I'm Dave from the UK and coming up 40 which is why my messages tend to be grumpy at times..ok at most times. I'm more into comics and comic book art but cards also play their part. There seem to be similar trends across these strands in terms of the way the collecting hobby is going which I'm sure many know I don't always agree with. My collecting days are declining as my theraphy continues. My goal is to walk past a comic shop without going in. One day at a time..

Luckily I don't smoke or drink as much (the latter trend is increasingly worring me) so the debt collectors haven't been called in yet!

As you can all see from my username, my name is Greg and I've lived here in the Midwest all my life. I'm a 44 year old father of 3 and grandfather of 2. I collected baseball cards when I was a kid and then tried to get back into it in 1990 or so. That's when I discovered the 25th Ann. Star Trek series from Impel and said goodbye to sports and dove head first into a great new hobby. At first all I collected was Trek but have branched off into others like Disney, LOTR and some of the various movie themed sets like Mummy Returns etc. and of course promos. As of right now, I am planning to attend the show in Chicago in September and am looking forward to meeting some of my fellow Card Talk members.

Happy Collecting!!!

Greg

I am Ginny! I will be 20 in September-Wahoo!! I live in Atlanta, Georgia.

I am still new to actually collecting. Not just buying complete sets at conventions.

I mainly collect Buffy and Lady Death. But, I am hoping and trying to broaden my horizon. My sister has turned me on to Stargate-SG1, even though I am NOT a big fan.
But I love the promos!

Well, that is me.

Hello, my name is Eric and I am a slave. I am a slave to two things: cigarettes and trading cards. Since this site is not about smoking or cessation I will continue about trading cards.
I am in my thirties and have been collecting sport and non-sport cards on and off since I was a boy. I still have a few cards that survived those early days but many were lost. My collection includes: Star Trek, Babylon 5, Avengers, Coca-Cola, Defective Comics, Godzilla, Goldeneye, G.I. Joe, Hammer Horror, Hellraiser, Independence Day, Jack Kirby, James Bond, Xena, Wild Wild West movie and series, Battlefield Earth, Twilight Zone, The Tick, Lone Ranger, Species, Lord of the Rings, and Spawn. I even collect the Beverly Hillbillies!
I am a completist and have several sets and near sets. I do not trade but have been entertaining the idea. I do not sell or auction my cards. I am very miserly when it comes to my cards and rarely part with them. The last card that left me was given as a birthday present. I am still grieving.
My next big project will be to inventory my cards. I probably have in the hundreds of thousands.




When I arrive at the Pearly Gates and St. Peter asks what I did with my life to deserve entry- I can safely say: "I SURE DID MOVE A LOT OF CARDBOARD!"

Hi folks!

You know what's so great about this? You get to meet some likeable individuals who share the same madness :P

I'm at that age where I have to think for a minute to remember how old I am (that being 36...I think). I'm a father of 3 kids aged 12, 14, & 15, and married to a feisty redhead for 15 years now. I live in SW Ontario, Canada, just south of London, and work as a general machinist/CNC lathe apprentice.

I still remember the first cards I bought- Star Wars back in 1977. I still have 'em, and in reasonable condition, yet. I remember when ESB came out, and I bought packs at the corner store by the dozen...I think they were a quarter a pack. I ended up holding on to lots of doubles/triples of cards and stickers for years! No-one else I knew had any to trade LOL. Then ROTJ came out, and put that one together. If anyone knows the story on OPC vs Topps cards- you'll know the trouble I went through years later trying to figure out what I needed/wanted to finish things up. Even today, I think those sets are still my favorites.

That was pretty well the end of collecting for 10 years. Kinda hard to buy 'em if they aren't around to buy. Then I found cards at a corner store, which I found interesting- Topps Desert Storm back in 91. That same year, Impel released a new Star Trek set, and I was happier than a pig in muck. I found these in a department store, where I also happened to find Rock Cards by Brockum. It was the rebirth of a hobby that had been dormant for too long.

It was about then I discovered NSU, and WOW- I finally had a guide to go by! I was totally amazed how many card sets there were, as well as realizing how much work it takes to put together such a project. As well, this was my first encounter with promo cards...

These days, it's hard to keep into the hobby for me Getting by on one income for the last 15 years has met the point of no return- paying for a house, yada yada. The wife finally found work, so it's a matter of catching up for a while. Honestly, there's not a whole lot of cards I'm interested in collecting. (I guess I'm lucky that way LOL) There's probly only 4 or 5 more sets I'll get this year, and 2 are older releases.

I spend much of my spare time in the online gaming world now. Anyone who's a Star Trek fan, I highly recommend Starfleet Command! You get to command TOS era starships based on the board game Starfleet Battles. Later this year, a new version will be released on the TNG era. If you ever thought Kirk's job was awesome- here's your chance to sit in the Chair

Lastly I want to thank NSU for having a Forum for all of us to get together!

Komodo

Living the thrill of the chase

Hello Everyone!!! One thing I've learned while reading these pages is: You're ALL kids!!! My name is Jeff and Im (eke), 50 years young. I live in Harrisburg Pa. (Home of NSU), and that allows me to occasionally visit with the Tosers. You cannot imagine how kind and wonderful that family is! I work now for Kelloggs, after 17 years with the Quaker Oats Company. I,ve collected most of the cards released by Quaker since the 50"s and now I guess I will collect the Kelloggs cards too. I collect mostly Historical card sets ( Indians, Pirates and Wild West sets) but also the nostalgia sets relating to my youth. ( did I mention that I'm 50?) I try to complete everything, so I do a lot of buying on Ebay and I,ve gone to every Philly show but the first two. My wife used to help me open the packs and collate for me, that was before I got out of control!! Now she just moans "Not more cards" as I carry 3 to 6 boxes in the house. Thankfully the oldest daughter moved back home so she helps me. I"ve never meet any of you personaly, but I want to tell you I've spent many a comfortable night at my puter reading your comments and laughing my butt off!! I think some of the best people ANYWHERE are in our Hobby, and I thank ALL of you for that!!! Sorry to ramble, that's just me. Have Fun and Great Collecting!!

Hello, My name is Mike and i'm 44 years old and work in the restaurant industry. Ive been collecting for about 10 years but just about a year ago stumbled onto promo cards as the amount of sets in sports cards has gotten out of hand.I also collect pocket schedules and lapel pins. But I must say by far I am really enjoying the non-sport cards but they are very difficult to find here in N.C.

Hey there! As you may guess from my handle, my name is Bob. I'm 32 years old and I live in San Antonio, TX (America's new official flood plain) where I manage a comic book store, Excalibur Comics & Video.

I originally collected trading cards while growing up in the '70s, and I remember buying packs of KISS, Elvis, Superman the Movie and the de Laurentiis King Kong movie. Of course, like most little boys of the time, my favorites were Star Wars. I collected the first 3 series dillilgently, got most (possibly all) of the 4th series, and kinda gave up around the 5th series as they got harder to find. I collected the first series of Empire Strikes back cards, but was out of collecting entirely by the time Return of the Jedi came out.

I got back into collecting when the Fleer/Skybox Star Trek Original Series Season 1-3 sets came out. I bought a box of Season 3 on a whim, and got a Leonard Nimoy autograph. Never thinking I'd get back into cards, I promptly sold it on eBay. Of course, that's now the only card I need to complete my Season 3 set. Grrr... I'd say I regretted selling it, but the $300 I got for it was nice at the time (and is more than it currently sells for). Oddly enough, I never collected the Topps Trek sets when I was young. I did pick one of the '75 sets up (with most of the stickers) about a dozen years ago on a whim, but that purchase was as much for investment as nostalgia when I bought it. I still have it, but now I want to keep it!

My main area of card collecting is autographs. I've been concentrating on Farscape and, to a lesser extent, Star Trek. I also collect a lot of the new crop of vintage sci-fi TV series cards, and looking at this paragraph you'd be correct in guessing I buy a lot of Rittenhouse product. I really like the Inkworks cards as well, but I'm not really "into" their properties as much as the RA stuff.

