Like so many others, I was a kid when the Upper Deck 92/93 boom kicked things off. I remember instantly falling in love with the Jordan #23 card (still one of the best-looking cards ever, IMO) and the little hologram on the back of Upper Deck cards.
Probably kept up the enthusiasm until the 1995-96 season, when cards just didn't really appeal anymore. From there, everything went into storage. Years later I remember throwing a shoebox worth of cards into the recycling bin, but kept what I thought were the good ones, just because.
Came back to the hobby in 2009 with adult money, after having a laugh with a mate about how much we used to dream of the Chris Webber 1993-94 Die Cut All-Star card as kids. So I went onto eBay and bought one for what felt like peanuts, which then snowballed into buying singles from all the sets I used to dream of owning as a kid.
After spending a couple of years gathering a bunch of foil and hologram-heavy sets from the early 90s, I moved overseas and all cards went back into storage. I did take a look at them each time I was back in Australia, but paid zero attention to new products, "the market" etc until I moved back to Australia in 2018, unemployed and started selling all my old stuff that had been in storage on eBay. I remember selling a Jordan 93/94 Scoring Kings for $200 in early 2018 and being blown away at how it was worth so much when I'd bought it for $40
Kept selling all these cards I'd accumulated in 2009/10 but one day after I was working again, I was on eBay and saw a LeBron Fleer Retro Scoring Kings auction that was ending soon. I remember thinking how awesome it was to see LeBron in a set similar to one of my all-time faves, and thought "fuck it, I've got money" and ended up bidding and winning the card for $78 USD. That was the first set that I started collecting again - the Fleer Retro Scoring Kings (pic below). Still need the Jordan though. I recently screenshotted the LeBron transaction after seeing how much this card sells for now and being curious how much I'd paid back then. (pic below)
That auction win was the moment that I started
collecting again, and not just selling my old stuff. Even picked up another couple of 93/94 Jordan Scoring Kings in 2019 for $120 and $185 AUD since I regretted selling the one I originally had (pic below). Have been putting together some sets for the last few years, buying them, selling them, being in the hobby consistently moving cards. Still haven't opened a single box or even pack since I was a kid though.
For the last year or so I've been reducing the amount of cards I have - down to about 200 now - and been focusing on long-term holds and stuff I plan on getting graded once it's moving again. My primary pickups for holding have been Fleer Retro LeBron inserts (probably now got 20+ of these waiting for grading), and #d and SP Rui Hachimura cards since I find his story intriguing.
My current hobby goal is to eventually consolidate a lot of the cards I own that I'm not absolutely attached to as long-term holds, into a Giannis Retro PMG Red at some stage in the future, and just hold onto it.