Every so often I get a call that goes like this:

"Barry, you're the expert. You've been in this hobby for 20 years. I'm just starting out. What should I collect?"

I always chuckle, because my answer is easy. My answer starts with questions.

"What do you like about our hobby? What sports/teams/players do you like? Are you collecting to furnish a room, or pay for your kid's college tuition, or simply for the fun of it?"

In other words, there is no correct answer. Everybody collects for a reason, and with a specific goal in mind. Even if the goal is not to have a goal.

I began collecting in 1978, when I began my first career as a sportswriter. I was a college senior at the State University of Binghamton, interning for the Binghamton Evening Press, covering a junior hockey league team called the Binghamton Barons in the New York-Pennsylania Major Junior Hockey League.

When the season ended, the team folded. I thought it would be cool to own a jersey from every team I covered, since I planned to become a pro hockey writer. I bought a jersey from the soon-to-be defunct team for $40.

And a hobby was born.

Now? I have close to 250 gamers, and my area of interest are my favorite hockey team, the New York Rangers, the teams I covered during my 18 years as a sportswriter, and all New York hockey teams. My favorite rare hockey jerseys were worn by Long Island Ducks, NY Golden Blades, and NY Raiders.

I love my favorite teams' championship seasons, which is why I have the jersey worn by Johnny Sample of the NY Jets in Super Bowl III and the jersey worn by Craig MacTavish in Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals. I loved the old World Hockey Association and grew up when the NHL expanded from the Original 6 to 12 teams. So I have jerseys worn in the late '60s by the LA Kings, St. Louis Blues, California Seals, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Minnesota North Stars, and jerseys worn in the early '70s by the Ottawa Nationals, LA Sharks and Alberta Oilers, to name just a few.

Why do I collect? The memories. There is nothing better than looking at a shirt and remembering the game from years ago ... or weeks ago. There is nothing better than watching a video clip and knowing a snapshot of the clip sits in my collection ... at least until my kids finish college.