Sets I'm looking forward to: Farscape Season 3 (obviously), the Osbournes, the Prisoner, Red Dwarf (Futera and Rittenhouse), James Bond 40th anniversary (I'm not much of a Bond fan, but they've got a lot of great signers).

Thanks to Harris and everyone else at NSU for the great magazine and this wonderful Discussion Board!

-Bob-
--

"I'd take a bullet for safety."

Hi Everyone!
My name is.. well... Mike! I'm 49 years old and since moving from NYC to Massachusetts, I've been staying home to care for my two daughters (9 and 11), my parents (83 and 79) and my mother-in-law (also 83) who live with us. I used to work as a database manager for an entertainment publication. My main focus is 30s-60s cards, though there are a number of later sets I have. I generally buy sets off ebay as I can get most for the price of a single "vintage" card. I used to buy boxes to break down and sell, mostly to pay for the older cards I go for, but there's no return in doing that these days. I have about a gazillion comics I occasionally sell on ebay. I'd love to find someone who would trade old cards for comics. I don't have a lot of collecting interests in common with most of you, though I have traded most happily with a few people here(Thanks again!). I do enjoy the friendliness and energy you all generate. I'm always around whether I'm posting or not - and I just want you all to know what a special group you are.

Find out what you like in life... and collect it!

Mtlhddoc2...if your fist case is the Osbourns like you say then im all for the purchase babe! lol

With that said...
HI! my name is Kristen I am 27 in Warwick RI I am also a computer engineer and hate Mtlhddoc2 (my main squeeze) for getting me into this WAYYYY to addictive hobby But what can I say I love cards! I used to be a ...dare I say..Sports card collector. <cringe> and while I do still collect Miami Dolphin stuff (Mostly Marino memorabilia)
I am way more into Non- sports stuff
I collect Anything Disney or cartoonish and marval comic stuff like spiderman and x-men as well as any movie realeases I dont get into Star Trek no matter how much Dan tries I guess ill never be a Trekkie. But I have all kinds of stuff..and it just keeps GROWING and I love it!

This is like the Secret Identities thread all over again!!! We're not really new, but we've only just become Full members still on thirty-odd posts though not hundreds like some others!!! We are sisters from the South West of England and we haven't been collecting cards for long, just about a year now, we were hooked when the first ever packet that we bought had a chase card in it, not that we knew it at the time! We collect Charmed, Mummy Returns, X Files, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and are considering starting Buffy sets. That's about it for us...what about you?!?!?!

Halliwell Manor

Hi! My turn. I'm a 32 year old rehab counselor from Greensboro NC. I'm also a competitive fencer and fencing coach at two different clubs here in town.

My collecting hobbies began strangely in that I first bought an autographed card to give to my roommate because it was one of her former students. (yes, we are talking sports cards here) She taught at NCSU before moving into a High school in the area and was having a rough time adjusting. I bought her the card to remind her why she went into teaching-to help young people grow up to be successful adults. Then I started buying cards of her other students. Then I discovered the Star Trek Cards, then witchblade, then samurai jack, then....and then..... In other words....I'm hooked.

I collect some sports, some gaming, and non-sports. For more detailed info see:

www.geocities.com/warrior_counselor

Sorry for such a long post.

kathy warrior counselor

I am Kristy, 23 years old, married and trying for a baby.
I am a preschool teacher and currently substitute at a Christian preschool. I only work part time so that I can devote more of my time to housekeeping duties.

I collect mostly Buffy, Angel, Xena, and Hercules but I do pick up sets for things I like. I also have Snow White, LOTR,Harry Potter, A Team, MIB 2, etc. I also collect many non sports items. My biggest collection is PIGS! oink oink.

Did I forget anything?
I'm sure angeleyes777 will pipe in with anything else she thinks you all should know about me. Don't tell all my secrets Karin!

"How dreary to be Somebody...."

