Published August 21, 2025 | By Alyx E, Founder of Collectors MD

In 2017, I had the opportunity to attend the ISRU Summer Camp in person on Governor’s Island and to purchase a pair of the highly coveted Nike x Tom Sachs ‘Mars Yard’ 2.0 sneakers. At the time, I didn’t fully grasp it, but the experience was less about the sneakers themselves and more about what they represented: a process rooted in purpose, ritual, and meaning.

This summer, I’ve been immersed again—this time virtually—revisiting the same philosophy with the release of the Nike x Tom Sachs ‘Mars Yard’ 3.0 sneakers. The ISRU program isn’t about racking up points or perfect scores. It’s about engulfing yourself in purpose and meaning and demonstrating the ISRU framework through consistency, creativity, and curiosity.

The physical “reward”, if you complete the program, is access to the Mars Yard 3.0’s. But what makes it powerful is that you don’t just buy the sneakers—you earn them through intention, ritual, and innovation. The sneakers become more than a tangible object. They’re proof of process—consistency paired with creativity.

The ISRU program reminds us that collecting can be a ritual of meaning, not just accumulation—participants are rewarded for innovation and excellence rather than sheer volume.

That ethos mirrors the very heart of the Collectors MD mantra—collecting with intention. Just as the Mars Yard 3.0’s aren’t simply purchased but earned through reflection and discipline, the most meaningful collections aren’t built on hype or profit—but rather through values, stories, and personal connections. The cardboard, the sneakers, the objects themselves become artifacts of the journey, not the journey itself.

The lesson is now clear to me: perfection isn’t the point. Participation, creativity, and innovation are. The ISRU framework pushes us to show up consistently, embrace curiosity, and create with intention.

Through my leadership at Collectors MD, I’ve worked to embody these same values. Consistency, creativity, and curiosity have become the backbone of the tools, resources, and daily content I’ve built to help collectors reimagine what it truly means to collect with intention.

Like the ISRU program, it’s about cultivating daily habits and rituals that aren’t just consistent, but intentional. It’s about asking why we collect, what value it adds to our lives, and how our choices can help transform the culture while transcending the noise around us.

Intentional collecting mirrors the ISRU framework:

• Consistency is the ritual—showing up, participating, and committing to growth every day.

• Creativity is finding new ways to express love for the hobby beyond transactions and hype.

• Curiosity is asking hard questions about ourselves and the systems we’re part of.

This experience has taught me that a tangible object can hold extraordinary weight when it’s tied to meaning. Excellence isn’t about perfection—it’s about finding meaning in the process, embracing imperfections, and sharing what you’ve learned with others.

The Mars Yard 3.0’s may be the physical outcome of the program, but the true reward lies in the mindset shift—and in how you engage with the process. The grail sneaker or card is nice, but the real value is found in the journey itself: the process, the meaning, and the community we build along the way.

So as I log my progress within the ISRU app this summer, I’m reminded of what drives Collectors MD: consistency that heals, creativity that inspires, and curiosity that keeps us asking how we can do better—not just as collectors, but as people.

#CollectorsMD
Purpose transforms collecting from possession into meaning.

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Published August 14, 2025 | By Alyx E, Founder of Collectors MD

Yesterday, Rob Veres of Burbank Cards posted a video that struck a chord with me—and I think it’s something everyone in the hobby should hear. His message was simple but powerful: the hobby needs a reset.

Rob talked about how, 10–20 years ago, card shops were designed for collecting. You could walk in and find sets, players, and topics to build your collection around. Dealers had something for everyone.

Now, too many retailers and dealers lead with the "low-hanging fruit"—gambling-style products with terrible returns, breaks as the forward face of the hobby, and a constant push toward "investing" over actual collecting.

The result? New collectors are conditioned to chase in ways that can cause harm—financially, emotionally, and mentally—and they leave with nothing meaningful for their PC.

