While I am here waiting for interview responses to come in, I figured I would do a self-interview to give all of you a little more information on who I am, and what I enjoy collecting!

BU: Could you give us a little information on your collecting history?

SS: My collecting started with Hot Wheels cars when I was a kid. I wasn’t the type to leave them in the packaging, but I grabbed as many as I could. Whenever I played with them I would organize them and line them up. I probably did more organizing than actually playing with them, which is why it translated well to card collecting. I can’t remember distinctly when I started collecting baseball cards, especially since nobody else in my family was a collector. I was definitely collecting by the time I was 8 or so though.

Does anyone else remember playing Ken Griffey Baseball for Super Nintendo? Well, the game didn’t have any real player names, except for Griffey of course. They did, however, have accurate likenesses, statistics, numbers, etc. At one point I sorted all of my baseball cards by team and used the cards to match up the players in the game and change their names. That really got me interested in baseball statistics, and had me looking at all of the card backs. There’s more to cards than just the fronts!

BU: What do you currently collect?

SS: Up until a couple of years ago I collected pretty much any sports cards. Baseball, basketball, football, hockey, racing, you name it, I collected it to some degree. It was really just too much to keep up with. Now I only collect baseball and football, with the majority of my collection being baseball.

My real PC (personal collection) would be Red Sox cards, and even more specifically, Pedro Martinez. I currently have over 1,700 different Pedro Martinez cards, and over 6,500 total. It has been quite a task getting it organized!

BU: Why Pedro Martinez?

SS: Well obviously that starts with me being a big Red Sox fan. During his time pitching for the Red Sox every start was an event. It was a completely different atmosphere at Fenway when Pedro was on the mound. He was as intimidating as anyone else in the game, but also had a very fun personality when he wasn’t pitching. Pedro was one of the most dominant pitchers of his era, and he was certainly a lot of fun to watch!

BU: Do you collect anything else besides sports cards?

SS: I also collect signed memorabilia. I have over a hundred autographed baseballs, a lot of autographed photos, as well as posters, jerseys, bats, etc. I have some really cool pieces that I can’t wait to get on the wall once we get a bigger place. I started collecting signed memorabilia when I was in college. I was kind of on a break from card collecting for a few years from high school into college. Then the memorabilia bug got me right back into cards, and I have been collecting cards consistently for the last 10 or so years.

BU: What is your favorite part of the current hobby?

Shane Salmonson on Twitter

SS: Honestly, it is being able to share the hobby with other collectors. Twitter has been a huge for my enjoyment of the hobby. The reason I stopped collecting for a time was because I really didn’t have anyone to enjoy collecting with. None of my friends collected anymore. Once I discovered Twitter, and the amount of collectors were on there, I was sucked right back in. It allows collectors to share their collections, and experiences, with other people who love the same thing they do. I have met countless people on Twitter, and was able to meet quite a few of them at the 2016 National Sports Collectors Convention in Atlantic City. Some of these people I would now consider friends, and I talk to a few of them on a daily basis.

BU: What do you think of vintage cards?

SS: I love all cards, which can get really expensive! I really like vintage cards, and have been able to acquire a few over the years. You really have to be careful with vintage, and research what you are buying. As Andy Broome told us a few weeks ago, there are a ton of fake vintage cards out there. Most of my vintage has been purchased on eBay, which can be a gamble at times. My biggest vintage eBay find is a 1954 Topps Ernie Banks rookie card! I bought it ungraded, knowing there was certainly some risk of it being a fake. I sent it in to be graded a couple of years ago, and luckily it came back as authentic!

BU: So what exactly is #CheapWaxWednesday?

SS: I started a blog a few years ago, hoping to write about collecting, and share some of my collection with others. My main blog series has been Cheap Wax Wednesday. Each week I share a box break of a different product. The one rule for the series is that the box has to cost me $50 or less. In this age of collecting I would definitely consider $50 to be cheap! So every Wednesday for the last 135 weeks I have posted a box break of a different product. Products range in years from the 1980s to current year. It has been a lot of fun for me, and it seems others have enjoyed reading it as well!

You can find my blog here: projectpedropc.blogspot.com

BU: Any advice for other collectors out there?

SS: Just enjoy the hobby! That is what it is really all about. Collect what you enjoy, there are options out there for everyone, and not everyone likes the same things. Also, reach out to other collectors. It makes it a lot more fun to be able to share the hobby with others!

Shane Salmonson
Twitter: @ShaneSalmonson
Blog: projectpedropc.blogspot.com

Pro-Mold® Mini-Snap Cases

Holds one 20 pt. card 2-5/8 x 3-5/8 x 3/16″. Crystal-clear, no PVC, acid-free material. Snaps closed.

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