I got started collecting when I was 7 years old.  My Dad would stop by the local convenience store after work to get something to drink.  He would then usually pick my younger brother and I up a "surprise" which he would give us after dinner.  This surprise was sometimes a candy bar, or bubblegum or something like that.  However, the surprises I liked best were the packs of cards he would bring us.  The first packs that I remember were from 1974 Topps Baseball and Football.  I would sort them into teams and rubberband them together making little team stacks (if only I knew then what I know now about condition).  I really enjoyed keeping them and would keep them with me whenever I would watch a baseball or football game on TV.  Sometimes, I would even update the stats in pencil on the back of the card (another no-no). 

Later as I got older I would take them to school with me to trade with others before school.  This is where I started to learn about condition and keeping the cards in nice shape so others would want to trade for mine.  I would spend most of my allowance on cards, always looking forward to allowance day.

Well time went by and I got into high school and stuff and was more interested in girls and cars.  However, I always kept my cards but just moved them out of the way for awhile.

Fast forward to college.  I graduated from The University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy in 1991.  Once I got out, I rediscovered this hobby, and had much more income to spend.  I wasn't very selective at first, buying most anything that came out and trying to complete the sets.  Still working on some of those, but I've not updated my want list back that far yet.  I got burned out on the "new stuff" and starting collecting backwards. 

I started getting in to older set collecting, putting the 1966 Topps set together from scratch as this is my birth year.  Many thanks to Kit Young cards and Sports Memories for helping me with that.  That was a lot of fun.  I also bought other sets, saving up for them a little at a time and buying them from a couple of shops in the Oklahoma City area (G & G Sports Cards and The Duguout). 

Today, with children and a lovely wife, I still have fun collecting, but don't spend near the amount I used to.  Today, I mainly collect things from only 1 company which is Topps.  I may occasionally get things from other companies if they interest me but not very often.  I've also started to branch out into Police and Safety sets and Non-Sport cards over the past few years. 

So, I guess I've collected on/off for about 30 years now.  I've got an entire room in our home that my wife has let me use to house my collection.  I really enjoy this hobby and all of the friends and contacts I've made from trading on The Bench, Topps Trading Forum, and all of the other sites which I sometimes trade on.