My First "1/1" Cards

I've said lately that I was just waiting for my wife to ask how much I had spent on cards.  Well, that happened on Monday night.  It wasn't a pleasant discussion, but it led me to realize that I have to have more patience in putting my collections together.  I can't shake off or eliminate 25 years of not collecting in one month.  A quick story should put this into perspective.

At the card show I went to on Sunday, I spent about 90 minutes at one table going through all the dime, quarter, and fifty-cent boxes.  For most of that time, a gentleman who must have been at least in his late 70s was sitting behind the table sifting through cards.  At times, his look was very serious and disappointed -- he was not finding what he wanted.  Then, he found a card he needed.  I'm not sure what card it was -- it might have been a card from the 1960s, or it might have been an insert from the 2014 Topps set.  No matter.  His face lit up.  He tapped the table owner on the shoulder gently, as if he felt afraid to hurt her in his excitement. He looked up at her quizzically and said, "This one -- it's $1 too, right?  It's the one I've been looking for!"

The woman paused and considered his question for a moment.  She couldn't have been very much younger than he was -- perhaps in her mid-to-late 60s.  The emotions showing on her face told of being asked this same question by the man many times in the past.  After her pause, she bent over slightly at her waist, leaned down to him and acted as if she were about to whisper something in the man's ear.  She stopped, and instead said more loudly than she might have wished, "Joe, come on, you know better.  Find another card you want in there, and then it's a dollar."

That's a long introduction to the reminder that collecting is a life-long pursuit of fun, excitement, and enjoyment which comes from chasing and eventually finding that one card that you need to complete a set, to add to your player collections, or to add to your collection as the first one ever from a particular year, team, or decade.  I can't expect to buy all the cards today.

Sometimes, though, you get the one-of-one auction on eBay and the emotion overrides your logic, your reason, and sometimes even your bank account.  For me, at least, the auctions I won only overrode logic and reason.  I'm not yet sure about my credit limits on my credit cards though.

But, for less that I would have expected but more than I might otherwise have wished to pay, I am the proud owner of my first two unique cards:

These two blank-back Topps Turkey Reds came up for auction from the Topps Vault on eBay.  I really wanted the Jean Segura.  Well, I really wanted the Segura, the Ryan Braun, and the Carlos Gomez, but the Gomez and the Braun went for more than I was willing to pay.

The Latos, well, I already mentioned that "oops" here.

At any rate, I am excited to own both of these cards, and I'm really hoping that Mat Latos wins the Cy Young Award this year for the NL Central second place Cincinnati Reds -- while Jean Segura wins the MVP for the NL Champion Milwaukee Brewers.

A guy's gotta have some dreams, right?