and more photos.

6...FAMILY........Two sons and 4 grandchildren

7...HOW LONG IN HOBBY......Since 1984

8...OTHER INTERESTS......volunteer as a genealogist, fishing, golf, recently buying and selling antiques, thus am able to locate some historical items and donate them to historical societies, or where ever they belong.

9...DO YOU ATTEND SHOWS......have not in the last 10 years, as not many in Northern, Michigan. But do want to attend a National, mainly to meet and greet the members of 54.

[dabigyankeeman]

Wow, cant believe how big this thread is, I have read thru a lot of it, will got back little by little and read the whole thing, this is interesting as hell.

1. NAME.............Arnie Prichep

2: AGE...............67

3. DAY JOB..........retired, love being an unproductive member of society

4. LOCATION.......south Florida

5...COLLECTING INTERESTS.....cards from New York teams in all sports but mainly Yankees (all years from 1904 thru current on the Yankees, just old cards on the other teams), also cards of Jewish athletes in all sports.

6...FAMILY........Wife and me, thats it.

7...HOW LONG IN HOBBY......Got in late 1979

8...OTHER INTERESTS......Used to collect Coca Cola memorabila but sold it all, used to do a lot of photography but not anymore, love music and am always playing concerts on dvd's. Love cars from the 1950's and 1960's, love skyscrapers - always watch tv shows featuring the old cars and skyscrapers. Love to watch baseball and Formula 1 auto racing on tv. Used to play golf and tennis. A lot of "used to" stuff here, guess my life is condensed now!!!

9...DO YOU ATTEND SHOWS......I attend our one show a month down here, loved going to a show every weekend in the heyday of collecting. Been to two Nationals, 1986 and 1990, boy they were great, would love to get to another one day.
__________________

[clydepepper]

Name....Raymond 'Robbie' Culpepper

Age...59

Retired

Location...Columbus, GA

Family...locally- Aunt & Uncle & one wonderful Dog; siblings and their families live in Atlanta area, Utah, and Hawaii.

Hobby Interest...Koufax, Mantle, Ryan, The First Five, Atlanta Braves and local players; Baseball History.

Time in Hobby - on & off since opening my first pack in 1964 - sold collection three times - became more active since retiring from actually playing.

Shows...have not attended one yet, but hope to next year (with my new hip)

Activity...I played Baseball for about twenty years including high school, college, and local 'semi-pro' league...LHP
.
.

[Joshchisox08]

1. Name- Josh Buckley

2. Age- 29

3. Day job- contractor for United Aerospace Technologies. I maintain a database and prepare a power point presentation for monthly executive reviews with Pratt & Whitney Canada's management team. The presentation shows the MTBF and MTBUR of engine part removals for the past month. I have another project that I work as well but it's not as interesting. Get paid like crap but it's great experience.

4. Location- East Hartford, CT

5. Collecting interest- T206

6. Family- Fiance' and a 3 year old son (god I wish my fiance' was his mother).

7. How long in hobby- The past 3 years but altogether I started when I was about 10 and stopped at about 18. Picked back up when I was 26 or 27

8. Other interests- Beer, ex-bowler (won two league tournaments and shot a 280), this site, researching and developing checklists for other pre-war sets.

9. Do you attend shows? I used to when I was younger but no longer. Went to one in the past 5 years.

[chipperhank44]

1. Name- Trey Cumby

2. Age- 31

3. Day job- Instructional Designer

4. Location- Little Elm, Texas (N Dallas burbs)

5. Collecting interest- Pre 1920 HOF Postcards

6. Family- Wife of 10 years and a 7 year old son

7. How long in hobby- 10 years as an adult

8. Other interests- hunting, fishing, flag football, Jesus

9. Do you attend shows? I try to attend local DFW shows, the National when its in Chicago, and Tristar in Houston.

[jiw98]

Name: Jeff
Age: 57
Day Job: Union Electrician, I have worked all over the country work for the same contractor doing anything from large generators to power plants. Worked on one of the first solar fields for power distribution.
Location: In West Michigan, along the shore of beautiful Lake Michigan. (well not exactly on the shore, but with in a couple of miles)
Collecting Interest: Pre 1975 baseball and football cards. Currently working on 1955 Bowman baseball. Autographed baseballs and football mini helmets. Autographed mini helmets of Michigan football. GO BLUE!
Family: Wife Sue of 38 yrs. Two children, 4 grand children. My son also collects, we are getting the grandson slowly involved. The grand daughters are not interested.
How Long in the Hobby: Off and on since childhood.
Other Interests: Church, Golf, projects around the house, did I mention Golf.(Family is a given)
Do I Attend shows: My son and I set up at one show a year to support a High School baseball team, we attend shows when they are in the area, we went to our first National Show this year.

[Leon]

Interesting thread so far. It's neat to see what we were doing 4-5 yrs ago. Things certainly change.

