Dime Box Heroes: Finding a place

2000 E-X "Generation E-X" #GX-13 Nick Johnson

When I initially joined this wonderful community, I was a bit of a blogosphere "loner".

Although I'd read blogs regularly during the summer of 2011, I never commented. I mainly kept my thoughts and cards to myself.

It quickly became apparent that the blogosphere was a special place. But, at the time, I didn't feel that I had the skills or the "niche" to start a blog of my own.

There were all these people out there giving me new perspectives on the hobby. Amidst all that, one thought basically stopped me from starting a blog sooner.

"How could I possibly compete with any of this?"

I mean, I didn't even know these other bloggers' real names. All I knew was that I'd been reading blogs run by people supposedly named hiflew and Spiegel83. And some guy named Night Owl.

Plus, everyone seemed like "old friends". I wasn't sure if I'd ever find my place in the blogging world.

To tell you the truth, I was a bit wary of dipping my toes into the blogging waters at first.

Would people really enjoy reading my dime box stories? Would they care about some cool card I found at a show last year?

Did these people know dime boxes existed, for that matter?

But, in one of the best decisions of my entire life, I did wind up starting my very own baseball card blog. I finalized that historic first post way back on December 7, 2011.

Over a year later, I'm proud to say that I do have a small following of readers. As far as I know, people have enjoyed reading about dime boxes.

And I still love writing about them. This is already the 45th post in the "Dime Box Heroes" series.

Of course, I love posting more and more with each passing day. And it is truly an honor and a privilege to be a part of this amazing community.

Needless to say, I have found my niche in the blogosphere.

Plus, I know a lot of my fellow bloggers on a first-name basis now. 

They're no longer hiflew, Spiegel83, or Night Owl to me.

Instead, they're faithful collectors and wonderful writers that go by Johnny, Michael, and Greg. That's not even mentioning the countless other names I've learned during my time here.

Still, up until about a month ago, something was missing.

I didn't have a nickname yet.

Although I'd come to know most of my "blogger buddies" by their first names, I thought it'd be interesting to have a nickname of my own one day.

When I originally started my blogger account, I simply chose "Nick" as my username. It was short and to the point.

Yet, lately, I've noticed a few other bloggers calling me by an "updated" form of my name.

"Dime Box Nick".

Hey, I like it! 

Again, short and to the point. But a little more "catchy" at the same time.

After all, isn't that what people do in communities? Don't they give each other nicknames?

It seemed like over half the kids in my high school went by some sort of flashy moniker.

Well, there's mine. 

Dime Box Nick.

Cool.

Now, that's not to be confused with fellow "Dime Box Nick" and longtime dime bin suspect Nick Johnson. I own about 75 cards of his at the moment, including this awkwardly awesome insert of his from the short-lived "E-X" brand.

You can chalk up about two-thirds of those to the dime box depths.

You can still call me Nick, if you want. But "Dime Box Nick" is an option, too.

Whichever one works for you.

Okay, I know what you're thinking.

No, I don't really expect people to start calling me that.

In all seriousness, I guess what I'm trying to say is pretty simple.

Don't be afraid to join this wonderful little group of collectors. I'm not sure if any of my readers out there are wary about starting a blog as well, showing the same concerns I did before I started this blog.

If you are, don't be.

As I've found, the blogging community is quite the welcoming bunch.

So start that blog of yours.

We'll be here to read it.