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Published February 06, 2026 | By Martina F, Collectors MD Community Member

I have had several favorite teams throughout my lifetime. The New England Patriots (before they won any Super Bowls), the Edmonton Oilers, the Los Angeles Kings, the Toronto Maple Leafs (we’re on a break), and even the old school New York Yankees players that I never got to witness on a field, like DiMaggio and Gherig. But there has been one team that has been in my heart quite literally since the day I was born: the Toronto Blue Jays. I was born just two years after the franchise was founded, and through ups and downs, they’ve been the team that has not only brought me the most joy, but the greatest sense of being “home”.

My earliest memories of the Blue Jays are of happiness, likely because after less than 10 years in the league, in 1985, we won our first American League East title. Players like George Bell, Cecil Fielder, Dave Stieb, Ernie Whitt, Tony Fernandez, and Jesse Barfield were our heroes in powder blue. The 80’s were good to the Blue Jays, but the 90’s were the turning point. Back-to-back World Series championships cemented the team forever into Toronto folklore. I still remember exactly where I was in 1992 when Mike Timlin threw the ball to Joe Carter at first base for the final out of the World Series. Me, my parents, and a full Toronto SkyDome watched with anticipation on the Jumbotron as our beloved Blue Jays made history. Then, one year later, Joe Carter’s walk-off home run to end the World Series sailed over the left field wall at the SkyDome as I leaped up and down on my couch at home. Champions again. What a fabulous time to be alive!

The Blue Jays 2025 World Series run will be one to remember for the ages. If you had told any fan at spring training that we would take the mighty (and expensive) Los Angeles Dodgers to the brink of elimination in game 7 of the World Series, they would have told you that you were crazy. But it happened. And it was both heartbreaking and awesome at the same time.

Naturally as a baseball card collector, I began collecting Blue Jays cards almost from the time I opened my first pack. These days, that gets harder and harder with more parallels, autographs, and super expensive products. So how do you collect your favorite team on a reasonable budget? Check out the tips below!

Collect A Specific Era

The older your team is, the more you may have to specialize. It’s difficult and very expensive to be a Yankees or Red Sox completist collector, but if you focus on one era, decade, or even one year in particular, you can focus your collecting dollars and really create a nice gallery for yourself as a collector. For example, collecting the Blue Jays cards from the Pat Gillick/Paul Beeston era is not a bad choice in my case.

Pick A World Series

If your team has ever won or participated in the World Series, you may choose to collect things from that particular year’s team. The added bonus here is that World Series collectibles can often come in the form of things that are NOT cards, so you can really expand the collection without losing a focus/theme. While I mentioned I collect various Blue Jay cards in various capacities, one “hyper focus” I have is the 1992 World Series-winning team. This allows me to say “no” to cards I find less special without guilt, because I know I’m building toward an awesome monument to the history-making Blue Jays team of 1992. It’s a win-win.

Pick A Brand

This is an old but useful tip: pick a card manufacturer and stick only to cards from that brand. My current project is to finish the Topps team sets of Blue Jays cards from 1977 to present day. Once I’ve done that I will add Donruss, Fleer, etc. You can also pick a parallel or variation within a brand, like Topps Gold, for example, if you want to do something brand-specific with modern era cards. Example: every Topps Gold Blue Jays card since the first issue of Topps Gold cards in 1992.

Collect The Rookies Of Your Favorite Team

Another great idea may be to collect the rookie cards of anyone who began their career in your favorite team’s jersey. In my case it means I get Fred McGriff, Cecil Fielder, Carlos Delgado, Dave Stieb, Jimmy Key, Vernon Wells, Roy Halladay, Vladimir Guererro Jr., and the up and coming JoJo Parker. If you’re not buying and chasing anything else, you can put all of your money towards some really nice graded rookies of anyone who started their Major League journey in your team’s uniform. This can be really, really expensive if you have a storied, long-standing team, but even with that you can then narrow it down to an era or lower-grade cards that fit your budget.

Focus On Locally Issued Card Sets

Local restaurants, car dealerships, soda pop companies, fast food chains, and even police/firefighter branches often partner with local Major League teams to create team sets. The Toronto firefighters used to issue a Blue Jays set every year, and they were available for free if you walked into your local fire hall and kindly asked for it. It was a great way to get children engaged in both the hobby as well as community fire safety. It’s also a great set for collectors to pick up at a relatively low cost.

