Published February 27, 2025 | By Sean H, Collectors MD Community Member

When I got back into buying cards about eighteen months ago, I was at a point in my life where a new or unique connection felt desperately needed. I was losing intimacy in my marriage. My kids were suddenly “too cool” for dad. I didn’t have strong relationships with family members. My social life was thin. I could go on and on. I was vulnerable. I was ready for excitement, for joy, for something new to connect to.

That connection came in the form of buying cards.

It started at my local card shop, where I quickly became a regular. It soon migrated to Instagram Live, where I tuned in night after night to my favorite breakers. I bought cards and connected with the chat and the hosts. Connection came easily because I was buying cards – lots of cards. I was putting on a show. I was the “cool guy”.

Instagram Live turned into WhatNot, where I could buy personal boxes, singles, and enter massive repack breaks with five-figure chaser cards. In just a few months, I went from the local guy at the card shop handing out base cards to kids, to someone putting on a show on Instagram, to a “legend” on WhatNot.

The spiral happened so fast that spending thousands of dollars each night felt normal, because what I was really buying wasn’t cards – it was connection.

I wasn’t even sharing a room with my wife anymore, so I looked forward to putting the kids to bed and spending my nights on Whatnot as “the legend”. It became a persona – my alter ego of sorts. I gave away cards to viewers in the chat. I bought spots in breaks for them. I did anything for attention. And I loved the feeling of connection it gave me – it was a high I had never experienced before.

Eventually, after spending far more than I could afford and having others call out my addiction, I had to stop.

Shortly after that, I lost my wife. My house. My retirement. My integrity. My everything.

For what thought?

The people I bought cards from were not real friends. They talked me up when I was spending money. When I stopped, the silence was deafening. I was nothing more than an afterthought. Did my local card shop call to check in? Did the breakers on Instagram message me to see how I was doing? Did anyone on WhatNot reach out when I disappeared?

Of course not.

When I wasn’t spending, I was invisible.

All the money and time I poured into searching for connection and belonging was built on something fake. It was one giant facade.

There is so much more to life than sports cards. Read that again. There is so much more to life than sports cards.

As someone in recovery, it’s easier for me to write this than to live it perfectly. But I know it’s true.

Take a moment to search for, and protect, the real connections in your life. Please don’t let them go. And if you feel like you are, or were, in a place like I was, and you need help finding something real again, reach out to Collectors MD.

You are not alone.

#CollectorsMD
Attention bought with money disappears the moment the spending stops – real connection never requires a receipt.

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