It starts innocently enough. A youngster visiting the neighborhood store with mom or dad skillfully persuades his parent to purchase a pack of sports cards. He carefully tears away the wrapper to reveal the treasure inside. As he thumbs through the stack, he suddenly comes across a player on his favorite team. And then it's official — whether he knows it or not, he has officially joined the worldwide brotherhood of sports memorabilia collectors.
For the avid collector, that collection can grow to hundreds, if not thousands of cards. Others expand their interests to autographs or game-worn jerseys, perhaps. Whether you're buying, selling or trading, there's always someone out there willing to make a deal.
While Don (we're withholding last names here) got his start collecting cards, it wasn't until about three years ago that this middle-aged Buffalo area resident started collecting autographed hockey pucks. By attending alumni events and visiting the usual places where one might find today's current NHL players, he's assembled an impressive collection that now tops 1,000 pucks!
"I started by making a Top 50 list of the players I wanted to get, like Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr and Jean Beliveau," said Don. "Every puck in my collection tells a story. I remember where I got each and every one. Now I've got pucks from every team in the NHL, Hall of Famers, a few minor leaguers and all but three players from the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team."
And while he never sells any of his pucks, he does like to give some away. To date, he estimates that he's donated a couple hundred pucks to various charities, school fundraisers and local nonprofit organizations. It's his way of giving back to the hobby that he enjoys so much.
Tom, a savvy collector just out of his teens, has already surrounded himself with more than 300 "yes men." His impressive collection of sports bobbleheads, always appearing to be nodding their approval, currently occupies a new display case in his parent's suburban Buffalo home.
"One birthday I received a Chicago Cubs no-name player bobblehead, and away it went," said Tom, referring to the start of his collection. Among his favorites are an autographed C.C. Sabathia bobblehead and a Jamestown Jammers bobblehead featuring the team's old logo, mascot and uniform.
John has always enjoyed a glass of wine and collecting sports memorabilia. About two years ago, he found a way of combining the two interests when he discovered the NHL Alumni Wine Series. Two of the bottles in the collection feature former Buffalo Sabres stars Pat LaFontaine and Rob Ray. He enjoyed his collectibles even more when he was able to add LaFontaine's and Ray's autographs to the bottles.
Later he would pick up a bottle of Bully Hill Sabres wine and have it signed by the team's number one bully, Andrew Peters. Then he came across a bottle of wine made for Ryan Miller's Steadfast Foundation and got that autographed, too. And then a bottle of wine for the Kevin Everett Foundation and Brian Moorman's PUNT Foundation — both autographed as well.
His prized bottle is one he purchased at the Farewell to the Aud event at Buffalo's Convention Center featuring Memorial Auditorium on the label. He promptly got in line and had it signed by the famed French Connection — Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin and Rene Robert.
He keeps them on display in his family room, each one 750ml of conversation starter.
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