From 1981 to 1985, collecting sports cards of any kind was totally off my radar. Why you ask?
High school. Puberty. Girls. Yep, like most young men, I had lots of other things on my mind other than cardboard. Nope, that's not the downhill part.
During that period, I missed out on purchasing rookie cards of some of the greatest names to play baseball in the last 30 years. Boggs, Gwynn, Sandberg, Henderson, and Raines to name a few.
But this past weekend, I found one name that had eluded me for 3 decades. For $20, I now have the '82 Topps RC of the Iron Man in hand.
Getting the Cal Ripken RC for the '82 set build that I just started wasn't high on my priority list at the card show last weekend, but when the pile of cards I had to purchase from my vintage dealer was a bit small, I saw this in one of his showcases and added it to the pile.
Finishing this set should be all downhill from here...
thanks for reading, Robert
I was still collecting during that period (and in high school). I pulled that card out of a pack and saved me some trouble and cash.
ReplyDeleteSee kids? Always collect when you're in high school.
Iconic rookie card. I was just starting to collect back in the early 80's and opened a fair share of 82T packs. Unfortunately... I never pulled the Ripken rookie card. Five years ago, I finally picked up a copy (actually two) at a garage sale. It felt good to cross that one off of my list. Now if I could only get my hands on his Traded card.
ReplyDeleteThat is a beautiful Bob Bonner rookie! :)
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