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I’m very excited to share interviews conducted with several sports cards hobbyists, enthusiasts, champions, and hustlers. Check out the entire interview series at the bottom of this page and let’s all learn, improve, inspire, and collaborate.
Today, I bring to you Kyle, host of the Wax Museum Podcast. Future listeners can find the Wax Museum Podcast on all major podcast platforms. You can also find the show at https://waxmuseum.podbean.com/. Instagram is @WaxMuseumPodcast and Twitter is @WaxMuseumPC. His podcast is one of my sports cards podcast recommendations.
Tell me a bit about your background, any other hobbies/interests
- I work full-time as a middle school teacher. When I’m not messing around with sports cards, I’m usually still consuming sports content or watching documentaries in my spare time.
What is your sports card background, how are you involved today including your collection and what you love most about the hobby
- I’ve been collecting basketball cards on and off since 1995. That was the year I started watching the Indiana Pacers with my dad. While I’ve watched the NBA ever since, I’ve taken two small breaks from collecting along the way (2000-02, 2006-2009).
- I like collecting cards for the chase and it also allows me to have a tangible reminder of the sport’s history and my personal history.
- My collection consists mainly of Pacers cards and NBA Finals memorabilia cards. I wish I could say I’m focused on those two things, but I end up picking up a lot of other stuff that interests me in the process.
- Over the years, my tastes have veered from collecting autographs to focusing more on memorabilia cards and lately, refractors as well.
Biggest sports cards related regret or mistakes you’ve had and lesson learned to help others
- The biggest thing I’ve learned about collecting sports cards is I’ll always come back. If for some reason I ever decide I’m not interested in cards anymore, I’d still hold on to them for a while because it’s likely I’ll end up wishing I had them back. This doesn’t mean I won’t ever thin things out, but my personal collection will likely never move again.
How do you stay motivated, what keeps you going or excited in this hobby
- I don’t think there’s ever an “end point” for me. I’m always learning about new cards and my tastes change over time. I also enjoy meeting and chatting with collectors and finding out what components of the hobby interest them. The podcast has definitely opened some doors to talk to people I never imagined I would interact with.
What’s your hope for the future of this hobby
- I hope people don’t get so wrapped up in the money side of things that they lose sight of the history of the sport and the hobby at large. I buy and sell cards to help fund my collection and I understand that people need to make money, but it can’t be ALL about the money. There are a lot of collectors that really look after one another and help grow each other’s collections. I hope this never changes.
What are your favorite specific, detailed ways to make money with sports cards
- I like looking for lots of cards on eBay. This isn’t the most time-efficient method, but it’s a stress reliever for me and can be very rewarding when I find something good. My general rule of thumb when buying a lot is that 1-2 cards have to cover the cost of the lot to make it even worth it.
Anything else you want to say or share
- I just want to encourage everyone out there to find someone that will look out for you in the hobby. Everyone needs one or two people that can serve as a sounding board and help make decisions when need be. I’ve made several friends in this hobby that collect the same things I do. You think there would be competition between us – instead, we have a great friendship and work together to make our collections better.
I can attest to Kyle’s willingness to help. I have reached out asking for second opinions and he was very open to providing feedback. I hope you found some helpful nuggets in this interview. My goal is to help the community because we can all be more open minded.
Check The Rest of The Sports Cards Interview Series
- John Newman of Sports Card Nation Podcast and selling 150 1993 SP Derek Jeter RCs way too early
- Kyle of Wax Museum Podcast as a full time teacher and leaning on one another to help grow each other’s collections
- Jon, the Basketball Card Guy, an emerging media field professional and helpful thoughts for the many new people entering the hobby
- Ron, founder of the largest sports cards scammers group on Facebook with 27,000 members and how a $25 deal ended up helping countless number of collectors
- Kyle of KWJ Sports Cards shares several ways to make money with sports cards
- Agostino of A&M Centerpiece Sports Cards Investments and what he learned buying, selling, and grading a 2001 Bowman Chrome Albert Pujols auto
- James AKA Awe_SomeProCards and how nostalgia kept him in sports cards and continuing to learn about the hobby
