I think it's one of those things that for whichever reason you happen to get switched on to, and once you're attentive to it, you'll constantly be noticing and learning more - once that positive feedback loop of rewarded attention is going, you're off to the races.
It's deeply rewarding to find the world around becoming deeper and more intricately connected. And you get to see more of it every day!
Feedback loop is right. I think there are parallels to the Blank Check podcast playing "The Box Office Game", where those cinephiles try to determine the Box Office Top 5 on the week a particular film was released (even though the players may have been in diapers or not even born on that particular week).
I have also seen this obsessive focus in sports fans: What was the half-season where Pat Maroon played on the New Jersey Devils as a rental? Well they made the playoffs that year which must have been Taylor Hall's MVP Award Season and ah yes! that had to be 2017-18!
if you guys like this kinda stuff i can recommend the latest dump of buckminster fuller institute on his life work (series of transcribed lectures). The guy is fascinated by similar things and has potentially a lot of interesting insights about this if you are unfamiliar.