In the end, the love of your favorite team is often indescribable to others. Through both wins and losses, there is an affinity that comes with belonging to a fandom – a sense of community or even a “third place” of sorts if one is attending games regularly. Regardless, collecting your favorite team doesn’t have to set you back a huge amount of money.

What are some ways that you collect your favorite team? Reach out and let me know!

#CollectorsMD
Collecting your favorite team isn’t about owning everything, it’s about choosing what actually means something to you.

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Now that our #RipResponsibly initiative is underway, we wanted to share a few updates.

What started as a much needed conversation is becoming a standard. One that respects pauses, encourages boundaries, and makes real support visible in today’s fast-moving hobby landscape.

This isn’t about restricting the hobby. It's about building a culture that protects the people in it, without judgment, shame, or crisis as a prerequisite.

We’re grateful for the partners and early adopters already putting #RipResponsibly into action, and we’re just getting started.

The dedicated #RipResponsibly landing page is now live, link in bio.

Collect With Intention. Not Compulsion.

#CollectorsMD | #RipResponsibly

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Published February 05, 2026 | By Martina F, Collectors MD Community Member

There comes a time in one’s life when we must admit the truth that our moms did not want to admit: We all have our favorites. In the context of card collecting, we all have our favorite players.

I remember my first favorite player: Wayne Gretzky. It was kind of hard for Wayne Gretzky to NOT be your favorite player if you were a Canadian kid watching hockey in the early 1980’s. The Stanley Cups he won with the Edmonton Oilers were a fixture of my childhood. Then there was Jose Canseco. I wrote an entire ode to the junk wax era and mentioned how one player in particular has always remained in my heart: Jose Canseco. 

Naturally, if you have a favorite player, you have a “target” for your collection. Back in the 80’s and 90’s, that meant opening wax packs and hoping you’d see the name of your guy on one of those cards. The original chase card, in my view.

Today, collecting your favorite player may seem like a daunting task. Gone are the days of collecting 4 or 5 base cards and a couple of inserts. Now there are seemingly ~800+ parallels of each card for each year, and with serial numbered cards numbered as low as one of one, it’s possible that if you are a completist, you will never, ever have a full collection of every card printed for your favorite player. So how do you collect and not take out a loan? Here are some tips.

Decide On An Era

Maybe Taylor Swift was onto something with her Eras Tour. Maybe if you select an era for your favorite player and only collect cards from that era, you too can reap the financial rewards. Example: Collecting only Oakland A’s cards of Jose Canseco, and from the years he actually played for them. If you refine it even more (only base cards, only cards numbered out of 25, 50, 200, or whatever number you choose), you can really focus your budget on very specific cards. For me, I find it difficult to continue collecting cards of a favorite player if they play for my home team and then leave. They’ve got to be really, really special for me to keep collecting their cards – like Jose Canseco was to my collection.

Collect Only Base Cards And/Or Affordable Parallels

Forget the logoman, rookie patch auto, and the first-born blood sample card. Focus on the cards everyone casts aside and create a true compendium of the player. You may even want to purchase only graded copies of the base cards at a specific grade – 9 for modern players, but maybe even a 1 or 2 for truly vintage cards of old heroes like Gherig, Ruth, or Mantle. There are some great cards available in those lower grades, and even if you are only able to purchase one or two cards a year for that player collection, in just 5 years time you may have a beautiful collection that didn’t force you to sell your home. This is a great thing!

Collect Only The Rookie Cards Of Your Favorite Players

Forget the rest, just focus on the various rookie cards available for your favorites. This is especially helpful if you have a handful of favorite players, and it’s a current one because many will have multiple parallels. My Addison Barger collection is in fact only rookie cards because they have yet to make a non-rookie card of him. I’m hoping 2026 is the year!

Stick To One Brand

Depending on who your favorite player is, perhaps collecting only one brand is the most affordable/desirable or only option. I have seen several Topps-only collections of some older players, and they’re a beautiful timeline to look back on. I saw one Nolan Ryan collection that was this exact kind of beautiful. All graded, but just one card from each year from Topps. This is a great way to spend your hobby dollars while also having a nice collection to display.

