What is a "Sports Card Historian"?

[asportscardhistorian]

Hello sports card collectors!

This is my first ever post on this historic forum. Please be kind =)

I define what a sports card historian is as "a person who does research, analysis, interpretation on sports cards, and writes about them by studying historical documents and sources".
(my adapted definition from what a historian is via bureau of labor and statistics website)

The "historical documents" are of course sports cards... but even more than that... like magazines, books, memorabilia, websites and pictures.

Any tips on tweaking my definition?

As a long time card collector, my way of enjoying the hobby has evolved into more of the "sports card historian" way of collecting. Less ripping packs. More research on cards I own or want to own.

Some, but not all, questions a sports card historian may ask:

- Who is the manufacture of this card?
- What year was the card made?
- What year was this card released to the public to purchase?
- Who are the people or person shown of the front and or back of the card?
- Where was the photo(s) taken?
- Is the image on the card a painting? If so, was an actual photograph used as a reference? Who was the painter?
- What materials were used to produce card? (ink, plastic, paper, relic piece)
- Was this card made to be apart of a set? If so, how many in set? Set released all at once or part of a series?

The more I try and learn about this hobby, the more mysteries I discover. As a community, I want more of us writing down our knowledge before those facts about cards die away with us. There is so so so so much more to learn about cards than (for example) its current value and a printed off checklist.

I have created a YouTube channel around this way of collecting. No video's posted yet. I am waiting on (I hope) great feedback from this post before making my first video.

Thanks for reading,
Mike S.