Every month, Upper Deck will spotlight one of our valued collectors to showcase their collection. The great thing about sports collectors is that they are all very different in what they collect, how they collect items and what they do once they have them. One common trait is the passion they share that is seldom found in any other group.  This month, we feature one of our favorite young collectors: Richie Sliwinski from Churchville, PA.

I first met Richie when I started working at Upper Deck almost three years ago.   He was one of our Kid Bloggers and Moderators on Upper Deck Kids.  To say the least, Richie was the pulse of the kids site, and provided valuable insight into what his fellow kid collectors were looking for from Upper Deck.  Besides being one of our largest young collectors, Richie had the UDK points to prove it.  By entering his Upper Deck card codes, he gained points that he could use to get various Upper Deck products, as well as other fun entertainment items like video games and iPods.  Two such items Richie added to his collection are NFL Rookie Photo Shoot autographed footballs from 2008 and 2009, which are two of his most prized possessions, “Rookie autographed footballs are great because they feature some terrific young stars and it is fun to see which players turn out to be the real deal”.

Another favorite item in his personal collection is his Albert Pujols autographed baseball.  “Pujols is my favorite baseball player”, Richie said, “So it has always been my goal to get his autograph”.

He is also very proud of his LeBron James Quad Jersey Autographed card that he personally pulled from a pack, since according to Richie, “Pulling something yourself gives the card more sentimental value”.

When asked what prompted him to start collecting, Richie states his love for sports as the main motivator.  “I loved watching baseball, football, basketball, and hockey, so I thought it was cool to get cards of the players I loved watching. I also would read the sports section of my local newspaper every day and look at all the player’s statistics and team standings. This got me very interested in sports which led to my excitement in collecting sports cards”.

As his collection grows, so has Richie since our first encounters a few years ago.  He has grown into a savvy collector who appreciates the sports as well as the athletes, and has a true passion for collecting.   Over the past year, Richie has been asked to be a contributor to our blog, and has also been featured in Beckett Magazine in their “Reader Review” section, prompting them to include readers’ personal box break submissions in their magazine.

This kid has a great head on his shoulders, and when asked what he wanted to be when he grows up, he replied, “That is such a difficult question. I am not really sure what I want to be when I grow up but I hope to someday work for Upper Deck or become a sports agent”.  Well Richie, go ahead and send over your resume once you hit eighteen years old, and we’ll work to find a place for you here at Upper Deck.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Every month, Upper Deck will spotlight one of our valued collectors to showcase their collection. The great thing about sports collectors is that they are all very different in what they collect, how they collect items and what they do once they have them. One common trait is the passion they share that is seldom found in any other group. This month, we head north of the border to spend some time with Paul Boleska of Edmonton, AB.

Paul is retired from the law enforcement sector in Edmonton, but he stays active with hobbies like archery, board games and collecting trading cards. Paul has amassed over 700,000 trading cards in his collection, primarily consisting of baseball cards. He had been out of the hobby for awhile however, until he heard about Upper Deck’s massive 20^th Anniversary Set consisting of 2,500 cards inserted into a variety of baseball products last year.

Paul Boleska holding one of the binders in his enormous 20th Anniversary Set.

The set commemorates the first twenty years of Upper Deck’s existence with cards from all major sports including golf while also paying tribute to world history, pop culture, politics and technology. Upper Deck also included some very rare game-used memorabilia cards of players from a variety of sports that were typically only available one per case or 1:288 packs on average.

“I was so impressed with the whole concept and look of the Upper Deck 20th Anniversary Collection, that I decided I was going to collect the entire set, including the memorabilia cards,” said Boleska.

Although Paul Boleska had amassed a tremendous amount of cards since he got bitten by the card collecting bug, when he stated this project, he still considered himself a novice. Putting together a set this large would be a considerable challenge for even the most seasoned collector. Even now Boleska admits, “With my limited knowledge of collecting cards, I did not realize the true depth I was getting myself into.”

Paul was opening up a lot of product to get the cards he needed, but that would not be enough: he needed to reach out to other collectors, other shops, and get online to find the cards he needed to complete this monster set. “There were countless hours searching numerous websites for cards, hundreds of e-mails to fellow collectors from around the world requesting card lists, and then the purchasing of cards from as far away as Australia, China, Europe and throughout North America,” said Boleska.

