TROY RIKE'S TOPPS HOBBY BOX BATTLE

As a PBA fan, I have to admit I’m a bit disappointed that Troy Rike’s career never really took off. It’s not that he’s bad. He’s big, talented, and skilled, and he was heavily recruited. I still remember the hype surrounding him when he suited up for the NU Bulldogs and later for Gilas Pilipinas after his stint with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

But to only average 3.8 points and 2.7 rebounds in 24 games for a team like NorthPort?

That’s just wild.

I guess he just wanted to do something else. After all, being a 26-year-old rookie is ridiculous, especially if you come from the U.S., where a 22-year-old rookie is already considered old. It’s hard to build a long-term Gilas Pilipinas program when your player pool is filled with guys already in their 30s.

That said, for fans wondering what he’s up to now, yes, he is kind of chilling in the U.S., but not without purpose. He has turned into a successful sports card collector, and honestly, I’ve been hooked on his YouTube videos ever since I discovered his channel. I can only dream of sending in stacks of pristine NBA cards for grading, but let’s be real, the hobby has gotten insanely expensive. So for now, I’m just living vicariously through those collector box openings.

I actually tried to start my own YouTube box-opening channel once. But aside from the sky-high prices, I couldn’t stand the idea of flooding my cabinets with piles of base cards—rookies who look like future All-Stars today but end up forgotten tomorrow.

And speaking of prospects, Troy Rike actually reminds me a lot of Quinten Post.

He also mentioned this in the video.

Anyway, when I saw how much those hobby boxes cost, I immediately tuned out. These days, the only things within my budget are the Topps blaster packs. They are basically Fanatics' version of Hoops. I managed to pull a couple of VJ Edgecombe base cards and a shiny Dylan Harper Power Players card, which felt like a "win."

But man, I hate how they dismissed Egor Demin. Mark my words, that dude is going to be a star.

Oh, and that Jeremiah Fears card? Awesome. Probably Topps’ version of an anime insert.

It looks so cool.

Watching Troy open those packs makes me wish I could go back to the ’90s and fund my card-collecting properly, not just NBA cards, but also Magic: The Gathering and Pokémon. Back then, I never had enough money to build my Magic decks, and I still regret laughing at my friends who were bragging about their Charizards. Now, I’m sitting here with my Lorcana pile, probably about to sell my First Chapter stash just to make room.

Anyway, it’s nice to see Troy Rike happy with how things are going in his card-collecting journey. I still wish he’d come back to the Philippines and salvage his basketball career, pun totally intended, but maybe that’s just not in his cards.