Jan 25, 2026: derek

Today, my bestie derek and I had a play date. We started at the perfectly greasy The Diner, wandered our way over to Collecting Haven (didn't buy anything), headed over to the Wisconsin Herd Card Show, and then landed back at my place to rip some junk wax.

Now, before we get into any specifics, derek was, and always will be, my best friend. We've known each other since I was in the second grade, and I don't know a single human being with a higher approval rating. He lived across the street from my childhood home and there was a 5+ year stretch where we spent every possible second together.

Even though we haven't ever been that far away from each other, I moved across town, we were in different schools (or I didn't go to school), and before you know it, we didn't see each other for the better part of 3 decades. We're back baby!

We haven't seen each other since before I got myself a job, so it's been a hot minute since I've seen him. Much like with turning trading back on, now that I'm settling into a work routine, I'm finding time for old pals to go along with my hobbies.

This was my first time at the Herd show and that place was packed. "The Hobby", is alive and well. I'll be sprinkling in content from the Herd show over the next week or so, but let's drop the best nugget in from today:

I snagged this 2023-24 Hoops - Attack the Rack Hyper Green #8 Giannis Antetokounmpo, numbered to /25, from the table of my buddy corey's kiddo. braxton hooked me up with two freaks at a good price. More from the show later this week.

Another thing to know about derek? He LOVES junk wax. Like, obsessed with it. Turns out he's been accumulating dozens of junk wax basketball packs and he brought them all over to rip 'em. You may be starting to see why he's the best bestie a guy could have. Here's the long and the short of it from there:

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If you've got a sharp eye, you might be wondering if we tried any of the 35 year old bubble bum, and if you know anything about us, you already know; yes, yes we did. Even nikkigirl joined the party. She spat hers out after a few bites, but derek and I just went right down the hatch with it. As he so elequently put it, "this tastes like the cellar wall".

We'll close with two besties enjoying junk wax together through nikkigirl's favorite filter: