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(Even) Better Know a Blogger: Bump and Run Cards

I'm nearing the end of my (Even) Better Know a Blogger series of interviews.  This is the final call for anyone else who wants in...I have one more interview for tomorrow and if I don't get any more replies that'll be the end of the series!  For now, let's enjoy another great round of questions from a fellow blogger!

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1.       Your name (or alias if preferred):  Trevor P
2.       Your blog website:  Bump and Run Cards
3.       Your social media handle(s):   No social media, but on TCDB I’m tntcardsstg
4.       What are your favorite sport teams?   Green Bay Packers, Chicago Cubs, and Utah Jazz

5.       What kind of collector do you consider yourself to be (team collector, player collector, set collector, etc.).  Why do you collect that way?
I can’t really define myself as a collector in simple terms like team, player, or set collector. I collect teams (Packers, Cubs, and BYU alumni).  From those teams I have focused on some players, like Jordy Nelson.  Other players that I collect are for specific awards that I go after.  In football, I collect Heisman winners and All-Decade teams.  The reason I go for those is that it is a connection to my childhood.  When I was a kid, I had a commemorative book for the NFL’s 75th Season, and I pored over it.  Each decade had the All-Decade team at the end of the section. As a collector, I have latched on to those players who played in my era and made the teams.  On the baseball side, I collect All-Star MVPs and Rookies of the Year.  I like All-Star MVPs because it is also a childhood memory for me.  I never missed the All-Star game and remember clearly when Cal Ripken and Jeff Conine won the award.  In this way, my collection reflects some favorite childhood memories.  The Rookie of the Year collection actually stems from the purchase of a collection.  When I started going through it, I saw a lot of Eric Karros and Raul Mondesi.  It made me think about how hot those players were and this guy obviously was chasing after them.  It made me think that it would be fun to amass a bunch of ROY players and look back at who panned out and who flamed out.  Besides all that, I do collect sets, too.  I usually try to choose one set per year.  I like set building because it feels there is a goal and I feel like I have achieved something more than just accumulation.

6.       What is your favorite item in your collection?

My favorite is probably my 1964 Topps Ken Hubbs “In Memoriam” card.  This card epitomizes some essential pieces of my collection: Hubbs was a Cub and a Rookie of the Year, had some local ties (the site of his plane crash is just a few miles from my home), and this particular card was the happy result of a long search for the right price.  It was my most wanted card for a while because I don’t spend as much on a single card as this one usually gets on ebay, but I finally found one for just a few bucks.  That’s the kind of collector I am.

7.       If you could add any one card to your collection (that you don’t currently own), what card would it be and why?
I know that my Brad Sorensen collection will never be complete, and even if I managed to get everything else, I’m not holding my breath for the 2013 Topps Chrome Superfractor to truly complete my rainbow.  If I could add just one card, I think that would be it.

8.       Thinking back to when you first started collecting, how have your habits changed (if at all)?  Any ideas why?
My collection has definitely evolved.  I think when I was a kid just starting out, I wanted to have it all.  I learned to go after quantity more than quality, and I think that has stuck with me.  I don’t have a ton of high-dollar stuff, but I do like adding a lot of base and cheap inserts.  I don’t chase everything anymore, though.  I’ve learned to find a few interests to help focus my collection.  Also, I have cut back on the hobby in the past couple of years.  The two biggest reasons I can think of for learning to be more focused are money and storage.  When I got back into collecting in 2012, my family was smaller and I spent more on cards.  Now I have more kids and my card money has dwindled as I’ve devoted more funds to their experiences.  Plus, storage is limited, and I know that I will someday run out, so I’m trying to make sure the cards I have to store are cards I really want.

9.       If an alien being came down from the stars and forced you to describe yourself using no more than three cards as talking points, how would you do it?  

Part of me thinks that the very fact that I’m using trading cards as talking points about myself would say quite a bit about me already.  But for the sake of the exercise. . .

1-) This card says so much about me.  I got it signed in person at Big O Tires when I was 9 years old.  I collect BYU cards because I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I appreciate the connection I have to so many of the players.  That would probably be my starting talking point.  Plus, it was because the Packers drafted Detmer that I first became a Packers fan.  This is an artifact from my childhood that reveals a ton about my personal beliefs and holds the key to my football fandom.

2-) Standing head and shoulders above everything else, my role as husband and father is the most important thing in my life.  This card would represent those father-child bonds that I hold dearest.

