About
Hey there! Thanks for stopping by! My name is Matt, and I started Matty Wax on January 1, 2021. But the truth is, the seeds were planted way back in the 1980s when I first started collecting baseball cards and football cards. I was a big-time collector back then, and I accumulated tens of thousands of cards between 1985-1993.
Flash forward about 25 years when my parents were cleaning out their basement and decided to ship me two giant boxes of cards across the United States. I spent a little bit of time going through them and besides a silver Nordstrom shoebox of cards that had any value — or perceived value back then — there wasn’t much in the collection that was worth anything.
A little trading card history lesson digression…
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the trading card industry exploded. Established companies like Topps and Fleer and Donruss, and new companies like Pro Set and Score, started mass producing trading cards. Not just sports cards — everything and anything was turned into trading cards. In addition to my football cards and baseball cards, I also have Desert Storm cards, “Batman” movie cards, Pop Star cards (that rookie Paula Abdul has GOT to be worth something, right?), and “Fievel Goes West” cards.
You could get these cards anywhere. Grocery stores, pharmacies, 7-11s, gas stations, and pretty much anywhere that sold candy and gum. One time, I remember buying cards from a dry cleaner. It was out of control!
There’s a term for this era of trading cards that I take umbrage at. They call it the “junk wax” era.
It’s different now. Cards aren’t as easy to come by. But back then, at 35 cents apiece, two dollars could get me five packs of Topps baseball cards.
Needless to say, I have a huge collection. And I wasn’t about to throw away these cards. No matter how “junky” those in The Hobby might deem them. As a writer and creator, I knew I could transform my collection into something quirky and unique.
During a New Year’s Day hike, I caught a bolt of inspiration to turn my junk wax into quirky handmade greeting cards for Valentine’s Day, and the rest is history.
If you’re curious about the rest of my story, feel free to drop me a line. I’m always happy to talk cards!