Collector Q&A: Eddy’s Cardboard Chaos

The YouTube sports card community has inducted select channels into its Hall of Fame annually since 2018. As a member of the 2025 class, Eddy’s Cardboard Chaos has uploaded videos since 2019, with more than 800 videos on his channel, and he graciously answered 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 the day after I fell in love with baseball, which was game 6 of the 1986 World Series. Like many who collected in the high pop era, I bought as many cards as I could hoping to pull Mariners, Rickey Henderson, and those guys who were going to make us all rich. For various reasons I have had to start over many times with my collection. As a result the collection I have now looks nothing like the collection from my youth or even 15 years ago. About the time I was starting my channel I decided to never sell something I wanted to keep even if my personal finances were short. I would always look for other ways to make up the income. As a result my collection had grown nicely. I'm happy with both the breadth and depth of my collection currently but not content enough to stop, not even close actually.

I would consider myself a specialist I suppose; I certainly don't go after everything. As a budget collector each acquisition is planned, intentional, purposeful, and meaningful. I have trained myself, through a lot of trial and error, not to buy on a whim. Some thrive using the “see-something-I-like-buy-it” methodology. I almost always wish I still had the money when I do that.

Who/what do you personally collect?

My most active collections include Baseball Hall of Fame autographs, “The Glory of Their Times” (pre-war) collection, 1956 Topps HOFers and 1964 Wheaties. I also have HOF cards with full career stats, History of Baseball in Washington State, knuckleball artists, Harvey Haddix, Rickey Henderson, Brooks Robinson, Ken Griffey Jr., Seahawks Ring of Honor and other select Seattle greats collections. I am finishing up two vintage sets, '64 and '73 Topps baseball. They are each about 50% signed through the mail. Oh, ya, I also do Through The Mail (TTM) autograph collecting. My TTMing tends to be tailored to my collection needs but there are times where I'll send something out just for the fun of getting it back.

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

My favorite card is my 1980 Topps Rickey Henderson rookie that I got signed in person at the 2022 National in Atlantic City. I spent most of my collecting energy from the late ‘80s to 2003 getting my hands on every Rickey card I could find. When I got laid off and was worried about being able to play my rent I listed them all in a lot on eBay and they sold for a fraction of what I was hoping. I was heartbroken. A few years later I had recovered financially, at least from that round, and was collecting again on a forum called The Bench Trading. I told my Rickey story there and someone was kind enough to send me a Rickey rookie as a gift. It was already one of my favorites for that reason but jumped to #1 when I got it signed and got to meet my hero.

One of my favorite pre-war players is Ty Cobb. He was an immensely talented and misunderstood player. I will one day be getting this T202 card with Hughie Jennings. It contains, in the center panel, one of the most famous sports photographs ever taken. The other player in the photo is Jimmy Austin, who is featured in “The Glory of Their Times” book, so this would count as a dual collectible of sorts. My goal is to get that card at the 2026 National. 

Who/what motivated you to start a YouTube channel?

Mostly I was looking for more engaging interactions and feedback. I had tried sharing TTM success and pickups on forums, Facebook, and other social media outlets but never found getting a heart or thumbs-up all that gratifying. On YouTube I immediately started getting comments and it hooked me; here I am six years later anyway.

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

The best part of my YouTube experience is making real and genuine friends with people all over North America and beyond. I never anticipated that I would end up being a part of other people’s lives and they mine. It's a real joy.

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 suppose it would be Ken Griffey Jr. now that Rickey is gone. I would ask him, “How many times have you signed your 1989 Upper Deck card?”

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

• My friend Allon @Bostnfn. He reminds me of me in a lot of ways but instead of being a Seattle guy he's a Boston guy.

• Mike, @thevintagecomposer, has far and away my favorite channel. He has over 1K subs but even that feels low for what he does and how long he has been around.

• Another Allen, or maybe Allan, @CollectingMaddux1987. He does far more than just collect Maddux; he does autographs, and vintage too. We think a lot alike. Plus he's a good dude.

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

As of now I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing. I can't imagine making any big changes because I'm having so much fun now. BUT if you told Eddy from 2000 that he'd have a nice vintage collection in 2025 he might not believe you, so you never know.

Set Profile: 1969 Milton Bradley Baseball Game

As a kid, these cards were my first real view into vintage cards. Being that I wasn’t alive when the game was in stores, I don’t remember why I had them, but my best guess is I somehow got them from either my cousin (who had a MUCH larger card collection than I did) or my neighbors (who were my initial entry into collecting). All I know is, when I got back into collecting in 2022, I no longer had them (nooooo!!!) and felt the need to correct that obvious error in judgment.

Milton Bradley’s initial foray into sports cards, the 1968 Topps Milton Bradley set, came about after the game company’s CEO approached Topps about using their cards in a board game, one that would be called, appropriately enough, Win a Card. There was a mix of baseball, football and hot rod cards, but according to the above Sports Collectors Digest article, the game didn’t sell well. And that’s presumably why Milton Bradley went in another direction by producing its own baseball game and cards.

The board game came with 296 player cards and 24 team cards (including the new expansion teams, the Montreal Expos and Seattle Pilots), all unnumbered, with the black-and-white cards coming in at 2 inches by 3 inches. Of the 296 players, 36 are Hall of Famers, including Reggie Jackson’s rookie card and a second-year Johnny Bench.

With the cards originally distributed on a large sheet, they have perforation marks. I’m not exactly sure how grading companies determine how to grade perforation (if anyone knows, please comment below), but based on a quick scan., PSA has about a 6 percent gem rate for cards in this set, while there has yet to be an SGC or Beckett 10.

As it happens, the 1969 cards can be easily confused with the 1972 Milton Bradley cards, since they’re the same size, have the same front design, and, oddly enough, seem to use the same photos. How can you tell the difference? Flip the card around and look at the column on the right-hand side. There are both red and black results, but with the red results, if the 1 in RA1 doesn’t have a base on the bottom, it’s from 1969, while the 1972 version has a base. Pretty specific, right? It should be noted there are also 82 more player cards in 1972.

I’m a fan of the 1969 set because, along with reminding me of my childhood, it’s relatively obscure and (I was pleased to discover when I bought it) can be pretty affordable as far as vintage sets go. The game is on eBay and other online sellers, if you’re interested, but you’ll want to confirm that the cards are included, and you’ll typically be taking a chance on condition. You know, like most raw vintage cards.