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(Even) Better Know a Blogger: The Collector

Welcome to (Even) Better Know a Blogger week!  Each day this week, my goal is to publish an interview with a fellow blogger.  To be included, bloggers had to email me for a questionnaire, fill it out, and then email it back to me.  Simple!  I think many of us enjoyed getting to know fellow bloggers back when I ran a similar feature a number of years ago...and I'm happy to report that some of the same people that participated back then joined up this time around as well!  Let's get to it!

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1.       Your name (or alias if preferred): Chris
2.       Your blog website: The Collector 
3.       Your social media handle(s): I'm not on social media. You can find me on Blogger or Trading Card Database (hockeydude)
4.       What are your favorite sport teams? Boston Red Sox, Green Bay Packers, and New Jersey Devils

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'm all three, because I've never been able to focus! Right now I'm working on about a dozen sets (including 1956 Topps baseball) so that's where the bulk of my collecting budget goes. I'm equally focused on team collections, and I try to pick up low-end singles in trades or on COMC. I have a few player PCs, too, but that's less of a priority at the moment.

6.       What is your favorite item in your collection? 
Wow, that's a tough one! I have a Mickey Mantle autographed 8 x 10 that my mom gifted me and a Brett Favre autographed litho that my wife bought me. Those are pretty special. 

7.       If you could add any one card to your collection (that you don’t currently own), what card would it be and why? 
Robin Yount 1975 Topps RC, because it's a great looking set and Yount was one of my favorite players as a kid. Someday I'd love to own a 1941 Play Ball Ted Williams card, but that's a lot less realistic.

8.       Thinking back to when you first started collecting, how have your habits changed (if at all)?  Any ideas why? 
I used to collect cards of all four sports, plus oddball stuff and Starting Lineup figures. I was obsessed with sports into my teen years. As a young adult I spent too much time and money "prospecting" and accumulating high-end cards. I sold some very valuable RCs at less than peak value, and it gave me some perspective. I'm not a gambler, or a stock trader. I'm a collector. Now as I'm nearing 40 I've rediscovered the joy of opening new (and old) packs for the fun of it.

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?  

1) I loved dolphins when I was little; I have a small collection of ceramic/glass dolphins - and dolphins are partially responsible for my interest in football. 

2) I'm a bit of a Cold War history buff, and it's fascinating/disturbing that the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the US and USSR so close to nuclear war. 

3) This one's sort of self-explanatory :)

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? 
I think the overabundance of short prints/photo variations has been mentioned before. I would also suggest that card companies cut down on the number of super high-end products. There are way too many brands priced at $500+ per "box" - often containing 6 cards or less. I'd like to see larger sets with fewer gimmicks at a reasonable price point. And bring back head coach/manager cards!

11.   Where do you live?  What is your favorite local food? 
I live in north-central New Jersey, about halfway between NYC and Newark. My favorite local hangout is Urban Burger. It's a little downtown place that makes some great specialty burgers. There's one where they stack five or six onion rings on top of pulled pork on top of a quarter-pound patty. It's a challenge, but it's so good!

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? 
It's too easy to say Manhattan. Maybe the Jersey Shore, or the Prudential Center when the Devils are playing. Or Urban Burger!

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 an Accounts Payable Representative for a restoration company that specializes in repairing water/fire damage. Basically I collect money from homeowners or insurance companies for our services. It's not my ideal profession, but my prior employer (a law firm) promoted me from file clerk to collections, and I'm kind of stuck in it. That said, it's kind of funny to me that I make a living as a collector!

14.   Do you have any hobbies besides card collecting? 
Not really. I used to read a fair amount of young adult novels, and I wrote some of my own fiction here and there. But it's been a while.

15.   Tell me something interesting about yourself that hasn’t been covered in the first 14 questions!
For my 11th birthday, my mom and aunt took me to Cooperstown to see the Baseball Hall of Fame. It was like Disney World for a baseball fan. I plan to take my wife and kids next year for my 40th birthday, and I'm eager to see if it's as magical now that I'm an adult.

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A big "thank you" to Chris for being our latest participant in my (Even) Better Know a Blogger series.  Before I share my thoughts on some of Chris' answers, I must state that as of this afternoon when I put together this interview this is the final entry in the series.  I know a number of other people have requested the questionnaire, but I haven't received their answers!  I'm still happy to take any participants but time is ticking so get those replies back to me ASAP!

Now, let's return to some of Chris' answers. 

I have to start with Chris' final answer which was him getting ready to go to Cooperstown again.  I was lucky enough to get back to the town about five years ago and I loved it just as much (probably more) than I did as a kid.  I can't wait to hear how your experience went, Chris - be sure to blog about it and take photos!

I also am intrigued by the restaurant (and burger) that Chris mentioned.  Onion rings on top of pulled port in top of a burger patty sounds incredibly tasty, though my arteries may be clogging already simply thinking about it.

Finally, I have to give credit to Chris for another batch of interesting answers for the "alien" question.  When I wrote the questionnaire for this round of Better Know a Blogger, I knew I wanted to have a couple of questions that were a little more offbeat/creative than standard questionnaire often offer.  I've loved reading everyone's take on the question and answer, I mean, how often can a card showing a dolphin, a card of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and a MLB Postseason Highlights card all make up a perfectly reasonable answer to a single question?!

Great stuff all around from Chris!  Like I said earlier, if you still want in let me know ASAP.  I'm happy to send out the questionnaire to anyone who hasn't received it yet and I'm hopeful that I'll get a few more responses sometime tonight or tomorrow morning!

Comments

  1. Pulled pork on top of a burger with onion rings? That sounds fantastic! Big fan of Chris's blog... as well as that dolphin card. Never seen that before.

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