Hoops Hobby

I haven’t mentioned here or much around my hobby circle, but my family is expecting a new addition soon, our 4th child. We’ll have two boys and two girls once our last arrives, and it’s a new experience for us with her leading up to her arrival. My wife’s water broke (very) early, and so we’re waiting in the hospital until the time is right for our 2nd daughter to make her appearance. The timing isn’t what we’d hoped, and we won’t be at home for Christmas like we expected and planned.

What would normally be a hectic but wonderful time of year, trying to fit in as many Christmas activities as possible, getting in all the last minute shopping, and spending lots of time together at home, has turned into a lot of waiting and hoping things stay the course. It’s forced us to slow down, and I have to mention how thankful we are for family and friends close by.

To distract from the waiting and the uncertainty of when or in what way the baby will arrive, and to distract from the fact that we’re away from some of our favorite people, we’ve instead filled our time with things we don’t normally with three kids at home. We’ve watched movies and entire sporting events, slept, and I’ve had some time to do some card related activities, like this blog, and looking for cards for my collecting projects.

One of those projects is my Pacers autograph collection. This Rick Robey custom that I purchased off eBay makes autograph number 225 out of 398 Pacers all-time. The 398 number continues to grow as the Pacers make roster moves due to injuries.

Robey doesn’t have any licensed cards. Per the eBay seller, this is a custom with the 1979-80 Topps design that was signed during a private signing. This is fitting since Robey was the 3rd pick in the 1978 draft by the Pacers, and spent his only time with the franchise during that 1978-79 season. He was traded mid-season to the Celtics for Billy Knight.

I’ve shared this one on the blog before, but here’s Billy Knight’s card in the autograph project, a 2022-23 Donruss Optic Signature Series Gold /10.

Like I mentioned, I’ve been on the lookout for Tyrese Haliburton inserts to add to my latest binder project. I’ve purchased a handful, but the most recent to come in is this Fireworks Silver parallel from 2024-25 Prizm Black. Can’t beat a dollar card plus eBay standard envelope shipping. This is the kind of collecting project I can get behind.

What are you distracted by this time of year?