Daily Reflection
Daily Reflection is a cornerstone of Collectors MD – a short, honest message shared each day to encourage self-awareness, accountability, and more intentional collecting. Each reflection offers a moment to pause, step back, and stay grounded within an environment that often moves quickly and demands constant engagement.
Through thoughtful writing and lived experience, these reflections create space to better understand your habits, your decisions, and your relationship with the hobby. Whether you’re deeply involved or simply trying to engage more consciously, Daily Reflection provides perspective, clarity, and a steady reminder to move with intention.
Bigger Than The Hobby
Presented By All Touch Case A lot of people still hear the name “Collectors MD” and assume this work only applies to sports cards or collectibles. On the surface, that makes sense. That’s where the conversation started and the world many of us came from. But the deeper we’ve gotten into this work, the clearer it’s become that this was never just about cards. At its core, it’s about patterns. More specifically, it’s about environments
Rock Bottom Isn’t What You Think
Presented By All Touch Case The first Gamblers Anonymous meeting I ever attended was in November of 2022. I walked in, sat down with a group of complete strangers, and for the first time in my life, I told the truth about what was really going on. It was intimidating, but also strangely therapeutic. I’ve always been a strong communicator, so I leaned into that. I told my story with conviction, with emotion, with detail.
Secondhand Gambling
Presented By All Touch Case In the early stages of recovery, we tend to overlook the people standing just outside the blast radius. Everyone understands the dangers of secondhand smoking. You don’t have to be the one holding the cigarette to feel the effects. You don’t have to inhale directly to carry the consequences. The damage spreads anyway – quietly, indirectly, and often without consent. The same dynamic plays out in other forms of addiction.
Avoiding The FOMO Of Rookie Hype
Presented By All Touch Case There’s always a “next big thing” in the hobby. A name everyone is talking about, a card everyone feels like they need to have, and a window that feels like it’s closing faster by the day. The pressure builds quietly but consistently—buy now or miss out, act now or regret it later. What gets lost in that urgency is the reality underneath it. For every player who becomes a cornerstone
What’s In The Box?
Presented By All Touch Case Not forgiving ourselves can feel like protection. We hold onto the past like a warning sign, convinced that letting it go might mean forgetting what it cost us. Underneath that is a deeper belief that forgiveness equals erasure. So instead of processing the pain, we preserve it. We carry it forward as if holding onto it is what keeps us from repeating the behavior. We tell ourselves guilt is useful.
The Elephant In The Room
Presented By All Touch Case There’s been a lot of buzz around the Topps Industry Conference this week. Watching it all unfold from a distance – amid a frenzy of exciting hobby updates – I couldn’t help but notice what wasn’t being said. There was a clear opportunity to acknowledge what a lot of people are already feeling but don’t always have the language for. The pace and pressure of the hobby have fundamentally changed,
Complacency In Recovery
Presented By All Touch Case One of the most dangerous parts of recovery is that complacency rarely feels dangerous when it creeps in. There’s no dramatic crash or obvious warning sign. It builds through small shifts in mindset, routine, and honesty. A few things start to slip. Structure loosens. And the more disciplined version of you begins to fade before you even realize it. Progress in recovery can create comfort, and comfort can blur awareness.
One Year In
Tomorrow, March 25th, marks the one-year anniversary of Collectors MD quietly entering the world. There was no press release. No big launch. No marketing campaign. Just a simple idea that had been sitting with me for a long time: something in the modern-day hobby needed to change. Not the love of collecting. Not the nostalgia. Not the friendships or the stories that bring people together year after year. Those things are beautiful. But the environment around collecting had fundamentally changed. The hobby had become faster. Louder.
Through A Mother’s Eyes
As Collectors MD approaches its first anniversary, I’ve found myself reflecting on just how much has unfolded over the past year. Alyx has always said I’m his biggest cheerleader, but this isn’t about praise. What stands out most to me is the honesty, the vulnerability, and the courage it took for him to turn something deeply personal into something that now helps others. The growth of Collectors MD didn’t come from an idea alone. It came from lived experience; from struggle, from
The Illusion Of Progress
There’s a version of collecting that feels like progress. A constant state of motion – packs, boxes, breaks, auctions, listings, packages, notifications, screenshots, new releases, bigger cards, better hits. Enough noise and activity to convince ourselves something meaningful is taking shape. But movement without direction is just motion, and accumulation without intention is just excess. For a long time, I told myself I was participating in something I was passionate about. That I was evolving as a collector. That
Nostalgic Cardstock
When I think about why I started collecting, monetary value isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. It’s the feeling. I think back to being a kid, opening packs with family members – sometimes just one, sometimes a whole box – to discover what was hiding inside. I remember getting lost in the the rainbow foil, the holographics, the shiny finish, and that sense that even the simplest pull could feel special. Back then, cards weren’t
Junk Wax Sets: 1990 Fleer
There are certain sets that don’t just bring back memories. They bring back a feeling. For me, 1990 Fleer is one of those sets. It captures everything I loved about collecting during that era – the bright colors, the weird little quirks, the endless subsets, the stickers, the stars, the rookies, and the simple excitement of opening a pack with no agenda other than seeing what was inside. Some of the more famous error cards in this set have become