Editor's Note

I was scrolling through my Instagram account (@natsturner_cards) recently when I was struck by the realization of how much I really enjoy trading cards.

I know how funny that probably sounds. You’re no doubt thinking, “Of course you like cards, Nat. You’ve spent your life in the hobby and now you’re the CEO of Collectors.” That is, of course, true.

But in reality it goes much deeper than that. My Instagram page is all hobby-related posts and shows the breadth of my interest in the hobby: all eras of single cards from multiple sports; complete sets; vintage wax packs; unopened boxes; notable tickets; and Type I photos. My PSA Set Registry listings are similarly diverse.

The point is, my interest in card collecting is multifaceted. I love sports. I have an interest in history and enjoy the hunt of trying to find a rare item. I’m fascinated with vintage items that have avoided typical wear and tear over the years and remain in beautiful condition. I find enjoyment in building and completing a set. I’ve met many wonderful people in the hobby that I can now call friends. In fact, my reasons for enjoying the hobby are nearly as numerous and diverse as my collection.

I began collecting as a kid and have been active in the hobby ever since. Now my kids all collect and I get to share the joys of the hobby with them as well.

Trading cards are an excellent way to generate income, whether you simply sell off your duplicates or have made the hobby the focal point of your professional life. But beyond that, cards have the ability to simply make our lives better. Time spent ripping packs, building sets, talking through a trade, or simply looking through our collections can brighten an otherwise dreary day.

There is an old hobby saying that I’ve heard several times over the years and it perfectly describes my feelings about trading cards and our hobby: If you think these things are just cardboard, then you haven’t been paying attention.

Best,

Nat Turner CEO, Collectors

By Jon Gold

Larry Fitzgerald Jr. hesitates to call himself an historian but as the child of a long-time sportswriter in Minneapolis, Larry Sr., Fitz developed an early respect for both the greats of the game and those who chronicled their history.

His summers consisted of trips to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, where he’d hang out with guys like Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek, Dan Gladden and Chuck Knoblauch.

And, of course, collecting cards of all sports.

Now he’s back — not in the Metrodome, which is long gone — but in the sports card hobby, reunited with his childhood passion by his friend, Collectors CEO Nat Turner.

Fitzgerald, who has a big collection from his career with the Arizona Cardinals that will one day place him in Canton, was interested in acquiring some of his best cards and enlisted the help of Card Ladder Co-Founder Joshua Johnson, whom Turner recommended as a curator of sorts.

Johnson, who founded Card Ladder along with Chris McGill, has been a sports card procurer both professionally and for friends and fellow collectors for years. And he happens to be an Arizona native, Phoenix local and die-hard Cardinals fan.

When he heard from Fitzgerald, he almost fell out of his chair. He already had a deep understanding of Fitzgerald’s top rookie and combo cards. Uh, of course, he would help the greatest Cardinal of them all curate what had the potential to be the Larry Fitzgerald collection to define all Larry Fitzgerald collections.

In short, Johnson — who reentered the hobby in 2016 primarily focused on basketball and Pokémon — helped Fitzgerald catch ‘em all.

The idea of being a personal shopper for one of the game’s great players stirs up visions of chocolate factories and blank checks. Sure, I’ll go find the 10,000 best Larry Fitzgerald cards on the planet.

But no. Fitzgerald approached his collection like a fine art collector approaches theirs. It was more about quality than quantity, and not just quality, but the finest and rarest of specimens.

And Fitzgerald already had a head start. He’d acquired maybe the grail of all grails: one of the two total PSA 10/AUTO 10 copies of his SSP 2004 Panini Contenders Rookie Ticket autographed rookie card. There are only 50 total copies of that card, period, making it one of the rarest Rookie Tickets in the quarter-century history of the set.

That alone told Johnson that Fitzgerald meant business.

They began exchanging emails detailing the important things: how much Fitzgerald wanted to devote to the collection in total, and even by card; how aggressive he wanted to be when must-haves came up for auction; and would Johnson buy cards with his blessing or with a set amount of money?

