1993 Topps Stadium Club Series 3 box break / Andy’s introduction

As an introduction from the other half of Community Gum (that’s Andy for those keeping score), here’s the very first box break we’ve ever done. Check out all the 31337 MoJo HITZ!!1

Now that the best 8 minutes of your day is done, I’ll explain a bit about myself and what inspired me to start this site with my friend Jon (the guy in the hilariously semi-ironic Double Dare shirt up there). I started collecting cards in 1986. I was 6 years old then and collected feverishly until 1994. I, like many people of my age, have fond memories of trading for Gregg Jefferies rookies and poring over Becketts. I like to think I would have been a card collector in whatever era I happened to be born- my dad was a stamp collector in his day so I probably inherited some collecting genes. But then I discovered girls and decided to focus my attention on that for 16 years or so. Now that the novelty has worn off there, I’m interested in seeing where ye olde hobby stands.

Being the set collector type, I have a special interest in sets that are actually able to be collected. The recent obsession (at least on the manufacturing side) with parallels is a real head-scratcher to me. In my reviews here you’re likely to see me calculate the number of boxes a collector would have to buy to have a chance at putting together a master set of that particular product- early results are hilarious (something like 6 digits for Topps’ retread of T206 in 2009). As a kid, I was fascinated by baseball card photography (which may have played a part in my decision to pursue a degree in the visual arts), so I’ll probably spend some time in my reviews discussing photography and design. And, since baseball is my preferred sport, I’ll probably focus mostly on baseball cards (though my recent foray into fantasy football has made me something of a fan there as well).

Obviously every single card I bought in my collecting period is completely worthless in a completely literal sense and I’m glad to see the production of worthless cards has continued, unabated, in my absence. I look forward to mocking modern baseball cards with the zeal, gusto and panache that I usually reserve for The Dead Card Era. So we’ve got that to look forward to. In the meantime, drop us a line, say hello, and check back for something more exciting than junk wax. (But also lots of that, too). So, like Jon said, welcome!