Trace ‘n Chase is a trading cards and memorabilia agency in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Xavier
A citizen of the world, born & raised in Brussels, Belgium, travelled the world before falling in love with Greece. Graduated from the ULB with a bachelor in Applied Foreign Languages & International Trade and currently working in the Import/Export Industry.
A hardcore basketball (“Play Basketball, Eat Basketball, Sleep basketball and repeat”) fan makes time for his passion in between work, family and play time with his beautiful daughter. He still reminisces Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals and Super Bowl XXXIII as the two most influential games in his life, making sports a part of his everyday life. Living most of his life in Europe he needed to find a way to keep connected to the US sports culture. His passion led him to collect posters, magazines, VHS tapes, jerseys, memorabilia and, of course, trading cards. Xavier carries extensive knowledge of the hobby market and recalls himself being expelled from elementary school for dealing Basketball and Street Fighter trading cards at the school yard in the early 1990’s.
He believes in the intrinsic value of memorabilia found not in the objects themselves but in the memories associated with. Trace ‘n Chase is -in his own words- “the most fun project I could be part of” and he is already working on his weekly NBA podcast and vlog. Stay tuned!
Dio
Born in Greece in the early 80s’ when US sports were just a distant dream. His father was running operations for one of the top professional teams in Greece and made it easy for Dio to fall in love with basketball after witnessing Cliff Levingston, Dominique Wilkins, Terry Mills, Matt Bullard, Scott Skiles, Peja Stojakovic and Deron Williams.
Being fortunate enough to have dual citizenship he was visiting the USA in the 1990s and the 2000s and, between attending games of the Magic in Florida, the Nets in the Meadowlands and the Raiders in LA, he was collecting all kinds of basketball related cards and memorabilia. After finishing Law School and completing his Masters in the USA he decided to move to the Bay Area where, between endless hours of work in the Silicon Valley, he was visiting estate sales and Antique shops all over the West Coast, grabbing anything sports related. He never stopped being involved with the sports industry, becoming a scout for NetScouts Basketball, the largest basketball scouting service in the world and joining Hoop-Ball.com, a place about all-things basketball with a strong focus on fantasy basketball, founded by 2015 Fantasy Basketball Writer of the Year Aaron Bruski.
Trace ‘n Chase is -in his-own words- “the latest reclamation project and I can’t wait to be a part of a group that is aiming at setting up the culture and driving the thirst for more trading card lovers”. Dio is aiming to connect the fantasy sports world with the hobby world through his weekly Trace ‘n Chase podcast and vlog.
George
Born & raised in Thessaloniki, Greece, George fell in love with the game of basketball early in his life and spent most of his childhood watching every single basketball game he could and playing hoops daily in his backyard, testing his neighbors’ patience. Graduated from UWLV (University of Wolverhampton) with a master’s degree in International Business, he is currently the eCommerce specialist at Trace ’n’ Chase, being in charge of the marketplace, supplies and memorabilia departments, as well as eBay listings.
A die–hard fan of the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan – the real G.O.A.T. – his bedroom walls were covered with M.J.’s posters and self-made M. J. collages with die-cuts coming from early 90’s Upper Deck trading cards. His involvement with sports trading cards and stickers begins in early 90’s, collecting Upper Deck’s NBA trading cards that where available at that time in Greece and chasing to complete Panini’s basketball and football sticker albums from different European championships and competitions later on. He blames Dio and fantasy football for falling in love with NFL over the last decade and for countless sleepless Sunday nights (we work on Mondays….).
Trace ‘n’ Chase -in his own words- is ‘’a project you fall in love with from the first minute you start working on it”. A new and exciting chapter in his life that brings back childhood memories and opens new doors and opportunities to connect with people and collectors all over the world. Moreover, he’s looking forward to sharing and transmitting his passion for the hobby with his daughter and spending time with her tracing and chasing trading cards and collectibles.
Stratos & Michalis
A unique duo of Microsoft Service Adoption Specialists, with Ecommerce expertise and extensive market exposure.
Stratos describes himself as an ICT entrepreneur. His enthusiasm for technology has already put a world of possibilities in people’s pockets and at the fingertips of the industry. People recognize Stratos as a creative problem solver and they do not hesitate to confide in him any thinking they would like to implement to harness the power of information technology with the use of best practices. As an innovative thinker, comfortable with uncertainty, he can sometimes make a mess of things before finding a solution, but he has the stamina to keep looking. In fact, the problem-solving process is often messy and chaotic, but it’s usually rescued by Stratos’ perseverance and pursuit of excellence. When he was introduced to Trace ‘n Chase, he promised that his 14-year old son will be the first retail customer of the company.
