most memorable card you got opening a pack

[jakebeckleyoldeagleeye]

What's the most memorable card you acquired when opening a pack?
The best birthday present I ever received was when my brother gave me a box of unopened 1969 Topps baseball. One pack I opened and got the #500 Mantle. And then got another Mantle from the same box! Still have both and received one back signed (in ballpoint) : from Mantle in around 1970-71 sent to his home in Dallas when hardly anyone sent requests to home addresses because you couldn't find them.

[ullmandds]

great story!!!! I'm younger...mainly ripped topps from 76-82ish...so nothing too exciting in those packs! Probably yankee favorites like Jackson, Munson for me.

I've got an unopened 86 fleer basketball...so maybe a perfectly centered jordan rookie will happen...if I muster the balls to break it open!!!!

[steve B]

A few,

My first pack of cards in 1969, went to the local drugstore/5 and 10 with dad and got a pack of cards. We sat in the car and looked at them. He said "Hey this guy is pretty good" Reggie Jackson. I still have the card, and maybe one or two of the others that I don't recall. I only bought one pack that year, and one in 71. I didn't really get into cards until late 73.

A UD holoview die cut of Emmitt Smith. It was a big deal at the time I got it. I usually just bought packs and took them home, but the shop guys were really into opening them, and convinced me to open the handful of packs I'd bought.
Got what must have been for them the full VIP thing. Lots of ooh and ah over the card and a semi ceremonial putting it in a free toploader. I kind of miss having card stores all over the place, some were cool, others not, but they were all interesting. (Like the place where the guy basically kicked me out because someone called him to go look at some sort of real estate deal. I had some stuff picked out, and he couldn't be bothered because he had to leave right away. No cards for me! WTF? )

Got some Albert Pujols and two other guys triple autograph card out of a blaster box from Target. Bought it, opened it at home, looked up the #/10 card online put it away and that was that. Probably the most expensive card I've ever pulled if you go by what it was worth at the time I got it.

Those sort of illustrate how the hobby has changed.

Honorable mention should go to 94 signature rookies. I wanted to finish the set, after all it was only 50 cards... I kept getting an auto card of some hyped kid who had signed with the Yankees. Why, Why do I keep getting this Jeter guy?! (Ok, it wasn't that bad, but I did get three of them, and it was sort of annoying. )

[Case12]

None - I'm not lucky ;-(
(I have no idea who I put in my bike spokes in the the 60's and 70's - but the gum was always terrible tasting)

[ejharrington]

First day 1979-80 Topps hockey came out, bought 9 packs at about 35 cents per pack which was a huge sum of money for me at the time. My hope was to get a card of my favorite player, Terry O'Reilly. Sure enough, sitting on the school bleachers, the first card of the first pack I opened, there he was. I'll never forget it.

[drcy]

I've pulled a number of rookies: Bird/Magic, Ozzie Smith, Rickey Henderson, et al in the "old days." I also pulled an expensive atomic refractor way back when.

[hysell]

In 1976 I opened up a pack & got the Hank Aaron , the Babe Ruth & throw in the Pete Rose card , also ! Would be a nice set of players for a team

[icollectDCsports]

The Hank Aaron "New All Time Home Run King" card in 1974. Hadn't seen one before I got mine in a pack and I thought that is was so cool, and I still do.

[Bill77]

Originally Posted by steve B

Honorable mention should go to 94 signature rookies. I wanted to finish the set, after all it was only 50 cards... I kept getting an auto card of some hyped kid who had signed with the Yankees. Why, Why do I keep getting this Jeter guy?! (Ok, it wasn't that bad, but I did get three of them, and it was sort of annoying. )

I had a similar thing happen in 2002 when buying boxes 2002 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres. I got the last two boxes and in the first box I got an autograph and the second box I got a jersey and a familiar looking autograph. Sure enough pulled two Prince Fielder autos on the same day. I was kind of pissed at the time because I was hoping for the Scott Kazmir auto which was $100 at the time. I checked the Beckett when I got home and the Fielder autos were $50 so that made me feel better. Then two guys out in California started buy up the Fielder autos and drove the prices way up. I still wish I would have sold one of them at the time but held on because I thought the price would continue to go up.

