[Harliduck]

I love these threads and reading through each persons stories and journey...


For me it was when I was 9, mom bought a pack each of 1979 Topps cards home for me and my brother who grew up in a baseball loving family and we already had the fever. My first card was Reggie Jackson...I still own the card...and he immediately became my favorite player. My brothers first card was a Mariner...and I was JEALOUS...getting a home team card was huge. It was Rick Honeycutt...and...he still has the card. I got the Mariners team card with the King Dome in my next pack and that was my favorite for a long time. Outside of Reggie of course...

From then on we were obsessed...begging mom to pick up packs as often as she could. Didn't take long to put the 79 set together. Learned of the Bump Wills error at school and I traded away a few cards to get the Rangers version (I had the Blue Jays) as we thought (still not sure) that was the tough one. Everyone seemed to have the Blue Jays version. I thought I was going to be RICH for getting that card. To us it was the upside down plane stamp...

Then my mom made an amazing discovery...she stopped at an old convenient store out of our neighborhood and asked for any packs of cards. The person working the counter said no, but had some in back and sold her like 6 boxes at half price because they were last years. When she came home and told us of this discovery, I was OVER THE MOON. My brother didn't want any part of "last years cards" so I got them all. 1978 Topps packs!! They may as well been 20 years old to me at the time. My brother was 7, what did he know. So I opened all the boxes and was able to complete a set with lots of trading for school. What a score. So at 9 I had two complete sets...



Fast forward to 1981...still getting packs from mom...still putting sets together. I opened pack after pack after pack...COULD NOT FIND Johnny Wokenfuss (Sp?) and Gene Richards. NONE of my school friends had either of these as well. When finally...FINALLY I opened a few packs and got both, set complete. At school I was getting offers after offers for both...no one had either. It was weird, I can't imagine they were single printed in any way or there was coalation regional? I wouldn't budge. My football coach was a big man in town...he was the bench coach for the Phillies and Tigers in the 70's and 80's...had a man cave with AMAZING items...Babe Ruth signed balls, jerseys...you name it. Through him I was able to meet Pete Rose and Milt Wilcox after Mariner games...we thought he was about as famous as it gets. Anyhow...he had just started collecting cards and after practice one day taking me home (back then we would all pile in the back of his pickup truck and he would take a bunch of kids home...crazy to think of that now!) When he got to my house he asked if he could look at my cards. I let him sift through my 81 set and low and behold, he pulled out Gene Richards and said hey, son, your coach needs this card, I'm going to take it. I was not happy, but at 11 years old I didn't say a word...just smiled...and he took it! I went and told my Dad...coach left and my Dad walked him to the truck. When he came back he had my Gene Richards card. He just looked at me and said "son...I don't care who anyone is in life, never get taken advantage of...ever. Here is your card, let that be a lesson".

That one stuck with me. Card was worth a nickel then, probably a nickel now...but everytime I see that dang card a flood of memories comes back to me. Amazing what a little piece of cardboard can mean...and what sometimes people will do to get it...