If you asked someone how many cards they have at home, they might say, “a box-full” or “a few decks.” But for senior Trevor Koo, the answer is completely different. Since he was young, Koo has been collecting cards and has more than 50,000 cards, along with 230 graded cards whose worth has been verified by companies.
“I started [collecting cards] when I was little with my dad,” Koo said. “He also collected when he was little. [In] freshman year, I became really obsessed with it.”
Koo owns cards of all kinds, from autographed sports cards to Pokemon cards. He mainly searches for baseball cards, as he plays baseball and follows the Major League Baseball season. Koo sometimes looks for specific players, such as Shohei Ohtani, Jung Hoo Lee, and Masataka Yoshida.
“Shohei is probably my big guy, and that’s [also] my dad’s favorite player, so we collect him together,” Koo said.
To get cards, he often buys them in boxes or singles from websites like Arena Club or local card shows. Boxes are a more risky route, as they may not have the desired card, whereas singles allow him to select specific cards he wants. Koo often uses trading networks to trade cards, which offer ways to connect with other collectors.
“[People] trade out certain values based off of the card, and if someone’s interested in your card, but you don’t want cash and want another actual asset, you can do trades,” Koo said.
Recently, Koo reached a big milestone with one of his trades.
“I sold my first $1,000 card,” Koo said. “I paid $400 for that card two weeks ago, and I got really lucky with the buyer who wanted it, and he paid my full price.”
For Koo, card collecting also serves as a way to connect with his dad.
“I think the important thing is that it’s a pastime with my dad,” Koo said. “It’s a hobby that we have together, and I feel like I’ve built a much deeper connection with my dad.”
Koo said that for every card that he has, he has a memory that he associates with it. For instance, he mentioned a moment with his dad when they found an old card that had increased in value.
“For every single [card], if I showed you, I could tell you a story about it,” Koo said. “Every time I look at a card, I instantly get this memory trigger.”
Despite his pride in his trading accomplishments, for Koo, his card collecting is less about the money and more about the community he builds.
“I want people to recognize that it’s more than just buying and selling,” Koo said. “I’ve built connections with the community online, people at card shows, and people at local card shops. It’s more than just cards.”