Other great pulls I got were a 2002 Topps Alex Rodriguez Autograph, a 2002 Upper Deck World Series Heroes Honus Wagner pants card, and a 2001 Topps Traded Albert Pujols Gold card.

The Albert Pujols gold card came out of a box I bought at a local card shop and made the mistake of opening it there. By the time I finished opening the box I pulled my third basic Pujols rookie and decided to trade it for a 1987 Topps Barry Bonds rookie. Oh well, just another in a long list of mistakes I've made collecting cards.

[paulcarek]

Paul Molitor was (is) my favorite player, and I distinctly remember the thrill of pulling his second-year card from a pack of 1979 Topps. Much cooler looking than his four-on-one rookie card, and he was photographed wearing the then-new Brewers uni/helmet with the glove logo.

[thatkidfromjerrymaguire]

I was 14 in the summer of 1989 during the debut of Upper Deck and all the buzz about some rookie named Griffey. I didn't buy many packs of Upper Deck that year because, if you recall, they were over $1.00 apiece (compared to $0.45 for Topps). But one summer afternoon I bought a pack at my local card shop and sure enough got a Griffey. It felt like winning the lottery.

[RedsFan1941]

1953 Topps mantle

[Chris Counts]

I can't remember every pack I ever opened, but here are the highlights:

1) In 1965 when I was 5, I bought a pack of Philadelphia Gum football cards from the ice cream man. I was too young to even know what football was.

2) In 1970, I bought a pack of baseball cards with money my mom had given me to buy broccoli. They came with a poster, and it was Ollie Brown. I figured he was a baseball legend.

3) By mid-summer of 1970 (I was 9), I was obsessed with cards. But the local stores stopped at the fourth series. My family traveled back east in the summer, and along the way, I picked up cards from the 5th and 6th series. Pulling Willie Mays from a pack was pretty exciting.

4) By the end of the season, Johnny Bench was firmly entrenched as my favorite player, but I still didn't have his card. But in December, I found his card in the display of a vending machine at a local grocery store, and fed coins into it until a card of the greatest catcher ever popped out.

5) The last meaningful pack I opened was in 1974. Although I was only 13, I was deep into vintage cards by this time. A neighbor and card seller, John Parks, sold me an unopened box of 1957 Topps football cards. It was sure fun busting them out of their cellophane, and I got all the big money rookies, but opening them was probably the worst financial decision in my life.

[Touch'EmAll]

Closest my kid ever got (now 13) was opening Pokemon packs - boy, was he into it for several years. The kids at his school were all into Pokemon, not a whisper of sports card pack, sigh.

He knew what he wanted - the Full Arts & Mega's. At least I got to watch his "Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat." Could be sheer joy, or almost in tears for not pulling anything good.

[mr2686]

Originally Posted by Chris Counts

5) The last meaningful pack I opened was in 1974. Although I was only 13, I was deep into vintage cards by this time. A neighbor and card seller, John Parks, sold me an unopened box of 1957 Topps football cards. It was sure fun busting them out of their cellophane, and I got all the big money rookies, but opening them was probably the worst financial decision in my life.

If all of our worst financial decisions happened when we were 13, we would all be pretty well off. LOL

[tedzan]

You've heard this story before; nevertheless, it's worth repeating......

In the Fall of 1952, I opened this TOPPS 5-cent pack. Removed the skinny piece of bubble gum, tossed it away.
And, started sorting thru the cards. Much to my surprise, Mantle was in the middle of these 5 cards.
What a thrill. I still remember that moment of 67 years ago as if happened yesterday.







.

TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[JohnP0621]

I think it was 1968 . There was a store across the street from my grammar school that sold packs. I remember pulling a Mantle and than a Unitas during the football season. 2 of my all time favorites .

Fond Memories
John P

[Jgrace]

In 1993, I was just a kid trying to scrape together some allowance money to buy a few packs of cards. I remember being thrilled about buying one pack of each of the common releases that year. I think the dream pull was a Leaf Tim Salmon insert.

