Celebrating 50 Years in the Hobby

 A revelation came to me as the calendar rolled in to 2026: this summer will mark 50 years since I began this collecting journey. A little over two months later, the idea of celebrating in a big way began to take root.

That journey began in the summer of 1976, a time when a wave of patriotism swept across our nation during its bicentennial year, bringing with it hope. America had endured the social upheaval of the late '60s, the Vietnam War, and the Watergate scandal, and not only were we celebrating our country's birth, but what we hoped would be a rebirth. It was during this background that I experienced my own hobby birth that fateful day in June.

Tuesday's were my mother's day off, and the day she would go shopping. School was officially out so she had to take me with her to Buttrey's, a grocery chain located in Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. At one point during this particular trip to the store, I saw a colorful pack of 1976 Topps baseball. I had no idea of what the contents were, but the image of a baseball set against the red background grabbed my attention. My mother explained what was inside the glorious wax pack and knowing my love for the sport, purchased one for me. She didn’t know it at the time, but it was the gateway drug for her six-year old son, and ignited a lifelong passion.

Back to my comment about celebrating my 50th anniversary… I had told my brother a few months ago how I was getting so close to finishing my 1976 Topps football set, but doubted I would ever finish it due to the cost of the Payton rookie card. At that point I had (falsely) convinced myself that I would be content if I had just the near completed set. 

But as it dawned upon me that it was now going on 50 years since I began collecting, I became determined to finish the set. I also decided to forget about acquiring one that was graded between a 5 & 7; focusing instead on 3s that had good eye appeal. This was a game changer, and allowed me to find one in the price range I was willing to spend. 

Now if this were Hollywood, the Walter Payton card would have been the final card to finish off my set. This is the real world, however, and I’m still five cards short. But I’m not concerned. I’ve waited years to (re)acquire Sweetness. What’s a few more weeks?