Dust In the Wind

Thirty years ago, I discovered pallets of 1987 Topps baseball cards at Costco.  To the average person this experience would be a meaningless hiccup, but for me... it was a life altering experience.  I blossomed from the kid collector who opened up a few packs here and there to the sports card investor who busted entire boxes in an effort to build sets and player lots.

That summer I shared my vision with my mom, grandma, and two aunties who were visiting us from Hawaii and somehow convinced them to finance this dream.  I can't remember exactly how many boxes of 1987 Topps they purchased, but ten seems like a nice ballpark figure.

I can still remember sitting on my family room floor busting pack after pack of this stuff... and sorting the thousands upon thousands of cards for what I can imagine must have occupied a week or two of my summer vacation.

With that many boxes at my disposal, I was able to build a bunch of sets.  In fact, I'm 98% certain that 1987 Topps was the first trading card set I built... although there's a 2% chance I may have completed the 1986 Topps set the year before.

That's why I've decided to use this Kevin Mitchell card for my Day 17 submission to Tony's 30 Day Baseball Card Challenge, which is a card from the first hand collated set you put together:

1987 Topps #653

When it comes to "play at the plate" cards, this card has to be considered one of the most memorable from that era.

The iconic dust cloud created by Mitchell and his pop up slide gives off an old Western movie vibe that goes perfectly with the wood bordered design Topps utilized that year.

Normally I'm sitting around complaining about how Topps always seems to find a way to chop off players' limbs or pieces of equipment, but whoever was in charge of this card did an excellent job.  He/She chose a photograph that somehow captured action, emotion, and intensity all at the same time, then wisely kept Mitchell intact.

If there were a baseball card hall of fame, I'd have no complaints seeing this card hanging up on its walls.

Well that's it for today.  I hope all of you are managing to stay cool as we head into the heart of summer.  I know some of you enjoy this warm weather, but I can't stand it.  Too bad my local Costco doesn't carry boxes of baseball cards anymore.  I'm sure busting boxes of 2017 Topps baseball cards at wholesale prices would help take my mind off of the heat.

Happy Monday and sayonara!