Gushue Sports Cards - My Crazy Card Obsession (Blog #12)

To be honest, it started as a way to ensure that I would behave. The thought of not getting a pack of baseball/hockey cards when Mom and my Nan got home from town had a hypnotic type of power over me. In fact, Gushue Cards is a tribute to both of those incredible women for everything that they have done in my life, let alone starting me on this journey into a sports card craze. I was 4 years old when I first got a pack of cards. I can remember the set vividly. 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee hockey. Ray Bourque, Mark Messier, Mike Gartner, Michel Goulet rookies and a second year Wayne Gretzky are the top line cards from the set. To me, it was an introduction to something about the game that I could have for myself. I would count them, stack them, and of course collect them. Good Lord, did I collect them, I still have not stopped.

Over the years, I have collected just about everything when its come to cards. I have watched how the hobby has turned into a world-wide business, and how the "chase' of finding the Rookie Card (RC) has been replaced my the card that holds the nicest piece of fabric from a jersey, or a splinter from a bat or stick. Rookie cards now have to be serial numbered for anyone to care, especailly if they are of a low printing quantity. They passion and excitement of opening a pack to see what treasures lie inside still get me every time. Sadly, the 15 cent pack of cards are now anywhere between $1.25 and $250 A PACK! So, my excitement sessions with cards are not as often. This is the unfortunate part of any growing market or item.

I collect for the love of collecting. As most of you know, I sell cards through my eBay store http://stores.ebay.com/Gushue-Sports-Cards and I have brought back the art of collecting AMAZING cards while not breaking the bank. To me, card collecting is a rite of passage, a time spent between parent and child, or old friends who argue about who was the greatest hitter of all-time or who was better: Gretzky or Bobby Orr. I wanted to provide a place to share excitement of opening a pack, but with a guarantee of getting a pretty great card every time!

I have moved around quite a lot in my life and much of my collection/belongings are in boxes. I have been fortunate to work in some great companies and meet a lot of great people who have helped me obtain a pretty vast sports and memorabilia collection. I decided, mainly because I have to start getting rid of some of this stuff (Autographs, pucks, McFarlane and Kenner action figures, photos, team collectibles, etc), that it would be really fun to reward customers who purchase a large order of items with FREE BONUS items from my collection. In 2011 alone, I have given away 4 large boxes of items from all 4 major sports. (NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA). See pics of a small part of whats left:

Over the past few years I have included many AMAZING cards in my card lots. Rookies, Autographed cards, Jersey cards, Stick cards, Bat cards, Puck cards, even cards limited to less than 10 in the whole world! Everything is added at random, so like buying packs in your local store, you have no idea what you are getting! Take a look at these videos for some of the cards that have been, or in some cases, still are available!

If you enjoy collecting, or have a son or daughter who is interested in starting a collection, please drop me a line, or take a look at my store. As always, please leave a comment!