Share a great hobby story

[VintageVinnie]

I recently completed my '54 Topps baseball set. I was inspired by my Dad. When I was 14 years old, and not even into baseball cards, he told me he found a box of his old baseball cards in the attic. So cliche, right? "Cool", I said to myself. He had some '52, '53, and '54 Topps. Not knowing the values, I bought a price guide (no internet) and was surprised to learn that even the "nobody's" had some value. The small collection peaked my interest in cards and kicked off my love for the hobby.

My Dad was between 8 and 10 years old when he bought these in packs. I asked what he spent on packs in those days and he told me he remembers buying the 54's for a penny. My Dad only had 15 54's in the collection, so I'm guessing he bought 15 packs that summer of '54. Just thinking about that was kind of neat. My Dad was also pretty lucky. Of the 15 cards, he had the Al Kaline and the #250 Ted Williams. Long story short, I took the Kaline and the Williams and built the rest of the set around them. Now I can say my set is complete with those two stars my Dad pulled decades ago front and center