30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

All About Perspective

These days... a parallel numbered to 241 might as well be numbered to 2,410 in many collectors' eyes.  That's what happens when you can find 1 of 1 printing plates of hall of fame athletes for less than the price of a retail blaster box.

But back in the early 90's, the number two hundred forty-one placed the 1993 Finest baseball refactors in a league of their own.  To put things into perspective... the popular 1993 Donruss Elite Dominators were limited to either 2,500 or 5,000... and were extremely tough pulls that commanded a lot of money back in the day.

When this product was released in the Fall of 1993, I was an unemployed college student with very limited funds who had taken time off from the hobby.  It didn't matter though... even if I was collecting at the time... owning one of these rare parallels... especially one of my favorite players... was nothing short of a pipe dream.


Twenty-three years later, I now have a stable job with some discretionary income that I can apply towards the hobby I love.  So when I saw this card on sale over at 4 Sharp Corners for $63.50... I figured it was time to crack open my wallet and finally add it to my collection.


I honestly didn't think I'd ever actually own this card.  I have no problem splurging on a nice card every now and then... but it's typically going to either be a vintage hall of famer, a key rookie card, or a nice autograph addition to my PC.

Spending big money for a 90's parallel just isn't my style.  On the other hand... it feels like a huge weight has been lifted and I'm very excited to finally cross this card off of my wantlist.  Like the title of this post states... it's all about perspective.

Now I just need to decide if I want to keep it imprisoned or free it up.

Happy Wednesday and sayonara!

11 comments:

  1. Man, I remember when it was a huge deal getting cards #d to 5,000 or 2,500.

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  2. What a beauty! I love me some 90's refractors. I'm always amazed when I come across a card #'d to less than 100 in a dime box. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one that still thinks something numbered that low is big deal.

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  3. Finest Refractors are a thing of beauty, for sure. One day I will empty my pockets for a Puckett.

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  4. Congrats, Fuji! I similarly picked up a Padres 1993 Finest refractor a while back, but went with Bip Roberts as the more economical option.

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  5. Congrats! '93 Finest was a landmark set. I got a Lance Johnson Refractor from COMC a while back just so I could say I owned one.

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  6. Congrats Fuji! Always nice to acquire a card you've always wanted...even if it takes 23 years to do so!

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  7. Congrats! I'm a fan of those for sure!

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  8. Beautiful card-I say keep it entombed. I have to say I am done with one of ones and the such-what nonsense. I would rather have a card like this-I am glad you were able to get for yourself-well deserved.

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