Collector Q&A: Mike from Junk Wax Hero

I briefly met Mike from Junk Wax Hero at last year’s National and he was gracious enough to offer to tell his community about the Vintage Card Voyage channel. Along with being a great boost for us just a few months after we started uploading videos, his offer also demonstrated the type of kindness I’ve seen across the hobby. He’s uploaded card videos since 2021 with more than 750 videos on his channel, and he also has a newsletter, one he graciously allowed me to contribute a guest post to. Without further ado, let’s get to know him a little better with the Drawn to Cards Q&A.

What’s your card collecting story (when and why did you start, which sport(s)/card era(s), and do you consider yourself a collecting generalist or specialist)?

I started collecting in 1986 at the age of 7, and then got serious about it in 1987. I collected very heavily until 1994. I mowed lawns around my neighborhood and would then ride my bike to Rusty's corner market for candy, or Michaud's corner market for penny candy that I would count out 1 by 1, and then I would bike to Wiggy's Card Shop or Downeast Comics & Cards in Brunswick, Maine. Then I'd ride over to my friend Seth's house for some wiffleball in his yard. Some great memories.

I started back up again in 2003 but then my first child was born in 2004 and I didn't have the money to keep collecting. In September of 2020 I suffered a bad foot injury while running trails, which eventually required surgery. I got back into collecting during that injury at the end of 2020 and have been obsessed like a kid ever since.

I am definitely a generalist collector. There are waaaaaay too many things I want, so my collection is very broad.

Who/what do you personally collect?

Mostly rookie cards of Hall of Famers across all sports, particularly with on-card autographs. I enjoy getting autographs through the mail (TTM), so I have a ton of those.

What’s your favorite card you own and/or what’s your grail card? Tell us why.

I like cards with a story. My favorite is the card that got me into YouTube, the 1956 Topps Sandy Koufax with an autograph on it. Here's the video, my first on my channel.

My grail card is a 1949 Leaf Jackie Robinson.

Who/what motivated you to start a YouTube channel?

I had wanted to have a YouTube channel for years. My youngest child and I had one for a couple of years where we ate weird snacks together, and that was a blast, but kids grow up and stop wanting to be on YouTube. So I needed something for myself. I was going to do a running channel and had purchased all the equipment to take with me on trails, but then suffered the career-ending injury. When I rediscovered card collecting, I realized it was a natural next step for me.

What’s been the best part of your YouTube experience so far?

All the friends I've made. I regularly text or call or message with a dozen or so guys, and that's been great.

A close second is how impressed my kids are that I have 12,000 subscribers. It's a vanity metric, and kids are impressed by that.

If you could talk to/interview any person on your channel (creator, person in sports, person in the hobby, etc.), who would it be and why?

I would love to interview Geoff Wilson and ask him about Lewis Taint, opening vintage wax, those awful thumbnail faces, and many other things. Alas, that will never happen.

Which three YouTube sports card channels do you think more people should watch?

• Dan's Vintage Baseball PC -- Great interviews on topics I may not normally be interested in, but he does such a great job with research and visuals and I find myself engrossed in them.

• Wax Pack Wisdom -- Jack has a great knowledge of the history of the game of baseball and he's a great guy.

• MidLife Sports Cards -- Graig is a thought-provoker, always talking about various aspects of the hobby and listening to all sides. I'm a huge fan.

What do you think the future holds for your channel and for the hobby in general?

I used to think about the future of my channel a lot. How will it evolve, what changes should I make, etc. I also used to set viewership and growth goals. It ended up feeling like a job, which demotivated me. YouTube is a hobby for me, and if I'm not having fun then I don't want to do it. I do enjoy growing it, but organic growth is fine.

The future of my channel is a lot more of the same: do the videos that I enjoy.

• Clearing the Bases is my favorite thing to do, and it's also my most popular series

• I'll do Attic Find Fridays when possible

• Rankings of cards, like my ACE100 list

• Pickup videos

I'll be cutting back on videos in the summer, which I've never done before.

Jones was born in 1950 in McGhee, Arkansas, and was one of eight children, and according to his Wikipedia profile, his sister (the only girl) was the shortest sibling at 6-foot-3. Six of the seven Jones boys would eventually play professional basketball, four in the NBA, and two in the Eastern Professional Basketball League. As kids, after working on the family farm, the pickup games were intense:

Like most of his brothers, Jones played basketball at Desha Central High School, followed by playing collegiately at Albany State University, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in Albany, Georgia. When Jones played at ASU, he was coached by his older brother Oliver and also played with his brother Major, part of 18 consecutive years with at least one Jones playing center for the Golden Rams.

Jones was drafted in the second round of the 1973 draft by the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, but would start his career in the ABA with the San Diego Conquistadors, a team coached by basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain. In his first two seasons with San Diego, Jones established himself as a defensive force, leading the league in blocks both years and averaging 14 rebounds a game, making the all-star team his second season. His third season, he spent time with three teams - the Conquistadors, the Kentucky Colonels and most of the season with the Spirits of St. Louis.

Following the 1975-76 season, the ABA merged with the NBA and Jones joined the team that initially drafted him, the 76ers, who also welcomed future Hall of Famer (and reigning three-time ABA MVP) Julius Erving. After averaging 15.8 points per game during his three ABA seasons, Jones’ scoring output would take a serious hit, as he would never average double digit points in any of his 14 NBA seasons. Six of those seasons would be with Philadelphia, where the team would reach the NBA Championships three different times - 1977, 1980 and 1982 - but could never seal the deal. During Jones’ final two seasons with the team, he would be named NBA All-Defensive First Team.

During the 1983 offseason, Jones would be traded to the Houston Rockets, with the trade bringing Moses Malone (a teammate of Jones with the Spirits of St. Louis) to the 76ers - and bringing Philadelphia an immediate championship. Jones, meanwhile, found himself with a Rockets team that would land in sixth place in the Midwest Division both of his seasons with Houston - but he did have the opportunity to play with his brother Major both years.

He would then go to the Chicago Bulls, where he was able to play with Michael Jordan during the GOAT’s rookie season, but the team finished in third place in the Central Division and lost in the first round of the playoffs. The next season, Jones found himself with the Portland Trail Blazers, where he would play the next four seasons, and the team would lose in the first round of the playoffs all four years. Then, in his last professional season, he played with the San Antonio Spurs during another legend’s rookie season - David Robinson - and would again make the playoffs, but the Spurs lost in the second round of the playoffs, ending his career a few months shy of turning 40.

Jones would end his career with 10,241 points, 10,685 rebounds (finishing just ahead of Erving, Robinson and rebounding specialist Ben Wallace with that total), and 2,297 blocks (14th all-time, behind 10 Hall of Famers). After his playing career ended, Jones had a brief stint as an assistant coach with the Trail Blazers, working with head coach Maurice Cheeks, a former teammate with the 76ers. He would only last one season. In 2014, “Pops” passed away at the age of 64, leaving behind a wife and five daughters.