The Soul of Collecting

I have long considered myself a "collector" who's involved in "the Hobby." But due to the current sports card landscape, I'm finding myself disassociating from the two labels. What many call the Hobby is actually the sports card industry, and most of those involved are speculators, investors, and gamblers. And while the industry is driven by the breakers (and authenticators/graders), they are not the lifeblood of the hobby. The soul of collecting belongs to those I now refer to as the curators. And I'm proud to be a part of the dying breed.

Most of us who were collecting sports cards prior to the 1980s did so with the goal of completing the current year’s set, which was a chronicle of the previous season. Sure, we wanted to obtain our favorite player or cards from our favorite teams, but part of the excitement was having a visual representation of the previous year. That's one of the reasons subsets such as Highlights, League Leaders, and Playoffs were such popular cards.

I bring all of this up not to sow seeds of division but to point out why someone in the year 2026 would still buy a card from a set 98% of the Hobby doesn’t know exists; of a forgotten player who had exactly one NFL trading card. 

Only someone who seeks to record and preserve history of a player, of a team, of a particular set would desire to spend their hard earned-money on such a card. But I’m a curator of Buccaneers cards. I simply have no choice.

PLAYER: Aaron Brown

POSITION: Linebacker

COLLEGE: Ohio State University

YEARS PLAYED FOR TAMPA BAY: 1978-1980

CARD SET: 1980 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Police Set

CARD NUMBER: NNO

NUMBER OF CARDS (According to TCDB): 9

BUCCANEERS CARDS: 1* (Two, if counting a different back variation)