Anyway, in those days it was all about Griffey Jr. and Frank Thomas. I remember opening my Topps pack and finding a perfectly crisp Thomas in the middle. I called my friends house over and over until he got home so I could share the good news.

It’s such a humble example, but I remember how exciting it was at the time. And that was the question, right?

[thetruthisoutthere]

This is a great thread!!!

The summer of 1965 I pulled a Tom Tresh (my favorite Yankee of all-time) from a Topps pack.

I can still smell the bubble gum.

Great days starting back in the early 1960's being able to buy a pack here and there.

I also remember pulling a Jake Gibbs "Rookie Stars" card.

[jakebeckleyoldeagleeye]

Originally Posted by thetruthisoutthere

This a great thread!!!

The summer of 1965 I pulled a Tom Tresh (my favorite Yankee of all-time) from a Topps pack.

I can still smell the bubble gum.

Great days starting back in the early 1960's being able to buy a pack here and there.

I also remember pulling a Jake Gibbs "Rookie Stars" card.

That's why I started it. It's not about getting the most valuable card it's the memory of the one that meant the most to you in your lifetime and always hoping you get that card opening those packs and especially before all the subsets.

[thetruthisoutthere]

Originally Posted by jakebeckleyoldeagleeye

That's why I started it. It's not about getting the most valuable card it's the memory of the one that meant the most to you in your lifetime and always hoping you get that card opening those packs and especially before all the subsets.

Absolutely!!!

Awesome thread!!!

[Yoda]

My story is quite similar to Ted's. I grew up in the 50's in Schenectady, NY, where my Dad worked for GE which basically supported and made the town viable. Schenectady, for what ever reason, was going to be included in the last series of that new, gobsmacking 1952 Topps baseball card set, which had made our gang joyous for the whole summer, particularly we knew that you-know-who had to be included in it. My brand loyalty to Bowman had faded because these new Topps beauties just stole the show. Word reached us that our local general store was loaded and the dash was on. We marched in and bought as many packs as our modest budgets would allow. Soon wrappers flew, gum ingested and we sat down to the real business: Who got what and were they open for trading?
Myself and another pulled Jackie Robinsons. Not bad. Another guy got an Eddie Mathews. Lucky lad. And, yes, one guy pulled the Mick. We insisted he pass it around to his friends (us) with their greasy dirty, rough little fingers. I shudder to think about it. Great card memories.

[topcat61]

So, 1986, it's my 8th Birthday and my aunt gives me a dozen or so packs of Donruss...In one of those packs I found a Jose Canseco RC! I believe at the time the card was valued at $90. Within 24 hours that card was promptly lost!

It took me about 30 years to get another copy of the card, but this time I got it autographed. That set brings back a lot of memories for me personally, and the Canseco RC especially, but that was the first and only time he sported a mustache and he talks about it in a netflix documentary on cards. Anyway, great set, great design and great memories! Thanks.

[SteveMitchell]

In late spring/early summer we visited my grandparents in Orrington, Maine. Part way home (a l-o-n-g distance of 125-135 miles on largely fair to poor roads in those days), my mother (perhaps in an effort to overcome my impatience as I was a poor rider) pulled out two penny packs of 1957 Topps baseball cards. Really, they were highly prized by this then-8-year-old - even only a couple of them. One pack contained a long-forgotten player and small piece of bubblegum while the other hid Topps' numero uno: Ted Williams.

[Yastrzemski Sports]

For me its probably still winter of 1989. I went to penny candy store when 1989 fleer came in. It was limited to 2 packs per person - I think it was $3.50 per pack. I got the Billy Ripken error that was all over the news.

[LACardsGuy]

I bought into a 1986 Fleer Basketball break maybe 10 years ago through the PSA chat boards. Pulled a Jordan (BGS 9). Then, stupidly, I opened the OTHER pack and got whole lotta nothin.

[LACardsGuy]

I bought into a 1986 Fleer Basketball break maybe 10 years ago through the PSA chat boards. Pulled a Jordan (BGS 9). Then, stupidly, I opened the OTHER pack and got whole lotta nothin.