Ryan and Sarah Collect Baseball Cards
Ryan and Sarah have always loved baseball. From an early age, they would spend hours throwing balls in the backyard and having imaginary games. As they got a little older, their parents introduced them to the fun world of baseball cards.
During a trip to the local card shop on their 8th birthday, Ryan and Sarah each received $20 to start their own collections. They spent hours poring over racks of cards, trying to decide which players to add to their collections first. In the end, Ryan chose rookie cards of Starling Marte and Francisco Lindor since he was a big Pirates and Indians fan. Sarah opted for rookie cards of Bryce Harper and Mookie Betts because she loved their batting styles.
From that point on, the siblings became obsessed with growing and organizing their collections. They would eagerly await their weekly allowance so they could save up money to buy packs of new cards. Some of their favorite memories are of rummaging through piles of cards at local card shows, hoping to find a hidden gem. On birthdays and holidays, more baseball cards were always at the top of their wish lists.
As their collections grew, Ryan and Sarah developed different strategies for which players and teams to focus on. Ryan decided to build a set of every Cardinal from the 2010s. It was challenging but he slowly acquired cards of all of his favorite Redbirds over the years through trades and purchases. Sarah had a more general approach of collecting female players, rookies, and stars from winning teams. Both kept detailed inventories and protectively stored their treasured cards in binders and boxes.
By their early teen years, Ryan and Sarah’s collections had swelled to thousands of cards each. They never lost their passion for the hobby and were always on the lookout for ways to learn more. The siblings joined online baseball card communities and forums to trade duplicates and ask other collectors for value estimates and identification help. Both poured over Beckett price guides and checklists to better understand the relative scarcity and demand for different players throughout history.
As they got older, Ryan and Sarah’s collections evolved. They began to focus more on modern stars, parallels, autographs and relic cards featuring game-worn memorabilia. Higher value cards were carefully sent to professional grading companies like PSA and BGS to verify their mint condition, which further increased their value. Both started to sell some of their duplicates and less desirable vintage cards on online marketplaces to fund the purchase of their new desireables.
In high school, Ryan and Sarah’s love of cards continued but they had less time to devote due to academics and extracurricular activities. They maintained a core group of their favorite players but were more selective about which new releases to add. During their free periods, the siblings could often be found in the school library researching the history and stats of players from decades past. On weekends, they still made the time to attend local card shows and connect with other collectors.
Now as college students majoring in business, Ryan and Sarah have developed their baseball card collections into serious hobbies and potential future investments. They carefully curate their holdings, focusing on rookie cards of budding stars and modern parallels and memorabilia cards of proven Hall of Famers. Both utilize online auction sites like eBay to selectively purchase high-end items for their collections.
While school and careers keep them busy, Ryan and Sarah still make time on weekends to stay engaged with the baseball card community. They keep up with the latest industry news and product releases through blogs and podcasts. Several summers have been spent interning at large card companies, providing insight into the business of sports memorabilia. Both still participate in the occasional local show to buy, sell and trade.
Through over a decade of devotion, Ryan and Sarah’s baseball card collections have grown exponentially in size and value. Stored carefully in modern vaults with temperature/humidity controls, they now represent six-figure assets. While the focus is no longer solely on fun and games, the siblings’ passion for cards, players and the business of collecting continues to this day. They look forward to passing down their cherished collections to future generations of fans. The journey that began with two $20 birthday gifts as kids has become a lifelong baseball adventure.
