"Congratulations! You have received a 1989 Topps Baseball autograph card from 2024 Topps Baseball."
Cool! Thanks! Nice image using the classic 1989 Topps design, a nice bright blue ink and a compact signature on the front. And hey, it's a two-time Cy Young winner and player I'd like to have. This is a cool card.
"1/1"
Excuse me? I mean, is this real?
I stared at the card for a good two to three minutes, wondering if I had any brand new top loaders.
For the record, I do have a several serial numbered cards in my collection--according to TCDB, I have 74 baseball cards with serial numbers. I would estimate that I pulled about half of them from a pack. The other half, I picked from sale bins, opportunity pick-ups of players that I liked and wouldn't mind having. That said, I don't consider myself a hit chaser. If I get a serial numbered card, that's great. It's a fun find that makes the moment a little more special. Maybe it earns a few more looks from time to time than some other cards.
A 1/1 though. From a single pack, not a box, not a break. Truly a unique experience for me. Intuitively, it seems like it should be fairly unique for a lot of collectors.
I continued hovering over the Detailed Add button on TCDB, slowly thinking about typing "1" in the serial number box. My wife called down that dinner was ready. I shouted up, "Wait, look at this!" I ran up the stairs, holding the top loader that now contained the card and sleeve. She spotted the autograph. I flipped the card and pointed to the foil embossed marking.
"Okay, that was worth asking me to wait."
It had been a wait between buying the 2024 series 2 pack--shout out to Baseball Card Connection in Effingham, Illinois--and opening the pack. Definitely worth the wait in that respect.
No comments:
Post a Comment