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 Sports-Reference, and Opta Stats for amazing compiling of facts and figures that get shared for us to all enjoy.

https://connections.swellgarfo.com/game/-OzGsuH26E-fEDgWJVxI

Honored to see Collectors MD mentioned in today's The Wall Street Journal feature exploring the evolution of modern collecting and the changing dynamics of today's hobby.

Grateful to have had the opportunity to contribute to the conversation, and thankful to everyone who has shared their experiences and helped move this discussion forward.

This is more than media coverage - it's another sign that conversations once considered taboo are becoming impossible to ignore.

Read the entire piece here: https://www.wsj.com/business/retail/whatnot-live-shopping-app-48b67987?st=YQxwu7

In this episode of The Collector’s Compass, Alyx sits down with Lauren Johnson, LCSW, a licensed clinical social worker, Marine Corps veteran, mental performance coach, and founder of Ascent Wellness Group.

Before becoming a therapist specializing in gambling and compulsive behaviors, Lauren experienced many of the same challenges that countless collectors and hobbyists face today. Through her company, The Playing Field, she became deeply immersed in sports card breaks, finding herself taking risks and blurring the lines between business, investing, and compulsion.

Despite understanding addiction professionally, Lauren found herself experiencing firsthand just how powerful and deceptive compulsive behaviors can become, particularly within highly stimulating environments designed around constant access, urgency, and dopamine.

Alyx and Lauren discuss her journey into collecting, therapy, and recovery, her experience in the Marine Corps, building a sports cards business, and the difficult realization that collecting had evolved into something far different than she originally intended.

They also explore the thin line between business, investing, and gambling, examining risk-taking, chasing, sunk-cost fallacy, and why highly functioning individuals are often vulnerable to compulsive behaviors. Lauren shares the cognitive distortions that can keep people leaning further into the chase and why addiction often affects people who appear to have everything together on the surface.

They also explore recovery, resilience, and the power of healing in community. Lauren shares what recovery has taught her, why she calls herself a "delusional optimist," and how her military experience shaped her resilience.

They also discuss the "dopamine economy" and how today's increasingly stimulating digital environments - from smartphones to live-streaming platforms - shape our behavior, while sharing practical strategies for healthier engagement.

At its core, this episode is about awareness, resilience, intentionality, and understanding why healing happens through connection rather than isolation.

If you've ever wondered why some hobbies can slowly become all-consuming, questioned where the line exists between passion and compulsion, or struggled to understand why intelligent, high-functioning people sometimes find themselves caught in cycles they never intended to enter, this is a conversation worth listening to.

Sometimes the issue isn't the cards, the breaks, or the platforms themselves. It's learning how to navigate environments intentionally when so many systems are designed to keep us chasing more.

Subscribe, share, and join the conversation around awareness, intentional collecting, and building healthier relationships with our hobbies and behaviors.

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

Contact Lauren:

Website: ascent-wellness.co

Psychology Today: bit.ly/4vcjZhk

Contact: hello@ascent-wellness.co | (303) 550-9757

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 | #TheCMDFoundation | #AscentWellness | #RipResponsibly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6222d1AC-4Y

Presented By All Touch Case

This month, we’re proud to feature one of the most recognizable faces in the Collectors MD community: Jared Allen.

Since joining Collectors MD in February, Jared has become one of the cornerstones of our community. He’s attended nearly every weekly peer support and Unboxed meeting, regularly contributes to our group chats, has authored multiple Daily Reflections, encourages others through difficult moments, and always makes time to welcome new members.

While Jared would probably tell you he’s simply showing up, the truth is he’s become an important part of what makes this community so special.

Like many of us, Jared’s relationship with collecting has been complicated. He describes it as bittersweet. The desire to collect has never come from greed or a desire to own everything. Instead, it has always come from a genuine desire to better understand himself and connect with the people around him. But somewhere along the way, that pursuit often became overshadowed by disappointment, obsession, and isolation.

Growing up without many financial resources, collecting looked very different. Every card, every item, every addition to his collection required patience and intention because there simply wasn’t another option. Looking back, Jared realizes those limitations often protected him from the kinds of behaviors that became much easier once disposable income entered the picture as an adult.

Over the years, collecting became less about any one hobby and more about chasing the next identity. Like many people with addictive personalities, Jared found himself cycling through one obsession after another. The excitement wasn’t necessarily found in using the item or enjoying the hobby itself. More often, it came from researching, planning, hunting, and finally purchasing whatever had captured his attention at that particular moment.

Eventually, those once-exciting purchases faded into the background. The objects remained, but the meaning often didn’t. That realization changed the way he approaches collecting today.

Rather than chasing every new interest, Jared has intentionally shifted his focus toward collections that strengthen relationships instead of replacing them. Star Trek has become something he enjoys with his own family. NASCAR has become a way to connect more deeply with his wife’s family. And as a lifelong Orlando Magic fan, collecting basketball cards allows him to stay connected to the team he has always loved. The collections themselves matter, but the relationships and memories surrounding them matter even more.

Perhaps most importantly, Jared doesn’t pretend the struggle has disappeared. He openly acknowledges that he can still become emotionally consumed by the things he collects. The difference today is that he no longer faces those challenges alone.

Through Collectors MD, Jared has surrounded himself with people who understand exactly what that experience feels like. He leans on the community for accountability, perspective, and support whenever collecting begins pulling him away from the life he wants to build.

It’s a philosophy that’s reflected beautifully in the Daily Reflections Jared has written for Collectors MD over the past several months. In Collecting Cards, Collecting Moments, he reminds us that our collections ultimately become reflections of the lives we’ve lived – that the real value often lies in the memories attached to the objects rather than the objects themselves.

In What’s In The Box?, he explores forgiveness through one of the hobby’s most familiar metaphors, reminding us that sometimes the only way to understand what we’ve been carrying is to finally give ourselves permission to let it go.

Both reflections share a common thread: intentionality. Not perfection. Not abstinence. Intentionality.

That same mindset is exactly how Jared approaches collecting today. He understands that being an intentional collector doesn’t mean never wanting another card, another die-cast, another VHS tape, or another piece for the collection. It means recognizing that collecting should enrich your life – not consume it. It means celebrating progress over possession and understanding that you don’t need to own everything to fully enjoy the things you love.

Jared’s impact on Collectors MD extends far beyond his own collecting journey. He reminds us that recovery isn’t about having all the answers – it’s about continuing to show up, staying accountable, and helping others along the way.

Communities are built by people who consistently show up for others. Jared has done exactly that, and the Collectors MD community is stronger because of it.

#CollectorsMD
Collect With Intention. Not Compulsion.

This Collector Spotlight 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.

http://collectorsmd.com/collector-spotlight-july-2026/