They’re back…sports cards that is.

Sports Cards, those small pieces of cardboard with pictures of athletes on them, have a long history back the the 19th century when they were included in candy and tobacco. They were first used for advertisement but later became highly sought after collectibles. Today they create connections and bring communities together at card shows around the world, including two students at cotter.

Logan Fritts, a Cotter junior, has been collecting cards for the past two years and really likes his new hobby.

“I enjoy it and it is always fun to pull a good card and make some money,” he said.

His favorite card also happens to be his most valuable, which is his Jayden Daniels silver prizm variation. Like most modern collectors, Logan is always looking at the market to value his cards. “I look on the Sports Card Investor app and see what the recent sales were and value it somewhere in there.”

One day he hopes to own a dual rookie downtown of Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze. Logan likes different brands of cards, but likes to open Panini Prizm or Optic as much as he can.

Gedion Errthum, also a junior, started collecting around the age of ten. He has a different approach to valuing his cards and said, “I value cards based on how much I like the person, otherwise cost.” F

ootball is his sport of choice when collecting but also enjoys basketball cards as well. For those looking to get into the hobby Gedion gave some good advice. “You start collecting by buying smaller boxes. Then work your way up from there.”

Gedion enjoys the excitement of opening a new box and not knowing what he will find. He doesn’t have one specific dream card but there are a lots of cards he likes.