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A pair of rookie autographed cards from a box that was purchased close to a decade ago. 

A pair of rookie autographed cards from a box that was purchased close to a decade ago. 

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It’s something that many start at a young age, spending that hard earned money from weekly chores or perhaps a small part-time job. Rushing to the store to fill that fix, the fresh smell, anticipation building as you slowly unveil what you’ve been waiting all week for … finally getting a chance to open up that new pack of trading cards.

Trading cards, or collectible cards, dates back to the 19th century. Sports cards date back to around the beginning of baseball becoming a professional sport.

Growing up in Fergus Falls, I remember there used to be a card shop across the street from Service Food. A small, modest shop that had a long glass display case, filled to the brim with all sorts of sports trading cards. There was also other memorabilia behind the counters and hanging on the walls. Myself and friends used to frequent the card shop, using any found money to purchase cards of our favorite players.

Once the card shop went away, it was off to K-Mart and Pamida. I remember frequent walks to those two businesses, even if we just had money for one pack (which was usually around two dollars). At an early age, most of the collecting was random and you would be happy to have an abundance of random players (it was mostly football and baseball cards). Soon it turned into focusing on one or two players from a sport.

As time went on the focus shifted to collecting sets of cards for a given year. Binders with plastic dividers became a necessity. Moving into the high school years, cash flow became a little more reliable. Soon it wasn’t just a pack at a time, but perhaps multiple packs at a time and even a full box here and there. Any trip up to Fargo and West Acres Mall would result in visiting the card shop in the basement. The old shop in Fergus was impressive, but this place was on steroids (pun intended).

After high school, the discovery of eBay really made it easy to access not just boxes of cards, but also specific cards and sets of specific players. It almost didn’t feel real, from maybe a pack here or there to having almost an overload of options with the internet.

Card collecting continues to be a hot item in today’s world. For those that might pull a limited edition card, you can send it in to be minted and preserved. You can watch people unveil box sets on YouTube. Maybe you are missing one card from a set from years ago? Yup, there are sites where you can purchase single, specific cards to complete your collections.

While it’s unlikely you’ll find a card as rare as the T206 tobacco card featuring Honus Wagner (the most valuable card ever printed, which has fetched hundreds of thousands of dollars in auctions over the years), it is still fun to snag an autographed card or some kind of game worn pieces of cloth inserted into a card.

Nowadays, I don’t purchase as much as I once did, but from time-to-time I will indulge in a pack or two. I mostly live vicariously through others who open packs and post on social media sites. Nonetheless, card collecting continues to have its niche, whether it is sports related or not. It is still a hobby I enjoy and will continue to enjoy as the days go by. Maybe one day I will pull that rare card.

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