In this episode of The Collector’s Compass, Alyx sits down with Ty Wilson—founder and host of ‪‪CHASING CARDBOARD‬—one of the fastest-growing and most influential storytelling platforms in the entire sports card hobby.

What started as a creative hobby project quickly evolved into something much bigger. Since launching in 2022, CHASING CARDBOARD has amassed more than 121K YouTube subscribers, over 26 million views, and more than 140 episodes documenting some of the most fascinating collections, collectors, stories, and personalities across the hobby.

What separates CHASING CARDBOARD is that it's never just about the cards—it's about the people behind them. Through cross-country visits with collectors in their homes, Ty tells deeply personal stories about nostalgia, family, identity, grief, and what collecting truly means.

Alyx and Ty discuss how CHASING CARDBOARD originally started, how the platform exploded in popularity, and why storytelling has become such an important part of modern collecting culture.

They also discuss the emotional side of collecting, why people become attached to cards, and how collections often represent much more than financial assets. Ty shares what he’s learned after hearing deeply personal stories from collectors across the country.

The conversation also explores intentional collecting, hobby pressure, gambling-adjacent behavior, and the increasingly blurred line between passion, business, nostalgia, and compulsion within today’s hobby environment.

Alyx and Ty also discuss one of CHASING CARDBOARD’s most impactful recent episodes featuring Phil—founder of Sealed Wax Nation and supporter of Collectors MD—who sold part of his collection to help fund children’s hospitals and launch his nonprofit organization.

The episode explores how collecting can evolve into something larger than accumulation itself—including charity, meaning, purpose, and community impact.

Ty shares his perspective on the current state of the hobby, the rise of live selling, influencer responsibility, hobby trust, market pressure, and why doing things the right way still matters in an increasingly fast-moving and financially driven environment.

This episode is about storytelling, intentional collecting, hobby culture, human connection, and the emotional realities behind the cards people chase.

Topics covered include:

• How CHASING CARDBOARD originally started

• Building one of the fastest-growing media platforms in the hobby

• Why storytelling changed hobby content

• The emotional side of collecting

• Nostalgia, identity, and attachment within the hobby

• What Ty has learned from visiting collectors across the country

• The psychology behind sealed wax collecting

• Intentional collecting and hobby self-awareness

• The blurred line between passion and compulsion

• The rise of live selling and modern hobby culture

• Influencer responsibility and hobby trust

• The current direction of the hobby

• Purpose-driven collecting and charity initiatives

• Phil and the Sealed Wax Nation episode

• Why meaningful stories resonate beyond the hobby

• Balancing business, collecting, and family life

• What the future of CHASING CARDBOARD looks like

• What intentional collecting means to Ty

If you’ve ever felt emotionally connected to collecting, struggled to find balance within the hobby, questioned where the hobby is heading, or simply wanted to better understand why collecting means so much to people, this is a conversation worth listening to. Because behind every collection is usually something much deeper than cardboard.

Subscribe, share, and join the conversation around awareness, intentional collecting, transparency, and building a healthier relationship with the hobby.

Watch The Episode On YouTube

Learn More & Join The Movement:

Website: collectorsmd.com

Nonprofit: lohas.org/client/the-cmd-foundation

Socials: bio.collectorsmd.com

Weekly Meetings: bit.ly/45koiMX

Contact: info@collectorsmd.com

YT: ‪@collectorsmd

IG: @collectorsmd

Follow Ty & CHASING CARDBOARD:

Website: chasingcardboardtv.com

YT: ‪‪@CHASINGCARDBOARD‬ | ‪@CHASINGTYWILSON‬

X: @BreakerCulture

IG: @chasingtywilson

LI: Tyler B. Wilson

Help for Problem Gambling: Call or Text 800-GAMBLER

This Episode of The Collector's Compass is sponsored by ‪All Touch Case, a premium display and protection solution designed to showcase your cards while keeping them safe. Use code COLLECTORSMD for 15% of your order. Collect. Protect. It’s a peace of mind.