I'm Joy. I'm 25 and married. My husband owns his own business and I work for him, so I make my own hours. I started collecting when I was 15 and my dad bought me a pack of Disney Premium from the store where he got his race car cards. I started collecting that set. I got out of collecting for a while mostly due to the short attention span of teenage youth. After I got married, my husband started collecting his baseball and golf cards again and I got back into non-sports collecting and now don't know if I could actually stop .

--Joy

(Some of what follows might not be true)
I'm Paul, I'm 37, I live in the UK and I collect anything I like. Mainly Trek and B5 and Xena and quite a few things with autographs.
I'm IT support for a small local company (which means I get to 'work' on the internet during working hours! Thsi also explains the number of messages I post...)

Welcome to all newbies, and all oldies too!
Au Res.,
Paul

Sometimes, one pack is not enough...

My name is Marlinn, I'm 22 and live in Norway.
I got two big hobbies; cards and comics (imagine the weird looks I get at the store as I search through the comics in order to get a mint copy:) And my brother thinks I'm really weird since I refuse to let him borrow them.
)
I do mainly collect Buffy, Angel, Xena and Farscape, but have recently decided to try something different. Got my Spider-Man Filmcardz on their way (Kennywood, congratulations with your master set!!)

My name is Sandra. I am 19. I believe that makes me younger than the rest of you...so far anyways.

I used to pick up a pack here and a pack there. I always wanted to buy boxes but I am originally from a very small town and they didn't have them.

I went to the Star Wars Celebration II and there was a booth with cards and I sprang for a box and was immediately hooked. I am not sure how many cards i have and something tells me I dont want to find out.

Well, of the messages posted so far, I guess I am the oldest. I'm 43 (nearly 44).

I live in Warrenton Virginia which is about 45 minutes from Washington, DC. I work for Hewlett-Packard <plug> as a Software Engineer and work in the field at customer sites. Hence why people have been beating me to the promo posts lately!!!!

I'm married, have 3 kids (21, 15, and 9) and of course a wife who puts up with my hobbies.

I used to collect as a kid, quit collecting for many years, and then a nephew of mine showed me his cards, and I was instantly hooked again. That was about 12 years ago. In fact if you remember BBS'es, I had started a trading card conference on the RIME network many moon's ago.

My first love is promo cards. I also collect sets of topics that interest me such as Star Trek, Disney, Sci-Fi, Movies, etc...

Other hobbies that I have include collecting lapel pins, shot glasses, stamps, coins, action figures, movie memorabilia, and other things.

Bet you are sorry you asked!!!!

Mike.

Well, I am a 35 year old Police Officer in High Point, N.C. and have been collecting cards since my college days at UNC-Wilmington (looong time ago!). I mainly focus on any sci-fi sets but will actually settle for just about anything that is being sold around here. You see, there is not one dadgum dealer or person in the Piedmont that I am aware of who sells non-sports cards (excluding Target Department Stores and the cheap retail boxes that they carry!). Therefore, I have also taken up collecting original comic book artwork and (hold your breath) King Kong glasses. Why King Kong glasses? I dunno. But I bet I have the largest collection of King Kong glasses in North America at the very moment. Oh the sordid lives of law enforcement officers!

Hello, I am 34 years old. I'm still not sure I've decided to do when I grow up... I started collecting cards about 11 years ago when I was in the Air Force. I had a freind that collected *sports* cards, but I've never been a *sports* fan, so he showed me the Comic Ball cards that had just been released. I knew some of the players on the cards, but was more interested in the comic characters. I then decided to collect some of the Disney & other cartoon cards. I really enjoyed it for a while, but then a few years later moved away from that area and did not have anyone to collect with, so I lost interest. Eventually I departed the Air Force and then it was time to start a new career. For the past eight years I've been employed as a Comercial Electrician in Utah, which also may be coming to an end soon because of lack of work. I'm originally from Belleville, WI but decided to move here after I met my wife. That's a whole different story though.

To make a long story short, I've recently began collecting again (when I can afford it). I only buy by the box. I like to collect mostly Disney cards, but also collect some superhero cards and movie cards. I've started a web site to list all my commons, but have only finished about one-third of my inventory. Feel free to check it out though.

Happy Hunting!!!