We recently introduced a new regular feature in Scoop: Origin Issue. The subject is a straightforward question, but one with many different answers: Why do you collect?

The subject this time is Mark Huesman, Production Coordinator for Gemstone Publishing and The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide.

My "origin issue" is a bit of a cliche:
Adored the Adam West Batman TV show as a kid: check.
Mom threw away early comic collection: check.
Thrilled to find first comic store with back issues: check.
Reliving childhood by revisiting childhood comic stories: check.
Lived in parents’ basement until my late 30s: Not!

Around 1975, in the days when the nine-year-old me first walked into Geppi’s Comic World in Baltimore, I also started collecting baseball cards and following the Orioles. The jerseys looked cool and I wanted them to wear in place of my ordinary shirts. As soon as I got the chance to purchase the game-quality jerseys, I needed to have numbers on them. It was cheaper to do that myself, so I got some tackle twill fabric and my Mom’s sewing machine and skilled myself in zig-zag stitching. In the early 1980s, my attentions turned to indoor soccer and the slick red/orange/yellow/white jerseys of the Baltimore Blast, and unlike the timeless Yankees uniform, they changed their uniform designs almost yearly. In the days before eBay, I relied on friends and team connections to build my collection to 20-some jerseys, then I tailored the others from scratch.  My soccer jersey collection expanded to include other teams, and then crossed over into hockey, into football, and back into baseball. It now numbers close to 80 pieces.

The tailoring skills had led to some part-time jobs doing graphic design and numbering on sports team uniforms, teams which eventually included the Orioles and Ravens. It’s very cool to say that some of the jerseys I worked on were used in a Super Bowl and seen by a global television audience of over 1 billion people.

Now my collection is highlighted by most Orioles jersey styles back to 1966 (although curiously not the 2000-2008 black jersey for which I made the prototype for the Orioles), some garish jerseys from the 80s (yeah, San Diego Padres and rainbow Astros), Ravens in all 4 colors, 40-some soccer jerseys, common jerseys tailored/altered into uncommon jerseys, and an Al Bundy "Polk High" football jersey, just like the one he wore…. “when he scored 4 touchdowns in one game” (assume The Pose).

I didn’t abandon comics for my sports collecting. As Gemstone’s Production Coordinator, one of my tasks is updating the listings of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, which puts hundreds of new comic books across my desk each year. Some reading "for reference purposes only" is included. That satisfies my comic fandom without the buying and selling of back issues, which I avoid, considering my position working for the Guide. I like wearing an Orioles jersey to a comic convention, but I don’t think I could get away with wearing a Batman costume to an Orioles game. Maybe…some… day…

Mark Huesman is presently at work on the 40th anniversary edition of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide.

If you’d like to share your origin issue, drop us a line with “Origin Issue” in the subject line. We’re looking for a maximum of 200 words addressing why you collect (and it doesn’t have to be comic books).