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James Feagin In the Fall of 1992, I was 17 years old and had collected baseball cards since 1984. I went with my father to a Hilton Hotel auction one October evening and remember purchasing a lot of loose 20 VG conditioned 1934 Goudey commons for $30. As we arrived home from the auction, I remember dropping one of the Goudey's, searching forever to find it, but to no avail. I didn't remember who the card was, and soon the disappointed loss faded into memory.
Fast forward a year, and so much had changed. I had become a bit rebellious, obsessed with punk rock, girls, and to fund this, I made a foolish decision. I sold my entire collection, t206, Goudey, vintage Topps, everything, to a shady dealer for $150 (which $$$ I didn't do anything good with). One evening in November 1993, I sat in my front yard, walkman on with blaring music, and waiting for a girlfriend to pick me up. Amidst a bunch of blowing leaves, I saw something that looked out of the ordinary. Curiousity got the best of me, and that item less ordinary turned out to be a 1934 Goudey Bob Johnson. At that point I knew exactly where that card came from. It had survived a harsh Maryland winter, and over 13 months "in the wild". It had a huge crease and water stains on the back of the card. Even though I no longer collected, I recognized a "good luck" charm when I saw it.
After I realized punk rock, girl chasing, wasn't worth it, I came back to my original love of collecting in 1998. The 1934 Goudey Bob Johnson is a permanent part of my new collection, and any time I need a little bit of inspiration, I think that this card was saved just for me.
