At the age of nine, sophomore Drew Lanig found a box of bobbleheads at his grandparents house. Among them was an Adam Wainwright bobblehead. This was the start of Drew’s love of bobbleheads and other sports memorabilia.

“[I decided to start collecting bobbleheads] not long after my grandparents passed,” Drew said. “I guess since that’s one of the only things I took away from their house I wanted to keep on going.”

Drew has a variety of collectable items from ticket stubs and autographed items to magazines and baseball cards. He also has approximately 62 bobbleheads in his collection. They are a mix of sports, TV and movie bobbleheads with the majority being sports. Some of his favorites are his Cardinals’ pitcher Adam Wainwright, former Cardinals’ shortstop Ozzie Smith, Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko and former sportscaster Jack Buck bobbleheads.

“He’s always looking for new opportunities,”  Drew’s father, Vance Lanig said. “Most collectible dealers might have just cards but he’s got such a variety. He’s got cards and jerseys he’s got a signed David Backes jersey. He’s getting a signed Matt Adams Jersey in a couple weeks.”

Drew’s friend, sophomore Bryan Chac, noticed his obsession with the small pieces of sports memorabilia at sporting events. According to Chac, Drew goes to every game where they stuff is given away. His family is proud of the variety and organization of Drew’s collection.

“I like it,” Vance said. “It gives him a hobby. You know he’s not getting in trouble doing that and he’s actually collecting stuff that over time is worth money that’s going to increase in value. There’s a lot of worse things you can do and he likes it so I definitely encourage it.”

Drew gets his bobbleheads online and at Cardinals, Blues, Rams and other sports games with his dad. Whenever they notice a place is giving out something good, his father and him go and sometimes even get extra to give to friends. He and his dad bought a subscription to Busch Stadium memorabilia, so now everything that is sold at games this year at the stadium, from jerseys to bats and bobbleheads, gets delivered directly to their doorstep.

The love of sports and collection of sports memorabilia has been something that’s been passed down through generations of the Lanig family.

“His grandfather always collected sports memorabilia and passed it on to me and then I passed on a lot of the memorabilia that I had to him, and let him hold on to it, so he’s collected things from us and now he’s collecting on his own,” Vance said.

Drew keeps his memorabilia on bookshelves in his room and plans to move it into his sister’s old room since she has moved out. With all the stuff he collects the new room will give him more space.

“He just doesn’t collect and throw it in a box,” Vance said. “It’s all on shelves and stands, he’s got it hanging on the walls. You know, it’s not something that’s collecting dust. He’s very organized about making sure everything has a place. Most kids will just get stuff and throw it in a box. Hes not doing that. He knows what hes got. I really like that about him, that he’s taking time to organize what he gets.”

Drew doesn’t know if he will ever stop collecting, but he does knows his goal is to get 100 bobbleheads. He plans to keep going to sports games with his dad and keep using his subscription to Busch Stadium.

  “It’s taking a while but I’m getting there,” Drew said.