[darwinbulldog]

1. Name- Glenn Scheyd

2. Age- 38

3. Day job- Psychology professor and department chair

4. Location- Ft. Lauderdale, or close enough as makes no difference

5. Collecting interest- rare backs, Louisiana issues, bakery issues, rookie cards, E126s

6. Family- One of each: wife, son, daughter, fetus, doxle

7. Years in hobby- 1986-1991, 2002-present

8. Other interests- evolutionary psychology/biology/anthropology, probability and statistics, sports handicapping, movies

9. Do you attend shows? Nope.

[Laxcat]

1. Name- Matthew Charlton

2. Age- 34

3. Day job- former peddler of poisons

4. Location- Austin TEXAS

5. Collecting interest- Cobb Red Portraits, working on t206 Dahlen Brooklyn Back run, SLer's, UT, Maris, and Colt 45's

6. Family- my folks and a brother

7. Years in hobby- born into it. Left for a while in my 20's. Back full force.

8. Other interests- 60's and 70's Japanese motorcycles. 2-strokes are my favorite.

9. Do you attend shows? Lately, as many as I can

[LuckyLarry]

1. Name- Larry
2. Age- 61
3. Day job- retired (four years ago) FAA air traffic controller
4. Location- Jacksonville FL
5. Collecting interest- I'm a pre '81 low grade set collector baseball football hockey basketball non-sports and trying to finish my sets. Also low grade T206 raw in binder pages and low grade T205 slabbed in SGC holders.
6. Family- Divorced since 2003 never re-married. Four kids eight grandkids.
7. How long in the hobby- collected as a kid '62-'67 then got rid of my cards restarted in 1988 when my oldest brought home some '88 Donruss
8. Other interests- Fitness, Jaguars rooter and season ticket holder, Travel, Backpacking. Volunteering.
9. Do you attend shows- I have attended the past four Nationals and don't miss our local monthly show.

[champaigneappetite]

1. Name- Tom Hines

2. Age- 42

3. Day job- Chief Boatswains mate in the Coast Guard

4. Location- Coos Bay, OR (currently) From Norfolk, VA

5. Collecting interest- Cincinnati Reds 1985 and earlier, Paul Hines cards (my Great Great Grand Uncle) My collection has ebbed and flowed a lot over the years. Had a T206 near set (minus the big 4), had all the 1950's Topps sets (minus 51' Blue Back). Now I just focus on the Reds and uncle Paul.

6. Family- divorced for 2 years, two sons (13 and 11) and a daughter (9)

7. Years in hobby- 31 (some years more aggressive than others but continuously active since I was 11)

8. Other interests- Travel and History

9. Do you attend shows? Not many. Don't know of any near Coos Bay.

[trdcrdkid]

I've posted about myself on a couple of threads in the past, but I like this kind of thing, so I'll go along with this one too.

1. Name- David Kathman

2. Age- 49

3. Day job- Mutual fund analyst. Basically, I talk to a lot of money managers, crunch some numbers, and write about mutual funds and investing, trying to make it all understandable for ordinary people.

4. Location- Chicago, Illinois

5. Collecting interest- Very eclectic, including some of just about everything. Pre-war sets I have at least 50 of include T206 (300+, with many tough backs), T205, T212, T210, and N172, plus some of just about every T and E card set except a few of the real toughies. Also representative samples of most major sets from 1920 on, and Topps sets or near-sets from 1967-1991. I also collect non-sport tobacco cards, including several non-sport T-card sets and a pretty good type collection (N and T cards), plus advertising trade cards from the late 1800s, of which I have around 5,000 (17 albums worth).

6. Family- Not married, but I have a girlfriend with a 7 year old daughter. Parents, two brothers, two sisters, all with spouses and kids (8 nieces and nephews).

7. How long in hobby- Started in 1975, the year I became interested in baseball, when I collected the Topps MVP subset because I liked the pictures of old cards. Started more seriously the following year, when I went to my first card shop and paid $2.95 to a mail-order dealer to get one card from each Topps set from 1952 through 1975. Took a break from 1983 to 1991, then got back in and have never been totally back out, though there were some stretches of several years when I wasn't actively collecting much.

8. Other interests- Shakespeare and Elizabethan theater history (I've published many scholarly papers and go to the Shakespeare Association of America meeting every year); medieval history (I go to the International Medieval Congress in Kalamazoo every year and sometimes give a paper there); theater (I go to many, many plays and used to perform improv comedy); the U.S. Supreme Court; popular culture of the 20th century (especially popular music); politics; and lots of other stuff. I have over 5,000 books.

9. Do you attend shows? This year's National was the first card show I had been to in many years, and it was a lot of fun. I went to numerous card shows in the early 80s and then again in the early-to-mid-90s, but after that other things got in the way, and then eBay came along.

[Louieman]

1. Name- Louie Michaud

2. Age- 29

3. Day job- Tutor. I go house-to-house. My primary focus is creative writing, along with math, the sciences, history. Middle schoolers up through college.

4. Location- Oakland, California

5. Collecting interest- early 20th century (t206, t212), obscure foreign cards, rookie cards of modern day players. Whatever, really. I operate primarily from whatever I deem "aesthetically pleasing", and go from there. Far more a "type collector" than "set collector".

6. Family- girfriend

7. How long in hobby- since I was 8, on and off, but completely on since I was 24

8. Other interests- playing pickup baseball, disc golf, golf, going to concerts, food, exploring Oakland and San Francisco, reading (favorite book at the moment: The Idiot), movies

9. Do you attend shows? Only the bi-annual San Francisco Bay Area show that's in San Leandro. But I do hope to someday attend a National.

Name - Ty

Age - 42

Job - Nurses Assistant

Location - Ellensburg, Washington

Collecting Interests - Central Washington Sports Memorabilia (pre-1970); from Hunky Shaw to Billy North, Football Cards 1958-1976

Family - 10 year old daughter

How long in the Hobby - Off/on since 1980

Other Interests - Local History, Hiking, Fishing, and BBQ

Do you attend any shows - Just the twice annual WSCCA show