Today, we’ll complete the challenge with Challenge #30: Your favorite card in your collection.
Wow. Did I really say "complete"? This is the last one? I can't believe it!
Unfortunately, this one poses a problem for me. I'm not a "favorite" type of guy. Ask me to list my favorite movie, and I give you a list of five to ten. Each are appreciated for different reasons. I can't just pick one. Similarly, "favorite card" is nearly impossible. Is it my most valuable card? My oldest? The tobacco card I never thought I'd own? Or the autograph card I pulled from a pack? A Ted Williams card? A Pedro Martinez? Tris Speaker? Mookie Betts? There are so many amazing cards out there, I couldn't narrow it down. So, I figured I'd go ahead and break the rules. After all, who's going to report me? I went after a card I no longer own. Although, I did at one time.
What? Why would a Red Sox blogger pick a Mets card as his favorite?
Well, I'm sure I've told this story before. But, in elementary school, I was at a friends house when he invited me to go to the comic book store with him. Sure, why not? While i was there, i saw that there were some baseball cards in some cases. Huh. There was also a flyer on top of the case with cards the store was looking to buy. One of those cards was the 1985 Topps Dwight Gooden. They were offering $3.50 for copies of the card.
Hey. Wait a minute. I have one of those. You mean it's worth money? People buy and sell them? I went home to tell my parents, and they brought me back to the shop along with the Gooden. I was told that my card wasn't in perfect condition, but they still offered me $3.
Done!
I never looked back.
Now, before you think I only got into this hobby because I was a money-hungry kid, that's not it. It wasn't the money coming in, because even back then it's not like $3 made me rich. But, it was the realization that baseball card collecting was a "thing". It wasn't just something you bought a pack of at the convenience store and stuck in your sports cards locker. It was a hobby with shops, and supplies, and prices, and collectors. It was a way to spend your time.
It was legitimate.
So, it was OK to buy lots of cards. Lots of people built complete sets. You could trade them, or sell them, or store them. It was a hobby. How exciting!
So, I bought more cards from the shop. I sold more cards back to the shop. (The 1986 Topps Gooden netted me $1.50) And I amassed a collection. A collection that evolved quite a bit in the years since, but one that is still going strong.
Not sure that would be the case if it weren't for that 1985 Topps Gooden.
Wow. Did I really say "complete"? This is the last one? I can't believe it!
Unfortunately, this one poses a problem for me. I'm not a "favorite" type of guy. Ask me to list my favorite movie, and I give you a list of five to ten. Each are appreciated for different reasons. I can't just pick one. Similarly, "favorite card" is nearly impossible. Is it my most valuable card? My oldest? The tobacco card I never thought I'd own? Or the autograph card I pulled from a pack? A Ted Williams card? A Pedro Martinez? Tris Speaker? Mookie Betts? There are so many amazing cards out there, I couldn't narrow it down. So, I figured I'd go ahead and break the rules. After all, who's going to report me? I went after a card I no longer own. Although, I did at one time.
What? Why would a Red Sox blogger pick a Mets card as his favorite?
Well, I'm sure I've told this story before. But, in elementary school, I was at a friends house when he invited me to go to the comic book store with him. Sure, why not? While i was there, i saw that there were some baseball cards in some cases. Huh. There was also a flyer on top of the case with cards the store was looking to buy. One of those cards was the 1985 Topps Dwight Gooden. They were offering $3.50 for copies of the card.
Hey. Wait a minute. I have one of those. You mean it's worth money? People buy and sell them? I went home to tell my parents, and they brought me back to the shop along with the Gooden. I was told that my card wasn't in perfect condition, but they still offered me $3.
Done!
I never looked back.
Now, before you think I only got into this hobby because I was a money-hungry kid, that's not it. It wasn't the money coming in, because even back then it's not like $3 made me rich. But, it was the realization that baseball card collecting was a "thing". It wasn't just something you bought a pack of at the convenience store and stuck in your sports cards locker. It was a hobby with shops, and supplies, and prices, and collectors. It was a way to spend your time.
It was legitimate.
So, it was OK to buy lots of cards. Lots of people built complete sets. You could trade them, or sell them, or store them. It was a hobby. How exciting!
So, I bought more cards from the shop. I sold more cards back to the shop. (The 1986 Topps Gooden netted me $1.50) And I amassed a collection. A collection that evolved quite a bit in the years since, but one that is still going strong.
Not sure that would be the case if it weren't for that 1985 Topps Gooden.
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