Michalis is a Microsoft 365 Advisor with sound knowledge of the Microsoft universe, who can solve complex business problems in an innovative and timely manner. A Solution developer that can grab a “hot potato” when everything else fails. He can act as a mentor and trainer, and people who work with him acquire knowledge ον how to progress a Microsoft 365 project by the book, based on Microsoft standards. His consulting and development skills are valuable assets for every company who uses Microsoft related technologies. When confronted with the Trace ‘n Chase venture he dug up his Pokemon cards collection and already started identifying new sports-related “targets”.
Alex
Alex gave up on his basketball career early to follow his second passion, brand design (your loss NBA). Nonetheless, he still recalls the days his room was full of players’ posters, the background sound of the VHS scrambling to rewind and replay the 1987 NBA Finals and that one MJ jersey he wore every day – driving his neighbors crazy while perfecting his crossover dribble.
His mother, an American painter, passed on to him the fundamentals of painting, color theories, brushworks and perspectives from a very early age. Growing up in a house filled with books about painters, museums, history and art movements, it was of no surprise that he grew up loving painting, but just ended up following a more digital approach. While working both for big firms and as a freelance brand designer, he lives the dream along the lines of “do what you love, and you won’t have to work a day in your life”. After designing more than 500 brands in his career, from cities and big industries, to science and clothing, and from culinary products to music festivals and nanotechnology, he finally has the opportunity to brand something that truly touches his childhood core.
When the notion of a trading cards and memorabilia company was presented to him, he framed his worn-out MJ jersey, hung it on his office wall and took on this branding challenge with love and the utmost respect for the hobby. And just like that… Trace ‘n Chase was born to remind him (and all of us) of a naive childhood, worn-out basketball shoes and boxes full of 90’s trading cards.
Drew
Born & raised in Thessaloniki, Greece, Drew spent most of his childhood watching every sports game you can imagine, from tennis to track and field to basketball...He tried to stay close to the game by becoming a basketball referee but he ended up with more bruises than a Dalmatian dog... With a Masters Degree in the HR field, he is currently running the IoT sales in Northern Greece for a big telco company.
Despite being a die–hard fan of the New England Patriots and Tom Brady aka the G.O.A.T., the Super Bowl XLVIII was the game that made him fall in love with the NFL. And in case you are wondering about the level of his fandom, his friends call him the long–lost son of TB12…There are three rooms in his apartment, but you can only access the two of them. The third one is occupied with multiple NFL Cards, Jerseys and Memorabilia, mostly from the New England Patriots, of course. An active NFL Twitter commentator, he occasionally publishes his NFL related content on big sports websites like Gazzetta.gr. Oh and surprise, surprise, he is also by far the most nerve racking fantasy manager you can play against.
Trace ‘n Chase -in his own words- is ‘’the most innovative project I have been a part of and the birth of a new exciting era”. An era where fans from all over the world can learn about the sport they love and collect memorabilia of any kind. Drew has two goals after joining Trace ‘n Chase. The first one is to open the NFL door to every sports fan in Greece, Europe or the globe and the second one is to bring Fantasy Football and Trace ‘n Chase together, through Trace ‘n Chase’s official podcast and vlog.
Tony
In his early 40s and still an active hooper in the local championships of the national basketball categories in Greece, Tony has over 22 seasons as a professional basketball player, being the last active member of Iraklis of Thessaloniki, a team that won the National Youth Championship in Greece back in 1998. He is none other than the son of Aristides Moumoglou, a Greek basketball legend who once scored 145 points in a Greek Division I game back in 1972, a record that is still intact.
A true lover of the game who, despite his professional activities, never forgot where he is coming from. He brought his experience as a team player in the field of management, playing a key role in the huge growth of the rap movement & music in Greece in the last decade, with all major events and collaborations around Greece having his personal touch and stamp of approval.
Tony organized a successful 3-on-3 tournament in Thessaloniki back in 2008 and other sporting events all over Greece while he was briefly involved with the Administration of Iraklis basketball as a general manager. In recent years he has owned his own clothing brand called LaVue Fashion. Tony is excited to handle the public relations and marketing development of the Trace ‘n’ Chase brand.
We are located in Thessaloniki, Greece and operating Monday through Saturday from 9am to 9pm.
