I’ve never been one to join a group, not really a group joiner. Never wanted to be associated with a specific cohort or any kind of click. I felt it was unnecessary or just really not for me…partially due to anxiety, partially due to an unwillingness to interact with people I felt might not click well with me. I’ve always been like that, well, I’ve mostly been like that. The past few years I’ve shifted a bit and have opened up to others. There have been a few catalysts for this. The bride for one, of course. But also realizing that connecting with people that share your interests is important. I’ve been able to make some of that happen with the card show guys I stop by each month, well…each month prior to 2020.
Earlier last year, I was asked to attend a group meeting with other card collectors by Terry Kneis. He’s been my go to vintage guy through the years. Not because of his charming personality…because, that isn’t his M.O. I like to stop by his table because he is crazy organized. Possibly over the top organized for a card show table at times. There is a definite sense of needing to ask permission to see his cards. I think that tends to push people away most of the time…but for me, I love it. I LOVE that he controls his product to a point that it doesn’t get disturbed by randos. All of his cards are in order by year. Every card has a price on the back. The lesser expensive ones come in penny sleeves and the expensive ones include top loaders. For me, it’s a time saver that I cherish…plus, he offers up a chair for you to sit and go through your items!!! That’s right a chair at a card show!!! I can sit down with my phone, go through my google doc spreadsheet and check off the cards I pull as I put them aside.
HUGE TIME SAVER YA’LL!!!
When I get home, my checklist is updated and all I have to do is remove the penny sleeves and drop the cards in their respective binders. Have I mentioned the time saver aspect?
Back to the club part of this wandering story…Terry invited about 25 gents and ladies to his house earlier last February for the Oregon Sports Card Association meeting. It was a quaint gathering with a wide variety of vintage card collectors. I was definitely out of my league, as far as baseball knowledge but had a great time. At the end of the gathering, Terry hands out a manilla envelope with a special gift for the days participants. Me being a newcomer to the group, Terry handed me a $100 off any card that he was selling from his house that day. The caveat was that it had to be from an assortment of cards on a special table. Well, this was on that table and I had to grab it. I could not pass this beautiful card up. It was phenomenal. Sensational even.
1956 Jackie Robinson – #30
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I haven’t really dug into the ‘50’s sets yet, so this is about as nice of a first card as you could get…in my mind.
One of the activities during the meeting was a trivia party where I was teamed up with an older gentlemen, Steve. Steve has won many of these competitions and wasn’t overly thrilled to have a new jack join his team, but I think I held my own. We didn’t come in first place, but we did finish tied for second. Which was great if you ask me. Having come in second place, were granted the choice of one card from a 1950’s binder with semi-stars and could pick one card under $80. I went with this beautiful Monte Irvin card…mostly because I had just wrapped up reading Willie Mays biography and Monte was heavily involved in much of that storytelling…plus I thought it seemed appropriate to pick a Dodger and a Giant on the same day.
1954 Monte Irvin – #3
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Today also marks the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. I hope everyone has had a chance to listen to one of his important speeches or read an article about his life. He was a great man that fought for change that people are still fighting for today. Maybe one day, we’ll get a chance to see past our skin color and political viewpoints and move forward as humans. It’s a lot to ask for, but it’s also something that is very well achievable in our lifetime. I sure hope for my kids sake that we can get there. So, Happy MLK day everyone. Fuji shared a couple of his favorite MLK cards over at The Chronicles of Fuji and i wanted to share the first three i could find today.
As always, thank you for reading!
-Cardboard Hogs
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Here’s a video of my favorite speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.