Last Card Needed

[mybuddyinc]

Many years ago: E90-1 complete sans Jackson. Had to sell do to finances. As I was selling off, I had a chance to buy a PSA 2 Jackson for $3000, but had to pass .............


"Don't cry Constable, it is a sad story, but as my uncle Ichabod said "Speaking of the city: 'T'ain't no place for women gal, but pretty men goo thar." -- W.C. Fields (Fatal Glass of Beer)

[albrshbr]

Sorry Rich but this is about the last 2 cards needed.

It was 1979 and I was finally getting close to completing my first ever set of baseball cards (1979 Topps) and was only missing Clint Hurdle and Mike Krukow. I checked with a friend of mine who usually had more cards than me, and wouldn't you know it, he only needed the same 2 cards. (He was only 1 card short of the 1978 set...Thurman Munson). I took a trip to a local card shop (there weren't many available back then) and they already had 3 wantlists on file needing the same cards.

A couple weeks later I went to visit my grandparents for the weekend and I took my cards with me. I sat at the kitchen table with my grandmother and told her all about my card collection and what I knew about some of the players (Bench and Brett for the most part). After dinner, the 3 of us got into the car and went to a nearby K-Mart where grandma surprised me by buying the last of the packs they had available (about 10 of them). We got back to the house where I tore them open, but did not find the cards I was hoping for.

The next day grandma went to the grocery store and came home with about 10 more packs of cards. This time I found both of the cards I needed! I can't tell you how excited I was, I really thought back then that completing a set was a major accomplishment, for anyone. I knew people who had complete sets of KISS cards or Star Wars, but no one who had completed a set as large as a baseball set.

I lost my grandmother in 1981 and miss her for many reasons. I have many wonderful memories, one of which is her helping me complete my 1979 Topps baseball. She had no interest in any sports, but sat there for hours as I talked about my cards and various baseball players. I still have the 2 cards, don't know exactly where they are right now, but I do know I still have them in probably VG condition both in toploaders. They are my only 2 cards in my collection that I will never get rid of.

[conor912]

I'll let you know. I've never completed a pre-war set. I have about 8 sets that need three cards or less to complete. I have the horrible habit of getting down to the most expensive cards and instead of finishing, I start a new set.

[Koufax32fan]

The last card I needed for my 1954 set was the rookie Aaron. I wanted to buy one that I could see and touch before purchasing and I could not find one in nice EX condition to match the rest of the set (at a price I wanted to spend). I saw nicer ones but didn't feel like paying that much to have a NrMt/Mint card that would be nicer than the rest of the set and I saw worse condition ones all the time. A few years ago I saw a beautiful one that was out of my price range and I was told by the dealer, Wayne Johnson from Indiana, from whom I have bought a lot of cards over the years, that if I had to splurge on one nicer card the rookie Aaron is the way to go. So, to the story. This summer I decided to go to Chicago for the last day of the National and walk the floor with my best friend who still lives in Chitown. We had a great time and each picked up some cards and other stuff, but really just had a great time being together without kids, etc. As we were leaving we saw Wayne and my friend bought some really nice 1957 cards for his set. And, while Wayne didn't have any 39 Playball cards for my set, he did have another gorgeous 54 Aaron. It was more than I wanted to spend. My buddy asked me how much I wanted to spend and I told him and he said to Wayne to give me the card and he would pay the rest. Now, the money isn't really the issue here - the best part of this story for me is that I will always think of my best friend, Eric, when I look at that set.

I think the sequel to this story will be when I buy the Williams to finish my Playball set.