3-) I played center on my high school football team, and I think that speaks volumes of my personality.  First, I enjoyed playing on the offensive line because I understood that a lineman can have a great impact on the game, but I never really needed the recognition for it.  I am content to work in the trenches without gaining any notoriety.  At the same time, playing center was key, because I got to handle the ball every play.  I guess I like being involved to the fullest extent in whatever I’m doing.  Plus, this card would give me the ability to share some of the life lessons I picked up from my football playing days.  After reading this paragraph, psychiatrists are lining up to do a psychological profile and tell me what it all means.



10.   If you could give any of the major sport card companies one piece of advice about something you’d like changed (or perhaps simply continued) what would it be?
Make it simpler to be a collector.  I don’t like that Topps or Panini put out something like 125 different products each year.  I think a flagship product; a cheap, kids-focused product; something mid-level (and maybe shiny); and a high-end product would suffice for me.  Inserts are okay.  I can sometimes get into parallels.  But parallels of inserts start to hurt my brain.  Take my guy Brad Sorensen for example.  I love collecting him, and he is important to my Alma Mater.  But he never threw an NFL pass and only had one year of card releases.  Yet there are over 300 unique cards of him. Look at an even bigger name, like Saquon Barkley.  TCDB shows 2042 cards produced in 2018 alone.  That’s too much.

11.   Where do you live?  What is your favorite local food?
I live in Lehi, Utah, smack dab between Salt Lake and Provo.  I don’t know that much of what I eat would be considered “local food.” I think there is probably a disproportionate number of Brazilian churrascarias in the area, so I’ll go with that.  I will never turn down a rodizio.

12.   If someone were to visit you, what place (within an hour of travel from your residence) would you suggest someone be sure to check out?
If you want to stay in the city, Temple Square in Salt Lake City is the thing to see.  If you’re more into nature, take a drive up the canyon from my house to Timpanogos Cave.  There are a lot of great places in Utah, but those are the two I’d recommend within an hour from me.

13.   What is your profession?  How did you end up there?  If you are in school, what do you plan to major in and/or what job do you hope to get after graduating?
I’m a teacher.  I teach 8th grade English and ESL.  I knew in high school that I wanted to be a teacher, and it was partly due to a desire to coach.  However, I’ve never taught at the high school level and I don’t know how much I would want to be a coach anymore.  My kids’ youth baseball teams are about as much as I’ll do.  But from the time I was around 16 years old, my sites were set and my course was charted to education, and I’ve never deviated.  It’s something I feel I was born to do.

14.   Do you have any hobbies besides card collecting?
It feels strange to put reading as a hobby because it feels as necessary as breathing for me.  I’ve taken up golf in the past year and I’m trying to re-teach myself guitar (I had lessons in 4th or 5th grade).  My wife and I play board games with any game loving friends we can find.  And trivia.  One my life’s goals is to appear on Jeopardy! one day.

15.   Tell me something interesting about yourself that hasn’t been covered in the first 14 questions!
I served a religious mission in Brazil when I was 19-21 years old.  As a result, I’m still fluent in Portuguese and have even used it to translate a novel by Brazilian author into English for publication in the US.  And even though I never got into soccer, I was there when Brazil won its last World Cup in 2002.  Living in Brazil during that celebration was quite the exciting experience.


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A big thanks to Trevor for participating in my (Even) Better Know a Blogger series.  Like the many bloggers who came before him, Trevor didn't disappoint with his answers!  I laughed out loud at his reply to the alien question - specifically the part where he said using baseball cards to explain something to alien beings might be all they need to know to start with.  

I also have to point out that Trevor is yet another person in education (like myself) who also collects cards.  There seems to be way more blogger/educator combos out there than I had known about!  I'm also interested in board games (much like Trevor and a number of other bloggers), it's only too bad we all live all over the country and so a blogger board game night is probably out of the question.

Thanks again to Trevor!  And, as I mentioned in the opening, if you want in on the (Even) Better Know a Blogger series you better act fast.  At the moment, I have one remaining interview to type up and then the theme is done unless someone else sends me a list of their answers!

Comments

  1. Very cool and interesting interview answers! These always make me wish fellow card bloggers lived in my neighborhood. Great post!

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  2. Fun interview. Very cool to see another person who is into the All-Star Game, as I just happened to write about that very topic. The mention of Jeff Conine winning the MVP brought me back to watching the 1995 game at my neighbors' apartment and them falling asleep before the NL mounted its comeback via three solo homers - their lone hits of the night - so that was cool.

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  3. There really is a connection between card collecting, teaching, and blogging. This is the 3rd new blog I've added to my blogroll this week... and two of them are directly related to this series. Keep 'em coming!

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