Funny Baseball Cards Have Their Own Thriving Online Community

Since the late 1980s, collectors have been seeking out oddball and comical baseball cards that take a lighter approach to the usually serious sport. While modern baseball card sets carefully photograph and document every stat and achievement of players, some vintage cards included goofy photos, strange jokes or puns on the back, or simply depicted players in bizarre or amusing situations. These so-called “funny baseball cards” have developed a cult following among collectors who appreciate their tongue-in-cheek nature and departure from traditional baseball card design.

In the early days of the internet, collectors of funny cards would trade information on message boards but had no central online community. That changed in 2005 with the launch of a dedicated forum called Wax Pack Gods. The site was founded by Greg McCarthy, a collector from California who wanted a place for fellow collectors to congregate, discuss finds, ask questions, and share scans of their favorite amusing cards.

“I had been collecting funny cards since the late 80s and early 90s. I loved the humor and creativity that went into some of those vintage cards,” McCarthy recalls. “But it was tough to find other people interested in the same things. Message boards were the closest thing but they didn’t always have a critical mass of funny card collectors. So I decided to start a specialized forum just for us odd ball collectors.”

In the first few years, Wax Pack Gods grew steadily as McCarthy shared details about it on collector sites and message boards. Word of mouth and Google searches also helped drive traffic. Early members would collectively share information about elusive funny cards from old sets, detail the backstories and inspiration behind different jokes or photos, and even try to identify unnamed or unknown players that appeared on more obscure funny singles and inserts.

As the forum expanded, different subforums were added to break discussions down by set, player, or theme. McCarthy also organized regular contests where members could submit their rarest or funniest finds to be voted on. Winners received small prizes donated by the site or other collectors. These contests and the subsequent photo threads of winning submissions helped illustrate the sheer variety of oddball cards that existed.

“It was really cool to see all the weird and wacky cards people were unearthing. Some were one-of-a-kind oddballs you’d never see anywhere else,” McCarthy says. “Our members really helped broaden each other’s knowledge of the fun card niche and bring long-lost jokes and images back to light.”

By 2010, Wax Pack Gods had several thousand registered members and was one of the premier online haunts for collectors of novelty baseball cards. But it also began to broaden beyond just cards to encompass other strange sports collectibles and memorabilia. Subforums were added for oddball pucks, jerseys, photographs, and documentation of bizarre pro sporting events from history.

This expansion captured the eccentric sensibilities of many forum members but also brought in a new wave of collectors interested in odd and uncommon objects from across the sports landscape. One of the most popular new subforums focused on strange, little-known defunct leagues from the past like the Intercontinental Baseball League, the Midwest Baseball League, and the Hawaiian Winter Baseball League, among others.

Members would post obituaries, articles, scorecards, and any ephemera they came across involving these obscure leagues. Often long-forgotten teams, players, and statistical oddities were rediscovered through collaborative research on the forum. The subforum became an invaluable online archive for historians seeking insight into minor league baseball’s rich but occasionally bizarre history.

Today, Wax Pack Gods has over 7,000 registered members and sees thousands of posts per month across its many subforums. In recent years, mobile apps have also been added to make the site more accessible. McCarthy still moderates occasionally but has passed primary administrative duties to a dedicated volunteer staff. The forum remains a vital hub where people from across the globe can exchange knowledge and discoveries about the quirky corners of the sports collecting world.

For dedicated collectors of funny cards or any odd sports memorabilia, Wax Pack Gods has become an indispensable online community. Members regularly swap scans of rare finds, put together want lists to complete sets, and even arrange meetups at conventions. The camaraderie of sharing unusual collecting passions with like-minded individuals gives the forum strong longevity despite the ever-growing options for online communities. After more than 15 years, Wax Pack Gods continues to uphold its role as a prime destination for appreciating the offbeat side of sports history.