Collect Non-Major Releases

Toys’R’Us, Mother’s Cookies, McDonald’s, Dempster’s Bread, you name it. Some players will have a lot of non-mainstream cards that can make for a really cool collection at a reasonable price.

Collect Minor League Cards

Getting modern players’ “pre-rookie” cards from minor league team sets is another affordable way to collect your favorites, just be mindful of some of the hype that will follow some of the players when these issues are first released.

Get Yourself A “Side Favorite” From A Small Market Team

One way to save huge money while collecting a favorite player is to have a favorite from a small market team, or someone who is not a huge star. I have done this for years with players like Shawn Green, Joe Carter, and now Addison Barger. Those are all very solid players, one a potential new superstar, but I am able to capitalize on the fact that they played for Toronto, and there are a lot fewer Blue Jays collectors than Yankees collectors. Don’t believe me? Check out the photo below. On the left are all of the cards in my Shawn Green collection from the years he played with the Blue Jays (1993-1999) and on the right are the ones after just one and a half years of playing with the Dodgers! A small market often means fewer cards because the players don’t appear in as many subsets/insert series. The Shawn Green example below is just one of many I could list, so be sure to factor it in when collecting a player on a budget.

Can you imagine the mythology around Joe Carter’s World Series–winning home run if it had happened in a Yankees uniform?! I have no doubt that there would be a statue in front of Yankee stadium. But as a Toronto player, I always felt like he didn’t get the recognition he deserved. Just like Dave Stieb. That simple economics lesson in supply and demand means that we are able to capitalize on collecting some favorites for a discount! There will always be a few cards that are way out of reach for the average collector, but small market teams give you the advantage of being able to get some beautiful cards at a great price. Think of players like Junior Caminero or Jackson Chourio for example. Way undervalued simply because of where they play right now. Use this to your advantage!

All in all the most important thing to keep in mind when collecting your favorite player with a smaller budget is that it’s not about quantity as much as it is about joy. Sticking to base cards will help you keep your budget low while amassing quite a few cards, while focusing only on graded rookies or specific types of serial numbered/autographed cards will keep your budget focused on one or two key pieces if you favorite player is a huge star. The best part is looking at your collection and seeing a pattern, a mission of sorts, that you created just by having a favorite. Enjoy it!

#CollectorsMD
Collect the player you love, not the price tag attached to them, intention turns limits into clarity, and clarity turns collecting back into joy.

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Published February 03, 2026 | By Alyx E, Founder of Collectors MD

At Collectors MD, our lane of Intentional Collecting is introduced as a healthier alternative; a way to stay engaged in the hobby while replacing impulse and volatility with awareness, boundaries, and choice. For many collectors, it genuinely helps slow things down, create structure, and restore a sense of agency. But intention can also become a mask if we aren’t careful. Without addressing the underlying drivers, intention can turn into a permission structure for the same reactive spending patters.

This is where confusion can often creep in. Nothing appears obviously wrong. There may be no breaking, no live selling, no oversized purchases. Yet something still feels out of alignment. That discomfort matters. The brain doesn’t distinguish between a $3 card and a $300 card; It responds to the hunt, the timing, the perceived win, and the relief that follows. Behavior justified by value is still behavior driven by reinforcement.

Misalignment doesn’t always announce itself loudly. It shows up quietly, through repetition, rationalization, and the uneasy feeling that intention and action aren’t quite matching anymore. That’s why staying grounded and aligned with our values is so important; so our decisions stay intentional instead of impulsive.

What’s often misunderstood is that recovery isn’t defined by format. It’s not about which lane someone chooses or how restrained things appear on the surface. The real issue tends to be control, boundaries, and how much space exists between intention and impulse. When that gap widens, it doesn’t necessarily mean failure. It means a pattern might be forming that deserves our attention.

This work isn’t about comparison. It’s about recognition. Awareness isn’t something that happens after progress. Awareness is progress. Noticing and addressing the pattern is how real change takes shape.

#CollectorsMD
If intention is the plan, awareness is the compass that keeps it honest.

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