For Johnson, these are simply the basics. He’s helped people curate collections — both through offering recommendations and through direct buying — and he understands factors such as asset allocation and diversification, balancing portfolios and the correct ratios. Think modern to vintage, base to parallel, true scarcity versus perceived scarcity.

Fitzgerald had only one rule and one rule only: only Larry Fitzgerald cards.

“That’s been a weird part of it. Generally, when building collections for people, you’re getting a diverse set of players, a mix of vintage and modern, Michael Jordan, Kobe, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, LeBron James, Luka Doncic,” Johnson said. “I think it’s more interesting this way. We are always thinking about it in terms of the investor or the collector. We never think about a player collecting himself.”

Fitzgerald had one other mandate: He didn’t want hundreds of cards. Keep it simple, but exquisite. And, yes, that includes Upper Deck Exquisite.

“I’ve only bought 20 cards, which isn’t a lot, but they are 20 of his top 30 or 40 cards ever,” Johnson said. “It’s way more important to pick up specific cards that are of high importance than to just buy whatever.”

And the list is incredible.

Multiple 1/1 NFL Shield and logo patch cards. Gameworn, of course. Three Panini Donruss Optic Gold Vinyl 1/1 parallels, his Topps Finest Gold Refractor PSA 10 rookie card with a population of four, a 2004 Topps Chrome Xfractor in PSA 10 condition—Pop 2.

As Johnson continues to educate him on the important sets and key cards and must-owns, Fitzgerald has grown to learn more about the hobby and what makes particular sets unique. Why is his 2004 SP Authentic Rookie Patch Auto more coveted than his 2004 Leaf Rookies & Stars Jersey Auto?

He’s gotten into this weird thing of ours, and he’s diving into the end zone with it.

"There's something special about collecting your own cards because it's unique," Fitzgerald said. "No one can appreciate your career like you can yourself."

“You can show me a card from 2007, a still photo against the St. Louis Rams, and it brings me right back to that moment—that was third down, third quarter, and I scored to go up 14,” Fitzgerald said. “It brings me back to good times in my life, when I was living my dreams.”

He remembers when some of those dreams began.

Whenever he looks at his 2004 Topps or Topps Chrome rookie cards, he is instantly transported to the 2004 NFL Players Association Rookie Premiere Photo Shoot. Just because he owns a PSA 10 version of the Chrome Gold Refractor does not make it any more special to him than his own memories.

“It brings me back to a lot of great memories,” he said. “The Rookie Premiere at the Los Angeles Coliseum, catching passes from Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers and J.P. Losman. That’s where I built my relationship with DeAngelo Hall and Chris Perry and Steven Jackson. You were young and living the dream and you got to do it with some really cool dudes. It brings back great memories.”

And now, through his collection, he can relive those memories with his two youngest sons, Apollo and Milos, who only experienced the tail end of Fitzgerald’s iconic career. They didn’t get to experience some of the magic that Fitz’s oldest, Devin, did. Devin, 15, is old enough to have seen his dad duke it out with some of the legends of football.

Now they have arguments about the best wideouts in the game, past and present, so much so that the Cardinals great is enlisting Johnson to help him track down some of the legendary dual, triple and quad autographs and shields that pair Fitzgerald with contemporaries like Calvin Johnson and Randy Moss and his heroes like Jerry Rice.

He's already built perhaps the most finely curated Larry Fitzgerald collection. Up next? Perhaps tackling the top target tandems the game has seen.

And after that, maybe cornering the market on corners?

“I have a couple of those now that I really wanted,” he said. “I don’t want to call myself a historian, but I appreciate the history of sports. I go back and forth with my son, and he talks about the modern-day players, and it’s a generational debate we’ve had for years. I appreciate what the greats have done for the game; there was a Cris Carter, a Marvin Harrison, a Randy Moss, an Art Monk—people I looked up to and watched and who helped me build my game. And there’s another era of players after me who watched Calvin and Andre Johnson and Anquan Boldin and myself and built their game. And the generation after that will do the same thing.

“That’s why I have a deep respect for those who played before me.”

And a deep love for the cardboard that cements them all in history.

Both his own and his fellow legends.