Sucker Born Every Minute

This is my story. I am a sucker. I hate to say it, but I am. I was born at the exact right time to be sucked up into the world of baseball cards in the late 1980’s. The industry was red hot, people said investing in baseball cards was more profitable then playing the stock market. There was money to be made and rookie cards to be collected. In 1989 I was 14 years old. I didn’t care about stock markets, and I didn’t care about making a fortune, but what I did care about was ripping packs, and pulling the players I idolized as a young sports fan. I had already been collecting cards for years, but somehow things were changing. In the little California town I grew up in there were Card Stores everywhere! In a town of about 30,000 people there were 5 card stores. In the County there must have been close to 30, and if you felt like driving to the City (San Francisco), God knows how many you would find. Little did we know we were headed toward disaster.

None of this explains how I am a sucker of course. Lots of people were caught up at this time. Tons of worthless cards still sit unopened in wax boxes around the country. I am by no means the only person who got taken in the hype perpetuated by the Upper Deck craze of ’89. Why I am a sucker is because even after seeing my ’84 Fleer Extended Kirby Puckett go from booking for $750 down to it’s current $80 listing…. I am back. How I could let this happen is a mystery. The only thing I do know is that I am a collector. I love to collect things, and I am a sports fan.

In the days that lay ahead, I will chronicle my journey down a path with no end. Unlike some other Card Bloggers out there though, I am not trying to hold my obsession in check. I respect the guys of “A Pack A Day” for there ability to still enjoy opening up a pack of 1993 Topps Series II Football, but for me, I am jumping back in with both knees tucked in a cannonball position. This is not to say that I am a big time collector. I am no whale, and won’t be shelling out $350 on a one pack box anytime soon. You will find me somewhere in between. I will be posting box breaks, reviews, and thoughts on the industry. Maybe doing this will help me believe there is a future for the industry after all. Or perhaps it will help me see the folly of my ways. Whatever happens I will remain a sucker, this much I know for sure.

Next Up: How Tim Lincecum ruined my life. (or made it better)