Sibling or close Collectors?

[familytoad]

I don’t have a brother, but as a kid I collected feverishly with my cousin.
While he sadly passed away at a young age, I think about him very often. And I named my own son after him.

I was thinking about what it would be like , if we were still collecting together… 50+ years later. I still collect, would he still be doing it too?

I’m curious, do you guys have brothers / cousins that you used to collect with? Or even better, your still do?

[isiahfan]

I started collecting with my older brother in 1977. Our next-door neighbor also happened to be the biggest promoter in the state and had his own shop which helped feed our passion. Around 1980 (ages 6 me/9 him) we merged our collections to get the most bang for our buck. We continued to collect together (mostly HOF RC's and Topps sets) even though our resources were vastly different, and I had a few separate ventures going (an insane player collection and huge 68/84 Tigers autographed hoard). He passed in 2013 and while I still collect my passion is nowhere what it once was, and I have started to sell off quite a bit. The insane price increases this last year or so (some of which I felt were way overdue) have made it easier especially with stuff I literally had stashed away in $1 boxes now selling for $1K+++ (see Kobe rookies). Not being able to call him up while I am at a swap meet or flea market and ask him what his thoughts are on something sucks...and while the memories are awesome...it's just not the same.

[mrreality68]

Sadly it was a "lonely" and quiet collecting for me growing up. I collected/ tried to but everyone in my family and neighbors only wanted to flip cards (for you younger people you would flip a card with a flick of your wrist and your competitor did the same and depending on the landed on the front or back one of you won those cards). they did it to just have the most cards and/or to put the cards in the spokes of their bikes etc.

Then as I got older and got back into collecting no one at work, or neighbors, or friends were into it so I enjoy it and they humor me if I discuss it with them.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

My brother and I traded all my football for all his baseball in our early teens because it made the collections easier to keep track of.

We each went our separate ways in life, but came back together when I started running the auction. He's my right hand man!

[abothebear]

My younger brother collected cards because I did. He was better at it because he didn’t care as much. He was also good at saving hi money. But he stopped around 13. We had good friends who were also brothers and we traded all the time. One of them and I kept collecting hockey cards until 17. When I got back into collection 15 years later, I would always tell those three what I was getting and what was happening in the market (I sent one of them a set of ‘84 Topps when he was recovering from a serious injury). They indulge me in varying degrees, we opened three boxes of ‘88 Big Topps this fall on our annual trip. My brother knows one the Net54 guys and arranged for a time to hang out with him and look at his insane collection. But they don’t collect. Maybe when their kids move out of the house they’ll get back into it at some level, if I keep at it.

[rhettyeakley]

My brother Rhys (owner of RMY Auctions—pronounced like “Reece/Reese” for those that aren’t aware) & I have collected “together” since the mid to late 1980’s, he is just over 15 months older than me but many assume we are twins (or in many instances don’t realize we aren’t the same person!!!) In addition, our older brother also began collecting with us for a time in the late 1980’s to the early 1990’s but largely left the hobby after he went off to medical school.

Rhys and I never really “shared” anything as we always had our own collections and knew that we would have a hard time sharing a single item but we would often go in on things together that we liked, but would almost always split the collection in some way to keep things separate.

He now is in the industry full time while I have always been in the hobby as a collector that sells as a means to purchase more items. That being said as I have gotten older and have more time and disposable income I have expanded my “for sale” items to the point that it sometimes feels more like a full time gig.

If it were not for the fact that I have Rhys to call and talk to on a regular basis I do not think I would have the passion or drive to do what I do, and I think Rhys probably feels the same way. Having someone to talk to that shares your passion is the single most enjoyable aspect of this hobby for me. I will always be eternally grateful for Rhys and the fact that I have a “best friend” that also happens to be my brother that shares a passion.

[familytoad]

These are the scenarios I was thinking about when I posted!
Excellent responses, all!

I’m waxing a little too nostalgic to think that my cousin and I would be collecting side by side like we did in the 70’s. But it was pleasant to dream about.

Thankfully we have this forum where the like-minded gather.
Happy Holidays to you all!

[todeen]

I didn't have a collecting buddy. No friend, or family member. However, my mom collects milk glass, goes antiquing, quilts, etc. She understands the search and the purchase. She told me "when you see an item that you haven't seen before, buy it because you might not see it again." My father doesn't really collect, but he collects memories. He gets these through family trips and nostalgia / pictures. I picked up a love of family history from him.

My parents endulged me. They never bought me anything extravagant. Maybe if I was collecting vintage at age 10 they would have bought me lower priced cards, but I wanted Griffey cards then. They bought hobby boxes for xmas presents, took me to local auto signings (used to have 1 per year, now its nada), and even took me to the 2001 All Star Fanfest in Seattle (closest thing to a National I've ever been too).

Now that I have my own job, and I'm older, the relationship isn't the same because they aren't involved. They aren't as excited because I can essentially get whatever I want on Ebay. My wife doesn't find any enjoyment in it.

But! My son has shown interest... in hockey cards! Lol. So I'm interested in starting a single player collection with him. I'm going to push him toward Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr, but I'm sure he will want Crosby or Ovechkin. Go Kraken!

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[AndrewJerome]

Hi Brian,

Great idea for a thread. Matt Sears and I are cousins, but really we’re more like brothers. As you know, we both set up together at the WSSCA shows. We’ve collected together since cracking 100s of 1987 Topps packs. Crazy to think it’s now been 34 years. Lots of changes over those 34 years, but we still talk about cards all the time. Hopefully our passion for cards rubs off on our kids. My son is very into soccer, so we’ve picked up some Ronaldo, Messi, and Mbappe cards. He also loves GPKs, which has been a lot of fun. Hopefully that is a gateway toward pre-war when he’s older. He likes looking at old cards (especially Obaks and T206) and pretty much tells me to keep everything!

Andrew