“I recently started collecting cards,” he yells over the phone. “I got a signed baseball from one of my relatives and it reminded me that I had some basketball and football cards from middle school, I went home and was surprisingly able to find them all,” he continues. “From there I got really into in and started collecting more and more.” And just like that Malachi Hatfield, junior, was able to find his favorite hobby. Malachi started about 3 weeks ago and has already accumulated over 150 cards.

“I spend all my money on it,” he laughs. One card can go anywhere from $2-$165,000. The most expensive card Malachi has bought was $15 but it included a piece of the player’s Jersey and a signature. “My favorite card is the Kevin Porter Jr. 2019-20 Panini Revolution #128 New Year Crack Ice Rookie Card.  It’s my favorite card because the design is immaculate and Kevin Porter Jr. is one of my favorite players to watch and collect,” he says.

Malachi has developed a sort of friendship with the owner of a card shop, Showtime Cards & Comics, which is just down the street from his house. You will often find Malachi blowing all his money there. “The first time I ever interacted with the owner, he was very nice and talked to me about the “card community”.  He said many young people had begun to collect these types of cards during quarantine. He was also very surprised at the amount of cards I had collected in such a short time,” he boasts.

That’s not the only thing Malachi collects – he has also very recently begun collecting Vintage Graphic Tee’s, although these are harder to come around, Malachi has still been able to collect a few good ones. “I even found a really good one while cleaning out an old relative’s attic,” he said. “My favorite tee’s are definitly the sports one,  like for example I just ordered a “Daimond Backs vs. Yankees 2001 World Series, and if I’m being honest I don’t know too much about baseball but I love the shirt.” Malachi plans on expanding both of his collections in the near future. In conclusion, Malachi is a strong believer that you can find a hobbie in even the smallest of things.