#CollectorsMD | #ChasingCardboard | #RipResponsibly | #CollectResponsibly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P9w3Saj8NU

Morning! Make the groups of 4. 4 groups in all..reply with how you did, and enjoy!!

(**Additional topic tags has hints sometimes**)

Credit to USGA, and IMDb for amazing compiling of facts and figures that get shared for us to all enjoy.

https://connections.swellgarfo.com/game/-OvUrEUoPgp3QjRHUrSx

Alyx Effron | June 18, 2026

Presented By All Touch Case

In a lot of ways, recovery can be compared to baseball analytics. In baseball, even the greatest players in the world are expected to fail most of the time. In recovery, however, the margins are far less forgiving.

A player who gets a hit three out of every ten at-bats is considered exceptional. A .300 batting average can earn you All-Star appearances, MVP votes, and potentially a plaque in Cooperstown. Think about that for a moment. The very best players in the world fail roughly 70% of the time.

Recovery doesn’t work that way. In recovery, we’re asked to do something far more difficult. We have to bat 1.000. No pop flies. No ground outs. No strikeouts. Every single day requires another quality at-bat.

A single might look like attending a meeting when you don’t feel like it. A double might be making an uncomfortable phone call, setting a boundary, or deleting an app that’s been pulling at you. A triple might be sitting with anxiety, grief, loneliness, or boredom without escaping into old behaviors. A home run might be making it through one of the worst days of your life without gambling, spending, or chasing something to numb the pain.

The challenge is that nobody gets to call time out. Life keeps throwing us curveballs. There are layoffs. Divorces. Financial problems. Deaths. Health scares. Relationship issues. Unexpected triggers. Life has a way of delivering moments that blindside us without warning and lie completely outside our control.

We’ve all seen it happen. One year of sobriety. Five years. Ten years. Twenty years. Recovery milestones that once seemed unimaginable, followed by a relapse no one saw coming. A sobering reminder that complacency can emerge at any stage of the journey.

Not because we suddenly forgot everything we learned. Not because we don’t care about our recovery. But because recovery doesn’t reward yesterday’s at-bats. It asks us to step into the batter’s box again today. And again tomorrow. And again the day after that.

In baseball, batting .300 makes you elite. In recovery, one bad swing can change everything.

This isn’t meant to create fear. It’s meant to create humility. The thought of batting 1.000 for the rest of our lives can sound overwhelming, even impossible. But recovery rarely asks us to solve the rest of our lives today. It simply asks us to take responsibility for today. A one-day-at-a-time mindset transforms an intimidating lifelong commitment into something far more approachable, realistic, and manageable. We don’t have to worry about every future temptation all at once. We simply have to focus on the at-bat in front of us and make the best decision we can with the pitch we’re currently being thrown.

Recovery isn’t something we achieve once and get to keep forever. It’s something we protect, nurture, and recommit to every single day. Every meeting. Every boundary. Every honest conversation. Every difficult emotion we allow ourselves to feel instead of escape. Every decision to pick up the phone instead of pick up old behaviors. Those are our base hits. And eventually, those base hits start to add up, strengthening our confidence and deepening our resilience to face whatever pitch comes next.

The irony is that while recovery requires us to bat 1.000, none of us do it perfectly. We all have moments of complacency, close calls, and situations where we realize just how vulnerable we still are. That’s exactly why we stay connected, hold ourselves accountable, and keep showing up – not just for ourselves, but for each other.

Recovery isn’t about becoming invincible. It’s about respecting the fact that one swing can change the game. So today, take your next at-bat seriously. Protect your recovery. Stay humble. Stay connected. And keep putting the ball in play.

#CollectorsMD
Recovery isn’t about predicting every future pitch. It’s about stepping into today’s batter’s box and doing the best we can with the pitch we’re currently being thrown.

—
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This Daily Reflection is sponsored by All Touch Case, a premium display and protection solution designed to showcase your cards while keeping them safe. Use code COLLECTORSMD for 15% off your order. Collect. Protect. It’s a peace of mind.

https://collectorsmd.com/batting-1-000-in-recovery/