I am and always have been a collector. I have tendencies toward being a "completist" -- I want everything of whatever I'm collecting. I started collecting baseball cards in 1987, took a break after the strike in 1994, and resumed with the home run chase in 1998 (with other prolonged breaks since due to school, work, and family). I've been a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan, so watching McGwire break the home run record was enough to get me back in to baseball and collecting. I was fortunate enough to be there for McGwire's home run #66 (upper deck, straight away center field) in 1998. I also made it to the game when McGwire hit home run #500 (and #501) in 1999. Tony Gwynn got hit #2999 in the same game. Would have been amazing if he had gotten #3000 in that game too. (He got #3000 the next day in Montreal).
I collect all St. Louis Cardinals, but I focus on Mark McGwire, Albert Pujols, Ozzie Smith, and Jordan Walker.
I have been a Kansas City Chiefs fan since around 1990, so I collect any Chiefs, with a focus on Derrick Thomas.
My alma mater is the University of Missouri, so I collect any player in any sport who played at Mizzou. This one is more difficult to track on TCDB because I don't just collect their cards in Mizzou uniform (although I prefer those). Although I collect everyone from Mizzou, my primary focus has been Max Scherzer.
I also have a small side PC of anyone who played at Stetson University (my wife's alma mater) and Zac Veen (who is from the town where I live, although I have no other personal connection to him). These are not as high priority to me as my other collections, so I may not be as interested even if they are on my wantlist.
I really like the oddball cards, especially if they are an odd size/shape. I also really like all the mini and oversized cards from the major manufacturers (for example Allen & Ginter minis, oversized box toppers).
I collect First Day Issue/First Day Production cards, especially Stadium Club. These can be of any player on any team. I pulled one from a pack in 1994 and have always liked them, but my son helped me open a blaster of 2022 Stadium Club and pulled a First Day Issue, which has a print run of 10. Since then I've tried to acquire any of them I've seen, although unless it fits one of my other collecting categories, I'm not willing to spend much on them.
For non-sports, I am interested in pretty much anything having to do with Abraham Lincoln. I grew up in a small town in Illinois and there is a marker in my hometown where he gave a speech. I love history and have always been fascinated by him.
I was not aware of all the variations (1990 Donruss, etc.) before joining TCDB, but now that I know about them, I do want to get all the variations (see the "completist" comment above), so if a variation is included in a trade, please try to make sure it is correct.
TCDB ranks as of 5/18/24:
Jordan Walker -- #1
Ozzie Smith -- #34
Albert Pujols -- #33
Mark McGwire -- #38
St. Louis Cardinals -- #30
Derrick Thomas -- #20
Kansas City Chiefs -- #43
Max Scherzer -- #12
University of Missouri Tigers Baseball -- #1
University of Missouri Tigers Football -- #1
University of Missouri Tigers Basketball -- #2