Rob’s words are a reminder that how we present the hobby matters just as much as what we sell. Local card shops and small businesses have a unique opportunity to make collecting personal again—curating singles, sets, and affordable finds that create real connections, not just transactions.

Rob is 100% right. We’ve created an environment where bright lights and marketing hype point people—especially newcomers and kids—straight into the deep end. We fractionalize through breaks to make it "affordable", but in reality, most people walk away with cards they don’t want and value they’ll never recover.

Breaking shouldn’t be the default entry point to the hobby. It’s not sustainable to bring people in, let them get crushed, and then watch them walk away.

The truth is, there are so many ways to collect that don’t involve getting burned—buying singles, building sets, chasing vintage, focusing on specific players, or digging through bargain bins for buried treasures. This is the side of the hobby that needs to be front and center again, not just the gambling-like mechanics.

Industry leaders, especially Fanatics, have the power to make collectibility a real point of emphasis for new collectors—giving them the tools, education, and options to stay long term.

We can have a hobby where both worlds exist, but only if we’re intentional about it. If you’re in a position of influence—dealer, retailer, content creator—ask yourself: Are we building lifelong collectors, or are we setting them up to leave?

#CollectorsMD
Collecting should be about passion and longevity, not just the chase.

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Published August 11, 2025 | By Alyx E, Founder of Collectors MD

Your collection should be a sanctuary, not a scoreboard.

It should be the place you turn to when you want to reconnect with a memory, a passion, or a piece of your own story—not a running tally of how you stack up against someone else.

In today’s hobby culture, it’s easy to fall into the trap of comparison. Social media feeds overflow with showcase posts, “record sales” headlines, and highlight reels of jaw-dropping mail days. Before long, collecting starts to feel less like a personal journey and more like a race you never signed up for. And here’s the thing about that race—it has no finish line. The goalposts will always move back further and further, and your sense of fulfillment will always be tied to someone else’s scoreboard.

When that happens, the joy and peace that collecting can bring start to erode. Instead of feeling gratitude for the pieces you’ve curated, you feel pressure to “keep up”, to prove you belong, to match the spending and spectacle of others. That’s not a hobby—it’s the noise surrounding it.

Collecting isn’t a competition. The value of your collection isn’t measured in dollars, pop reports, or Instagram likes—it’s measured in the true meaning each individual piece holds for you.

Protect your peace fiercely. Build a collection that makes you proud, one that reflects who you are, not who you’re trying to impress.

When you build your collection around pieces that truly hold sentimental value, they stand out and mean more—far more than they would if they were buried in the noise of a high-volume shuffle and clout-chasing competition. In the end, that focus will allow you to truly appreciate what you have—because sometimes, less really is more.

Collect for purpose, not profit. Seek out the pieces that speak to your soul, not your status. And if you’re ready to push back against the constant scoreboard mentality, join the movement. Together, we can remind the hobby what really matters.

Collect With Intention. Not Compulsion. Join The Movement.

#CollectorsMD
The only person you need to impress is yourself.

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My “Nationals pickups” this year — a reminder that you can collect and enjoy the hobby without feeding into the hype train or breaking the bank.

Beautiful color matches from my all time favorite ultra modern set: first-year Mosaic Football.

Total spent = $12.

Purpose over profit. Clarity over chaos. Meaning over metrics.

Collect with intention. Not compulsion.

#CollectorsMD | #RipResponsibly | #CollectResponsibly

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We have been receiving a ton of questions lately.

What is Collectors MD? Are we a support group? Are we a therapy provider? Are we anti-hobby? Are we anti-gambling? Are our services free?

We just dropped a new FAQ page to clear things up and give collectors, families, partners, and supporters a better understanding of what Collectors MD actually is—and what it isn’t.

Whether you're just discovering us or have been part of the movement for a while, take a moment to explore what we stand for, who we support, and how we’re working to bring more intention, transparency, and balance to the hobby.

https://collectorsmd.com/faq