Even though he was officially retired, this pursuit became almost like a job for Paul. “I was always asking local collectors to look for cards that I still needed, and constantly updating Wayne Wagner, owner of Wayne’s Sports Cards here in Edmonton with lists of cards still outstanding,” said Boleska.

Wayne Wagner of Wayne’s Sportscards congratulates Boleska on putting together the entire 20th Anniversary set.

The most important person in Boleska’s hunt however was the mailman who would on occasions bring him close to twenty packages a day with cards he needed from collectors around the world. Boleska shared that each day was almost like Christmas when the mailman came by with the latest additions to his collection. And then came the day when the last card arrived and Boleska’s collection was finally complete: a special day for sure!

I asked him if he has plans to sell the collection. Boleska said, “Being a true collector, I have no plans on selling it at this time. This set took a whole year to build, taking around 2000 hours of opening of product, searching the web and sending hundreds of e-mails back and forth with collectors. I now spend the time going through the two binders looking and reading all the information on each card. I loved this product from the moment I first saw it.”

Congratulations Paul, it truly is a remarkable achievement and a very special set! If you are looking to put the set together yourself and would like some pointers, feel free to contact Paul Boleska at paulboleska@shaw.ca.

Popularity: 39% [?]

Every month, Upper Deck will spotlight one of our valued collectors to showcase their collection. The great thing about sports collectors is that they are all very different in what they collect, how they collect items and what they do once they have them. This month, we spend some time with two brothers whose love for cards has helped them keep in touch. Meet Mike and Steve Centurioni.

Mike Centurioni holding a great Upper Deck Michael Jordan autograph card.

Steve Centurioni showing off some of the better cards in his collection.

Mike and his older brother Steve grew up in the Los Angeles area, and are both devout sports fans for their local Southern California teams. It was twenty years ago when Upper Deck first came on the scene that the two got their first taste of sports cards. There was a raffle at a school fair when they were little where they won some cards; once they had been bitten by the collecting bug, they were hooked. They would ride their bikes together frequently to visit their local hobby shop. After Steve got his drivers license, the new excitement came from driving across Los Angeles to attend card shows together. And as years went by, they now find themselves buying cards online, but they still love a good hobby shop or card show.

Like any good partnership they split everything down the middle and collect as a way of harnessing the great sports memories they have shared together. They’ve had their share of highs and lows as they open packs and find cards of their favorite stars. Their passion is the higher-end trading card releases where there can be a little more risk involved, but it all paid off earlier this year. Mike was opening up 2008-09 NBA Upper Deck Black when he discovered something very special: a Michael Jordan/LeBron James dual autograph, quad patch card. His hands were likely shaking when he saw that the card was limited to just one copy, a one-of-one.

“It was an awesome reward after twenty years of collecting,” said Mike Centuioni. “I could not believe it! Thank you Upper Deck!”

The brothers have definitely had some luck pulling cards of Upper Deck’s oldest and most well known spokesman, Michael Jordan. Take a look at the two beautiful cards they’ve pulled.

They’ve also been able to pull another older spokesman of Upper Deck from the Legendary Cuts series. Check out this fantastic Joe DiMaggio autograph cut card.

Around the same time that Mike discovered that Michael Jordan/LeBron James supercard, his older brother Steve had to relocate to Dallas. Would that spell the end of their collecting days together? Not by a long shot! Their passion for trading cards has helped the two brothers keep in touch. They frequently send each other new cards they pull back and forth. They are also embracing technology by sharing breaks with each other on video exchange sites like YouTube. So even though they are separated by hundreds of miles, they are still connected by the hobby they love.

Earlier this year, Mike had a thrill when he got the opportunity to meet one of his boyhood heroes, Tommy Lasorda. “I met him at a real estate event I attended,” shared Mike. “He was very approachable and a total class act, it was awesome!”

Mike will be visiting his brother in Dallas this Thanksgiving where they will watch the Cowboys take on the Raiders together. Besides seconds on turkey that weekend, you can bet they’ll also be going back to the closest hobby shop for seconds on Upper Deck boxes as well.

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